Mekatilili Wa Menza: The heroine considered as the first freedom fighter in Kenya

Mekatilili Wa Menza is believed to have been born in the 1840s, in a place called Mutara Wa Tsatsu in Ganze, Kilifi County.  According to a joint article by the National Museums of Kenya and Shujaa Stories,  Mekatilili is also considered to be the first freedom fighter in Kenya, being politically active between 1912 and 1915.

Mekatilili Wa Menza's statue in Malindi, Kilifi County.

NOTE: Mekatilili is a different figure from Mepoho, another heroine of the Agiriama people. Mepoho was a prophetess who preceded and even prophesied the birth of Mekatilili. She is said to have come into existence mysteriously in the 13th century.

Those who are familiar with the Mekatilili story know that Mekatilili was not her birth name. She was born Mnyazi Wa Menza. People referred to her as Mekatilili after the birth of her firstborn son, Katilili. She was born of the Agiriama people, one of the nine clans of the Mijikenda (Kenyan coastal Bantus).

The prefix 'Me' among the Agiriama people stands for 'the mother of'. Mekatilili was born in a family of 4 brothers and one sister. One day, around 1870, they had gone to trade at Kilifi when one of her brothers was kidnapped by the Arab enslavers.

The loss of her brother might have been among the encounters that triggered her to start a revolution aimed at protecting her land. The other was the aftermath of the 1885 Berlin Conference that placed Kenya under the hands of the Imperial British East African Company (IBEA). This time, she was fighting against colonial domination and exploitation.

In 1989, the British East African Protectorate was formed, turning Kenya into a colony. With the urge to improve infrastructure, there came other expenses, the exploitation of Africans and the resources of the land. This is when the prophecy of Mepoho became a reality to the Agiriama. A saviour had come to the land in a time of need.

There also followed a sudden change in culture which was forced upon the Agiriama by the British imperial government. Arthur Champion, a British colonial administrator established a new administrative system of appointed chiefs to serve colonial interests. That was different from the land's traditional council of elders. 

The colonial government had also threatened to evict the Agiriama from their land and impose a hut tax on them. Other blasphemous acts against the people's spirituality followed, Kaya Fungo forest (Agiriama sacred place) was destroyed by the colonial government. With all these acts, Mekatilili and her supporters could not stomach anymore. They resulted into a vibrant resistance against the colonial government.

Mekatilili would dance Kifudu, a traditional dance by widows, to attract a crowd before speaking to them about her movement. On some occasions, she administered oaths to her audience as a way to get their assurance of noncompliance with the colonial administration.

The oaths might have worked against Mr. Arthur for he is recorded by History Matters conceding to the loss. Mr. Arthur from his reports says that "every Giriama was much more afraid of the kiraho (oath) than of the government".

Further, the British colonial government was recruiting Africans to fight in the First World War and this did not please Mekatilili. In her efforts to resist the colonialists, she attended the meeting where Mr. Arthur intended to convince Agiriama men into the war. He was also inciting the men against their traditions.

Mekatilili had carried a hen and its chicks. She then dared the administrator to grab any of the chicks. Mr Arthur did as asked and the hen pecked on him. Mekatilili warned him that that would happen to him if he continued to recruit her Agiriama sons into the war.

Angry Mr. Arthur shot the hen dead, and in response to that, Mekatilili slapped him. Shujaa Stories further writes that the bodyguard to the administrator opened fire on the group of youths who probably might have rebelled after sensing that their leader was in trouble.

With this active character, Capire Organization, a feminist movement, wrote in their article that Mekatilili was in her 70s in the active days of her political involvement. She was also a widow which gave her the freedom to engage in more activism.

Mekatilili's activism with the help of Wanje Wa Mwadori, a traditional medicine man, led to different Agiriama rebellions. This led to the arrest of the duo. They were sent more than 700km away (in Kisii) to be locked in prison.

Mekatilili and Wanje mysteriously escaped prison and walked all the way to their home. It is also important to acknowledge that the two passed through forests vested with wild animals not forgetting the colonial patrol police.

Back in Kilifi, Mekatilili continued her movement against colonialism. Capire organization adds that in the 6 months Mekatilili was in prison, she expressed her concerns against cultural change imposed on the Agiriama people by the British administration. Exactly what would be expected from a revolutionary and a people's leader.

Mekatilili was recaptured and deported to Kismayo, Somalia. The British government was unhappy with the return of the tribe messiahs, Mekatilili and Wanje, and their continued activism.

The continued activism angered the colonial forces who responded by killing many Agiriama people, capturing animals, burning food stocks and homes, and destroying the Kaya forest with dynamite. The Agrirama people responded in retaliation against the colonial administration.

History Matters records that 'Arthur Champions territory camp was set alight'. At that time the British forces had been so engaged in the World War. The Germans in nearby Tanzania were also giving them a rough time. These other factors acted in support of Agiriama's resistance which provided favorable conditions for their victory. 

To make things easy, the British government agreed to a peace treaty that seemed to be fair to the Agiriama. At last, their continued resistance led the British government to relax its domination over the Agiriama land. Mekatilili was also released from Kismayo later in 1919. 

Mekatilili died of natural causes in 1924 and was buried in Dakatcha Woodland, an important wildlife preservation site today. In her honor, the devolved government of Kilifi built a statue of Mekatilili in one of its constituencies, Malindi.

There are also Mekatilili Wa Menza festivals held every year by the County Government of Kilifi. The Kenyan National Government also renamed Uhuru Garden in Nairobi to Mekatilili Wa Menza Garden.

I highly appreciate you for reading this article. Do you have anything to add to this article? Feel free to comment below or write to me at chirom.admin@theafrikanshujaa.com