- The country's founding First Lady insisted that the very people who fought for Kenya's freedom from the jaws of the colonial masters have not been properly recognised.
- Mama Ngina said Kenyans must never afford to neglect those who fought for the country's freedom.
Image: JAMES MBAKA
Former First Lady Mama Ngina Kenyatta has warned against what she termed as imposter freedom fighters wrongly taking credit at the expense of the real warriors who ushered in Kenya's independence.
The country's founding First Lady insisted that the very people who fought for Kenya's freedom from the jaws of the colonial masters have not been properly recognised.
Speaking at her Muthaiga home on Thursday when she received Field Marshall Mary Muthoni, Mama Ngina said Kenyans must never afford to neglect those who fought for the country's freedom.
"Look at her, she is the real freedom fighter and not the other ones. They went out there and did a lot for the country," Mama Ngina said.
In what was seen as a veiled swipe at Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, Mama Ngina asked Kenyans to be vigilant and jealously guard the gains achieved by those who sacrificed a lot for the country.
"I want to request you continue making peace in this country knowing well that we have brought it from far," she said.
During the brief event, Muthoni who was accompanied by her descendants brought Mama Ngina a variety of gifts including two goats and an assortment of foodstuffs.
The field marshal had paid a courtesy call on Mama Ngina to appreciate her support including for having shaved her hair off last April.
"I am happy that she has decided to come to say thank you after I went all the way to her home to shave her hair off and it is a testimony of the many years spent in the forest," she said.
Muthoni brought her shaved hair strands to Mama Ngina saying she had waited for long for government officials to collect them for display at Uhuru Gardens Museum.
"When they came home, they said once the museum was complete they would come and take the hair now it is over a year and I have never seen anyone," Muthoni said through a translator.
The field marshal wants the hair kept at the Museum as a memory to future generations of the efforts freedom fighters made during the struggle for independence.
Gachagua has claimed that he is a descendant of the country's Mau Mau freedom fighters, saying he will not be intimidated by any politician from defending the rights of Mt Kenya people.
The DP has repeatedly aimed that as a son of a freedom fighter, he was raised to champion the interests of the downtrodden and uplift the lowly in society and not oppress the poor.
Gachagua has often used the son of Mau Mau remarks when telling off opposition chief Raila Odinga over his anti-government campaigns, saying he cannot be cowed or intimidated into submission.
The country's second in command recently asked President William Ruto not to bother with the Azimio leaders, saying he would handle him in his capacity as the son of Mau Mau.
"Rais hata huyu mtu wa maandamano usishughulike nayeye, wachia mimi nitadeal na yeye (Leave this man (Raila) to me, I will deal with him)," Gachagua said during a thanksgiving church service at the Kerugoya Stadium in Kirinyaga county in January.
On April 8, Gachagua explained the origin behind his 'son of Mau Mau' remarks after walking for 18 kilometres to the Mt Kenya Forest where he said his father spent over 10 years.
During an early morning walk with his wife -Pastor Dorcas Rigathi - he noted that his parents were Mau Mau fighters and spent time in the forest fighting for independence.
"This was a good reconnection for me given that my mother, Martha Gachagua and father, Nashon Gachagua, spent years in this forest fighting for the liberation of this country.
"This forest is a reminder that with blessings and resolve, human beings can achieve their freedom and whatever they desire," he stated.
Narck Kenya leader Martha Karua has also previously slammed Gachagua for tarnishing the name of the Mau Mau veterans saying leaders bragging about being children of Mau Mau freedom fighters have a history of oppressing the people.
"There are some leaders from my community who have been going around claiming to be children of Mau Mau. I want to ask them not to tarnish the name of Mau Mau," Karua said.
"Mau Mau were freedom fighters. Freedom fighters never fight the people. They fight for the people. If the only thing you have achieved in any position you have occupied is oppressing the people and illegally seizing their property you can not be a product of Mau Mau. You must be a product of collaborators- home guards."