KikuyusforChange Speaks on Raila’s Installation as Kikuyu Elder
(This is a Press Statement read by representatives of kikuyusforchange on the 29th of June 2008, at the Grand Regency Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. In attendance were representatives of ALL Media Houses in the country.)
Over the last three weeks the media has highlighted a debate going on within kikuyuland on whether or not a suggested event to honor Raila as a kikuyu elder should take place. Those who came up with the proposal argue that this is a means of creating national unity and reconciliation, while those against it say that, though they agree with the idea, they have a problem with those championing it. As kikuyusforchange.com we are making this statement to our leaders:
1) As a leader you cannot say that you will not implement an idea you agree is good for our community because you do not like the person who came up with it.
2) During his political career the Right Honorable Raila Amolo Odinga has been bestowed similar honors by the Luo, Maasai, Kalenjin, Luhya, Borana & Pokot communities. Some of this communities still practice a more rigid cultural system than what ours has become-in fact, as a community we are known not to have a culture apart from voting for our own. Kenyans from other communities know this, and to them, the intricacies you are talking about are perceived to be obstacles and schemes to avoid recognizing Raila as a national leader.
3) We hereby remind you that as far as the country is concerned, the idea to honor Raila as a kikuyu elder was proposed by kikuyus. Your utterances have now escalated this issue into the national limelight because you have chosen to fight about it in public, holding a debate that should actually be an internal affair, on national media.
We want to state very clearly that this event must happen because as far as the rest of the country is concerned, failure to install Raila as an elder, especially after some of the utterances made, will be perceived by other communities to mean that kikuyus still will not recognize the Right Honorable Raila Odinga as either a national leader, or as the Prime Minister of Kenya, which is certainly not the case.
As what is commonly referred to as the .com generation, based on our age and the average lifespan, we have more stake in this country than most of you. Be informed that by making the issue of Raila’s installation a national issue, and then making utterances such as we have been reading in the press, you risk reversing any progress made in reconciling our community with the other communities.
We are challenging all of you as our political leaders to get your act together and make this event a success so that the whole nation can see we have moved on from the politics of last year. We are also asking that you involve religious, business, youth, professional and other opinion leaders, and salvage what is now threatening to become a community Public Relations disaster. If there is an issue about who should organize it, or how it should be organized, get involved and make the appropriate changes from the inside rather than disparaging it from outside.
We also remind you that we have over 300,000 Kenyans still trying to get their lives back to normalcy, with 1,200 familes going through a grieving and healing process after having lost loved ones. We say that any event whatsoever, from whomever, that seeks to make our community build bridges with other communities, and makes these internally displaced people get their lives back together sooner, must be embraced by all.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:05 am
Get serious guys,you have fallen prey to the idealogy of self hate which is being pushed down our throats by enemies of our community. We were butchered like dogs in January and you want one of the organisers of the massacre to become our “elder”?
Kikuyus have a right to be in this country and they should not be blackmailed to vote for a particular person or else they will continue being killed.
Nobody is preventing you guys fronm installing Raila as anything. Only give us some respect and stop invoking the name of the community. Take him to a hotel in Nairobi and give him a skin to wear and you can call him an elder. We won’t mind that. But please, don’t provoke and mock the Kikuyu by disecrating Ruringu stadium.
If you are too young to know this, or if you are too “modern” to care, let me tell you that every community has its rites of passage and procedures to be followed before any level of anointing can be done. Among the Kikuyu, you are born, you are cicumcised, you marry etc. Has this man you want to anoint gone through these stages? Niarutite mburi? No agutuari uthoni?
The only achievement the farse you guys have been paid to praise will have is to make Raila look foolish.
June 30th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Hallo.
I am young Kikuyu man and feels your statement cannot stand unchallanged.
The big question is why is Raila being installed as a leader,how and by Who. In 2005 after the refurrendum in front of KICC Raila called all those who voted Yes adui(enemies)just because they exercised their right and from there on we were branded so up to date. Charity Ngilu still calls us so. For Raila to even think of visiting Central kenya he must first apologise to us followed by Njonjo who in 2005 said was ashamed of being a Kikuyu.
