TBT 10 out of 300 edition
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"Kabaka Mutesa, spies and the forgotten Athi River murders," story published in the "Sunday Nation" of 17th July 2016:
Lillian Millie was a beauty queen – and any man would have wanted her company. She was a “honey trap” too, a term used in the Soviet Union to denote spies sent to track down political opponents. In a world where Ian Fleming’s James Bond-type spies were supposed to be hot, the 21-year-old Ugandan spy of mixed parentage was gorgeous; she was naïve too, to an extent, but not apolitical.
That was before her body — and that of her ally, 23-year-old Ugandan policewoman Sara Massa — were found floating inside a gunny bag in Athi River, near the spot where the bodies of three Kenyans were recently found.
The forgotten story of Millie and that of Massa is the stuff of high-level espionage gone awry. So wrong that it became one of the most embarrassing cases handled by the late spymaster James Kanyotu.
It was perhaps the first time that Kanyotu and his Ugandan equivalent, Supt Eric Stephenson, were using these femme fatales hoping to mimic dangerous female spies of the Cold War era — the likes of Mata Hari, Violetta Seina, and Nancy Wake — all endowed with stunning looks.
It all started in 1966 in Kampala after the Prime Minister, the late Milton Obote, deposed Uganda’s first President, Sir Edward Mutesa, better known as King Freedie by his admirers, and installed himself as president. The Cambridge-educated King Freedie was also the Kabaka of Buganda — a position that gave him a cultural score among the populous Baganda tribe.
Afraid that Obote would kill him, after the raid at his Mengo Palace Kabaka Mutesa and his Kabaka Yekka activists escaped into exile and some of them ended up in Eastleigh, Nairobi, where they started hatching a plot to kill Obote. In turn, Obote hatched a plot to catch them!
As Kanyotu would later find, under-cover operations, the cloak-and-dagger skulduggery he envisioned, could go horribly wrong. And it did on Monday, April 3, 1967, or thereabouts.
Both Millie and Massa had come to Nairobi on March 31, 1967 to trace and befriend the man who had started fundraising in Nairobi to overthrow Obote, kill him and his Cabinet.
The refugees and activists had arrived in Nairobi in scores after Mengo Palace had been overrun by Obote soldiers led by Idi Amin (who would later overthrow him). The Kabaka supporters found a new base in Eastleigh where they started fundraising, hoping to retaliate. They had at first targeted Obote as he left a prison’s passing-out parade at Luzira but only managed to shoot at Vice-President John Babiiha. That was January 22, 1967.
Aware of this plot, Obote decided to approach the Kenya government to track down the dissidents. That is how both Millie and Massa were incorporated into the scheme — with the hope that they would gather intelligence from within as femme fatales.
The Nairobi mission was high profile and included Uganda’s head of Criminal Investigations Department Mohammed Hassan and two other policemen – Supt Festus Wauyo and Supt Katerega.
Millie was to pose as a “bar hostess” and for her own security, she had been assigned a policewoman, Sara Massa, 23.
At the Princess Hotel, still in downtown Nairobi, Millie, Massa and Supt Wauyo booked themselves into different rooms. Their target was former Kabaka Mutesa bodyguards who had been left in Nairobi after he fled to exile in Britain and who were organising an armed return to Uganda.
It was known by the intelligence in Nairobi that most of the Kabaka Yekka members frequented top clubs in Nairobi including Starlight, at the grounds of the current Integrity Centre, and the now defunct Sans Chique in the CBD among others.
In Nairobi, Millie was to infiltrate the group that had attempted to kill Obote’s Vice-President led by Levis Mugarura, an ex-captain in the army, John Oboo and Andrew Kyeyune. It was a risky assignment, very risky.
At the dining room of Princess Hotel, Millie and Massa first met Zakaria Kizito, a former member of the Buganda Lukiko (Mutesa’s parliament).
Millie befriended Kizito and the two went into a conversation about the Uganda refugees. She picked up Kizito’s red-coloured diary and wrote the names of the people she wanted to meet: Abraham Senkoma, Andrew Kyeyune and John Oboo. All this time, both Millie and Massa were masquerading as Kabaka sympathisers. “Help us to find Senkoma and his two friends,” Millie told Kizito. Both Kyeyune and Oboo lived in a house near Eastleigh aerodrome (now airbase).
It was Mr Kizito who approached Senkoma, an Ethiopian-trained soldier and former Kabaka bodyguard, and told him about the two beautiful Uganda girls staying at Princess Hotel and who were looking for him.
