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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2011 6:00:35 GMT 3
FIELD MARSHAL MUTHONIBy NYAMBEGA GISESA engisesa@yahoo.com Posted Sunday, December 11 2011 at 19:11 On December 12, 1963 President Jomo Kenyatta sent a car to pick up a Mau Mau fighter from the forest to take part in a ceremony where freedom fighters would lay down their weapons.
She refused, not convinced the war was over, and demanded instead to first see the Kenyan flag.
President Kenyatta had a lot of convincing to do before the woman agreed to lead other fighters in the ceremony marking Kenya’s full independence at Nyeri’s Ruringu Stadium in December 1963.
Today, Field Marshal Muthoni wa Kirima, previously known for her air of authority and rebellious streak, lives with her grandchildren at her home in a Nyeri suburb.
Last year, President Mwai Kibaki invited her to State House Nairobi. They had earlier met in May 2009 during the burial of Mishek Wachiuri, the Mau Mau leader Dedan Kimathi’s son, in Nyeri.
“I arrived shortly after seven in the morning and I was denied entry and told to get an appointment letter. I left after five in the evening,” she told the Nation by telephone.
Being asked to write a letter was too insulting for the senior most women within the Mau Mau ranks.
“I know neither English nor good Kiswahili because when others were in school, I was in the forest fighting,” she said in February during the 54th anniversary of the execution of Dedan Kimathi in Nyeri.
Field Marshal Muthoni was one of the very few women to become active fighters in the liberation movement. Most other women only worked as carriers of information or supplies, as she also did at the start.
The liberation movement had only four Field Marshals — Kimathi, Baimungi Marete, Muthoni and Musa Mwariama — and rising to such a position was no easy task.
The only surviving Field Marshal is one of a kind. Muthoni wa Kirima showed great courage even as a young girl when she killed a rhinoceros to save her father’s goats.
Later she followed her husband into Nyandarua Forest to join the Mau Mau freedom fighters. Dedan Kimathi named her Weaver Bird because of her ability to weave brilliant strategies in the struggle for Kenya’s independence.
Although her parents worked on a European farm, after her marriage, she moved to a village “reserve” for Africans in Nyeri before joining the Mau Mau as a married woman.
She led the hunt for elephants, walked hundreds of kilometres among other fighters to pick up weapons from Ethiopia and was among the fighters who were never caught, only came out of the forest after independence.
“Field Marshal Muthoni was trapping wildlife to cook. She went to fight alongside famous warriors of the forest like Dedan Kimathi Waciuri,” the book Mau Mau Women notes about her.
Even when death stared at the fighters, she found a humorous and satirical way to keep their spirits high.
Another book, Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima — Warrior Woman quotes her speaking about her first bombing experience:
“We saw the bottom of the bomber open and then something drop. Some of us said: ‘Well, so they (whites) also go to the toilet.’”
After independence, Field Marshal Muthoni convinced Mzee Kenyatta to get her a licence to trade in ivory, saying she used to kill elephants for food and hide the ivory, and knew where they had buried tusks.
Her permission to collect and sell “wild” ivory ended in 1976 when trade in ivory was banned.
Security firm
She then moved to transporting farm produce to sell in Nairobi before the Moi government helped her set up a security firm in Nyeri that she runs up to today.
She says she did not attract much attention after independence since she got clean and adopted modern clothes, unlike a number of Mau Mau fighters who continued wearing dreadlocks and animal skin clothes.
Today, Field Marshal Muthoni is still concerned about land being sold to foreigners instead of being rented out on short leases to such outsiders.
Alternatively, she says, the government should use the land itself to address lack of jobs for the youth, and settle IDPs and the landless freedom fighters.
But she also has praise for what has been happening, including the free primary school education, recognition of the heroes and the removal of the Mau Mau from the terrorist list.
“As the only female Field Marshal, we are demanding that a statue be elected in her honour when she is alive. It’s wrong for the county to only keep honouring the dead,” activist Benedict Wachira says.
www.nation.co.ke/News/Field+Marshal+who+snubbed+Mzee+/-/1056/1287862/-/ypmq8xz/-/index.html
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Post by justfacts on Dec 15, 2011 20:51:02 GMT 3
"Uhuru tulipigania ama tulipewa"--This quote is often credited to Kenyatta.
Seems the Mzee may have had his doubts. Methinks Tulipewa and here is why:
Independence was negotiated at Lancaster House at a time and place chosen by the colonialist as an exit strategy. Negotiators representing Kenya did not include Maumau!
Independence came in 1963, Maumau's Vita ended in 1956 with its leader capture, tried, hanged and buried in an unmarked grave. Not how a victory script should read.
Uhuru government was made up largely of Collaborators and a spill over from colonial civil service like the famous post independence Agriculture Minister Mr. Mckenzie the exact same people Kimathi was against and who suffered his purge.
Kenyatta had British education, wife and kid, not exactly the character to give power to. He denied any links to them before and after 1963. In any case power logically should have gone to the victor (Maumau?)!
Settlers title to land are still legally recognized. Those who left sold their land on willing buyer/willing seller basis. That explains why the likes of Chomondley family still owns a farm half a century after independence. What did they fight for again?
African nations that did not fight for independence still got it around the same time as Kenya. If a hint was needed that the Brits in Africa had decided to call it quits anyway.
