Wangu Wa Makeri- A Meteor That Burned Bright

For the many Gikuyu men in 1900s Kenya who never thought they’d find themselves under the command of a woman in their lifetimes, Wangu wa Makeri came at them like an avalanche. Appointed by the colonial authorities as the first female headmen, Makeri quickly gained notoriety for her ferocity. 

She not only pursued tax defaulters relentlessly, she is said to have made grown men kneel down in humiliation for failure to pay their dues. As is to be expected, stories of her uncompromising nature spread far and wide earning her both respect and fear. 

How downfall, when it came, was fast and pitiless. And curiously enough, it didn’t come from her enemies, merely a faux pas that was too much for her tribespeople to bear. At a ceremonial occasion, Makeri dared to dance the Kibata- a thigh-slapping dance reserved only for men. This breaking of taboo angered the community and scandalized the elders and her days were numbered. 

By 1909 her headman position was gone.