For Kenya to move on it is the other tribes to work hard and stop blaming us for their failure.
Thank you
M.Wangaru
June 30th, 2008 at 1:50 am
The Raila factor in Kikuyu land is not as ballistic as most wouyld like it to sound.We all know that Luo’s burnt their own town, while Kalenjins persecuted us the most.In my opinion, Raila should be embraced on condition that the rest of the Pentagon should strictly left out.You and i know that it would be a waste of time and resources to field a presidential candidate in 2012 from the Kikuyu camp.We therefore need to identify with one, prefferably the strongest on the available but of course one who will notdamp us there after.Kikuyus we are now very vanerable and we therefore need alot of caution.
June 30th, 2008 at 2:57 am
Two events happened yesterday that I feel are steps in the right direction.
Firstly,I am very proud of kikuyusforchange.com. This is due to the fact that they have come out and shown leadership in a matter where our leaders have choosen not to lead. It’s the high time that we the young people took charge of the affairs of our country. For far so long we have been spectators in the game. It’s time to play the game. Anake Ukirai!
Secondly, I had the rare opportunity to accompany our beloved Prime Minister to the thankgiving ceremony for Hon Stano in kiambaa constituency. It’s leaders like Hon Githunguri that need to be encouraged. The fact that he chose Hon Raila Odinga to be the chief guest in his event is commendable. I also wish to salute all the MPs who attended and a special mention to Hon Njoroge Baiya, the MP for Githunguri.
It’s shameful that apart from Hon Baiya, all other MPs from Kiambu did not attend this function. Infact, it is childish not to attend a function simply because you do not like one of the guests. This just shows how far we are, the people of central province from having leaders.
I know as a community we are hurting, but we can’t spend our lifetime down. We need to wake up with our heads held-up high and move on…and this time, with the rest of the country.
July 1st, 2008 at 1:38 am
You have got it all wrong man. Move with the rest of the country? What do you mean by this? Why don’t they move with us? Is it a crime to be the richest community in the country? Is it a crime to be the majority in terms of numbers?
get it from me. Kikuyus haver a right to vote for whoever they want. Why is it n ot wrong for Luos to vote for a luo president? Do you tell luos to move with the rest of the country. Stop the self hate. You have a right to be in Kenya and to pursue your dreams.
On the Kiambasa visit, if Raila wants to make peace with the Kikuyu community, he must deal with the individuals who are “generally regarded as community leaders.” These are Uhuru Kenyatta and Martha Karua.
For your information, in case you don’t know, kalonzo is beating Raila on this. As you guys get stuck in that farce about annointing Raila a kikuyu elder, Kalonzo is slowly but respectfully courting central province through their “accepted leaders.” Come 2012 the guy will become president. He doesn’t need that monkey skin and the dubious tug of kikuyu elder.
July 1st, 2008 at 3:38 am
This is a response to Kinyanjui.
To start with, I would really like to know how old you are. This could explain alot to me about your views.
I would like to state here categorically that we are not in a self hate mode. We are only indifferent from the rest. The reason why kikuyus are gravitating towards Kalonzo is exactly why we feel that this is wrong. It’s because he is perceived to be from Mt Kenya region. This selfishness is what we are against.
I am one proud kikuyu and have made this clear in all forums that we have spoken. All we are asking you Kinyanjui is to be broad, objective and to think of 50 years from now, when probably you will be gone.
It pains me to know that you do not understand where this is coming from. We are not the ones to make Raila an elder. What we are requesting is for our leaders to demonstrate leadership on this matter.
Where are the persons you have reffered to as our leaders in this debate? Where is Uhuru? Where is Martha? Both are not speaking out.
It’s true we were butchered. Infact, if you are not a kikuyu from Rift Valley, you do not understand how we were killed. These guys were not only killed, they lost their properties too. We understand this, and I dare say more than you. The question is, what are you doing about it?
We are simply being proactive. We are of the view that everyone has equal rights to be a kenyan. But also, we as kikuyus need to be strategic about how we engage with the rest of communities.
My piece of advice; Talk about how we were treated, but more importantly, find out why it happened to kikuyus.
Otherwise, am greatful for your challenge.
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:59 am
Gakuo, if you think the affairs of 30 plus million Kenyans to be just a game to be played by you and your agemates as you so put it, then how different do you intend to be from the current leaders that you so disagree with. My life is not a game. Simply because your ideologies are different, doesn’t make them better or right. They are just different.
As for thinking that Stano stands out as a true Kenyan because he invited Raila to his elaborate party and the other leaders are to be put to shame for shunning that event, is just trying to make non issues the basis of your argument. To begin with, why is Stano, or any other leader, holding thanksgiving parties while Kenyans and especially our brothers and sisters are still languishing in camps. I do not care if all Kikuyu MPs shunned Stanos party coz he shouldn’t be holding one to begin with, neither should any of our so called leaders and that you should be using it as a case example of how shallow our leaders are makes me wonder! If you want to give thanks, attend a church service and contribute the thousands of shillings meant for the party to a worth cause.
And that insinuation that Kinyanjui’s comments have anything to do with his age, please, I am a very young Kenyan and yet I feel every word written by Kinyanjui. Being young doesn’t make you the worlds wisest man. And to answer your question as to where Uhuru and Martha are at this debate, they are off attending to matters that are of national interest. If you want to help Kikuyus and Kenyans at large, shouldn’t you be selling Raila seriously as a national leader instead of trying to making him MY elder because I’m not cool with that and don’t force it down my throat and that of thousands of Kikuyus without our consent.
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:51 am
True Wanjiru. By the way, the only reason why Njonjo and his band of thieves are touting raila is for their own personla interests, u and i are nowhere in sight.
Just because someone tried to ‘finish’ us does not mean we sing his tune, nope Gakuo, we choose to hold our heads up high and say, NEVER AGAIN!
We need no favours here and they should expect none from us, we are a liberated community that does what it deems right even if it is wrong by everyone else. And no amount of ass-kissing will change our minds.
Gakuo, am sure you will get an invite to the ‘never was’ coronation…installation…..beatification..whatever! Good luck!
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:41 am
I must say that I like the comments of Wanjiru Wakieni and Muthoni Mbuthia.
The idea has actually been elaborated by Wanjiru. That our views are just different. What does this mean to me? That it’s okay for us to disagree on this issue. Infact, it’s nice that we are discussing it.
I totally agree that my opinions are not right or wrong. But Wanjiru, what I really would love to know is what you think we as kikuyus should be doing instead. It’s always easier to point fingers, easier to blame, but we owe it to ourselves to do something about our future and that of other kenyans.
Muthoni, at no time did I ask anyone to bow down. I am very proud to be a kikuyu. I agree, we should be very proud of being kikuyus and no one will change that.
This is not a Raila issue, it’s bigger than Raila and even Kibaki. It’s about you and me. None of them gives a damn about your life, yet you get all the flack. This is about the fact that our people are poor,our fellow young people jobless, our farmers gets less pay for their produce. These are the issues we are about. We are about our welfare and where we move from here.
Our people are displaced from their own lands. We would like you to provide solutions to the land issues not only in kikuyuland, but also in the whole country. These are the issues we need to address.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:46 am
Today is a sad & good day for Kenya ,Sad because the minister of finance has let Kenyans down and Good coz for once members of parliment seemed to have come together and this time they were not increasing their salaries but sending one Hon.AMOS KIMUYA(which means to UPROOT)Home.
I salute all members of parliament for sending this Rouge minister home!!
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:54 am
The issue of Raila is just one event.
What this event and many others to come are geared towards is creating harmony among all kenyans. This is a noble cause. I would not want our people in the diaspora to be killed or attacked again in the future.
We must seek a way of them living in harmony with their neighbours.
Infact, we need to seek our real and perceived enemies to find long-lasting solutions. We intend to use different approaches, some may not be popular with you, but this has to be done.
Someone said,’If you keep doing things, the way you have always done them, you will get the results you have always gotten’.