Maumau was a valid land rights agitation but to say they had border integrity of kenya from Lamu to Turkana in their agenda is stretching facts.
Maumau fought the colonialist YES but they LOST and the so called 'Natives' still had to buy back their land from the supposed LOSERS -settlers (Yeomen Treaty and all....) the government went on to botch the resettlement process, a matter that has grown to have an emotive legacy today.
Stories like the one above sound nice and patriotic (Field Marshals ...et al) but we should be candid enough to notice our history has often had a healthy dose of propaganda. It worked in the 60's and beyond, but illiteracy was low and we needed a 'feel good factor' to marshal together as the Country was at its infant stage.
We should know better now and dare to CONNECT THE DOTS.......
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Post by reporter911 on Dec 17, 2011 9:17:05 GMT 3
"Uhuru tulipigania ama tulipewa"--This quote is often credited to Kenyatta. Seems the Mzee may have had his doubts. Methinks Tulipewa and here is why: Independence was negotiated at Lancaster House at a time and place chosen by the colonialist as an exit strategy. Negotiators representing Kenya did not include Maumau! Independence came in 1963, Maumau's Vita ended in 1956 with its leader capture, tried, hanged and buried in an unmarked grave. Not how a victory script should read. Uhuru government was made up largely of Collaborators and a spill over from colonial civil service like the famous post independence Agriculture Minister Mr. Mckenzie the exact same people Kimathi was against and who suffered his purge. Kenyatta had British education, wife and kid, not exactly the character to give power to. He denied any links to them before and after 1963. In any case power logically should have gone to the victor (Maumau?)! Settlers title to land are still legally recognized. Those who left sold their land on willing buyer/willing seller basis. That explains why the likes of Chomondley family still owns a farm half a century after independence. What did they fight for again? African nations that did not fight for independence still got it around the same time as Kenya. If a hint was needed that the Brits in Africa had decided to call it quits anyway. Maumau was a valid land rights agitation but to say they had border integrity of kenya from Lamu to Turkana in their agenda is stretching facts. Maumau fought the colonialist YES but they LOST and the so called 'Natives' still had to buy back their land from the supposed LOSERS -settlers (Yeomen Treaty and all....) the government went on to botch the resettlement process, a matter that has grown to have an emotive legacy today. Stories like the one above sound nice and patriotic (Field Marshals ...et al) but we should be candid enough to notice our history has often had a healthy dose of propaganda. It worked in the 60's and beyond, but illiteracy was low and we needed a 'feel good factor' to marshal together as the Country was at its infant stage. We should know better now and dare to CONNECT THE DOTS....... Well said ;D |
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Post by mank on Dec 18, 2011 8:01:12 GMT 3
"Uhuru tulipigania ama tulipewa"--This quote is often credited to Kenyatta.
Seems the Mzee may have had his doubts. Methinks Tulipewa and here is why:
Independence was negotiated at Lancaster House at a time and place chosen by the colonialist as an exit strategy. Negotiators representing Kenya did not include Maumau!
Independence came in 1963, Maumau's Vita ended in 1956 with its leader capture, tried, hanged and buried in an unmarked grave. Not how a victory script should read.
Uhuru government was made up largely of Collaborators and a spill over from colonial civil service like the famous post independence Agriculture Minister Mr. Mckenzie the exact same people Kimathi was against and who suffered his purge.
Kenyatta had British education, wife and kid, not exactly the character to give power to. He denied any links to them before and after 1963. In any case power logically should have gone to the victor (Maumau?)!
Settlers title to land are still legally recognized. Those who left sold their land on willing buyer/willing seller basis. That explains why the likes of Chomondley family still owns a farm half a century after independence. What did they fight for again?
African nations that did not fight for independence still got it around the same time as Kenya. If a hint was needed that the Brits in Africa had decided to call it quits anyway.
Maumau was a valid land rights agitation but to say they had border integrity of kenya from Lamu to Turkana in their agenda is stretching facts.
Maumau fought the colonialist YES but they LOST and the so called 'Natives' still had to buy back their land from the supposed LOSERS -settlers (Yeomen Treaty and all....) the government went on to botch the resettlement process, a matter that has grown to have an emotive legacy today.
Stories like the one above sound nice and patriotic (Field Marshals ...et al) but we should be candid enough to notice our history has often had a healthy dose of propaganda. It worked in the 60's and beyond, but illiteracy was low and we needed a 'feel good factor' to marshal together as the Country was at its infant stage.
