A story is told of Kabwere Wanje, a traditional healer snd medicine man whose efforts and expertise played a major role in the fight against colonialists.
The man whose first name originates from the word 'bwere' a slippery plant, was handed the name thanks to his ability to slip past the colonialists whenever they sought to nab him.
He allegedly used his powers, at times going invisible and passing amidst the white men unnoticed, to help in the fight, and administered oaths during the days of Mekatilili Wa Menza.
According to Jasmine Atieno, his daughter, Kabwere was as well a close ally of founding father Mzee Jomo Kenyatta who would visit him for luck.
"Mzee Kenyatta would visit Kabwere’s homestead for fortune and luck. However, he is known to have made a number of visits to our home and a close friendship developed between the two," writes Jasmine in an article on the People Daily.
Apart from his traditional alleged powers, he was also a rich man who used his wealth to sustain the fighters involved in the resistance through food and other supplies.
On matters family, he had a whopping 146 wives and about 600 children, some of the wives were offered by grateful families which he had helped, and allocated each land to live in with their children.
"Yes. He had about 147 wives and over 600 children. My late mother, Kache Kalama was his first wife and got two children," writes Jasmine.