“Don’t talk to me about detectives,” said Senkoma – perhaps aware of the many espionage traps that Obote had laid in Nairobi.
Senkoma was no ordinary exile. He had been an officer in Kabaka’s team of bodyguards and aided the Kabaka to jump over the Mengo Palace fence. In the process, the Kabaka injured his back. His accomplice Obbo, disguised as a woman, accompanied Kabaka to Nairobi.
The Uganda intelligence had hoped that if Millie and Massa managed to infiltrate their group, it would be possible to get to the internal workings of the exiles and what they were plotting.
On the night of April 1, Millie was dropped at the Starlight Club. It was her first night out in Nairobi. She started introducing herself to the Uganda crowd as “Lillian Millie from Buganda.”
The arrival of the two girls lit the small close-knit Ugandan community in Nairobi. At a house in Eastleigh, Nairobi, rented by a Baganda prince Krenimal Mawanda, a discussion about the two mysterious girls staying at Princess Hotel started.
That evening, Mawanda (who was employed at Rendezvous as a barman), Daniel Kiwanuka (organising secretary of Kabaka Yekka party) and John Oboo went to Sans Chique bar — frequented by Nairobi’s middle class and journalists — for beer. They all had acquired a Zephyr car from a second-hand car dealer, PR Rajput, for £250, which they used for their Nairobi escapades.
On April 2, 1967 and after taking drinks at Sans Chique bar, Mawanda was tasked to go and meet the girls at the Princess Hotel that night. Accompanied by his relative, Miss Essy Senvuma, Mawanda found the two spies at the dining room; “a half-caste girl and an African girl” as Senvuma would later say.
Mawanda’s task was simple: To identify and befriend the two girls. What the group knew was that a large number of Obote detectives and spies had swarmed Nairobi. In Nairobi, the magistrates had continued to frustrate Obote’s attempt to legally extradite the Kabaka followers to face charges in Kampala.
They had, in turn, while working with the Special Branch, resorted to kidnappings. One of those kidnapped was Emanuel Kiamnye and his wife Safina Nakibirango who were driven secretly from Nairobi and handed over to the Uganda police.
What was not known among the Kabaka followers was that the pretty girl Millie was the person behind their kidnappings. She was also the one who had reported to Uganda’s Criminal Investigations Department that Kyeyune was the one who fired the shots at Vice-President Babiiha’s convoy.
Millie was on a return mission — but what she did not know was that her identity was perhaps known among the Uganda refugees in Nairobi.
On April 2, Millie and Massa went to Starlight Club where beer, dance and social escapades took place under the mirrorball. Starlight was remarkable, unforgettable and distinctive. It was not only the pub where to get intoxicated but a place of casual flirting. Here, unmarried female debutants would snatch husbands easily. It was in this crowd that Millie and Massa hobnobbed with Ugandan exiles until the early hours of Sunday April 2 in a rendezvous that also took her to Sans Chique.
On April 3, the court was told, Millie received a telephone call at about 8.30 pm from Mawanda. She didn’t know that it was a trap. She called Massa and the two girls were seen going towards Government Road (now Moi Avenue) where they were to meet their previous night acquaintance Miss Essy Senvuma.
As Senvuma, more of a decoy, went to pick up the two girls, the others entered Karumaindo Bar. “We posted ourselves at various points and waited for the girls,” Oboo would later say in a police statement. Then they left Karumaindo for Athi River.
Outside Kenya Cinema were two cars – a Zephyr with ropes and a gunny bag in the boot and a Peugeot. Senkoma and Mawanda were to drive in the Zephyr while the two girls, sandwiched at the back, seat between John Oboo and Kyeyune. At the front seat was Mawanda’s relative Miss Essy Senvuma — the one who lured them out of Princess Hotel and the driver, Kiwanuka. The two vehicles drove along Mombasa Road and, on reaching the Athi River bridge, they took a turn.
“When we arrived at Athi River, Oboo and Kyeyune began questioning Millie. Millie knew she would be killed and begged them to spare her life. She admitted coming to Nairobi with the intention of getting them arrested,” said Oboo. Senvuma and Mawanda were left in the cars as the girls were dragged down the river for interrogation. She only heard them cry: “John, John, do not kill us. We have come to help you!”
It is now known from post-mortem reports that Millie was still alive, though unconscious, when she was put into a sack and thrown into the Athi River. Her report says she died of asphyxiation while Massa died of strangulation.
Back in Nairobi on the morning of April 4, Mohammed Hassan, the Uganda head of CID, called Princess Hotel. To his shock, his two girls were not there. He reached to James Kanyotu and Peter Okola, the CID head, for help.
The search in Nairobi did not yield any fruit and on April 7, a decision was made to make the disappearance public.
It was the CID that released the statement asking the public: “Have you seen these Kenyan girls?” The CID also released photographs of the two girls and only mentioned that they were last seen on Monday at 8.30 pm near the Kenya Cinema.
That night, like a diva, Millie was wearing a white dress with large brown spots and high heeled shoes while her friend was wearing a black frock with pockets. In the second appeal, police wanted to test whether anyone knew about the girls’ mission and made public appeals for witnesses who may have information and why the girls vanished.
It was not until April 8 that a Mrs Monica Naomi found the bags containing the two bodies near Sofia Village “not far from the old Athi River bridge.” On April 9, police were informed about the discovery. By this time, Uganda police officers, led by Supt Eric Stephenson, were already in Nairobi trying to trace their lost spies.
April 27: Kanyotu ordered the arrest of Daniel Kiwanuka, Andrew Kyeyune, John Mwekesi and Robert Kitali. They supplied their pictures to local media.
By that time Mawanda and Senkoma had been arrested and taken into custody in Kampala where they were tortured before they were brought to Nairobi.
On January 29, 1968, Daniel Kiwanuka, Andrew Kyeyune and Oboo were sentenced to hang by Chief Justice Sir John Ainley. Although Mawanda and Senkoma were released, they were arrested by Kanyotu’s men led by Asst Supt Joginder Singh Sokhi and handed over to Ugandan police at the Malaba border.
During the trial, it turned out that these were not two naïve women as previously thought.
Story courtesy of the "Sunday Nation" of 17th July 2016.
If you are a Kenyan, it is most likely you've come across the name Koitalel Arap Samoei, the Nandi King who ruled from 1895-1905.He was the famous King of the Nandi people who withstood the British rule for more than a decade. King Samoei would later lead his people in the famous rebellion known as the Nandi Resistance in 1905.
Koitalel died in the hands of the British and his head is stored in a London Museum . In 2016, the Nandi asked for his head to be returned back home and since then a lot has been written about him. Though surprisingly, little is known about his father, Kimnyole Arap Turukat.
Kimnyole was the third King of the Nandi people and who, before his death, prophesied about the British colonizing Kenya before it happened. Although his date of birth is still unkown, Turukat ruled the Nandi people in the early 1800s. Through the eyes of the Nandi people, Kimnyole Arap Turukat wasn't just a leader. He was a spiritual leader bestowed with the ‘gift of the eye', that is the ability to predict the future. Each time he made a negative prediction, strict measures would be put in place to prevent the disaster from occurring. On the other hand, if it was a good one, the Nandi people would prepare themselves for celebrations and thanksgiving.
During his reign, Kimnyole Arap Turukat’s reputation spread beyond the borders, gaining him immense respect among the East African community. Between the 1850s and 1870s, the Nandi people, through Turukat's stewardship, had gained a name for themselves as a superior nation in East Africa.
However, Turukat's kingdom crumbled in 1880’s when disaster struck. In 1888, a deadly cattle disease spread across the Kingdom killing a lot of livestock, thus diminishing the main source of wealth for the Nandi people. In an unfortunate turn of events, Kimnyole Arap Turukat was blamed for it for having failing to avert the catastrophe even after predicting it's arrival. This was fueled by the fact that the King's cattle weren't affected by this disease. He was sentenced to deathfor his selfishness and inability to prevent the catastrophe.
Before he died, Turukat made another prediction; one that would come to be his legacy. He predicted the invasion of the Europeans and the fall of the Nandi Kingdom.Turukat’s prophesy was of the coming of a huge Snake that billowed smoke and fire. The Snake would come from the Eastern lake and would go to quench its thirst on the Western Lake.
Shortly after, he was clubbed to death by his people and his prediction fulfilled itself a few months later when the british invaded. It is believed that the so-called Snake in Turukat's prophecy represented the European's transport system for slave trade.
Despite Turukat’s death, the Nandi people took his prophecy seriously and with the help of the king’s son, his successor, Koitalel Arap Samoei, they fought against the British rule in the famous Nandi Resistance. Kimyole Arap Turukat is remembererd up to this very day for his accurate prophesy.
Koitalel died in the hands of the British and his head is stored in a London Museum . In 2016, the Nandi asked for his head to be returned back home and since then a lot has been written about him. Though surprisingly, little is known about his father, Kimnyole Arap Turukat.
Kimnyole was the third King of the Nandi people and who, before his death, prophesied about the British colonizing Kenya before it happened. Although his date of birth is still unkown, Turukat ruled the Nandi people in the early 1800s. Through the eyes of the Nandi people, Kimnyole Arap Turukat wasn't just a leader. He was a spiritual leader bestowed with the ‘gift of the eye', that is the ability to predict the future. Each time he made a negative prediction, strict measures would be put in place to prevent the disaster from occurring. On the other hand, if it was a good one, the Nandi people would prepare themselves for celebrations and thanksgiving.
During his reign, Kimnyole Arap Turukat’s reputation spread beyond the borders, gaining him immense respect among the East African community. Between the 1850s and 1870s, the Nandi people, through Turukat's stewardship, had gained a name for themselves as a superior nation in East Africa.
However, Turukat's kingdom crumbled in 1880’s when disaster struck. In 1888, a deadly cattle disease spread across the Kingdom killing a lot of livestock, thus diminishing the main source of wealth for the Nandi people. In an unfortunate turn of events, Kimnyole Arap Turukat was blamed for it for having failing to avert the catastrophe even after predicting it's arrival. This was fueled by the fact that the King's cattle weren't affected by this disease. He was sentenced to deathfor his selfishness and inability to prevent the catastrophe.
Before he died, Turukat made another prediction; one that would come to be his legacy. He predicted the invasion of the Europeans and the fall of the Nandi Kingdom.Turukat’s prophesy was of the coming of a huge Snake that billowed smoke and fire. The Snake would come from the Eastern lake and would go to quench its thirst on the Western Lake.
Shortly after, he was clubbed to death by his people and his prediction fulfilled itself a few months later when the british invaded. It is believed that the so-called Snake in Turukat's prophecy represented the European's transport system for slave trade.
Despite Turukat’s death, the Nandi people took his prophecy seriously and with the help of the king’s son, his successor, Koitalel Arap Samoei, they fought against the British rule in the famous Nandi Resistance. Kimyole Arap Turukat is remembererd up to this very day for his accurate prophesy.
ORKOIYOT(NANDI) FOLKLORE
The Orkoiyot occupied a sacred and special role within the Nandi and Kipsigis people of Kenya. He held the dual roles of chief spiritual and military leader, and had the authority to make decisions regarding security particularly the waging of war.Notable Orkoiik include Kimnyole Arap Turukat, Koitalel Arap Samoei and Barsirian Arap Manyei.
Etymology
The origin of the word is unknown though Huntinford (1927) speculates that the word orkoiyot derives from koiyo (raided cattle).
The word predates the office it would represent among the Nandi as evinced by its presence in other Kalenjin communities e.g Kony (orkōan, orkōandet) and Suk (werkoiyon). It was originally applied to a class of wizards who were perceived to be of a benevolent nature and were thus tolerated and were distinct from ponik, a class of wizards who were perceived to only be evil.[2] Huntingford (1972) notes that the men-folk of the Kamwaike oret were the traditional orkoiik in Nandi before the Masai family of Kapuso took the pre-eminence from them.
History
Origins
See also: Sirikwa people and Sengwer people
The office that the Orkoiyot held was referred to as the Orkoinotet and was established among the Nandi by Kipsegun, a Segelai Maasai. The abilities that distinguished an Orkoiyot were hereditary and thus the office passed on to his son Arap Kipsegun though their dynasty was short-lived and ended with the son.
The second dynasty was founded through a woman named Moki chebo Cheplabot, the wife of a Maasai Laibon who fled during a war with the Nandi while pregnant. She later bore two sons, Kopokoii and Barsapotwa, while hiding in caves near Keben in the Mogobich Valley. Moki and her sons, the former who would become the first Orkoiyot of the second and last dynasty, were captured and adopted into the Talai clan.The Talai are a widespread Kalenjin clan and among the Nandi are aligned with the Lion Totem.
Genealogical Table
The Orkoinotet lasted for over fifty years and went through a period of a dual administration during the time of Arap Kipsegun and Kopokoii until the former was
Waiyaki wa Hinga who died(August 1895) the same manner as Koitalel araap Samoei of Nandi was a great Kikuyu leader originally from Maasailand. Before him, his great grandfather had ruled the Nandi in the 1800s.The Talai or Oorkoiik(Big Rocks like Jewish prophets called them) the royal clan that ruled Kenya before the intrusion of the Europeans is widespread with many of them living in Chad,Ethiopia, Uganda and among the Kikuyu,Somali and Maasai communities. In Uganda they have produced great leaders like Kabaka Mutesa. I think the name Kabaka is what survives in Kalenjin as Kobokoi. Kobokoi was a twin brother of Barsobotwo who were rescued in a cave in Olesos in Nandi after staying with lions since escaping mayhem in Laikipia. From them Turugat and Barteswot were born . Turugat Barbarani begat Kipnyolei arap Turugat who became the father of Koitalel araap Samoei ,Koilegen Kochichlim, Chebochok arap Boisio who is believed to have sired Mzee Shomo Kenyattet. Kenyatta writes in Facing Mt Kenya that his parents were diviners (Morathi) from Ukabi.
Waiyaki wa Hinga had married an Ogiot woman from Kiambu named Tiebo. Waiyaki was believed to be of Nandi origin originally from Maasailand. Waiyaki wa Hinga’s father was Timale Lemotaka ole Koiyaki from Loita. Ole Koiyaki’s father came Olesos in Nandi from the family of arap Koiyoki . Arap Koiyoki , a linage of arap Turugat is what gave us the name Waiyaki. Dr Munyua Waiyaki who died a few years ago and was once Foreign Affairs minister during Mzee Kenyatta’s time was a great great great grandson of arap Koiyok
The Orkoiyot occupied a sacred and special role within the Nandi and Kipsigis people of Kenya. He held the dual roles of chief spiritual and military leader, and had the authority to make decisions regarding security particularly the waging of war.Notable Orkoiik include Kimnyole Arap Turukat, Koitalel Arap Samoei and Barsirian Arap Manyei.
Etymology
The origin of the word is unknown though Huntinford (1927) speculates that the word orkoiyot derives from koiyo (raided cattle).
The word predates the office it would represent among the Nandi as evinced by its presence in other Kalenjin communities e.g Kony (orkōan, orkōandet) and Suk (werkoiyon). It was originally applied to a class of wizards who were perceived to be of a benevolent nature and were thus tolerated and were distinct from ponik, a class of wizards who were perceived to only be evil.[2] Huntingford (1972) notes that the men-folk of the Kamwaike oret were the traditional orkoiik in Nandi before the Masai family of Kapuso took the pre-eminence from them.
History
Origins
See also: Sirikwa people and Sengwer people
The office that the Orkoiyot held was referred to as the Orkoinotet and was established among the Nandi by Kipsegun, a Segelai Maasai. The abilities that distinguished an Orkoiyot were hereditary and thus the office passed on to his son Arap Kipsegun though their dynasty was short-lived and ended with the son.
The second dynasty was founded through a woman named Moki chebo Cheplabot, the wife of a Maasai Laibon who fled during a war with the Nandi while pregnant. She later bore two sons, Kopokoii and Barsapotwa, while hiding in caves near Keben in the Mogobich Valley. Moki and her sons, the former who would become the first Orkoiyot of the second and last dynasty, were captured and adopted into the Talai clan.The Talai are a widespread Kalenjin clan and among the Nandi are aligned with the Lion Totem.
Genealogical Table
The Orkoinotet lasted for over fifty years and went through a period of a dual administration during the time of Arap Kipsegun and Kopokoii until the former was
Waiyaki wa Hinga who died(August 1895) the same manner as Koitalel araap Samoei of Nandi was a great Kikuyu leader originally from Maasailand. Before him, his great grandfather had ruled the Nandi in the 1800s.The Talai or Oorkoiik(Big Rocks like Jewish prophets called them) the royal clan that ruled Kenya before the intrusion of the Europeans is widespread with many of them living in Chad,Ethiopia, Uganda and among the Kikuyu,Somali and Maasai communities. In Uganda they have produced great leaders like Kabaka Mutesa. I think the name Kabaka is what survives in Kalenjin as Kobokoi. Kobokoi was a twin brother of Barsobotwo who were rescued in a cave in Olesos in Nandi after staying with lions since escaping mayhem in Laikipia. From them Turugat and Barteswot were born . Turugat Barbarani begat Kipnyolei arap Turugat who became the father of Koitalel araap Samoei ,Koilegen Kochichlim, Chebochok arap Boisio who is believed to have sired Mzee Shomo Kenyattet. Kenyatta writes in Facing Mt Kenya that his parents were diviners (Morathi) from Ukabi.