We should know better now and dare to CONNECT THE DOTS....... Oh man! You could not be more wrong! The last thing the British would have done to Kenya is give freedom. Uhuru tulinyakua! By blood, I must add. Sorry, Mau Mau did not die with Kimathi, neither did it cease to be a pain in the rear of the British colonialist with the capture and murder of Kimathi. When D. Kimathi was murdered in 1956 the the British were very keen on claiming victory over the Mau Mau. They pulled out their Johnies as an exclamation to the message, but they left a significant force to hold back the Mau Mau resistance – deep inside they knew they had not worn the war,or otherwise they would not have continued to comb the forests and to drop bombs behind the Mau Mau. They continued to do this, even into 1960. By the way Kenya was under the state of emergency till 1960 – so for what, if the war had been contained in 1956? Moreover, the Johnies were to return about 2 years later when Mau Mau activity could not be kept under a veil of news any more. The world over knew about the fighters in Kenya’s forests, especially in the Eastern side of Mt. Kenya and other forests in Meru and Embu. Then there is an incident in a detention camp at the coast in which the inhuman treatment of the Mau Mau by the government is finally laid bare to the public (not that it was not always known, but till then the government had managed to bullshit around and dismiss allegations of inhuman conduct as unjustified. Britain could not pretend that all was well in its colony any more. Objective writers credit this prison event with the ultimate realization by the British that the Kenyan Mau Mau was not relenting and that Britain was losing too much in the public eye through the way it was responding - hence the birth of the Lancaster negotiations. The Lancaster negotiations did not involve Mau Mau, but without Mau Mau none of that would have happened. It was the pressure from the Mau Mau that led to these negotiations. The Mau Mau did not participate because they were sidelined, and would be sidelined for ever after, by opportunists who happened to be more learned and mostly the same people that had been colonial sympathizers. They went on to make sure that Mau Mau fighters were totally frustrated so the opportunists would steal the glory. Kenyatta failed the Mau Mau by letting these opportunists have their way … but then one might understand – although Kenyatta sought freedom, he was not in mainstream Mau Mau (he was even required by the Mau Mau to distance himself from the movement, although on occassion he distanced himself so badly that his loyalty would be questioned). In fact, it is towards independence that Kenyatta was accepted as a bonafide leader of the Mau Mau struggle. By the time we got independence there was a lot of human and paper traffic between Nairobi and Nyambene forest in Meru (where the head of the Mau Mau hailed, and from where the Mau had even planned storming Kenyatta’s jail earlier). You might wonder why you do not hear Nyambene and Uhuru in the same sentence …. Its because it had to be that way, or Mau Mau would have their right position in the story of Kenya’s liberation struggle. People around Kenyatta, with Kenyatta’s apparent blessing, broke that connection in history, and that is how they managed to have reasonable people like you believe that Mau Mau had nothing to do with our independence - or that the British were just charitable with our independence (I shudder at the suggestion). The British had a solid plan to model Kenya as a white man's country (remember South Africa). Mau Mau denied them that chance. While Mau Mau fighters died everywhere like flies under the merciless machinery of the Johnies, they were winning the war over time as the world noticed that Mau Mau was an upright freedom fighting army rather than the terrorist gang that the white government was telling the world they were. At some point London could not stand the fight any further, and had to save face. There then came the negotiations, and with political opportunists noticing, Mau Mau fighters were sidelined. There is absolutely no doubt that my gratitude for being born in freedom goes to the Mau Mau fighters - not to the opportunists who would even craft ways to frustrate the fighters after independence. |
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Post by justfacts on Dec 18, 2011 19:43:18 GMT 3
Mank,
I recognize and is in no way diminishing the effort of Maumau. Their plight was indeed a just one. But the question is what constitutes winning?
You allude to the fact that Maumau went underground and was hunted in forests until 1960 that is already enough proof they were a diminished force. At which point did they come from bush hideout to victory? under whose leadership? and what is there to show for it?
In their effort they left an estimated body count of 2,000 African loyalists, 29 Asians and a paltry 95 of their main target- the settlers many of whom were civilians. Makes one wonder who indeed they were fighting. This is the same practice of Uganda's LRA and i dare say symptomatic of a group that could not reach its main target so aims at symbolic targets.
Also notice Lancaster was not peace talks or ceasefire talks but hand over talks. If they were the agents that forced such talks to occur it is improbable they would be omitted from the talks but they were. This shows they were dispensable. Not only to the colonizer but to the post independence government who totally ignored their existence except in rhetoric.
Colonization consisted of 2 main players imperial civil service run from London and the settler exploiting the land. When the former, made broke by WW2 coupled with shifting world politics realized that continued hold on Africa colonies was unappealing in political and economic terms. They negotiated to have the interest of the latter taken care of. prominent of which was the respect of land titles. That is why independence in 'British East Africa' was:
Uganda- 1962
Kenya -1963
Tanzania- 1964
You cannot refuse to notice this trend.
Any claim at victory is wishful thinking divorced from reality. Maumau did not get control or say on the land nor government nor even a say in how public life ran after 1963 not even a symbolic national holiday.
Take a keen look and you will notice that Jamuhuri and Madaraka days were used to mark the milestones of hand over of government (as decided by UK) NOT any victory. In commemorating these days Maumau was mentioned only as lip service and to date their surviving members and descendants complain of being ignored--and they WON the war?!!
That serious atrocities were committed to suspected Maumau and their supporters is not in doubt but Maumau can only rightfully pride itself in offering resistance but not in Victory.
Sad but true.
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Post by mank on Dec 18, 2011 20:48:43 GMT 3
Mank,
I recognize and is in no way diminishing the effort of Maumau. Their plight was indeed a just one. But the question is what constitutes winning?
You allude to the fact that Maumau went underground and was hunted in forests until 1960 that is already enough proof they were a diminished force. At which point did they come from bush hideout to victory? under whose leadership? and what is there to show for it?
In their effort they left an estimated body count of 2,000 African loyalists, 29 Asians and a paltry 95 of their main target- the settlers many of whom were civilians. Makes one wonder who indeed they were fighting. This is the same practice of Uganda's LRA and i dare say symptomatic of a group that could not reach its main target so aims at symbolic targets.
