Transport minister Amb. Chirau Mwakwere was last month blessed by Kaya elders at Kaya Kinondo.
A visit to the sacred forests (kayas) of the Mijikenda people reveals a bundle of secrets and taboos, closely kept for ages by grey haired elders, writes Patrick Bbeja
From the outside, it is a forest like any other.
The chirping of birds and screaming of monkeys welcome visitors as they approach the forest. Nature is at peace with itself. But a visit to the sacred forests (kayas) reveals a bundle of secrets and taboos, closely kept for ages.Grey-haired elders strictly enforce the kaya rules. For instance, the non-Mijikenda are barred from visiting kaya shrines.
While they are free to visit the other sections of the kaya, the shrine is out of bounds. Even for the Mijikenda, there are rules to be observed. All visitors must remove their shoes before entering the forests.
Visitors are notified at the entrance, by National Museums of Kenya (NMK) notices, that the forests are restricted sites.
The notices are hung at the entrance of all the 40 kayas, which NMK has gazetted as monuments under the Heritage Act.
Each of the nine Mijikenda ethnic groups has its primary kaya while other secondary kayas dot the community’s homeland of lower Coast. Kaya means home.
In the primary kayas, the rules are strictly followed. Those who violate them pay a fine or risk a curse.
Rules regarding visits to kayas differ among the Giriama, Digo, Duruma, Rabai, Kauma, Chonyi, Ribe, Kambe and Jibani — the nine Mijikenda tribes.
Mzee Ali Abdalla Mnyenze, the custodian of Kaya Kinondo, the Digo’s main shrine, says one must be married — for at least six months — to be allowed to participate in kaya prayers. The person must be a Digo.
While offering special prayers, usually twice a year, or performing certain ceremonies, only Mijikendas are allowed to reach the shrine where the fingo (a protective charm) and graves of ancestors are located.
Mnyenze, founder chairman of Coast Kaya Committees, says everyone going to the centre of the kaya must remove shoes and put on a shuka. The person must speak the local language.
Metallic or plastic objects are not allowed in the shrine.
Taking of pictures is also prohibited.
The main prayers held in the shrines are usually for rain and good harvest. Others are for warding off sickness and calamities or for blessings of the land.
For such prayers a black bull, a black he-goat and a black hen are slaughtered.
Food is served in traditional utensils— such as calabash, pottery ware and baskets.
Custard oil and palm wine is used while appeasing gods.
"We don’t allow beer, soda, shoes or perfumes inside the kayas," says Mnyenze.
Among the Digo, where the kaya culture has been kept alive, white people are allowed in some parts but a black hen is slaughtered to cleanse the forest after they leave.
The centre of Kaya Kinondo has a grass-thatched hut that houses the grave of its founder, Mwakalia Ngwena.
Inside the hut lies a fingo believed to contain potent medicine that protects the kaya from enemies.
There is also a memorial plague (Kigango) for the founder and several other graves of his descendants.
"There is no conflict between the kaya culture and other religions. We direct our prayers to God but also seek the blessings of our ancestors," says Mnyenze. Prayers in the kaya are said in vernacular. The opening words are "Kambi similani…" (Brothers and sisters can you listen).
The prayers are usually led by an elder and attended by a crowd to ensure all understand what is being said.
"This is to avoid anybody saying anything ill against the other or making empty pledges during prayers. This way, we make a follow up and remind those who make pledges— such as slaughtering animals— to fulfil them or risk a curse," Mnyenze says.
Politicians at the Coast have quietly or publicly sought prayers at the kayas. Some have acted as kaya elders, giving the culture a new meaning and also kicking off controversy.
Former Cabinet minister Karisa Maitha was publicly installed as a kaya elder at Kaya Fungo in Kilifi, the largest of these cultural sites of the Mijikenda community.
His "anointment" raised his status in the community.
Former Kaya Fungo custodian, Mzee Simba Wanje, shot to instant fame as Coast politicians sought his blessings.
Mvita MP, Mr Najib Balala, was dressed as a kaya elder by the outspoken Rabai Kaya elder, Pekeshe Ndeje aka Simba Wanje, outside a kaya forest.
But this sparked a controversy as other kaya elders insisted that only individuals from the Mijikenda community can be made kaya elders.
Last month, Transport minister, Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere, was invited for blessings at Kaya Kinondo.
A group of Kaya elders from various districts flocked the Kaya, slaughtered a black bull and prayed for him to be elevated to the post of deputy prime minister. The chairman of the Mijikenda Community Council of Elders Association, Mr Charo Menza Tuva, confirmed the ceremony. Mnyenze says similar prayers were conducted for Mr Kassim Mwamzandi before he was elected MP in 1963.
When a Kaya elder dies, he is replaced with a relative — who must be a married man of sound mind. For instance, Mr Said Mwarandani took over from his elder brother Omar Kuchi Mwarandani.
The Digo stopped burying people in kayas a long time ago. Many elders prefer being laid to rest in their own farms.
Mnyenze says his grandfather, Mwinyikai Mwawandinda, was the last person to be buried at Kaya Kinondo in 1942.
It is taboo to cut down trees in the kayas. Elders warn that a house built with a tree from the kayas is likely to be struck by lightning. Firewood from the kaya forest must be used only during ceremonies inside the sacred site.
Individuals found cutting down trees in the kayas are fined a goat or a cow to be used in cleansing the shrine.
Among the Duruma, youths are restricted from important kaya functions because they are still sexually active. Sex is discouraged among those who offer sacrifices in the shrines.
At a ceremony to install a new chairman at Kaya Gandini six years ago, vetting for those to attend the rituals at the centre of the shrine was conducted to bar those who had had sex the previous night.
A white researcher and a foreign journalist were barred at the kaya entrance. The botanist had trouble with the local elders when he ventured in the kayas to conduct research.
The kaya traditions are closely guarded among the Giriama and Rabai that elders at times sleep in the sacred forests.
Mzee Wanje had a hut inside Kaya Fungo, the largest forest and most restricted. Each visitor has to throw a twig at a certain point to enable the elders determine the number of people who have paid homage.
The strict rules in the kayas have come in focus as NMK introduces an ecotourism project in the cultural sites.
Kaya Kinondo elders, led by Mnyenze, have set up a nature trail project with less resistance.
Mr Philip Jimbi Katana, acting chief curator and head of Coastal Heritage Sites, says elders at Kaya Rabai and Kaya Kauma have resisted the idea of allowing tourists in the sacred forests.
Katana says Coast Province hosts more than 800 kayas, including those in Taita District.
He says kayas have attracted foreign tourists because of their cultural values and environmental conservation initiatives and could earn huge incomes for the communities some of whom have accepted beekeeping projects in the kayas.
"We are training tour guides and elders on how to manage the ecotourism and other income generating projects," Katana says.
He explains that the Government gazetted kaya forests since they are rich in biodiversity and medical plants.
NMK has embarked on efforts to have kayas declared world heritage sites by Unesco. He says NMK, through its Coastal Forest Conservation Unit in Kilifi, is vetting the kayas and the final proposal will then be forwarded to Unesco’s World Heritage Centre in France next year.
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Published on April 26, 2008, 12:00 am
http://www.eastandard.net/specialreports/?id=1143985504&cid=259
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