Memorisation of war and national liberation are often gendered, privileging a masculinisation of war time memory, and trivialising and making invisible women’s war time contribution. This paper investigates how women are remembered and represented in the statue situated within the Mau Mau Memorial Monument in Nairobi. Studies focusing on women’s roles as active participants of the Mau Mau, and as agents of Kenya’s liberation history are limited. The research in this paper aims to contribute to that limited discourse by illuminating what kinds of contributions and experiences from women have been hidden and have been made invisible in the Mau Mau statue to privilege the dominant narrative.

The paper applies iconography as analytical method to investigate what ideas are expressed and represented on the Statue, and the different levels of meaning one can derive. To address what is unknown from the Statue, the paper makes use of narrative analysis. Using this interpretive analytical research method, five stories from women who were involved in the Mau Mau are studied to draw meaningful conclusions about what is hidden and invisible on the Statue. The women’s stories aim to speak back to what is represented on the Statue.

The visual analysis reveals that the Statue makes use of gender stereotypes of masculinity and femininity to represent and distinguish between the man and the woman. The analysis also interprets the Statue as a continuation of coloniality, and an example of the deep reach coloniality of power can have in a post-colonial country. The wide variety of narratives centres and empowers Mau Mau women’s voices and reveal themes related to their unique contributions and experiences.  These include; diversity of roles and steadfast commitment; agency and resistance through participation; challenging gender norms; and suffering in ways specific to women.