Also notice Lancaster was not peace talks or ceasefire talks but hand over talks. If they were the agents that forced such talks to occur it is improbable they would be omitted from the talks but they were. This shows they were dispensable. Not only to the colonizer but to the post independence government who totally ignored their existence except in rhetoric.
Colonization consisted of 2 main players imperial civil service run from London and the settler exploiting the land. When the former, made broke by WW2 coupled with shifting world politics realized that continued hold on Africa colonies was unappealing in political and economic terms. They negotiated to have the interest of the latter taken care of. prominent of which was the respect of land titles. That is why independence in 'British East Africa' was:
Uganda- 1962
Kenya -1963
Tanzania- 1964
You cannot refuse to notice this trend.
Any claim at victory is wishful thinking divorced from reality. Maumau did not get control or say on the land nor government nor even a say in how public life ran after 1963 not even a symbolic national holiday.
Take a keen look and you will notice that Jamuhuri and Madaraka days were used to mark the milestones of hand over of government (as decided by UK) NOT any victory. In commemorating these days Maumau was mentioned only as lip service and to date their surviving members and descendants complain of being ignored--and they WON the war?!!
That serious atrocities were committed to suspected Maumau and their supporters is not in doubt but Maumau can only rightfully pride itself in offering resistance but not in Victory.
Sad but true. My point to you is not just that Mau Mau was a justified resistance, but that contrary to your argument, we won our independence on the blood of the Mau Mau. The head leader of the Mau Mau then was Field Marshal Mwariama. This is the same man the leader of the patrol that captured Dedan Kimathi had been hunting in all forests east of Mt. Kenya, especially in Nyambene hills and the areas around and in Meru National Park when the colonial government got better lead as to the whereabouts of Dedan Kimathi. There were many other leaders of the Mau Mau but Mwariama is the one that was recognized by the colonial government as the heart beat after Kimathi was gone. After Kimathi was executed the government carried giraffe bones around the Mau Mau country claiming to have killed the other Mau Mau leader - Mwariama was a very tall man, hence the choice of giraffe bones. The whole idea was to tell people that Mau Mau was now for sure dead. If Mau Mau was not making a mark there can be no reason the government would go to such propaganda drives! Nowhere did I say that the Mau Mau went underground. It was only when negotiations for freedom began that Mau Mau rested its weapons. Kenyatta was corresponding with Mwariama through hand messengers even while he was in prison. It was Kenyatta who told them to rest their weapons for a while, while he followed the negotiations, and he assured Mwariama that he would be quick to tell the Mau Mau leader if the negotiations turned out to be a sham. Kenyatta would send people that would become key leaders of his government to Nyambene forest before independence - people like Jesse Kariuki. Got to go for now, but I hope I have addressed some of your main arguments against Mau Mau winning. Mau Mau won ... but they were defrauded by the Njonjos and the Angaines! |
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Post by mank on Dec 19, 2011 0:00:07 GMT 3
i have modified the above a little bit, and will probably come with more updates.
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Post by mank on Dec 19, 2011 1:45:20 GMT 3
I invite you to an older thread on this topic ... HereI would be pleased to continue the discussion with you there as I attempt to call the bluff out of the story of the Mau Mau as told by those who had something to gain by misrepresenting the war and the warriors. The story of the Mau Mau as told, particularly the claim that Mau Mau died in 1956, or that we were to get our independence in 1963 with or without the Mau Mau, is a fraud .... it is the story coming out of the British government's unflinching attempt to discredit the Mau Mau so to contain the resistance - that is, if youth were convinced that the Mau Mau was ineffective then they would be unwilling to join. Then the story was perfected by the black government through folks who were more educated than the Mau Mau, and had been with the Mzungu enough to learn personal interest over the national interest, and who knew well that only fake history would work for them - Mau Mau warriors were systematically frustrated so this history would be stamped authentic. Then there were the real fighters who would tell the story in terms that are more persuasive, and the families that lost kin in the forests well after 1956 - from those we learn that without the Mau Mau it would have been impossible to think of Kenya's freedom - at least not in the 60s, and the circumstances under which Kenya would have been free without armed struggle are not imaginable. At best Kenya would have remained "a black man's land" with a more privileged white co-community in the white highlands (the prescription of the Devonshire White Paper of 1923). |
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Post by nereah on Dec 19, 2011 12:53:48 GMT 3
dada kathure,
please help me. are we on about the kenyan women and their role in the struggle-past and post? ......or is it the place of women in mau mau or... how the mau mau narrative defined women place in kenya? i have something i have to get off my chest on this but i need your informed guidance ;D
this is not to say the posts by mank ;D and other esteemed members are of low discount; far from it. just want to understand what you set out for.
