Archive for October 2008
By Muli wa Kyendo
A few months ago, I said in Africa we are never bored because there are so many things happening in our Great Continent. Some of these are of such momentous importance that if they were happening in another continent, they would be “World Lead” news headlines. But we never bother because we don’t know when we are making history.
when was it that you heard of a cultural change—a whole community abandoning its ways and beliefs and adopting another? People may abandon their cultures one by one, but a n immediate total change of a community, I believe is a historical event, not only because it rarely happens, but because it has tremendous implications in all spheres of life. In Kenya, the last it happened is estimated to be in the 15th century, when a warring clan of the Maasai which was called Akavi, overran the surrounding communities forcing them to abandon their god, Mulungu or Murungu and worship the Maasai god, Ngai. Today, the communities, including the Akamba and Kenya’s largest tribe, the Kikuyu still worship Ngai. And even in the Christian churches, Ngai is still the god worshipped.
Today, we in Kenya are in the midst of another cultural change. Kenya’s second largest community, the Luo, are abandoning their culture of non-circumcision of boys. Studies have show that circumcised men are less likely to contract the dreaded Aids/HIV virus. Following this, Luos, young and old, are queuing at hospitals to be circumcised. Prominent Luo politicians, including Kenya’s Prime Minister, Raila Odinga have led the cultural change campaign with the message: Change or we perish.
The unintended consequence will be that the Luos will have removed the biggest stigma which has stood between them and leadership of the country. Most other tribes in Kenya circumcise their boys (and even daughters) and an uncircumcised man is traditionally regarded as a boy who is unfit to lead. This prejudice stood between the late Vice President Oginga Odinga (the father of Raila Odinga) and the presidency of Kenya. Without that prejudice, Raila Odinga would today be Kenya’s President.
We are anxiously waiting to see what this cultural change will bring for the Luo community, for Kenya and even for Africa.
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