Freedom fighter Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima takes final bow

Field Marshal Muthoni Wa Kirima (seated left) with former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta after she shaved her dreadlocks. [John Muchucha, Standard]

One of Kenya's prominent female figures in the liberation struggle, Field Marshal Muthoni Kirima, has passed away. Museum records show that Muthoni was born in 1930 as Muthoni Whihuini in Nairutia village, Nyeri County.

Former Nyeri Museum Curator Anthony Maina, who is currently in charge of the Murang'a museum, said she was named after her grandfather, foreshadowing her future as a woman breaking barriers in a male-dominated world.