The name is absent

to be caregivers to the men fighting in the forest by bringing food to them. Many
stated that the women wanted to support the efforts of the men. When asked
about the role of women in Mau Mau, the Mau Mau fighter King’oo Nthenge
firmly stated, “They helped us very much by bringing food to the forest and
bringing weapons from the British.”⁶⁷

Women creatively used their position in the society as transporters of
household items to and from the forest to supply Mau Mau fighters. According to
the Mau Mau fighter, Kavata Wa Muli Kitavi in the village of Matundu, “Women
took food to Mau Mau using techniques.” ⁶⁸ These techniques included hiding
food in baskets that women often carried. In the statements from Kakie, the
mothers in the village did the cooking for Mau Mau, while Kakie and other women
were responsible for taking the food to the Mau Mau men. This was achieved by
concealing the food in large baskets and using shrubs to rub out their footsteps
from where they passed.⁶⁹

The “Passive Wing" network of women was labeled passive because of
the type of support it gave to the militant wing of the movement.⁷⁰ However, it
does mask or minimize their activism, their heroism, significance, and the
conscious decisions they made to risk their lives in order to save the lives of
others. Women were the primary sources of food, intelligence about the colonial

⁶⁷ Interview, K. Nthenge, June 2009, Machakos District, Village Kaloleni.

⁶⁸ Interview, Kavata Wa Muli Kitavi, June 2009, Village Matundu, Kitui District.

⁶⁹ Interview, S. Kakie, January 2009, Machakos, Kenya.

⁷⁰ Marina E. Santoru, “The Colonial Idea of Women and Direct Intervention.” African
Affairs 95 no 379 (1996): 253-268.

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