While many of the African male freedom fighters are well-known, their female counterparts have been largely forgotten. These women, usually left to the margins of the society, were quite instrumental in the fight for the liberation of their respective countries.

Some women went to the battlefront, arming themselves to fight off the enemies. Others opted for the civilian and activist role, ensuring that the important facets of the liberation fight are not forgotten.

Here are some of the unsung female African heroes you should know.

Muthoni wa Kirima, Kenya

Muthoni wa Kirima was the only female Mau Mau Field Marshal. She earned the title after spending seven years in the forest during Kenya’s fight for independence and the only one to come out alive after the end of the struggle.

She started her liberation fight as a spy, just like other women. They were responsible for providing supplies and intelligence to the Mau Mau fighters.

This fight was not without personal sacrifices. Muthoni was not only wounded twice in battle, she also had a miscarriage that left her unable to have children.

Muthoni is quite vocal about her disappointment with the post-colonial Kenyan governments and has vowed never to chop off her dreadlocks until she sees the benefits of independence.

At 83, she currently holds Kenya’s medal for distinguished service and a  Head of State Commendation.

Sheba Tavarwisa…sole female member of ZANLA’s high command during the Liberation War. Photo: Twitter

Sheba Tavarwisa, Zimbabwe

Tavarwisa was a member of the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), called the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA).

She eventually joined the high command at ZANU and participated in making decisions and strategies that guided the liberation struggle.

Among the things she ensured was that women in the camps were not sexually exploited.

Upon her death, Tavarwisa was buried in an unmarked grave and is one of the few freedom fighters that were not recognised by the government after independence.

Albertina Sisulu. Photo: SA History

Albertina Sisulu, South Africa

Albertina is famously known as the wife of Walter Sisulu, an activist and a member of the African National Congress (ANC).  She was not initially interested in politics but after joining the ANC’s Women’s League in 1955, she became an active political activist.  She was also the only woman present at the launch of the youth faction of the ANC.

Albertina joined two other women to organise the protest against passes law by the apartheid government that required women to carry passes.  She was also the first woman to be arrested under the General Laws Amendment Act of 1963 that allowed the police to hold anyone for 90 days without charging them.

Among the things she protested was Bantu Education, which segregated blacks to be educated at home.

Sisulu had the honour of nominating Nelson Mandela as the 1994 presidential candidate.

She died in 2011 at 92 years old.

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. Photo: Wiki CC

Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Nigeria

Funmilayo was a teacher, political campaigner, women’s rights activist and traditional aristocrat in Nigeria.

After seeing the excesses of the government in Abeokuta, she organised a protest together with the Abeokuta Women’s Union (AWU), which she had formed as a way of bringing together the elite and market women of the area.  She had led training of these women in the guise of picnics and festivals as a way to get permits.  Although she was arrested in 1947, the AWU continued with its protests against taxation.

Funmilayo’s political activism saw her get a seat at the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), becoming the only woman in the executive.

In 1947, she was also the only female delegate to go to London to lodge a formal protest with the secretary of state for the colonies. She was one of the delegates who negotiated Nigeria’s independence with the British government.

She died in 1978 from injuries incurred after military officials threw her out of a window on the third floor of her son’s Fela Kuti’s home.

Gertrude Kandanga-Hilukilwa. Photo: Facebook

Gertrude Kandanga-Hilukilwa, Namibia

Often referred to as Namibia’s first female hero, Gertrude was instrumental in mobilising Namibians to join active politics. She was the founding member of South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO), later becoming the chair of the party’s women’s council and one of the first women to be part of the Ovamboland People’s Organisation (OPO).

Her political activism saw her arrest and imprisonment without trial for 15 months. She was forced into exile in 1984, only coming back to the country in 1989 a year before independence.

Upon her death in 2002 in a car accident, Gertrude was afforded a heroes’ burial and was buried at the Heroes’ Acre.

Picture of Hannah Kudjoe with un-named great-niece, taken by her nephew, Peter Dadson

Hannah Kudjoe, Ghana

Kudjoe was inspired to join politics after Kwame Nkrumah stayed in the house she shared with her brother in 1947.  She started supporting the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), a political party formed to fight against British colonialists and grant Ghana its independence.

When Ghana’s Big Six were arrested, Kudjoe raised money and campaigned for their release. She was also an active participant of the Positive Action, a series of political protests that eventually led to Nkrumah’s election and the formation of an independent nation.

Bibi Titi Mohamed. Photo: Twitter

Bibi Titi Mohamed, Tanzania

Bibi Titi’s involvement in Maulidi, a celebration of Prophet Muhammed’s birthday inspired her political involvement and successes as it gave her the exposure and leadership skills that would prove useful in the future.

She became a national politician in the 1950s, becoming a vocal member of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) party, started by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.  She became the leader of the women’s faction of the party, Umoja wa Wanawake wa Tanzania (UWT), bringing on board more than 5,000 women.

The women were instrumental in Tanzania’s liberation because they had already had their own organisations before joining TANU and because the colonisers and African men considered them quite harmless. They used these two aspects to mobilise political campaigns and activism including the passing of information to party leaders. Reports claim these women not only taught Nyerere Kiswahili but also pawned their personal effects to fund his trips overseas.

She shared the platform with Nyerere when Tanzania became independent.

Her post-independence life was marred with controversies. She lost her parliamentary seat in 1965 and later had to go to jail after she was accused of trying to overthrow the Nyerere government. She had stayed in jail for two years before Nyerere commuted her life sentence.

She died in 2000 in Johannesburg.

Source: Face2FaceAfrica

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