Not all men beget sons as African communities revere. Sons were important to a man that when he dies, he could be responsible enough in the spirit world to communicate back as an ancestor through his lineage. But what of aSaniaga men who never had sons yet they were not sterile? They still led their lives to fulfillment as those who had sons similar to men who were not lucky to raise offsprings or died earlier in time before marriage. Here, the Agikuyu tribe gives gives us understanding that a tribe is not necessarily a paternal effect always. And avaSaniaga identified people of the past may have originated so.
Where God Mogai created the tribe's founder, Gikuyu and gave him a beautiful wife, Mumbi to live in the beautiful land of Mokorwe wa Gathanga (now Murang'a) where sacred fig trees were plenty. Here, they would look at the present Mt. Kenya peak and see Mogai shining in holiness - the snow - as he blessed them with nine daughters; Wacheera, Wanjiko, Wairimo, Wamboi, Wangare, Wanjiru, Wangoi, Warigia (Mwethaga) and Waithera. And Gikuyu was worried how his lineage would propagate. So he beseeched God Mogai and he was directed to where handsome men would be waiting to marry his daughters.
Where these handsome men came from is the joy of a Search as this. Where we would draw limits and human boundaries, we find an opening that leads to another and forth. Without much ado, he who has a daughter has a son in law and the other way too. We know of the communities that neighbour the Agikuyu. And Murang'a is a latter time settlement for Agikuyu are part of Eastern Bantu. From which community did the men come from or if the tale is not true is past us.
Yet there are historical stories that link the Agikuyu with communities as Maasai, Meru, Embu and others which if followed up can equally, as we have observed in other communities, explain their diverse and dynamic nature. For there are the main nine clans courtesy of the 'daughters of Mumbi' and other clans whose story should be aired as Saniaga airs its.
Joseph Barrage Wanjui in the book, _My Native Roots_ endeavors to link Agikuyu and Maasai through his ancestor, Kihiko. It was not uncommon then for Maasai to interact with Agikuyu in many ways and in either communities, first through marriage, make either establish its branch in another. Kihiko married/inherited a Maasai woman who came to Kikuyu (as Agikuyu area is broadly termed) with children she had begotten in Maasai. The Maasai woman was known as Thuguta. Kihiko was a warrior and as expected of every riika to show their muscle by raiding other communities, Maasai was more intense because of cattle spoils. Due to her age, Thuguta may not have been a perfect spoil much as young girls (and young boys too) were captured. For some other reason she came to be one of the wives of Kihiko.
Kihiko's father was called Muitiku and their original land was in Murang'a. Either by land pressure, escape for witchcraft or other reasons, Muitiku migrated to Mang'u, leaving his Aangoi (of Wango/vaAngoi) clan father people (Kogi) and grandfather by extent (Waribe) and up to clan founder. To start his own fame and lineage for he was rich with cattle and wives. And at Mang'u there were a people comfortable in the thickets of the forest there. The Ndorobo. Whose origin may be as a result of Bantu-Pygmy intermarriage. The pygmy the Agikuyu encountered are the Gumba who got lost in their underground holes they hid in - could be such a Search will bring them from the 'holes'. For their identities are now swallowed in tribes.
This Southwards move in search for better farmlands went on for generations because it was not even a generation old that Mang'u would be left, part of Muitiku's going to Kabete. Reason for the move was because a friend of Muitiku's warrior son (Kihiko) by the name Njau from Kabocha. He was fond of visits, rich and respected and to crown it all, he asked for a hand in marriage to Kihiko's child, Nyengoro. Nyengoro was one of the children the Maasai woman, Thuguta came with. It was not a problem amongst the Agikuyu to accept children that a wife came with, similar to Maragoli before the terror of inheritance encroached when land was no longer a matter of hiring the strongest of men to hurl a club and clear the area as Demi na Mathathi giants of the tribe did.
Nyengoro, a wife of Kihiko's friend, Njau wa Kabocha was fond of his brother, Munana. Thuguta came with five children; Kiarie, Munana, Nyengoro, Nyehunga and Nyarugure. It was common for sisters to welcome their younger brothers to visit them where they were married and this way much happened - even settling and marrying. Much more in homes where a mother died and elder sisters were left to cater for their young ones. This made Munana even fell in love with the smell of the land in Kabocha. And it would not be Munana alone who would be convinced to move but Njau went ahead even to host Kihiko for Thuguta had long followed her daughter to this rich homestead. From Mang'u Kihiko was leaving his other wives who had children. Mbari ya (house of Muitiku/vaMuitiku) had by then grown at Mang'u because Kihiko was not the only son of Muitiku, the contemporary of Mugo wa Kabiro (Born 1830s), the Agikuyu seer who prophesied the coming of the white man and the connection of a railway line from Mombasa to Kisumu through Kikuyu land.
