Which way Agikuyu? The big culture clash
Residents pray under a mugumo tree in Murang’a after a traditional event. They normally congregate at the venue to advance their knowledge of the Kikuyu culture.
About four years ago, Mwaura Ndung’u, decided he did not want to identify anymore by his Christian name, Michael, viewing it as un-African and a conflation of his sense of origin.
Moreover, the role of the Biblical Michael does not appeal to his identity. This marked the start of a journey to study his Kikuyu culture.
After a lot of soul-searching, Mwaura realised he did not want his descendants to lose track of their roots due to the entrenchment of Western culture and globalisation. He joined the Aramati a Thingira (custodians of the hut) cultural group.
“I don’t want to lose my identity because my parents were left with no choice but to subscribe to the European way of doing things in the colonial era,” Mwaura said in an interview.
Christian names, he says, were a way for the missionaries to delude Kenyans that they were saving themselves a place in heaven; a sign of literacy, formality and saving one from their primitive nature.
“We have remained custodians of their religion and names, yet we had our ways of worship, our God, our lives...,” he said.
Mwaura is not alone. Spread across the Mt Kenya region are upcoming groups that are keen to reintroduce Agikuyu cultural practices in aspects like bride price payment, circumcision, naming, rituals and language.
Besides Kiama Kia Ma, the Nine Tribes of the Agikuyu, Aramati a Thingira and Gikuyu Academy are other groups that seek to revive the pre-colonial cultural and spiritual practices believed to be gaining currency in the region.
No blemish
While Christians are taught to be Christ-like and fellowship in church, the culturalists believe one can pray in their house, alone, to the God of Gikuyu and Mumbi – Mwene Nyaga. They only meet when conducting rituals or to celebrate someone’s achievement. That is the only time they shed the blood of an animal, preferably a sheep that has no blemish, which they offer as sacrifice.
They hold prayers under a mugumo tree, which is considered sacred among the Agikuyu. “We teach love, respect, unity and sympathy for one another, but Christianity has a lot of loopholes, even in the Biblical narrations. It seems to justify problems... there are many unanswered questions,” Mr Ndung’u says.
At the comfort of their homes, followers of the groups seek the intercession of their ancestor for God (Mwene Nyaga) to answer their prayers. “My ancestors know me better. Christianity made people relegate who they are for a culture that was imposed on us,” Mr Ndungú says.
Mr Gachago Kioria says the Biblical accounts are not convincing, raising questions on the creation story. “If we are all descendants of Adam and Eve, we should have the same skin colour, language and hair texture,” he argues.
Mr Karanja Mwangi, a Kikuyu spiritual teacher and founder of Gikuyu Academy, says his concept seeks to correct some Christian indoctrinations that do not align with culture. His classes draw people from all walks of life with lessons on culture, rituals for certain events, language and laws that govern the community.
“We are not against Christianity, rather, we have a problem with a few doctrines and capitalisation of religion. So, we offer progressive cultural teachings and its integration with current affairs,” he says. “It’s time for the river to return to its course.”
He cited bride price payment and circumcision as some of the things done wrongly. “Circumcision is a ritual, not an event. The transition of boys to men should not be done amidst other tribes or by someone who is not from the community,” says Mr Mwangi, noting that the rite is not just a symbol of manhood; the boys must be taught how to become men and manoeuvre life’s challenges.
Previously, such groupings have been associated with the Kikuyu sect, Mungiki, as their formation, practices and ideals follow a similar script.
However, Mr Mwangi says they don’t in any way intend to morph to a sect, adding that Mungiki had been formed for political reasons.
“I have no intentions of turning mine into a Mungiki sect. I am committed to instilling cultural knowledge in our people,” he stated.
In the recent past, Kikuyu elders have asked the church to stop conducting initiation ceremonies for boys, saying the rite must be done the cultural way. They accuse the church of usurping their role, sentiments Mr Mwangi mirrors. “Let the church give us space where they are supposed to, and vice versa,” he says.
For 30 years until 2020, Mr Thiong’o Kinyanjui was a reverend of the Anglican Church of Kenya. However, he denounced the cloth in favour of his traditional culture three years ago.
Doctrine
“I finally accepted the reality, given that I have been living within the creed, doctrine and standards of the founder of the Anglican Church, the teachings in the church are of colonialism and servitude,” stated Mr Thiongó, who also dropped his Christian name, Peter.
