In the 1950s, at the height of the Mau Mau Uprising, many of Kenya’s sons and daughters joined the ranks of the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (also, the Mau Mau) to wage war against the occupying British authorities. Among them was a woman who stood out for her exceptional skills on and off the battlefield, and for laying down everything for her people to be free; her name, Muthoni wa Kirima.

Born in 1931, Muthoni parents worked on a European farm in Kenya’s central region. At a tender age, having never had a formal education, her journey as a revolutionary―having been a witness to the injustices committed against native Africans by the British colonialists―among other things, saw her saving money to fund Jomo Kenyatta’s travels abroad. After her marriage to General Mutungi, she moved to Nyeri, where she lived a village reserve for Africans, before joining the Mau Mau.

At about the age of 20, Muthoni acted as a spy for Mau Mau fighters who had camped in the forest at the breakout of war in 1952. As a woman, her role, however, was limited to gathering and passing of information, and logistics. This would change, however, as she sought an active role in combat, and led several successful raids against colonial farms.

This earned her notice from the rebellion’s leader Dedan Kimathi, who gave her more active roles as a leader. This saw her flourish as a soldier and, and earned her the nickname “Weaver Bird”. So good was she that Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi promoted her to field marshal; the only female to attain the rank and one of only four Field Marshals the liberation had.

Things did not go so easy with Muthoni as a soldier, however. On several occasions, she was injured, yet was never caught while in the forest. On one occasion, she and several other fighters were attacked. Despite sustaining a gunshot wound in the shoulder, she was able to crawl to safety, while all the others were killed.

Again, Muthoni gave up motherhood for the struggle, having lost the ability to have children after she suffered two miscarriages while fighting in the forest. She has since described Kenya as “my only child”. She lived in the forest until after Kenya’s independence from Britain, in 1963. Her husband, General Mutungi, died two years later.

Many years after Kenya’s Independent, Muthoni is almost forgotten by the country she fought for. Sidelined, she lives a poor, yet contented life in her small home in the Nyeri Suburb in central Kenya. There, she enjoys the company of her adopted children and their children. To this day, she maintains long dreads that she had grown while hiding from the enemy, and says that she will not cut her dreads “because the fruits of independence have not been enjoyed by the people who sacrificed the most”.

Muthoni in 1998, was awarded a medal for distinguished service, by President Daniel arap Moi, while in 2014, President Uhuru Kenyatta awarded her the Head of State Commendation.

(By: Ejiofor Ekene Olaedo)