Kihiko would however not settle at Kabocha for he returned back to Mang'u. His children however, brothers and sisters of Nyengoro enjoyed the efforts of Munana because he had grown to become a rich man with flock of cattle. He had also centrally built a hut for his mother Thuguta to reign supreme at his compound, teaching his children folklore of Maasai. This was was topped by frequent visits of Maasai morans to his home, same as avaSaniaga elders will speak of their forefathers of elongated earlobes used to visit them from Nandi. Munana had married Agikuyu women but to flavour his growing compound, these visiting Maasai morans who enjoyed his hospitality brought with them a beautiful làdy gift for a wife.
When Munana died, there would be a problem of land inheritance. Kihiko did not go back to Mang'u with all the people he had went with at Kabocha. Expansion by Munana was even enjoyed by Kihiko's brothers and their children: munana's cousins. Some sold their parcels in Mang'u in move to Kabocha. Munana asked for no inheritance at Mang'u in comparison. But at his death, armed with proverbs, walking sticks and grey hair, the children of Munana and grandchildren would contend for ownership of Munana's land with their extended family - step grandfathers, fathers and cousins. The fable by Jomo Kenyatta in _Facing Mount Kenya_ would elaborate.
Jomo documents that a man once built a hut which when he sheltered an elephant from rain, it did chase the man out to keep its soft skin safe. When the Lion, the king of the jungle heard complaints, he ordered for a commission of enquiry and solution finding to be formed chaired by Rt. Hon. Mr. Fox and formidable Mr. Leopard as secretary involving other wise jungle mights as Mr. Alligator and forth. Man would not be allowed to contribute a name to the commission because his tribe did not understand the law of the jungle which, without, the wise jungle greats would still arrive at a non partisan ruling. Which indeed was arrived at after much deliberation just as Kiama elders did. Those who listened to the Munana's case. Rt. Hon Mr. Fox asked man what occupied the space in the hut before innocent elephant came in. When man struggled to explain, the no merit case was thrown away, man left _muhoi_ as it was termed for a squatter.
Our man would build another. But Alas! His handsomeness Warthog came and took ownership. The commission lead by Mr. Hon. Mr. Fox would not do otherwise because in law, and tradition, similar cases, by reference, receive similar judgements. Till man had built many houses which all were taken from him. The pain that Waiyaki, a passionate change agent youth in Ngugi Wa Thiong'os novel, _The River Between_ felt. In this novel, Ngugi represents Kiama (council of elders) with ruthless visionless conservative elders against a young man who is after service to his people - not leadership that they think.
Kiama decided that Munana's property had a hand of Kihiko in it. And they were equal heirs. This was partly interpreted as a Maasai-Gikuyu issue and Munana's were caught between, expecting nothing but utmost fairness. A solution that depressed the ridge between, Makuyu and Kameno allegory. That not after the 1952 Emergency where all Agikuyu lost homes and were crowded in villages that title deeds would be issued to claimed lands. In some cases it would be fatal as in Maragoli and Kisii where land has caused enormous family animosity. Those who had migrated to Kabocha and sold their lands at Mang'u were asked to swear in the traditional manner when they reclaimed the pieces. Joseph Barrage writes that those who swore when they had indeed sold had ugly end lives.
Coming to birth of Barrage Wa Wanjui in 1936/7, Cura valley of Kahuho was still unoccupied. Boys herd cattle there. His father, Wanjui wa Munana had strained relationship with his mother that she ran away with an uninitiated boy (him) to Njoro. They left behind his elder initiated brother - Mbatia. Mbatia would sell his inheritance at Kabocha and bought land in Mang'u. He grew up to become a supportive elder brother and son, playing father figure in Barrage's life in the changed times, living in Nairobi as urbanites. Why Barrage writes a tribute to his brother and dedicates the Genealogy book to his mother 'for making him what he became' is a phenomenon to ponder. That it is not the rise of modern time single mothers where sons and daughters heap praises on their mothers but throughout history, mothers have made and contributed to history both directly and indirectly.
Man in the tale, Waiyaki in the novel and Barrage in real life are all Genealogy related experiences to learn from. What man did was that he built a huge house with many rooms in which all wildlife would enter and get room before they started conflicting on who was the owner, came first, was mightiest etcetera. As they conflicted, man did set the house on fire the way MauMau approached the struggle for independence. Had the Agikuyu learnt the wisdom of the white man enough to chase him away without burning their house? Not a very lovely tale if Kiama elders, at the end of Ngugi's book lead by Kabonyi passed a harsh ruling on Waiyaki for he is indeed their Saviour. Mugo wa Kibiro was called mad and could not be contained with the narrow life of the ridges which made him a vagabond. And Barrage who rose to become the CEO of Unilever and Chancellor of Nairobi University, the bug of identity would not be satisfied by historical texts. Rather inclusion of points of action as land ownership and use, environmental conservation, entrepreneurship and responsible leaders. To identify himself as mbari ya Aangoi/nyumba ya Kihiko/Munana while pursuing good for all - nyumba ya Agikuyu, nyumba ya Africa and world.
With Thanks
Lung'afa Igunza
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