In this cultural shift, those that subscribe to traditional practices believe that there are seers or healers who cleanse or bless those who perform certain rituals.
While going for an appointment with the seers, a woman should not wear make-up, be on her menses, have manicure or pedicure, braided hair or show any part of her skin.
There are no restrictions for men.
In Kangema, Murang’a County, is a seer or medicine man (Mundu mugo) called Maina Karanja. Many, including musicians and politicians, seek services in his sanctuary.
With a calabash and whisker at hand, the elderly man welcomes his guests, shakes his calabash which contains what sound like pebbles, before emptying them on a garment on the floor and mumbling a few words after conversing with his client.
After assessing the contents from the calabash, he makes a deduction of what is troubling his client, then recommends solutions tailor-made depending on the person’s situation.
In this process, it is believed, he is communicating with the person’s ancestors and is able to relay to them the desires of the deceased.
“I am largely referred to as a witch or sorcerer by the Christians, but this is a gift entrusted to me by Mwene Nyaga,” says Mr Maina. While churches, Catholic for instance, pray through the intercession of departed saints, his believers wonder why it is a big deal when the seer intercedes on their behalf through the dead.
Mr Karanja believes that some ailments such as mental illness do not require prayers or medical attention. He rather recommends that rituals be conducted to override the ‘curse’.
In the process of reverting to the old ways, women who subscribe to these groups are volunteering themselves to undergo Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) — a vice that is frowned upon by the State and communities at large. In a nasty twist, these women are convinced that they are repaying a debt owed to their grandparents.
Repaying a debt
A woman who spoke anonymously to Saturday Nation said by getting cut, they are simply respecting ‘the voice of the dead and repaying a debt’. Thiiri wa cucu (grandma’s debt) is thrown across conversations casually as it is becoming an acceptable norm to some community members.
“I volunteered myself for the cut after realising those before me underwent the same. It was said that women from our lineage have to get cut for our stars to align,” she revealed.
For instance, if a woman has been suffering perennial miscarriages or is always parting with her husband, she is advised to see a medicine man to get to the root cause of it.
“Sometimes the answer is in heeding to what the medicine man relays from the departed souls. If my grandmother says I have to undergo the cut, then that is what will happen,” she adds, revealing that a caucus of young and old women have already undergone FGM in Murang’a.
Men allowing their wives to be cut believe they are detaching from a social ills that may befall them, should their wives not be circumcised.
However, this practice is not acceptable across the Agikugu cultural groups that have cropped up. Some call it retrogressive while others say it was allowed by virtue of respecting the dead and culture.
“Whatever they are doing, even if it’s within the principle of culture, is wrong because it dictates that it should be done in the open and celebrated as we do when boys are circumcised, but now they do it in hiding, which is the opposite of the Gikuyu practices,” said Mr Gachago.
There are men who also believe their alcohol addiction is rooted in their family spiritual affairs.
“I was an addict and nothing could have saved me until I consulted a medicine man who said I did not follow the right procedure in getting circumcised. I should have consulted my uncle before going through the process. After adhering to his desires years later, I recovered and all has been well since,” says Mr George Nderitu from Murang’a.
Traditional practices
The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) moderator Thegu Mutahi says the reversion to traditional practices is overtaken by time and that society has moved on.
“There’s no way to establish what was done or what was not because there’s no documentation for reference,” he said, warning people against returning FGM and other ills.
“What was good has survived and those that are retrogressive have died out,” Rev Mutahi stated, adding that the missionaries did not force people to convert to Christianity, but rather preached and won souls.
Nyeri Archdiocese Catholic Archbishop Anthony Muheria questioned the authenticity and purity of the ‘pseudo-cultural’ ways and rituals being practised, noting that it presents a challenge as far as compatibility with the Christian faith goes.
“The Church does not support the traditionalist rituals and the call to return to ancestral ways of worship. We particularly stand against the push to return to unacceptable practices of FGM and polygamy being encouraged by these groups,” he offered.
According to Professor Eunice Kamaara, who teaches religion and ethics at Moi University, the shift to traditional practices is happening across different communities in the country and is propelled by a need for the people to free themselves of colonial captivity due to the feeling that modern systems have failed them to an extent that they find ways of their forefathers appealing.