Waiyaki wa Hinga had married an Ogiot woman from Kiambu named Tiebo. Waiyaki was believed to be of Nandi origin originally from Maasailand. Waiyaki wa Hinga’s father was Timale Lemotaka ole Koiyaki from Loita. Ole Koiyaki’s father came Olesos in Nandi from the family of arap Koiyoki . Arap Koiyoki , a linage of arap Turugat is what gave us the name Waiyaki. Dr Munyua Waiyaki who died a few years ago and was once Foreign Affairs minister during Mzee Kenyatta’s time was a great great great grandson of arap Koiyok
KADU
The Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) was a political party in Kenya. It was founded in 1960 when several leading politicians refused to join Jomo Kenyatta's Kenya African National Union (KANU). It was led by Ronald Ngala who was joined by Moi's Kalenjin Political Alliance, the Masai United Front, the Kenya African Peoples Party, the Coast African Political Union, Masinde Muliro's Baluhya Political Union and the Somali National Front.The separate tribal organisations were to retain their identity and so, from the very start, KADU based its political approach on tribalism. KADU's aim was to defend the interests of the so-called KAMATUSA (an acronym for Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana and Samburu ethnic groups) as well as the British settlers, against the imagined future dominance of the larger Luo and Kikuyu that comprised the majority of KANU's membership, when it became inevitable that Kenya will achieve its independence.The KADU objective was to work towards a multiracial self government within the existing colonial political system.[ After release of Jomo Kenyatta, KADU was becoming increasingly popular with European settlers and, on the whole, repudiated Kenyatta's leadership.KADU's plan at Lancaster meetings was devised by European supporters, essentially to protect prevailing British settlers land rights.Eldoret KADU Branch office in 1962.The party was later disolved in 1963 after KANU won the 1963 elections.
The Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) was a political party in Kenya. It was founded in 1960 when several leading politicians refused to join Jomo Kenyatta's Kenya African National Union (KANU). It was led by Ronald Ngala who was joined by Moi's Kalenjin Political Alliance, the Masai United Front, the Kenya African Peoples Party, the Coast African Political Union, Masinde Muliro's Baluhya Political Union and the Somali National Front.The separate tribal organisations were to retain their identity and so, from the very start, KADU based its political approach on tribalism. KADU's aim was to defend the interests of the so-called KAMATUSA (an acronym for Kalenjin, Maasai, Turkana and Samburu ethnic groups) as well as the British settlers, against the imagined future dominance of the larger Luo and Kikuyu that comprised the majority of KANU's membership, when it became inevitable that Kenya will achieve its independence.The KADU objective was to work towards a multiracial self government within the existing colonial political system.[ After release of Jomo Kenyatta, KADU was becoming increasingly popular with European settlers and, on the whole, repudiated Kenyatta's leadership.KADU's plan at Lancaster meetings was devised by European supporters, essentially to protect prevailing British settlers land rights.Eldoret KADU Branch office in 1962.The party was later disolved in 1963 after KANU won the 1963 elections.
Charles Dundas was a British administrator serving in ukambani around 1910.
This is what he once wrote of the Kamba:
“It is a great mistake to reckon on outwitting him [the mkamba], for he is not easily duped although he may appear so. Nor can he easily be frighted, for he will obstinately sit down and await what may come...nothing makes one more helpless...
than his discovery that your threat was an empty one...”Kambas are the greatest believers in the supernatural and their prowess in the dark arts of the old are renowned everywhere.
Charles is the one who also noted opposition by Kitui women of tilling the land using hoes as it was believed that iron implements “drove away the rains”.
In later years, there was a campaign in Ukambani to rid the place of hookworms. This led to the construction of many pit latrines as early as 1915.
But it took a while for the Kamba to be convinced to make use of them(they believed it a bad omen not seeing where your defecated waste is going)sic.
And did you know that among the Wakamba, it was a “crime” to so much as hurl an insult to an elder?
A young man who had been disrespectful to an elder was required by his father to make to the elder the gift of traditional wine, at least equal in value to a goat,
When the British started enforcing their forms of justice in Kenya, they had to somewhat accommodate these Wakamba customs and the colony feared their arts for it was so astounding and real to them and the customs was law,only that members of this community started asking for higher amounts in money compensation.
