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Heavy responsibilities for elder aunt among the Logooli

With Seenge Fonesi. She is the elder grand daughter of Isagi and elder daughter of Amugasya. She is often present in functions involving the family of Amugasya. Pic taken on 18/4/2024. The elder sister soon becomes the elder aunt. It is this “seenge munene” (elder aunt) tag that she is tied to many cultural responsibilities – back home. To her marital family she may appear as any other woman, but she is not so in the eyes of her people. Marriage does not steal her away as it would happen with other daughters of the old man. To her, as days go and the old man and woman of the estate are dependents, she becomes increasingly present.  Her brothers also need her for almost all traditional markings. They are marrying, she needs to welcome the new wife. They are giving birth, she needs to come to midwife or “bless” the new born. They are paying dowry she needs to lead the women delegate. There is a conflict she needs to come for a hearing.  And many others. Traditions does not expect her to
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The Andindivana

With Mullab Otwombe at his home in Chanzuvu near Iduku

Mbihi area and environs was known as evoGonda of the larger vaMavi, descendants of Murogori's fourth son. Other clans are found there, not vaGonda only as we had earlier read interclan marriages as  the main symbiotic benefit for clan mixups in an area.

vaSaniaga are also in Mbihi, with different entry times and reasons. Some sharing a close ancestor but majority a far sought one. One of the recent ancestors is Joseph Andindivane whose ancestry is not elaborate that through the Saniaga Oral Genealogy Search we should be able to relate with similar light skinned Saniaga people.

Joseph Andidivane is a circa late 1800's birth year. He married Amadede first and begot Enos Adika and Joseph Gagai. Amadede's house was up at Mbihi. The second wife, Rovembe, whose home was at Iduku, begot Nathan Chabeda, Gerishom Otwombe, Levi Ndori, Ahada Elam and Rigunda Esinasi.

Of Andidivane's sons, Gerishon Otwombe opens us to the time's niceties. Not to say the others were least because one like Nathan Chabeda was religiously staunch that he was crowned Brigadier (in Christ Army, pseudo to Saniaga warriordom during occupancy) by the Salvation Army Church. Gerishom married the daughter of chief Paul Agoi, Leah Kiraya, muRogovo from Kidundu. She was the second born of Agoi, her elder brother, Ruka Kitinga.

And Laban Otwombe (Gerishom's fifth child) remembers his visits iKidundu. You go visiting your maternal grandfather and are gifted a huge banana stack. You have to carry it home on the head, with no mind of putting it down to rest for it would be hard to get a person who could help you to raise it to the head again. Thanks to the distance from Kidundu to Iduku one would persevere the weight. That was before the third son of Agoi was crowned a Paramount  Chief, Wo Ruyari Meshack Agoi. The son of Meshack is Rtd. Major General George Agoi at Soi.

At the time George Agoi was based at Kahawa Barracks, his cousin, Laban Otwombe, had left from there as a record keeper for the armed force to Kenyatta University's administration arm of records keeping too. My Dean of Students, 2011, Dr. Edwin Gimode was Liban's liked youngster that he asked him to enroll for masters from Kabarnet school. By the time of his retirement in 2008, Laban had seen Prof Mugenda rise to a lecturer and later appointed by Prof Eshwani as a DVC. While at KU, Laban thinks, he and George could have done more then in creating opportunities for people back home if they were in tandem.

Laban's siblings are Hellen Kazira, Agneda Vuguza, Adram Ganyanya, Dorcas Ondisa, Jotham Agesa, Joel Endeki, Eli Mukuvwa, Paul Agoi (named after the Chief), Isaac Kidiavai and Kigadi Joram. The latter two were of Gerishom's second wife, Robai Musindare, her home found at Rogere, up Vunandi before Magada.

As Laban has children and grandchildren, so do his siblings and cousins from the people mentioned above, some captured in Saniaga Oral Genealogy Form for purposes of keeping the Saniaga lineage documented, relating and rewarding to the interested. When we shall be settling to drawing the family trees it will be easier to draw each one closer to the source and revere our diversity to this age.

-/With Thanks
Saniaga.org
Saniaga.blogspot.com

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