The leader of the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya was:

The Mau Mau uprising (1952-1960) was a militant anti-colonial movement in Kenya directed against British rule and white settler dominance, particularly over land in the fertile Central Highlands. The figure most closely associated with the movement is Jomo Kenyatta.

Kenyatta, a prominent Kikuyu political leader and president of the Kenya African Union (KAU), was accused by the British colonial government of being the leader and organiser of the Mau Mau rebellion. He was arrested in 1952, tried, and convicted in 1953 in a controversial trial, then detained until 1961. Although the extent of his direct involvement in the armed rebellion remains debated by historians, the British authorities treated him as the central figure. After his release, he led Kenya to independence in 1963 and became the country's first Prime Minister and later its first President.

Kwame Nkrumah was the leader of Ghana's independence movement and became Ghana's first President. Julius Nyerere led Tanganyika (later Tanzania) to independence. Nelson Mandela was the leader of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa. None of these figures were connected to the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya.

The correct answer is Jomo Kenyatta, who was identified by the colonial authorities as the leader of the Mau Mau movement and went on to become Kenya's founding father.