Ballad to a true rebel
In a male-dominated society where many customs oppress women, Wambui Otieno stood out for resisting the status quo, says Patrick Maina. Her life offers the lesson that women’s equality to men in rights and dignity cannot be realised without a fight.
The transition of Wambui Otieno has left a bad taste in our mouths. The granddaughter of a Maasai Laibon, that alone explains the streak of self-appointed authority to upstage the status quo. She shot unashamedly from the hip and never missed the target. Her father was a Mau Mau soldier and obviously she fought tooth and nail to protect what she called her own .No one ever stepped in her space without receiving more than a slap on their wrist. She strode the pages of life whip in hand and cracked it without prior warning.
She dug her own grave 21 years before the grim reaper came for her on 30 August 2011. It was a bold statement that she alone called the shots. She was on top of the totem pole. She floored the Umira Kager clan for the right to bury her dead husband, S.M Otieno. All her fights were for bigger causes, not seeking vain glory.
Wambui fought valiantly for the independence of this nation from colonial rule, which eventually happened on 12 December 1963. She was a jewel in the women’s liberation movement; a queen of hearts for radical feminists, but was rarely honoured by the authorities during her life. The colonial regime detained and persecuted her. Subsequent governments ignored her. Maybe the Kibaki government will honour her posthumously with a Head State Commendation medal. Kenyatta University may honour her with an honorary degree of letters. Maybe. But even it does not happen, our hearts have honoured her.
As a pacesetter she formed the Kenya Peoples Convention Party and subsequently contested the Kamukunji and Kajiado North parliamentary seats. She definitely deserves the title of role model for exercising her rights and going against the grain of society. Wambui clearly understood that in a male-dominated society customs are not necessarily meant to benefit womenfolk; they are there to be broken. Women more often are given the short end of the proverbial stick. The Eves of this world have to stick their hands out to get a share of the pie because men will never hand it to them. She was not a puppet to jump whenever some male-dominated clan decided to bark. Her place was not at the back burner but at the frontline where the action was.
Wambui’s marriage to Mbugua who was 42 years her junior upturned the dynamics of love. Society’s skewed norms were not going to dictate who she was going to marry. It was a media sensation that unruffled the feathers of the fathers of conservatism. Obviously the clerics will rationalize that love is divine and it’s only the heavenly powers that can explain the path it takes. The lawyers will rationalize that love has no laws to abide by. No one has the audacity to question her marriage to Mbugua. If an 80 year old man can marry a woman of 21 years, why not a woman?
We will not bury Wambui Otieno in the cemetery of history, but we will always mention her name whenever we talk of Kenyan rebels. Live on brave warrior, for even soldiers lay down their weapons some day.
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