Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua has announced the death of renowned freedom fighter Field Marshall Muthoni wa Kirima.
Muthoni, who died on Tuesday morning aged 91, will be remembered as a hero who led the Agikuyu community in their fight for freedom.
“I have woken up to sad news of the passing on of Field Marshall Muthoni Kirima, the gallant freedom fighter who fought side by side with Field Marshall Dedan Kimathi Wachiuri in the Mt. Kenya and Aberdare forests to drive colonialists from our land.”
“I join her family and descendants of the Mau Mau War of Liberation in mourning the loss of our Mother Field Marshall Muthoni wa Kirima. We recall with pride and sheer admiration, her exploits in leading the land and freedom army after the capture of freedom hero Dedan Kimathi whom she served as his personal assistant, after he was betrayed by Collaborators.” ,” Gachagua eulogised.
Born in Central Province in 1931, Muthoni joined the Mau Mau fighters aged about 20 years. She worked as a spy for the Mau Mau fighters after witnessing the injustices colonialists subjected to native Africans.
Great African leaders that are an inspiration to the African society
During the war, many women were used as spies by the fighters or supplied food to them. Muthoni, however, defied the odds to become a fighter after convincing Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi to allow her into the forest.
Her dedication saw her promoted to field marshal and became the only woman to have ever reached that status.
Muthoni was recently featured in the news when she allowed former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta to shave her dreadlocks after donning them for over 70 years.
She explained that the dreadlocks represented her connection to Kenya’s freedom and her rejection of colonization and were a valuable reminder of her sacrifice for the country even after Kenya gained independence in 1963.
“I had to cut it because it has been a long journey. I started keeping this hair in 1952, and after more than 70 years, I needed to get rid of them. I now feel like a young girl,” she said in April this year.