If you like the fact that people were killed and displaced, then, you are not obligated to change a thing. Stay and do the same things.
But if you do not like the fact that our people got killed, displaced, that we are jobless, our fellow farmers are poor, our politics suck, then it is upto you to take the ‘road less travelled’. If you want our welfare to be better, change is inevitable. We may disagree on the approach, but the principle will hold. We have to look at things differently from the way we have done it in the past.
July 4th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
To Gakuo,
You will be surprised that I am your agemate or younger.But I don’t have to be young or old to think in a certain way. It is about conviction and respect for myself as a human being. I believe that no human being owes an apology to any other on their existence. Once again, I say, Kikuyus must stand tall and refuse to self-hate.
July 4th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Kinyanjui, Amen to that! I totally agree.
July 7th, 2008 at 4:47 am
What you guys should know is that…..is not about kikuyus,luos,kales, kambas etc its about how we relate to each other as human beings regardless of our background,tribe,religion,political party? it doesnt matter which tribe leads what matters is the kind of leadership? is it a leader who puts hes people first or his interests first…. we have all seen none of this guys give a hoot about us, they r busy scrounging on Kimunya but none of them is talking about IDPS or paying taxes! so tell me guys we all voted and guess again who u voted for…..SELFISH MEN N WOMEN… SO maybe next time we will recheck again our leaders and not vote them coz hes my tribe but for the LEADER HE IS!
July 21st, 2008 at 2:33 am
This debate of Raila being an elder is a here bor there arguement. Am so appaled at the level of ignorance portrayed here.
From the statements made, it shows that there are alot of bright and brilliant minds, however they have decide to throw caution and sense out of the window.
Case in point is, whther Raila becomes a Kikuyu elder or not will not change the politics of Kikuyu land, therefore begging the question of how important is it.
Honourable Raila has shown alot of charisma and character which has shaped and changed the geographical set up of kenyan politics, and that is a fact.
Single handedly he was able to vanqish the authoritative role of Moi and was instrumental in intalling President Kibaki in power.
Where am a heading with this..history has taught us that ever since the repeal of section 2A to include multiparty politics…no tribe, clan or individual will ever ascend to power without a national outlook. So basically what Raila is doing is playing politics…unfortunately we have allowed ourselves to be part of the game.
Therefore its a high time Kikuyus had an open mind and develop the culture of embracing other tribes…with that presidency will come very easily…without that…the butchers and suspicion will continue. No amount of chest thumping will change that.
FYI…Most kikuyus were butchered in thr rift valley…i can confes that i was in kisumu and what they did to us was only to chase us away..lets get our facts right…Raila is vindicated because he was then the presidential candidate…but let me assure you, he will be the succession to Kibaki…the writing is on the wall.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:25 am
To Ngunjiri and Gakuo. Please be very careful. I know you guys are selling the blood of Kikuyu’s. And in so dying you are trying to get Kukuyu’s into self hate. You are going nowhere. be ready to fail MISERABLY.
August 27th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
one cannot change untless they learn to deal with the reality. ngunjiri and gakuo are on the right track. it all begins with “I”. not with “THEM”.
if you hsave seen what happened, you experienced it at family, friend or clan level, you will understand why the urgency and pragmatism required.
the days of chest thumping and saying we are brave and can do as we please are gone. why? becuase we now realize kenya is for all people.
our leaders, the kenyatta years, committed the first sins and bequethed us another sin, the moi years. since then kibaki has stumbled from good and bad completely unsure how to go forward. we have paid the price.
it pains me that had we been foresighted, we would have warned kibaki not to trample on the MOU of 03 elections and we would have passed the BOMAS katiba with little changes. coz maybe then we would still have had NARC and would have finished 5 years in style only to begin another 5 good years.
but our myopia and arrogance led us to believe that we can do as we please and not audit and hold accountable those leaders who speak on our behalf and whom we elected.
i cringe when i see kimunya cry that its our people being finished when its obvious that kimunya and others have a case to answer on grand regency, on safaricom over valued shares, on kenya re, on anglo leasing, etc.
