The Immortals: The spirited resistance of the Waiyakis

 Wambui Waiyaki Otieno was a firebrand feminist politician Photo: Courtesy

Waiyaki Way in Westlands, Nairobi was the route Chief Waiyaki wa Hinga used as he was escorted, chained and bruised, to Kibwezi. This was after he was found guilty and order issued that he be ‘deported’ from Dagoretti in August 1892.

Waiyaki wa Hinga had mounted a spirited resistance against British occupation of Kikuyu land beyond agreed acreage, which led the Kikuyu to point at odieros erecting military camps there and say: “ndagurite,” which literally means, “he has not bought.” This was later corrupted to ‘Dagoretti.’

Waiyaki’s sins comprised telling off Captain WP Purkiss, who had him sentenced in a makeshift Kabete courthouse, battered and ‘deported.’ Ironically, both Waiyaki and Purkiss died and were buried in the Scottish Mission in Kibwezi. Waiyaki’s family has petitioned for his remains to be traced so that he can be accorded a hero’s burial over 120 years after he was buried upside down. The formidable contribution of the Waiyakis in pre and post-independent Kenya cannot be gainsaid. Tirus Munyua Waiyaki: Was the first African Chief Inspector of Police stationed at the Central Police Station besides serving among the few court interpreters in colonial Kenya. His children (see below) served in high public offices. Dr Munyua Waiyaki: Was Foreign Affairs minister for five years to 1979, a position that earned him the nickname ‘Kissinger’ after US Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. The 89-year-old former MP for Mathare (now Kasarani) is best remembered for ‘shuttle diplomacy’ to end apartheid in South Africa, where he attended Fort Hare University and stayed at the Iona Hostel with Zulu leader, Chief Mongosuthu Buthelezi. Kimani Waiyaki: The London-trained lawyer was the first Town Clerk of Nairobi in 1964, despite the administrative challenges. This July, the 87-year-old sought a Sh280 million compensation for an unlawful 10-month detention by the Kenyatta regime in 1968. Mugo Waiyaki: Was appointed puisne judge of the High Court by President Jomo Kenyatta in 1971. Wambui Waiyaki Otieno: Was a firebrand feminist politician best remembered for her spirited court battle during the protracted landmark SM Otieno burial dispute that pitted her against her husbands’s Umira Kager clan in 1987. Wambui challenged social norms: She refused dowry payment before her nuptials in 1963 and got Kenyans yapping after marrying Peter Mbugua, who was more than 40 years her junior in 2003. She died aged 75 in 2011. Gladwell Wathoni Otieno: Daughter of Wambui and alumnus of Massachusetts and Boston universities is the founding director of Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG).