Uhuru to pay 200-year-old debt to Narok village family
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Ole Gilisho family at Ng’oswani in Narok West Sub County. The family will receive bride price for its daughter Mosana who is President Uhuru Kenyatta’s great grandmother. PHOTO:ROBERT KIPLAGAT
In most African communities, paying bride price is mandatory, regardless of the time it takes for the debt to be paid. That is the reason Uhuru Kenyattaโs family is planning to pay the family ofย his father’s grandmother, identified as Mosana, a visit in Narok to settle her bride price after more than two centuries.
At the home of the Gilisho family in Narok West Sub County, preparations are already in top gear ahead of the visit by the first family on a yet-to-be-disclosed date. According to President Kenyattaโs cousins, former Gatundu South MP Ngengi Muigai and his brother Kungโu Muigai, who are leading negotiations with the Gilisho family, they would like to finally settle the โdebtโ for the โstolen girlโ.
For the past few years, the Kenyatta family has relentlessly been tracing the roots of Uhuruโs great grandmother with the help of Maasai council of elders. Mr Kungโu, who spoke recently in Narok, narrated how Agikuyu warriors raided the Maasai village of Naroosura and made away with a herd of cattle and a girl who later gave birth to Kungโu Magana.
Mr Magana was the father of the first Kenyan President Jomo Kenyatta, James Muigai and Kungโu Muigai. Capt (Rtd.) Kungโu explained that President Uhuru, whose middle name is Muigai, was named after his great grandfather, Muigai, and therefore it is Uhuruโs responsibility to pay the bride price. Kungโu, the patron of the National Council of Elders, said Kungโu, the son of Mosana married without paying his motherโs dowry. Mzee Kenyatta also never paid his grandmotherโs bride price, according to Kungโu. However, Uhuru is determined to correct the irregularity by settling the old debt.
The home of Mosana, the Kenyatta familyโs matriarch, was traced to Naroosura in Narok after Uhuru ascended to power in 2013. โMosana is the mother of our family. We respect her and that is why we have taken time to trace her origin,โ he said. Gilishoโs family has been a beehive of activity recently with a manyatta under construction and the family working round the clock to prepare for the big day.
A special bull has also been identified for the ceremony. Chief John Gilisho, the familyโs spokesman, said all will be done according to Maasai culture during the ceremony. โWe are working tirelessly to ensure the day is a success. Everything will, however, be done according to Maasai culture,โ said Chief Gilisho.
He said a special black-and-white bull will be slaughtered and its meat dried on oloirien (olive) leaves after being cleansed by elders, ready to be prepared for the guests. Even though the family is yet to be notified of the date of the visit, Chief Gilisho said they were not taking chances as they did not want to be caught flat-footed.
Traditional Maasai attire (red sarongs) will be worn by the elders who will sit on traditional stools to listen to the visitorsโ apologies for taking too long to pay the bride price. Gilisho, however, said members of the public were welcome to the ceremony but only family members will be allowed into the negotiation room.
The Kenyatta family also revealed that it was at Naroosura, at his grandmotherโs home village, where Mzee Kenyatta learnt to speak the Maasai language after going into hiding there for over five years to avoid being conscripted into the British Army. Kungโu said Mosana advised Kenyatta to go into hiding after his elder brother, Kungโu, was forced to join the army during the First World War in 1914.
He never came back. After five years, senior Kenyatta returned to Gatundu speaking fluent Maasai and wearing the beaded belt called โinyattaโ in Ma. The name Kenyatta is derived from “inyatta”. Captain Kungโu and Ngengi are sons of James Muigai, hence Uhuruโs first cousins and Mosana (Wanjiru) their great grandmother. ย โKenyatta lived in Naroosura during the whole period of first-world war.
Source link- standardmedia.co.ke
Uhuru to pay 200-year-old debt to Narok village family