Mnyazi wa Menza was a Kenyan woman leader, who led the Giriama people in a rebellion against the British Colonial Administration and was politically active between 1912 – 1915. She became Mekatilili after the birth of her first son Katilili. The prefix 'me' in Mijikenda languages stands for 'mother of'. She is considered a prophetess among the Giriama. The Giriama people are a subgroup of Mijikenda peoples who inhabit the Kenyan coast; they had sacred dwelling places called kayas, located in forested areas, one of which the British Colonial Administration destroyed by dynamiting it in 1914. This was Kaya Fungo. Mekatilili Wa Menza life has been pieced together by scholars through oral history and colonial records
Early life
Mekatilili was born in the 1860s at Mutsara wa Tsatsu in Bamba, Kilifi County. She was an only daughter in a family of five children. One of her brothers, Mwarandu, was taken by Arab slavers and was never seen again. She was married to Dyeka at Lango Baya.
Rebellion
Her motivation for resistance was led by economic and social-cultural. She wanted to prevent any Giriama labor to the British, in order to protect Giriamans from enslavement in a foreign land. Menza also fought against the British colonization because it was destroying and undermining the Giriama culture. British colonial administrator for the region, Arthur Champion, held a public meeting on 13 August 1913, where he gave his demands to the community. Menza played a major role in the meeting as she expressed her opposed ideas of Champion's demands, at the conclusion of the meeting a verbal oath that prevented Giriama from working with or for the colonial administrators. Mekatilili was agitated by what she saw as the erosion of traditional Giriama culture. The Giriama are a patrilineal community and women rarely hold leadership positions. However, Mekatilili was a widow. In Giriama society, women enjoy certain privileges, including that of speaking before the elders. She rounded up support for her cause against the British due to the position she had attained as a strong believer of the traditional religion. In this, she was aided by the traditional medicineman Wanje wa Mwadori Kola. She gained a large audience through her performance of the kifudu dance. The dance was reserved for funeral ceremonies but Mekatilili performed it constantly from town to town, attracting a large following that followed her wherever she went. Mekatilili and Mwadori organized a large meeting at Kaya Fungo where they administered the mukushekushe oath among the women and Fisi among the men who vowed never to cooperate with the British in any way or form. The British responded by seizing large tracts of Giriama land, burning their homes and razing Kaya Fungo. This led to the Giriama Uprising, known locally as kondo ya chembe. Mekatilili was arrested by the British on 17 October 1913, and exiled to Kisii in Nyanza Province. According to British colonial records, five years later, she returned to her native area where she continued to oppose the imposition of Colonial policies and ordinances. Menza stated that Arthur Champion was solely responsible for forcing the British policies on Giriama, which worked to destroy the culture. However, some narratives say that Mekatilili escaped from the prison in Kisii and walked over 1,000 kilometers back home to Giriama. She was later arrested and sent to a prison in Kismayu, Somalia where she also mysteriously escaped and returned to her home. She died in 1924, and was buried in Bungale, in Magarini Constituency, Malindi District.
Legacy
During Kenya's 1980 feminist movement activists considered Menza to be a symbol for the movement, as they saw her as strong and resilient for her resistance against the British colonies.
