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Chahilu’s Funeral; Logooli Culture in action

Guuga Chahilu was respectfully laid to rest at his home on Saturday 14th June 2025. Having passed on at Mbale Referral Hospital on 31st May 2025, the two weeks leading to his burial were full of cultural discussions. His passing on is a great loss to the Logooli Language and Culture Family as he was a custodian and informer of Luhya Indigenous Knowledge. An observation as to how the funeral proceeded leads us to revist Logooli traditions amidst modern realities.  One, having left the house alive and now coming back in state, Chahilu was to be taken inside the house, placed muihiilu for a moment and then officially taken out in wait for earth burial. His casket was able to enter the doors. There are cases where the dead would find it difficult to be taken in and then out due to an oversized casket or thin door. A man or a lady of his house who died out of home has to be taken in the house for a last ritual mark. But if the person had died inside, he or she would not be brought bac...

Is it Ebulogooli or Evorogoori?

This article is second to matters Lulogooli (ruragori) and here I evoke the 'correct' way that if agreed upon we shall see a 'harmonious' literary writing in the said language. So, why the querry?

There is a 'b' and a 'v' competing for the same place here. We write bulamu and not vuramu. We write bogono and not vogono. We write buyanzi and not vuyanzi. We know that in speech, we say the latter words. If you never went to school you'd comfortably write vuyanzi. But having seen your teacher insist on buyanzi then there is need to investigate.

One, Balogooli (varagori) did not invent writing. A white man came in early twentieth century and in all that confusion of writing and learning, a conventional mistake of placing a letter here and another there was later authoritatively applied in teaching and later drummed into the heads of learners who wouldn't imagine writing otherwise.

In the preceding article we saw that the conflicts of language use by Friends Africa Mission at Kaimosi, Church of God at Maseno and Catholics in Mukumu  lead to some unsustainable compromises and the setup of Luhya Language Committee has only seen spectators speaking of 'it is hard for them to unite'. Which unity is there if my tongue is compromised? To read in another's dialect has a feeling of chocking by the throat. Though I can read Lunyore, I feel the 'khwe's' disturbing to have the book down immediately. I think of it as a cloned version of my mother tongue. They equally feel puking when they read Lulogooli too.

The 'b' must have been a result of accomodating Tiriki's and Nyore at Kaimosi. During Izava river walk, I found out that there was a large Nyore migration to Tiriki in the past centuries. And there they took the bees (b's). We were stung when a compromise in Chilson'n committee suffered that a 'v' would be hard for the rest but a 'b' easy for all the way 'l' triumphed over 'r'. The then great chief (somebody remind me his paramount name!) was a Tiriki and reported to Mumia. He could beat you by saying 'vwami vuvwo' instead of 'bwami bubwo'.

But as Rees may have said in response against harmonisation that ruragori was a beautiful language to behold, folks out there marvel when maragoli is spoken. Hear them tighten their tongues as they go; Ovendi! Mbee Rivendi Mba! Gavorekandi?! And if it is spoken this way, why should it be written 'that way'? I was cycling past Mudete and a painter had largely written MARAGORI on a building. I said Kuddos because that is how it is spoken. This is maragori and not maragoli. It is vurahi and not bulahi. It is vusiru and not busilu to write in a way that a junior kid will say no!

Men and women of my motherland, you who read books of TKK that were written by J. Lugadiru, you who use the biblical translation to say 'this it', know that there wasn't a learned elder during language harmonisation to say 'No'. But we have the chance and let's use it. Let us preserve our beautiful language in writings that are not sister to pronunciation!

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