change begins with “I” and does not wait for “THEM”. and if we have been wrong all along in our political and economic doctrines (which we have given we have 100 billionaires and 5 million poor squatters), then we must SELF-INTROSPECT and SELF-RE-direct. that is not SELf-hate, its what is called PRAGMATISM and VISIONARY.
i emphasize mahatma gandhi. WE MUST BE THE EXAMPLES OF THE CHANGE WE SEEK.
if we seek a progressive kenya, we must yield and accept that we too played a part (like the rest of the communities did) in making kenya go down. and we must emphsaize that like 1960’s we are ready to step up and play a positive part in taking kenya back to ALL kenyans. not just to us.
September 3rd, 2008 at 4:13 am
i find this discussion intriguing. even as we talk about generation change, you really think its worth your time on a discourse about annointing a 70 year old? whose agenda is that…is it not just another agenda of the generation you so want to run away from. i wish you were talking about castro and his age group…
its also interesting that even in the 24 years when moi was killing kikuyus finishing their businesses etc we were still apologising….how come noone asks the kalenjins to apologise….only their leaders…but we must forever carry the burden of the kenyatta ills?
just some thoughts
September 8th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
muraguri
who is 70 years old? as far as we know saitoti and ondinga are 61 years. and you are the one confused. this discussion is not about endorsing elders. its about the many number of ways that we can promote healing.
if moi was killing us, who were moi’s VP for 24 years? was it not kibaki, karanja and saitoti??? what did they do to stop it? nothing. why? coz they did nto care!!! and the fool proof of that is in 07 elections where kibaki, michuki, uhuru, saitoti and kimunya cared about power but not about our people. sorry. we blame the kiambu mafia more than we blame moi. after all who MISGOVERNED kenya first? was it not the kiambu mafia!!! who gave us MOI by selective choosing? was it not the kenyatta kiambu mafia? who endorsed single party and dictatorial rule? was it not our very own njonjo and kibaki in parliament in 1982!!! sorry. we are more clever now. we know our fate should be in our people (common people) hands. not in our nyumba politicians. they have let us down badly and isolated us from the rest of kenya. and we have paid dearly for our ignorance in allowing them to get away with impunity and deceit.
June 11th, 2009 at 7:25 am
Raila can never be a Kikuyu elder .Its not personal its just a fact of life
http://kikuyunationalism.wordpress.com/2008/06/15/before-you-become-a-kikuyu-elder/
Before someone becomes a Kikuyu elder, One must must meet the following conditions.
i)The Candidate and his last born son must be circumcised.
ii) A candidate from another tribe, must denounce his tribe(This is done by offer of 3 sheep)and an Elder (muchuha) of his choice will become his/her God father.The person is not entitled to any dowry for his daughters and the dowry goes to the ‘Muchuha’.
iii)He must be recommended by ‘athuri a matathi and Athuri a maturango(Elders of Matathi and those of Maturango.)These two recommend the person to Arathi.
iv) the Arathi (12 in number) then verifies the persons past to see if he/she has been involved in any murder or general crime against the community.
If the person has met those conditions, he is given two mithigi’s(Sticks).One is straight (signifying one God) while the other is two pronged at the end Signifying Ngoma (Kikuyu right word for Ancestoral spirits, not satan)
The muthigi was taken to Kirinyaga by the arathi for 40 days where they were to speak with God.its then that they come up with a decision of whether to make a person an Elder.
when all this is done the person receives the following items
1 Muthigi (stick-two pronged)-signifying power to lead
2 Rwenji (Circumcisers knife)-power to circumcise
3.Kioho kia migathi (stringed Beads)-Power to choose what other elders and agemates will be adorning.
4.Ruhiu (Panga/sword)-power to slaughter a goat
5.Coro (Blowing horn)-power to rally people together
6.Itimu na ruhiu rwa njora (Spear and sword)-power to call his people to war.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Amazing that this discussion is still going on one year later!
