Queries emerge as church rakes in millions using circumcision

Boys who have just sat for their KCPE exams line up to be circumcised in a classroom as part of the ongoing initiation programme across the country. (Photo: Antony Gitonga/Standard)

Tens of stark naked boys, covered in mud, are escorted by screaming villagers, round the village amid singing and dancing.

The boys brave the biting cold as they head to the river, ready for circumcision ceremony marked every December. They are then taken to their homes, where elders guide and counsel them before the ‘operation’.

For the Bukusu community in Western Kenya, this has been a cherished tradition, which they have observed since time immemorial.

Hundreds of kilometers away in major towns, tens of boys, fresh from sitting Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE), queue outside a classroom turned into a theatre, their faces betraying their emotions.

Dressed in sagging jeans, some with studded ears and escorted by their parents, they patiently enter, one after the other, into the ‘operating’ room before heading to a waiting bus.

Hands deep into the pockets, tears hanging from their eyes and threatening to spill any time and now limping, they are driven into a nearby school for recovery and counseling.

For the next one week, the minors, under the care of elders, recuperate in the school before their parents collect them.

Once back home, it is business as usual. This is currently the norm, as the church has literally taken over the initiation ceremony in major towns across the country.

However, community leaders, and medical experts have questioned the validity of the new wave of the ritual that incidentally kicks off every last quarter of the year.

Traditionally, the ritual would be conducted in homes, with the supervision of elders for a period of one month.

Traditional elders, local leaders and counselor would look after the initiates as they take them through cultural issues and values.

Church elders have been accused of converting the exercise into a money-making venture.

The operation, which occasionally see up to 200 youth take part under one church costs between Sh8,000 and Sh15,000.

Other observers claim communities are slowly losing their traditions and taboos, with the church filling the void left by ‘busy’ parents and making the initiation a mockery.

Abdicating duties

Abraham Wafula, a counselor, says parents are abdicating their parental duties to the church due to their busy schedule.

“The circumcision exercise is turning out to be a lucrative business, with some churches raking in thousands of shillings,” he says.

He says most cultures have been eroded adding that days when circumcision was met with respect are long gone.

According to Dr Joseph Mburu, the superintendent in-charge of Naivasha Sub-County Hospital, there is inadequate individual medical care for the boys. He says the boys are exposed to health risks and could easily be infected due to the poor conditions of the dormitories, where they are taken to recuperate. “Many a times the operations are conducted in schools and not medical facilities,” he says.

Traditional believes

He, however, says he is not opposed to the church-led exercise, because circumcision has helped in fighting the spread of HIV cases but adds that it should not be turned into money-minting venture.

Daniel Kigochi, Kikuyu council of elders chairman, Nakuru County, says communities are slowly losing their identity and traditional believes.

He says the circumcision ceremony is crucial, as it only happens once in one’s lifetime. “The issue is not about cutting a piece of skin but elevating our boys from childhood to adulthood as,” he explains.

Kigochi says there is a very big difference in the behaviour of traditionally circumcised boys from and those under church.

He says the church apparently does not instill and uphold moral and cultural values in the initiates as opposed to the traditional circumcised boys.

“Years ago, newly circumcised boys were taught to uphold cultural values after the initiation, but with the entrance of the church, things have changed,” he says.

The sentiments are echoed by the chair of the implementation committee in Nakuru Assembly Simon Wanyoike, who says business interests have taken over the initiation exercise.

Wanyoike, who openly says he is opposed to church-led initiation, questions the motive behind lumping minors from different communities into one room.

“Every community has its own traditions and believes when it comes to such a ceremony, but this has been ignored, which is a big loss to our cultures,” he says.

The Lakeview MCA is of the view that parents should revert to the old ways of carrying out the ceremony. He is full of praise for the Bukusu community that he says respects their traditions.

A parent, Jane Waithera, whose son is among the initiates attributes the current living style for the shift in such ceremonies.

She says many families in towns are living in small houses, making it hard to tend the newly circumcised boys in a segregated room as it used to happen.

“We don’t have any other option but to pay the church, which will tend and counsel the boys on our behalf after the circumcision,” she says.

The church, however, defends the exercise, noting that the counseling has changed the lives of the boys and modeled them as future leaders.

Abel Wahome, a church elder, defends the church, noting that it has transformed the lives of many youths in the wake of parental absence.

The church elder says the counseling is widespread and deals with religious studies, issues of drug and illicit brew consumption, which have taken toll on the youths.

He admits that the youth, who hail from different communities are counseled in one room and terms the exercise as very successful.

“The fees collected from parents are used to pay for the circumcision, accommodation and buy food for the boys and this is not a business venture as alleged,” he says.