Chinese Contractor Seeks Kikuyu Elders' Help to Uproot a ‘Mugumo’ Tree Hindering Construction of Sh14 Billion Highway
Kikuyu elders have conducted a special ritual in Sagana, Kirinyaga County to allow the uprooting of a fig tree that was hindering the construction of a highway.
A Chinese company that is building the Kenol-Sagana-Marwa dual carriageway was forced to seek the elders’ intervention after several attempts to cut down the tree failed.
Area residents insisted that the contractor must seek the indulgence of the elders before uprooting the tree that has a sacred significance among the Agikuyu community.
On Monday, the Kirinyaga Council of Elders embarked on a cleansing ceremony to appease the gods to allow the felling of the tree, which is commonly known as Mugumo. The area around the tree was used as a place of worship.
Led by the council’s acting Chairman Harrison Ndambiri, the elders slaughtered two rams, including one that is unblemished. The unblemished ram is burned to ashes while the other is consumed by the elders.
Ndambiri said the ceremony was meant to appease forefathers and allow the construction work to proceed uninterrupted.
The elders also sprinkled the area with a ram’s blood and planted three trees beside the area, which they said would replace the shrine.
Elder Joseph Muriithi said the fact that smoke went straight up before circling the trees signified that the gods approved of the construction.
He indicated that the shrine has been in existence for over 600 years, adding that tales are told of people who were attacked by the gods for interfering with it.
The 84-kilometer Kenol-Sagana-Marwa dual carriage is being constructed at a cost of Sh14 billion.
The highway is expected to ease transportation and reduce traffic along the section of the road. It will be completed in June 2022 and will link the Northern Corridor from Nairobi to the Lapsset Corridor in Isiolo.
Comments (11)
😂 😂 😂 I hope those gods and "ancestors" get a slice of the Ksh. 14 billion
Yaani the mzungu has made you laugh at your own mpaka you spell the God(s) your ancestors worshipped with lower "g"? Tumerogwa kweli
Double reasoning?The English word came from the same ‘mzungu’. Who said ‘true’ god should be spelt with a capital G and other ‘fake’ god(s) with a ‘g’? You know what the writer meant, tuachi cheap semantics. We are not in English 101!
Every Kenyan has a price tag. These Chinese price matched the elders and a deal was struck…Chi Ching. If this historical tree was in the US no contractor would’ve touched it. Protect and Build around the tree.
Positioning everywhere....
Kwani their plan cannot avoid the tree? It should be left there even as a historical site. Elders please
DO NOT cut that tree for god's sake you Chinese. Why would our African people allow our cultures to be desecrated like this?? That's a shrine and they can always build the road around it if they have to build near there.
Ancient gods and the devil. If ancient gods worked then where is Pharaoh? His gods couldn't prevent death of millions of 1st borns. India has millions of idols some as small as a tooth pick. Worship one true God who lives!!
Ushirikina - Superstition
Superstition at work: Ushirikina kazini
Why use the word gods. Never heard of that word in Kikuyu language. I only heard of one God(Ngai). I'm yet to hear of many gods in Kikuyu.