This year again, the Ugandan Gishu and their Kenyan counterparts (Luhya and Gishu) are at it again; young men are getting circumcised in the region’s biggest cultural festival.
As the young men wait in trepidation and excitement to undergo the knife, the air around them vibrates with drumbeats and jubilation upon their rite of passage.
Last weekend found me at the Mutoto grounds in Mbale, where more than 1,000 young men to be circumcised between August and December participated in aggressive dances of kadodi, making Mbale a tourist attraction this time of year.
I met Badru Mudoma, 20, from Wanale who was heading to the circumcision grounds bathed in white flour and decorated with colourful traditional beads and bangles. Mudoma looked fearless, his eyes looking red and piercing from the flour ‘makeup’.
According to Mudoma, Mutoto is a cultural site believed to be the birth and circumcision grounds of Mumasaba, the first Mugisu.
George Situma Manyasi, 65, a member of the Bamasaba Cultural Institution, said the season started in January with the initiates practicing the Isonja dance; a preparatory dance for circumcision candidates.
“They are taught the dance, which is important because it helps the boys get used to the bitsetse (cow bells) tied to their thighs so that when serious rituals start, they can withstand the entire process, including the pain of the knife,” he said.
Imbalu is seen as a mark of pride and achievement in families and a bolster of distinctiveness and harmony among the Bamasaba. Manyasi was circumcised in 1962.
He said among the 1,000 that will face the knife this year, 200 will come from Trans Nzoia, Bungoma, Kitale and Ngong counties in Kenya.
Zaveria Wetaka, an elder from Budadiri, reminisced his own circumcision day way back in 1976, when festivities lasted almost the entire year.
“We would wander all over the villages collecting gifts – cows, goats, chicken and other things. I think there are spirits involved in these things, but uncircumcised men have no place in our culture and it is total shame to manhood if you never faced the knife,” he said.
At Mutoto grounds
As Mudoma entered the grounds at 10am, a kadodi dancing group surrounded him and he looked curiously at the crowd with women dancing half-naked, chanting “Setaa umwana afanee baaba weee….” which, Wetaka said, means ‘a child should be circumcised to look like his father’.
Mudoma joined others on the grounds from other clans. Bugisu has different clans that bring their children for the official inauguration of the imbalu season.
The kadodi dance caught my eye and left me captivated; the women only shake their bums and wriggle their waists to the beat.
With several days of partying and drinking, the kadodi tempo eventually grows and parts of the crowd can become uncontrollable, I was told.
When the Kenyan delegation arrived, the tribes went head-to-head, showing off what they have; the feet stomping became louder, the dancing more frenzied, yet well-coordinated like a choir, thanks to trainers who seemed to have done a really good job.
At the inaugural function at Mutoto, three candidates were circumcised, although it was near impossible to see the process because of how rowdy the crowd had become. Strangely, the newly-circumcised boys emerged without any tears but looked more energized.
Tourism
In his speech, Omukhukha Bob Mushikori urged government to set up a fully-fledged ministry of culture to support activities such as imbalu that have tourism potential.
“We need more funding to empower cultural institutions, also we need to set up cultural sites to preserve culture, tourism for future generations; we can use part of my palace for this,” he said.
The Elgon sub-region is known for its natural, mountainous and green beauty. Among the notable guests were kings or their representatives, members of parliament from the sub-region, and ministers.
Budadiri West MP Nathan Nandala-Mafabi arrived and left in a big way; the function even paused as the crowd brought him in shoulder-high, momentarily stealing the thunder from the young men waiting to lose their foreskins.
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