nereah
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Post by Deleted on Dec 20, 2011 6:29:37 GMT 3
dada kathure, please help me. are we on about the kenyan women and their role in the struggle-past and post? ......or is it the place of women in mau mau or... how the mau mau narrative defined women place in kenya? i have something i have to get off my chest on this but i need your informed guidance ;D this is not to say the posts by mank ;D and other esteemed members are of low discount; far from it. just want to understand what you set out for. nereah I just wanted a thread that highlights the contributions of Kenyan women past and present. Feel free sis! |
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Post by mank on Dec 20, 2011 9:36:03 GMT 3
dada kathure, please help me. are we on about the kenyan women and their role in the struggle-past and post? ......or is it the place of women in mau mau or... how the mau mau narrative defined women place in kenya? i have something i have to get off my chest on this but i need your informed guidance ;D this is not to say the posts by mank ;D and other esteemed members are of low discount; far from it. just want to understand what you set out for. nereah
nereah
I just wanted a thread that highlights the contributions of Kenyan women past and present. Feel free sis!Women were big players in the Mau Mau struggle, and have been big players in the Kenya that emerged. My two grandmothers were deeply connected even though they did not go into the forests or engage in combat, and in my own young life I would see their energy get deflected from the national interest to KANU politics - as I look in the rear mirror I now see that there was a calculated program to steer the Mau Mau muscle into KANU, first by making the faithfuls believe that KANU was an extension of MAU MAU or perhaps even Mau Mau itself. I recall those huge meetings of the women soldiers and wives of the Mau Mau who would gather in the early 70s (and I would expect earlier as well, except I cannot talk of any memory that far back), dress in traditional attire, singing freedom songs, patriotic songs, and songs in exaltation of key politicians. They would first spend an insanely amount of time putting on okre (or something like it), and then spend another insane amount of time singing and dancing and all sorts of celebration. These women had two identities, and the KANU identity was being cunningly imposed over them - in my neck of the woods they were the Ithúngi, the KIAMA ladies (lady council of elders), and they were Mau Mau veterans and Mau Mau wives. Field Marshal Muthoni is an individual, and in no way can the story of an individual be an highlight of the contributions of Kenyan women either in the struggle or in the present Kenya. In any case the story is too shallow and hardly highlights the accomplishments of Field Marshal Muthoni herself, leave alone of women in general. I have read supposedly more casual stories that were more telling about the gallant lady worrior. |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2011 5:48:02 GMT 3
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2011 5:53:30 GMT 3
nereah
I should have stated contributions and experiences.
As such, here is a vexing story which captures the experiences of millions of Kenyan women.
How society condemns us to chains of what is upright, moral and acceptable
Published on 16/12/2011
By Barrack Muluka
Mary Kagure succumbed to a brutal domestic knife on last Wednesday morning.
The knife was ostensibly used against her by her estranged husband.
She had moved away from their marital home to live alone, after unending brutality from this man.
Mary reported her matter to the Kenya Police several times. But they simply laughed it off. This was a domestic matter, they said. They asked her to sort out the matter at home.
And so the matter was sorted out at home, with a brutal knife. Mary became one more statistic. Ironically, she died on a day that African First Ladies from the Great Lakes Region were assembled in Kampala Uganda, to address the issue of violence against women as a human rights matter.
The condition of the African woman reminds you of the opening words of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s opening words in his seminal work, The Social Contract, with the exception that Rousseau had in mind man the biological being, and not the sociological person.
Writing in 1762, Rousseau said, "Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains." He should have said, "Woman is born free and everywhere she is in chains."
There is a sense in which Rousseau’s words tease us to believe that he would suggest that if we threw away the chains of civil society, we should be free. Scrutiny and understanding of Rousseau, however, suggests otherwise.
For, in fact, this treatise seeks to show us how to live in the chains of society without compromising our freedom. The African woman has been taught to live in chains. She has also been socially conditioned to compromise her God given freedom.
Is it possible, as Rousseau says, to live in the chains of society without compromising your freedom? This thought kills itself. Rousseau is actually telling us that if you unchain yourself from social fetters, you will be un-free.
Live therefore in these chains, but do not compromise your freedom. Ask for accountability from those who chain you. Such a status should seem impossible, I think. That is why the drift of the argument in The Social Contract eventually disappoints.
Let me note that the central argument in the contract is the justification of the State and the practice of human beings living together in civilised fashion, unlike say wild beasts.
Society has established norms, beliefs and practices that define proper behaviour. If you digress from the social order, you are to be punished. If the digression is criminal, for example, you should go to jail.
If it is benign, but still socially unacceptable, you should still be punished. Punishment could be as simple as people shunning you, or making you the centre of gossip.
Because you do not wish to be the centre of gossip, to be shunned or otherwise be a social pariah, you put up with things that make you suffer privately. You are a social conformist.
You live in social chains. You go to the place of worship because you do not wish to be a social outsider.
You get married because society says so. You endure an abusive marriage because society says it is respectable to be married. You pretend to be happy because society says it is good to be happily married.
Never mind that nobody knows about the unhappiness in your marriage.
Never mind that Leo Tolstoy told us in the tragic story of Anna Karenina (published over 1873 – 1878) that all happy families are happy in the same manner while each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.
So if each unhappy family has its unique brand of unhappiness, how does society impose upon you the chains of tragic marriage? How do your relatives say to you, "Persevere. Hang in there. Do it for your children," and that kind of thing? Do they know what you go through?
Marriage and family life is easily the ultimate social chain. This might very well explain the extravaganza we go to when two people get married.
Society celebrates the chaining of two more individuals. We, therefore, use such terminology as "tying the knot." In Kiswahili, they talk of "the everlasting chains (pingu za maisha)."
Rousseau has discussed the origins of the family at some length in an earlier essay, A Discourse on the Origins and Foundations of Inequality among Men (1754).
The family is an artificial institution, "a creation of human will." The arguments about its justification and evolution are as interesting as they are long – evolving through a variety of stages.
Suffice is to say, however, that the family is the preeminent social prison. This is in spite of the fact that the philosopher is more concerned with the individual’s imprisonment to the State than he is to the individual’s imprisonment to other social institutions.
