This is the riveting and moving story of courage and survival of Wanjiru wa Gathii wa Kibe. She was nicknamed “Kabiti,” which means “tiny,” owing to her small body that belied a great leader.

She was one of the first women to take the Mau Mau oath, almost four years before the declaration of state of emergency in 1952. In this interview, she is accompanied by General Wagocho, who interjects a few times to aid her memory and to collaborate her narrative.

 She narrates how she entered the forest and met Dedan Kimathi, Mbaria Kaniu, and the legendary Kago wa Mbote. Kimathi himself appointed her in charge of the women in the forest. It emerges from her narrative that Mau Mau had been stockpiling guns for a long time, as far back as 1949, and that Kenya Teachers College, Githunguri was also surviving as a recruitment center, what would now be referred to as a radicalization center.

She says she was in charge of hiding the guns whenever they were found. One day, years after entering the forest, she was shot in the shoulder and separated from her compatriots. How she survived alone in the forest is the stuff of the destiny of a patriot. She was eventually captured and detained and hospitalized at King George Hospital (now Kenyatta National Hospital) before being eventually released through the slow pipeline process that was supposed to integrate the ex-Mau Mau fighters with the community.

This video is a must-watch for those who want to understand the role, courage and sacrifice of women during Mau Mau as well as Mau Mau military logistics and operations.  #maumau #kenya  #africa #africanhistory #africanindependence #africanliberation #african #kimathi #kabiti #kago #kenyatta

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