In some cases, the courts denied compensation when the age difference between the parties was considered inadequate.
Elders, on the other hand, believed that they were entitled to insult younger men or women.
In a case at the Machakos Magistrates Court (CA 43/67) of June 19, 1967, the plaintiff had sued the elder half-brother for saying "that he usually peeps dresses of his daughter so as to find out whether she has committed adultery".
The plaintiff sought KES 600/- as compensation but was awarded KES 200/-).
“I am satisfied that the old custom of the Kamba whereby the aged were probably privileged to insult the young ones has died out in these modern civilized periods and days( esp the use of the k word by the elders when provoked) where no one is privileged to insult the other”, ruled the judge.Below handsome kamba lads assimilating the good use of fashion combs in 1960s
This is what he once wrote of the Kamba:
“It is a great mistake to reckon on outwitting him [the mkamba], for he is not easily duped although he may appear so. Nor can he easily be frighted, for he will obstinately sit down and await what may come...nothing makes one more helpless...
than his discovery that your threat was an empty one...”Kambas are the greatest believers in the supernatural and their prowess in the dark arts of the old are renowned everywhere.
Charles is the one who also noted opposition by Kitui women of tilling the land using hoes as it was believed that iron implements “drove away the rains”.
In later years, there was a campaign in Ukambani to rid the place of hookworms. This led to the construction of many pit latrines as early as 1915.
But it took a while for the Kamba to be convinced to make use of them(they believed it a bad omen not seeing where your defecated waste is going)sic.
And did you know that among the Wakamba, it was a “crime” to so much as hurl an insult to an elder?
A young man who had been disrespectful to an elder was required by his father to make to the elder the gift of traditional wine, at least equal in value to a goat,
When the British started enforcing their forms of justice in Kenya, they had to somewhat accommodate these Wakamba customs and the colony feared their arts for it was so astounding and real to them and the customs was law,only that members of this community started asking for higher amounts in money compensation.
In some cases, the courts denied compensation when the age difference between the parties was considered inadequate.
Elders, on the other hand, believed that they were entitled to insult younger men or women.
In a case at the Machakos Magistrates Court (CA 43/67) of June 19, 1967, the plaintiff had sued the elder half-brother for saying "that he usually peeps dresses of his daughter so as to find out whether she has committed adultery".
The plaintiff sought KES 600/- as compensation but was awarded KES 200/-).
“I am satisfied that the old custom of the Kamba whereby the aged were probably privileged to insult the young ones has died out in these modern civilized periods and days( esp the use of the k word by the elders when provoked) where no one is privileged to insult the other”, ruled the judge.Below handsome kamba lads assimilating the good use of fashion combs in 1960s
NYAATHA
Irene Stefani "NYAATHA"(22 August 1891 – 31 October 1930), born Aurelia Mercede Stefani, was a Roman Catholic Italian nun and a member of the Consolata Missionary Sisters. She assumed the name "Irene" upon entrance into that order and she became a missionary in Kenya.
Consolata Missionaries
She was cleared for beatification in 2014 after a miracle found to have been attributed to her intercession was ratified, and she was beatified on 23 May 2019 in Nyeri by Cardinal Polycarp Pengo on behalf of Pope Francis.
Biography
Stefani was born in 1891 in the small village of Anfo as one of twelve children and was baptized in the name of "Aurelia Jacoba Mercede" on the following 23 August. Her mother died on 12 May 1907 and this left Stefani in the delicate position of the management of her siblings and assisting her father, especially in the Christian formation of her younger sisters Marietta and Antonietta, and her brother Ugo who died not long after this.[2] She received Confirmation on 6 November 1898 and later received her First Communion a few years following this.
Stefani joined the Consolata Missionary Sisters in June 1911 and became a professed member of that order on 29 January 1914 prior to the beginning of World War I. Upon entering the order, she took the name of "Irene". That same year, she was sent by Giuseppe Allamano to go to Kenya, leaving on 28 December 1914, where she arrived in January 1915.
Stefani served as a nurse in Kenya and became well known and well regarded among the people that she served. This earned her the nickname "Nyaatha" (Nyina wa tha), which is a name literally translated as "mother of mercy". With the onslaught of World War I, she served in hospitals to tend to the wounded soldiers and those others wounded in the conflict. On 20 August 1916, she was appointed as a Red Cross to assist the Carriers who were forced to march exhaustingly in the African terrain. During this time, she worked in military hospitals in places such as Lindi and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Blessed Irene Stefani circa 1920.
