The name is absent

Kenyan women.⁹³ Although there has been a great deal written on this topic to
show pro-Britian accounts, the actual testimonies and memories of those that
participated still carry a great deal of weight in telling the Mau Mau story. The
gendered unity along with connections across ethnicities, religion, regions, and
class showed that Mau Mau was a nationalistic movement, full of force and with
a conviction where members were willing to die.

Conclusion

The Colonial situation and the emergence of Mau Mau required a new and
sophisticated type of oath rooted in the past. This new oath was inclusive as
women and men understood that all were needed to unite and fight the colonial
regime. The growing grievances leading up to the Mau Mau war created an
urgent situation. Women understood the stakes of not participating and many
embraced the opportunity to create a new reality in Kenya. Women, like men,
wanted freedom, land, respect, and stability. The women that took the oath to
join the movement decided not to settle for the old gender constructs that kept
women out of the business of politics. Instead they organized through
associations, clubs, and in markets. This chapter has argued that the Mau Mau
oath was radicalized with the inclusion of women; it was a relationship that did
not exist prior to the 1950s. Before Mau Mau, women were forbidden from being
present or even coming near the traditional kithitu oathing object. Therefore, this
gender transformation in oathing was a major discontinuity from traditional
oathing practices.

⁹³ Elkins, Imperial Reckoning, 219.

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