Why "ULUMULI" best fits Valogooli 2023 Age-set

A traditional display of Ulumuli (fire/light stick)

The name “Ulumuli” for the 2023 Logooli age-set has been widely received as sophisticated. Ulumuli is the 40th Logooli Age-set, since the first documented age-set of 1690. 

Traditionally, the Logooli age-sets have been named after unique occurrences. An example is “Ligavula age-set”, named in 2016. It was ‘partly’ inspired by devolution (kugavula) in Kenyan governance. 

One would think that the 2023 age-set name would factor occurrences as CBC in education (Kihaanwa), Covid-19 (Luhuuza), 2022 General elections (Hustler/Wheelbarrow) or 2023 El-Nino (Luzega).

It did not. And if it did, it was in a better way.

Valogooli could have all circumcised in 2022 were it not for the General elections. Yet some, mainly those in Nandi County, went ahead to circumcise (Silula II) and waited for the official naming. 

The irregular circumcision events witnessed in 2022 and 2023 among Valogooli had happened even in 2016. The split (Kugavula) in 2016 was when a good number of initiates met the knife at hospitals. 

But the Logooli elders decided to overlook any shortfalls in naming its youngest generation. I attended several of their meetings and followed up the initiation process and it was not all perfect. 

It is even felt that traditions have been further watered down. This is evidenced by circumcision of very young boys (Lizuneela) and mainly attended to by mothers (ka maama). 

Another would have thought the age-set be named “akaange” (my little one). This is from the helplessness of the young initiates, parents’ overprotection and little to do with tradition of circumcision.

When will the Valogooli make peace with the “perfect” past and move on? That is the question that elders may have had (or been solving) when they settled on “Ulumuli”. 

Ulumuli means light. It can be from a burning wood or clamped sticks. It could also mean a spark. In summary, it is light in the essence of enabling sight in the dark or finding good in bad.

And yes, the generators and light bulbs were present in the valley bottoms in the dead night that boys were circumcised in Sabatia and Vihiga sub-counties. 

Much as it was argued that Mulogooli’s time of circumcision is at early dawn, more boys met the knife in the dark with the help of a torch (lumuli) as several circumcisers competed to gain more numbers.

It is also believed among the Valogooli that a good name is dreamt. “Ulumuli” was dreamt. A relative who dreamt of a child’s name would travel long distance to come and declare the name. 

And the dreamt name would outweigh all others. This happened when Musaakulu Mage quietly spoke of his dream in the gathering of council of elders. The elders heard him. 

Mage is 105 years old, well versed with Logooli tradition. He is one of the very few elders remaining of the oldest age-set, 1938 (Lizuliza). He successfully led the 2023 circumcision committee.  

In another interpretation, “Lumuli” is leadership. That it is the trail of the light that all follow. The young generation have been blessed by the elders to go and by their good actions, lead in deeds. 

Considering Valogooli are spread in East Africa and beyond, “Ulumuli” covers them too. This is unlike the 2009 naming, DCII, that was inspired by a new District, Sabatia. 

Ulumuli, allegorically, invokes the religious power of Valogooli, the ability to oversee. The tribe founder, “Mulogooli” is sometimes said to be the corruption of word “Mulaguli”, to mean a seer or prophet. 

What is being foreseen may not be said in actual terms or time as predictions of old. Perhaps “Ulumuli” is the highest Prime Cabinet Secretary office that a Mulogooli, H. E. Musalia Mudavadi directs. 

Or “Ulumuli” are the various Valogooli in their different fields of excellence. Excellent persons as Prof. Laban Ayiro and Prof. Egara Kabaji from Logooli community can be termed as “Lumuli” in the academia. 

Initiatives as “Ululogooli” that endeavours to structure a harmonious orthography that will enable Lulogooli writers to contain deviations is also light (lumuli) towards language renaissance. 

To add, word “Ulumuli” is morphologically structured as [u.lu.mul.i]. Morpheme “lu-“ denotes plurality, uncountable or diminutive. The prefix, “u-” is noun class agreement for class 11{lu}, “Ulu”. 

The root word, [mul.], can be defined with three main stem words; verb “mula” for opening, shinning or showing light. Gerunds when root “mul.” is conjugated are “kimuli”, flower and “muli”, root. 

Being a descriptive language, Ululogooli would term presence of flowers as “lumuli” and a protruding root as “lumuli”. Diminutive in speech is not necessary small but a show of humility in Lulogooli.

In the brief explanation above, it portrays a stage of infancy of what is expected to later fruit or grow en masse. There are more ways to look at it.

And as earlier hinted, the word “ulumuli” is deep and sits well in the philosophy of Mulogooli worthy propelling the new generation and the community at large to greatness. 

Lung’afa is currently the President of Young Cultural Champions spearheading Indigenous Knowledge Documentation and Digitization in Vihiga County courtesy of Natural Products Initiative (NPI) and National Museums of Kenya.