At the conclusion of the war in 1918, Stefani returned to Nyeri where she first served as an assistant formator of the first aspirants of the incipient local congregation known as the Mary Immaculate Sisters. Two years later, she was appointed to Our Lady of Divine Providence mission at Gikondi, remaining there until her death. There, she taught in schools and instructed parishioners in catechism while visiting the villages. At Gikhondi, she was the Superior of the Consolata Missionary Sisters for eight years.
In 1930, Stefani contracted a disease from one of the patients she was treating and grew physically weak in the summer, losing a considerable amount of weight, bearing this as God's will. On 20 October, she felt sick yet opted to visit a plague-stricken person, remaining at his bedside for several hours. She succumbed eleven days later, on 31 October 1930.
Beatification
The cause of beatification commenced on 22 July 1985 under Pope John Paul II and Stefani was declared a Servant of God; this acted as the formal beginning of the cause and it saw the accumulation of documents and testimonies in order to support the cause.
On 2 April 2011, Pope Benedict XVI declared her to have lived a life of heroic virtue and declared her to be Venerable.
On 12 June 2014, Pope Francis approved a decree that recognized a miracle attributed to Stefani's intercession which cleared the way for her beatification. It was celebrated by Cardinal Polycarp Pengo on 23 May 2015 in Nyeri.
Irene Stefani "NYAATHA"(22 August 1891 – 31 October 1930), born Aurelia Mercede Stefani, was a Roman Catholic Italian nun and a member of the Consolata Missionary Sisters. She assumed the name "Irene" upon entrance into that order and she became a missionary in Kenya.
Consolata Missionaries
She was cleared for beatification in 2014 after a miracle found to have been attributed to her intercession was ratified, and she was beatified on 23 May 2019 in Nyeri by Cardinal Polycarp Pengo on behalf of Pope Francis.
Biography
Stefani was born in 1891 in the small village of Anfo as one of twelve children and was baptized in the name of "Aurelia Jacoba Mercede" on the following 23 August. Her mother died on 12 May 1907 and this left Stefani in the delicate position of the management of her siblings and assisting her father, especially in the Christian formation of her younger sisters Marietta and Antonietta, and her brother Ugo who died not long after this.[2] She received Confirmation on 6 November 1898 and later received her First Communion a few years following this.
Stefani joined the Consolata Missionary Sisters in June 1911 and became a professed member of that order on 29 January 1914 prior to the beginning of World War I. Upon entering the order, she took the name of "Irene". That same year, she was sent by Giuseppe Allamano to go to Kenya, leaving on 28 December 1914, where she arrived in January 1915.
Stefani served as a nurse in Kenya and became well known and well regarded among the people that she served. This earned her the nickname "Nyaatha" (Nyina wa tha), which is a name literally translated as "mother of mercy". With the onslaught of World War I, she served in hospitals to tend to the wounded soldiers and those others wounded in the conflict. On 20 August 1916, she was appointed as a Red Cross to assist the Carriers who were forced to march exhaustingly in the African terrain. During this time, she worked in military hospitals in places such as Lindi and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Blessed Irene Stefani circa 1920.
At the conclusion of the war in 1918, Stefani returned to Nyeri where she first served as an assistant formator of the first aspirants of the incipient local congregation known as the Mary Immaculate Sisters. Two years later, she was appointed to Our Lady of Divine Providence mission at Gikondi, remaining there until her death. There, she taught in schools and instructed parishioners in catechism while visiting the villages. At Gikhondi, she was the Superior of the Consolata Missionary Sisters for eight years.
In 1930, Stefani contracted a disease from one of the patients she was treating and grew physically weak in the summer, losing a considerable amount of weight, bearing this as God's will. On 20 October, she felt sick yet opted to visit a plague-stricken person, remaining at his bedside for several hours. She succumbed eleven days later, on 31 October 1930.
Beatification
The cause of beatification commenced on 22 July 1985 under Pope John Paul II and Stefani was declared a Servant of God; this acted as the formal beginning of the cause and it saw the accumulation of documents and testimonies in order to support the cause.
On 2 April 2011, Pope Benedict XVI declared her to have lived a life of heroic virtue and declared her to be Venerable.
On 12 June 2014, Pope Francis approved a decree that recognized a miracle attributed to Stefani's intercession which cleared the way for her beatification. It was celebrated by Cardinal Polycarp Pengo on 23 May 2015 in Nyeri.
