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The African Union has honored the leading women of Africa's independence struggle
Ms Likimani was featured in the biographical film, The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin where she acted as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin’s first wife Mariam in 1979.
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Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni officiated the re-launch of the Pan African Women Organisation’s (PAWO) East Africa Chapter, where women icons of the anti-colonial struggle were recognized and honoured.
“Those recognized at the function were Maria Nyerere, Miria Obote, Joyce Mpanga, Phoebe Asio, Muthoni Likimani, Joyce Mujuru, Rebecca Mulira and Hellen Faith Nkrumah.” Museveni tweeted.
Among them was Gracious Muthoni Likimani of Kenya.
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She was not just the first Kenyan beauty queen but also the first African in Kenya to establish a public relations firm and one of the earliest female authors, having published her first work in 1969.
The mother of three daughters records has spread beyond Kenya's borders and she has been listed as one of the most influential women of the 21st Century by the American Institute.
Her influential book, Passbook Number F.47927: Mau Mau and Women in Kenya, is one of the most authoritative works on the role of women in the war of independence and established her as a distinguished woman of letters.
Unlike most books in post-independence Africa which downplayed the role of women in the freedom struggle, Ms Likimani’s book is a clear contract and sought to underline the suffering and instrumental place of women in the fight for Kenya’s independence by giving a voice to silent victims and heroines of the struggle through a candid portrayal of the callousness of the colonial elite who subjected hundreds of thousands of Africans to dehumanising conditions in detention camps.
Her other works include They Shall Be Chastised, her biography, Fighting without Ceasing, and a litany of children’s books.
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Ms Likimani taught at Kahuhia Teachers’ Training College before going for further studies in Britain and Israel, which set her on a career path in broadcasting and public relations.
She is also a community worker and an actress and she was featured in the biographical film The Rise and Fall of Idi Amin where she acted as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin’s first wife Mariam in 1979.
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