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Luanda Reggae Defenders - what is your long term agenda?

Luanda Reggae Defenders is a now a popular movement with roots in Vihiga and border Siaya and Kakamega counties Attention is brought to the manner and conduct the movement has gained fame and followers, mainly the Youths. The movement capitalizes on funerals. With a poor culture of putting the dead to rest, the Reggae Defenders have taken it by storm and rebranded the infamous ‘Disco Matanga’ – disco at funeral. Reggae Defenders on move. Pic: Charles Rankings: Facebook They mobilize quickly on the day the dead will be discharged from the mortuary. They have this huge old school sound system that is over buzzing to no clear reggae song - that they hire a pickup to carry - and it has a young DJ mainly standing there than mixing anything. Often, against the rules, the casket is grabbed from a hearse vehicle and tied to a motorbike. There it will be swayed and jerk breaked between other motorbikes on the narrow roads. That, is, how a fellow soldier, often a young dead, is mourned. ...

Izava Walk : Rogele stream

There is at Indiga a super grazing field that would take one back in time how the Izava stretch was. If it were not the bushy swamps, the land had large fields of grass that village cows met there. Mriagano was the name. The meeting point. The sun was weak and it yellowed the field, exposing the cows that fed. Men from gold sites smoked ganja while a cobbler and friend sat in a shade. Music by Belafonte sang from my phone. I journeyed on.

Vamatsi, Vamuku and Vatongoi are clans that I was told when three gentlemen spoke their roots. This lead me to Mukibira. This is at the valley bottom where a bridge connecting Viyalo to mang'nyuri and madanya was. It was now Ebunangwe on the left, the entrance to Bunyoreland.

Peace, quietness, a river flowed. Seeing it, I thought Izava had taken a drastic change of flow. But had Izava became cleaner from Viyalo mess? A new river it was. And its name was Rogele.

Rogele comes as far from Munzazi, crosses Kakamega-Kisumu road as Ehedwe having sourced as far as Kidinye. Rwang'ela stream pours in. Later, the river is fed by streams from Visiru, vusambu and Magada. Induyani and Endereya from virombe jump in. Visegese adds to it. And as it feeds Izava, it is as worthy as it should be. The bottom there is known as Murogele.

I jumped Rogele to for I walked where it poured from. In the quiet, cool and green field a man dozed as cattle fed. Bhang smokers never caused trouble anymore. Nyore are dark skinned people as he was. Ise, Munyore Munangwe, he said. The reason why there were Nyores in Maragoli and Tiriki is because when they erred, they were chased. Refuge was there.

I saw guinea fowls and wished one dropped its feather for me. This was after Sharusi stream flowed from Viyalo. And reaching the Kilingili-Ebunangwe bridge, there was vandalisation. Bolts were out. This was upsetting but the cool breeze in the tall trees showing green grass to step on made me forget. A stream from Wadigula and another from Ebulamba consecutively joined.

The day was over.

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