The complexities of Rousseau’s arguments aside, you want to appreciate the truth about society condemning individuals to chains of what is upright, moral and acceptable.
A woman of virtue is therefore one who stays in an abusive marriage. This is regardless that the beast she lives with batters her day in day out.
If she talks about it, we say she is a bad woman. She is worse still if she gets out of it.
That is why Mary had to die in a loveless marriage. She protected the unhappiness with a trademark-disarming smile. Society loves this.
I worked with Mary. She was loveable and loving. Few knew of the anguish behind her disarming visage. Once in a while, you saw her with a bruised face, a black eye.
She said some vague thing or the other about it. Then, one morning, she suffered the final fatal blow. The man believed to have killed her walked to the local police station to tell them what he had done.
"Did you kill her yourself?" they asked. "I did not send someone," he responded.
An unhappy and abusive marriage is the ultimate social prison. If you get out of it, regardless that you follow the laid down rules, they will use it against you, some day.
We have heard learned men refer to some women as "a bunch of divorcees." This is meant to intimidate other women and make them endure brutality. We must reexamine our so-called family values. Rest in peace, Mary – beloved daughter of God.
The writer is a publishing editor and media
consultantokwaromuluka@yahoo.com
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Post by nereah on Dec 21, 2011 15:02:02 GMT 3
nereahI should have stated contributions and experiences. As such, here is a vexing story which captures the experiences of millions of Kenyan women. i hear you dada, there is one moving story, a heart wrenching one that mrembo ;D alerted me of earlier in the day.its in today's edition of daily nation and regards the lady below and her car.  well, now that you have issued the clarification, i will hopefully be sharing my urgings and hope and wish that all jukwaaists have something to honour the women in their lives with a reflection on the topic and theme of this powerful thread. |
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Post by kasuku on Dec 21, 2011 17:43:39 GMT 3
Is the Kenyan woman an Individual and is she the cause of all Kenyan Social and Family dysfunctions coming from wherever or whatever?
Who is she or it or whoever?
Does the Mankind know about her or it?
Oh, by the way, is she a Mankind or whoever, whatever?!
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Post by kasuku on Dec 21, 2011 17:59:45 GMT 3
What the hell is Kenyan women?
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Post by Deleted on Dec 21, 2011 18:30:49 GMT 3
Is the Kenyan woman an Individual and is she the cause of all Kenyan Social and Family dysfunctions coming from wherever or whatever? Who is she or it or whoever? Does the Mankind know about her or it? Oh, by the way, is she a Mankind or whoever, whatever?! I logged in just to say this to you kasukuyour mother might be one!! check in with her ok? And if you have more insults, don't hesitate. Bring it on son of a gun! |
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Post by justfacts on Dec 22, 2011 0:05:05 GMT 3
kathurekebaara41,
My apologies for hijacking what may have been intended as a Feminist thread . As you reminisce about such and such... and all that was lost in 1988.
Define: Kenyan Woman and who has conspired to keep her down??
Do all Kenyan females fit into the 'Kenyan Women' supposed selfless, all suffering, unappreciated tag.
I suspect this is what Kasuku is asking, and if that be the case i see no insult but curiosity . Insult would be to bring his mother into it. And what made you conclude she would fit into your 'Kenyan Women' tag.
Those of us who cherish the women in our lives and would object to such ambiguous tags.
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Post by mank on Dec 22, 2011 7:09:51 GMT 3
What do you mean? Where did you see me being stopped from sharing? What do you call what I posted, which you respond to, if not sharing? Oh well, I certainly did not fill this space with cut and paste clips from newpapers and the web, which seems to be "sharing" by your standards. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 23:18:35 GMT 3
Rape victim living in fear of the police
By VINCENT BARTOO
A woman who was raped and wrongly imprisoned due to police complicity is living under fear following threats by police officers.
Ms Monica Wanjiru, 31, was accosted by an officer from Langas Police Station who threatened her.
"He came to my home in Langas estate and slapped me twice in the face claiming that I had refused to pay rent yet it was a lie.
"He was alone and was not in uniform. I knew it was not about rent when he asked me where I thought my case would end up," she tearfully told The Standard.
Wanjiru’s case file has since been recalled by the Director of Public Prosecutions Keriako Tobiko. This followed claims of a cover-up by police in a rape incident that led to the victim being locked up and charged instead of the culprits.
Wanjiru’s plight was highlighted by The Standard, including details of how police deliberately disowned her despite rescuing her after the rape. Police charged Wanjiru with giving false information, but Eldoret Resident Magistrate Innocent Maisiba ruled in her favour and set her free while admonishing police for "trying to cover up evil deeds".
Do her harm
Wanjiru said following the incident, she had a friend lock her inside her house at night fearing that the officers would return to harm her.
"And true to my fears, they came back and when they found a padlock on my door, they thought I had fled. I could hear them saying I could run but one day they will find me and finish me," she said.
The Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Eldoret has condemned the action of the police officers. Wanjiru has reported the matter to the Eldoret Central Police Station where deputy OCPD Charles Mutua promised that action would be taken.www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000049867&cid=4&ttl=Rape%20victim%20living%20in%20fear%20of%20the%20police
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 23:31:25 GMT 3
The police claim to be looking for a chief and an elderly woman for the torture of 10 little girls. The Kenyan police would do well to start by arresting those people who openly appeared in front of media parading the little girls they had just tortured wouldn't they? Chief sought for aiding FGM
By Ngumbao Kithi
Police have launched a manhunt for a chief and an elderly woman in Tana River County who subjected 10 underage girls to Female Genital Mutilation late last year.
