Wangu wa Makeri was the first Kikuyu female leader in living memory.She underwent customary rites and married. In 1901, she was appointed the 'headman' of Weithaga Location, the first and only female headman of the entire colonial period

It has been 102 years since the woman captured the imagination of generations but echoes of her power still reverberate all corners of the country. How could an illiterate woman, whose biggest achievement was the simple post of assistant chief (headman), dominate minds, decades later?

According to historian , Wangu was born around 1856 to Gatuika Macharia and Wakeru of Gitie village in Kangema division, Murangâ€™a District. Boasting of no formal education, it must have been her voice and endless energy as she worked in her parentâ€™s land that drew Makeri wa Mbogo to her. Makeri, according to historians, was of Ndorbo descent and was from the Ethaga clan.

Makeri was a quiet, reserved man of little ambition, as a kimore, as he rarely spoke his mind on any issue or courted controversy. Makeri was however a rich man in his own right and enticed Wangu to be his first wife. It is rumored that their union yielded children, although some people claim she was barren. One opinion is that Wangu's children were Nyakimotho, Nyambura, Wanguru, Muchiri, Gatuiku and Mwangi, who were all born before she was appointed a colonial administrator.

Another theory argues that Wangu did not have a child of her own but married other wives, who named their children as directed by the her€™. Traditionally, such arrangements existed and the 'husband' decided who sired children with her wife.

Wangu's prominence started in 1901 when Karuri wa Gakure, the paramount chief started frequenting Makeri's homestead on his way from Tuthu to Murangâ€™a to consult the colonial district commissioner. Traditions demanded that since Makeri and Karuri were age mates, whenever he stopped over for a night he be entertained by one of the hosts wife for the night. It was from this customary sanctioned wife sharing that Gakure and Wangu grew intimate, becoming inseparable lovers. In 1902 after Karuri declined being made chief, Wangu was made chief

How she gained the fame of riding on men

Never again had the fate of so many depended on the whims of one woman, when village idlers quaked at the mention of her name and able-bodied men avoided meeting her like the plague. Then, the most threatened species were the tax evaders who had to contend with the brutal power of her forces, as they were drugged whipped and incarcerated in solitary confinement.

Their humiliation was total. Every other day when the high and the mighty came calling, they rode on the backs of the able-bodied tax evaders, as people cheered. Along the way, the villagers dotted the pathway with calabashes of yams, sweet potatoes and arrowroots, proffered to a multitude of sidekicks for the consumption of the chief and her retinue, marching barefoot to her majesties service.

Those who were irresistibly drawn to muratina, the potent locally brewed gin, a special treatment had been devised to sober them up. Their backs acted as her seat, as she lorded it over to both men and women, dispensing the white man's decrees and collecting taxes

Tired of being treated harshly by the colonial chief who reminded them of two centuries ago when the Agikuyu were dominated by women who ruled their every aspect of life until the Iregi age group revolted, the men of Weithaga plotted and waited.

Her downfall when it came was spectacular and sent shockwaves in the entire district. Records are not clear on the exact date that Wangu fell from glory.Wangu is said to have committed the ultimate insult against tradition and her colonial office after she allegedly danced kibata, an exclusive adult male dance, naked.

Various theories have been advanced explaining the circumstances that led to her dancing but all agree that she had challenged tradition when she joined the male warriors in a dance.On seeing her hero and lover dancing with youth and vigour, Wangu threw caution to the wind, discarded some of her clothing and exposed her breasts as she provocatively danced clutching Karuri.

Another explanation offered is that before she joined the dancers, some men adjusted her ceremonial sword tied to the waist alongside her muthuru. The sword cut the strings of her traditional skirt, which flopped to the ground as Wangu jumped ecstatically, exposing her nakedness€. After the scandalous dance, Wangu became the subject of ridicule and during the meeting held in Koimbi between June 2 and 4 1909 was forced to resign, a move that Karuri accepted, ending her decade long reign of terror. In her place Ikai wa Gathimba was appointed and never again has a provincial administrator from Murangâ€™a captured the imagination of an entire region like Wangu did

Her office still stands at Koimbi trading center. There is also a small cell where she is reputed to have whipped erring men while seated on the backs of other men.

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