July 28th, 2009 at 7:18 am
Dear Kikukuyuforchange,
your group has no business to represent our community.
you forget the history of our land. we are the ones who liberated this country from colonial masters. our brothers and sistewrs are still; suffering as “IDP”. what a shame!!!! and you have guts to talk of installing people as elders? elders for what? you should be talking about how to conserve the MAU FOREST, restore IDP’S to their normal lives and other ills that are facing our beautiful country. Who are you representing anyway? “Cokai Thingira Muhoye Kiririra gia ruriri ruitu”
July 29th, 2009 at 4:11 am
Interesting thoughts Kioni-a quick response in questions form: – which kikuyus liberated this country? what happened to them? Forget about the guys outside, what are we doing about that unfinished business?
October 5th, 2009 at 2:29 am
Does a true kikuyu require some sort of installation to become an elder? And if yes have all the prominent kikuyus undergone through the process before we even think of elevating the man from kavirondo to the level of a kikuyu elder!!!!.
December 8th, 2009 at 12:02 am
I have enjoyed reading all the responses from many about the Raila issue. I have also enjoyed reading about how we need to reconcile with other communities by letting them into ours. It was nice reading about how we need to do these or the other so that we can stop being the enemy. Reading this I was amazed by the number of Kikuyus, alot of us ready and willing to do something to change the course of history.
Now with all that said by everybody, I have a question. Has somebody asked why it is only us who are busy trying to fix ourselves to make others comfortable? What do I mean by this, if you read all the comments made, they came from one tribe that in itself is wrong, because we only know of ourselves! I have read somewhere, somebody being asked to think broader; well I think we should all think broader. If someone from other community stumbles on this website, what do you think would be there fast reaction? We Kikuyus are at it again. So please, if it is change we want, invite others from different communities to comment on the website.
About Bwana Raila, he is a great man in his our accord, he has done much for Kenyans alike but as I read from Muigwithania2, there is a process that has to be done before one becomes an Elder. Then as I also take from Kireru, how many of our now Elders have taken the path and done all the processes required to be elders? But to add to answer Kireru question, if you read Muigwithania2 manual on how to be an Elder, the first part applies to Bwana Raila, because he is not a Kikuyu. After which, he would then take the second part. So, I would believe if he was sincere about wanting to become a Kikuyu elder, and we should let him. He would then have to do all that is required for us, or if I speak for myself, be able to believe that the whole ceremony is not a publicity stunt.
Again as a generation, we are one the right track, but abit off with the method of how we are doing it. I know all of us who have been on this website have friends, collogues and loved one, from different communities. Please tell them about this website and ask them to put in their views, about the discussions they feel touched them and also if they have questions not related to any topic, they ask, no matter how small they might think it is.
Now these are just my thoughts on all the happenings, but I would again like to congratulate the creators of the wonderful machine and all the people who have used this beautiful machine called “KikuyusForChange”. Thank you for reading and I await replies, but for now, everybody have a HAPPY NEW YEAR, a Beautiful MERRY CHRISTMAS and a peace, loving, fellowship holiday.
December 23rd, 2009 at 10:07 am
Currently we have three councils of Elders In the Kikuyu Community.Of which all three are fake .According to What I have read from Muigwithania.com all three councils are masquerading as councils.How many people within our communities really follow what this councils say .Who elected this councils or agreed . Traditional councils of elders were constituted by the community .Traditional African systems particulary within Bantu communities were democratic.Even kingdoms such as the Buganda were constitutional monarchies with parliaments.Kikuyu council of elders were made up of people whom the entire regional community accepted. So who or what are this council of elders .Today if you ask any kikuyu who are the members of this councils 99.9% can not tell you and dont care . So let alone allowing Raila to be an Elder who are our own fake councils pretending to represent .I enjoyed reading Muigwithania’s historical take
December 23rd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
If only Muigwithania was a commercial site…….
December 28th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Secretariat isnt it a commercial site ama that is a story for another day. I know the guys who run Muigwithania and they are straight up good people even though I dont know about the funding and who is behind it(even though that doesnt matter). Muigwithania is biased in favour of Kikuyus but then again it is a kikuyu website just like Muigwithania the Kikuyu paper.