The Kalakacha location chief is said to have allowed the girls, who included his seven-year-old daughter, to be subjected to the outlawed rite.
The chief ran away after he discovered that police were looking for him.
The woman being sought by police is aged 65 and is suspected to have conducted the rite.
Tana River DO George Kamweru said it was unfortunate that the incident took place under the supervision of the local chief who was expected to protect the children.
Kamweru said he had asked the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organisation in the area to record a statement with the police for appropriate action to be taken against the chief.
On Wednesday, a group of women raided the home of the chief and found ten girls recuperating lying in a Manyatta.www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000049813&cid=4&ttl=Chief%20sought%20for%20aiding%20FGM |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 11, 2012 23:34:40 GMT 3
Generous family’s twin gift for new mother
Published on 10/01/2012
By Allan Olingo
When Stephanie Mwite, an etiquette consultant and her husband were going about their business in the streets of Nairobi on New Year’s Eve, they stumbled upon a bleeding new mother, lying helpless by the streets.
Says Stephanie: "We were going to buy books as the children were about to resume school. As
Judy Nafuria’s desire to leave the streets not only left her pregnant, but also HIV positive [Photo: Standard]
we were driving down Haile Sellasie Avenue, my husband noticed a woman lying by the street with two babies. He stopped the car and reversed."
When they stopped, they found Judy Nafuria looking extremely weak and bleeding.
"She told us the twins were a day old and that she was a street mother. After much convincing, Judy agreed to come with us and I booked her in a hotel in Nairobi west where she stayed for three days as we thought of how to help her," says Stephanie.
The couple later decided to rent her a house in Waithaka so that the babies could start life away from the streets as their mother got medical attention at nearby clinics.
"She said she always wanted to leave the streets but had no means so we decided to rent her a house and buy her the necessary house hold items so that she can start her life anew."
While thinking of the best way to leave the streets, Nafuria fell in love with a handcart pusher who worked at Wakulima Market in Nairobi who promised to marry her and get her off the streets.
Says Nafuria: "He promised me a better life out of the street. We went to his house in Huruma and after spending a night there he changed his mind and I was back in the streets again — and pregnant."
But she didn’t get out of the streets with the twins only; she also got infected with HIV, something she found out last week during her weekly post-natal clinic visit.
"I honestly had no idea that I was HIV positive. This is because I never attended any clinic while I was pregnant and delivered my babies on my own with the help of friends. This is a turn of events that I was not prepared for."
Nafuria, who is in her late 20s, went into labour on December 31 last year and walked to a City Council clinic in Ngara area only to be turned away as she had no money.
She then went to a backstreet in Ngara area where she delivered the twins, named Mercy and Patrick. All along she thought she was carrying one child but she was shocked when she got two.
Stephanie says that Nafuria’s current abode is temporary and that together with her husband and a few friends, they are looking for somewhere permanent where she can live decently.
"Given that she is HIV positive, we want to immediately put her on ARVs and that will require an extra effort from both sides. We are appealing to well wishers to chip in and help Judy," says Stephanie.
Kept off drugs
Nafuria looks clean and well groomed for a former street person.
"I kept off drugs, prostitution and sniffing glue like the rest of my colleagues. Life in the streets is harsh and when you start indulging in such, you really have no hope left," she calmly says, adding, "I depended on begging and I used to sleep in the street opposite Kenya Polytechnic. That was my abode."
Nafuria says her mother occasionally visited her in the streets and warned her against bad company. Asked why she did not leave with her mother, she ponders for a while before saying it is because of complicated reasons.
It is not the first time Nafuria is a mother. Eight years ago, she got a child in the street and good Samaritans took the baby. "I hear that she is at a children’s home in Kayole and I am happy for her."
Although she now has a home, courtesy of generous strangers, she will not go for her daughter.
"I do not want to interfere with her life now. She is assured of food on a daily basis and also goes to school. I am helpless as you can see. I depend on well-wishers to see the next day."
dumped back
Does the twins’ father know about them?
"I honestly do not have any idea where he might be. He does not even know that I got pregnant by him. He lied to me and dumped me back in the streets. He looks as hopeless as I am," she says of the man.
Nafuria’s prayer is that her children have a good future with the best schooling.
"I do not want them in the streets. Life there is harsh and I thank God because he has taken me off the streets."
Stephanie says tests on the twins so far show they are healthy and HIV-free.
"It is a big challenge we have taken as a family but I am praying that we shall find a way of sustaining the help. I thought it wise not to give her ten shillings in the street but give her a future with her babies. It’s the least I could do," says Stephanie.
Sex industry a thriving pastime for street dwellers
Life in the streets, especially for women, is survival for the fittest in which many fo them may have to give in to sexual advances for protection and food.
According to Judy Nafuria, a former street mother, many are drawn or forced, even by family members, into the sex industry to earn a sustainable livelihood.
Says Nafuria: " Most of the women and girls living on the street solicit commercial sex work at night to eke out a living or get protection."
"We are faced with a double-edged dilemma from the authorities and the street boys who demand for sex in exchange of protection."
