Skip to main content

Featured

The Kamnara of Sakwa are making ground to build for future generations

Greetings from the Kamnara of Sakwa! The Kamnara people of Sakwa on 27th December 2024 gathered at Village Park, Ajigo (near Bondo). Hosted by Kwaka Joseph, they hearkened to the consultative forum call, arriving in good numbers and early enough for a successful day. The gathering was chaired by Mr. Nying’ro James Onyango, a former (retired) assistant commissioner of Police. The introductions were excellent. The genealogies were mentioned in reverence, lengthy ones applauded. And courtesy of Enos Oyaya’s book, “Kamnara my people”, anyone who would need help had the documentation. Oyaya had launched the Kamnara book on 30th December 2022 at his home in Kamnara Mwalo, an event that gathered Vakamnara from far and wide. “What can we do that the generations to come will benefit from?” This was the clarion Mr. Kwaka Joseph called on all to fashion their minds to. And issues were raised in the fields of Education, health, agriculture, enterprise, politics and more that the swift dholuo would...

Ruragori : Bunulu is not Vunuru

This is a third article on Lulogooli (ruragori). I was cycling down Eregi for the lack of adventure when I arrived at the centre. Bars, shops and groceries were on and I could get a cold banana. The road should have been tarmarked along ago that the many motorbikes on the route would only zoom noisily and not spew dust. Opposite, a butcher stood. Meat hung and choma roasted. 'Bunulu Butchery,' it read.

'Why have you named this butcher so?'
'What is wrong with the name?' Question for question.
'You mean you steal from people?'
'Ah, Bunulu means delicious!'
'Aaaa! I didn't know!'

What did I not know? I did not know that lwidaho is not ruragori. In fact we are wrongly put in 'luluhya' when the first white man tried to group us. Ruragori is a distant tongue with no 'Khwes' and khas' as the '17 luhya sub-tribes'. In harmonising, they wanted to put 'l' for 'r', 'b' for 'v'. We ended up mixing up our tongue. The present interactions make it worse. Unless we stand on both legs, we falling...

Bunulu is what we would term 'vunūru' to mean thuggery, robbery and theft. Written, we are asked to do so as on the butcher yet we do not speak that way!! But Idakos' are speakers and writers of the same. We therefore in our 'harmonising' get lost. 'vunūri' is a synonym. It is bad kunūra. You won't live kuhindira if you keep nunūra vandu.

Delicious in Lulogooli would go 'vonoru or vunoru.' Go to hell with 'bonolu or bunolu.' Something delicious is kenoru. At a party, vinoru (delicacies) are prepared. Hen is enoru as isindo. And to those who are initiates to curiosity know how munoru venus is. Maximum Sweetness, Mumias Sugar.

There is a challenge that a learned man needs to write and speak his language well without bringing in his own ideas. And those ideas are what but writing what the tongue says not? Let the tongue rule. The brain is its servant here.

Comments