Even if they are not forced into sex, the majority of street girls are usually defiled, sexually abused, and raped by the older and stronger street boys.
Sexually abused
In fact, many girls living on the streets have been sexually abused. In a city where HIV/Aids is rampant, and where there are few resources for single, teenage mothers, the problems for street girls grow exponentially.
A vicious cycle of poverty is shaped when young girls, who are just children themselves, are giving birth at a tender age.
According to a study of street girls in Nairobi by the Centre for Development Studies, University College of Swansea, United Kingdom, 80 per cent of the street girls came from homes with only a single room. The girls ran away from such homes because of fear of being sexually violated by a man living in the house, the study established.
Nafuria corroborated this: "Most of my friends in the streets are there because the conditions back home are not conducive for survival. Besides poverty, there is sexual abuse."
Nafuria says many of the street girls end up getting babies, usually fathered within the street circles, which is normal.
www.standardmedia.co.ke/InsidePage.php?id=2000049736&cid=4&story=Generous%20family%E2%80%99s%20twin%20gift%20for%20new%20mother
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Post by kasuku on Jan 12, 2012 0:36:16 GMT 3
Is the Kenyan woman an Individual and is she the cause of all Kenyan Social and Family dysfunctions coming from wherever or whatever? Who is she or it or whoever? Does the Mankind know about her or it? Oh, by the way, is she a Mankind or whoever, whatever?! I logged in just to say this to you kasukuyour mother might be one!! check in with her ok? And if you have more insults, don't hesitate. Bring it on son of a gun! a, well, well, well...look what has being let lose here...I answered here then was away for quite a time... you threw me back with your insult to me, Oh by the way, check on my profile, remember to insult me next time as a daughter of a gun (Mom would turn in her grave and cry for being insulted like that) My dear Kathure, if the Kenyan woman you are seeking FOR HERE is a woman who goes around insulting “men” out of her moods, then keep off calling this thread "Kenyan women" as i know the Kenyan woman to be one of the best behaved and kind hearted woman in this world. I have traveled everywhere in the world to come to appreciate the woman in general everywhere else like in Kenya, Thai, German or American.... Justfacts caught the motive behind my confused question. I was waiting to see what’s going to come out of this thread (then forgot it) but i have lost interest after reading your Insults now. Shame on you as a moderator of Jukwaa for insult members, how do you expect to win respect and authority like that? Oo, what do you say about your protégé here, Insulting people as if she were a cowgirl, living in the wild west with only bad guys who are after her skirts? |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 12, 2012 0:53:43 GMT 3
I logged in just to say this to you kasukuyour mother might be one!! check in with her ok? And if you have more insults, don't hesitate. Bring it on son of a gun! a, well, well, well...look what has being let lose here...I answered here then was away for quite a time... you threw be back with your insult to me, Oh by the way, check on my profile, remember to insult me next time as a daughter of a gun (Mom would turn in her grave and cry for being insulted like that) My dear Kathure, if the Kenyan woman you are seeking FOR HERE is a woman who goes around insulting “men” out of her moods, then keep off calling this thread "Kenyan women" as i know the Kenyan woman to be one of the best behaved and kind hearted woman in this world. I have traveled everywhere in the world to come to appreciate the woman in general everywhere else like in Kenya, Thai, German or American.... Mang caught the motive behind my confused question. I was waiting to see what’s going to come out of this thread (then forgot it) but i have lost interest after reading your Insults now. Shame on you as a moderator of Jukwaa to insult members, how do you expect to win respect and authority like that? Oo, what do you say about your protégé here, Insulting people as if she were a cowgirl, living in the wild west with only bad guys who are after her skirts? You will not waste my time because without a doubt that's what you're trying to do. I don't have time to do half of what I need and want to do within a 24hr period and talking to someone like you is an exercise in futility. Anybody with half a brain can tell who between you and I makes any sense. so there!! just make sure you stick to the code of conduct of this forum though. |
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Post by kasuku on Jan 12, 2012 0:59:29 GMT 3
a, well, well, well...look what has being let lose here...I answered here then was away for quite a time... you threw be back with your insult to me, Oh by the way, check on my profile, remember to insult me next time as a daughter of a gun (Mom would turn in her grave and cry for being insulted like that) My dear Kathure, if the Kenyan woman you are seeking FOR HERE is a woman who goes around insulting “men” out of her moods, then keep off calling this thread "Kenyan women" as i know the Kenyan woman to be one of the best behaved and kind hearted woman in this world. I have traveled everywhere in the world to come to appreciate the woman in general everywhere else like in Kenya, Thai, German or American.... Mang caught the motive behind my confused question. I was waiting to see what’s going to come out of this thread (then forgot it) but i have lost interest after reading your Insults now. Shame on you as a moderator of Jukwaa to insult members, how do you expect to win respect and authority like that? Oo, what do you say about your protégé here, Insulting people as if she were a cowgirl, living in the wild west with only bad guys who are after her skirts? You will not waste my time because without a doubt that's what you're trying to do. I don't have time to do half of what I need and want to do within a 24hr period and talking to someone like you is an exercise in futility. Anybody with half a brain can tell who between you and I makes any sense. so there!! just make sure you stick to the code of conduct of this forum though. Is that a threat or a provocation? Please do lead by example and disciplin yourself for insulting me. Infact you owe me an apology |
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