Five tribes prayer: Why we are praying around Mt Kenya

By JOB WERU

NYERI, KENYA: Hundreds of traditional believers from Central, Nairobi, Nyanza and Coast regions Friday trooped to Mt Kenya where they held prayers around the mountain.

The faithful who travelled in vehicles strapped with sky-blue ribbons drove around the mountain as they made stopovers to pray.

Groups from Coast and Nyanza who travelled in three hired buses made their first stopover at Sagana junction along the Nairobi-Nanyuki road.

The group led by Ruth Wanjiku Enkeseni and Samuel Kamitha, the Director of Gikuyu and Mumbi Cultural Museum, arrived at the junction at 8am and immediately began traditional prayers by the roadside.

Prayer for peace

The group comprised members of the Luo, Mijikenda, Kikuyu, Embu and Meru communities.

The Mijikenda faithful were led by the spokesman of the Kaya community, Joseph Karisa Mwarandu. Mr Mwarandu urged Kenyans to pray for peace in the volatile areas of Samburu, Marsabit and Mandera.

“This is the second time we have attended the prayers. We are joining hands with other communities in Mt Kenya region and other areas as a sign of unity and oneness,” said Mr Mwarandu.

The spokesman called on Kenyans to value and preserve their cultures, saying their forefathers believed God lived in the mountain.

Vibrant economy

“We are enjoying a new dispensation in Kenya and it is challenging. It is only God who will help us administer in a just way,” he said.

Enkeseni said the prayers are devoted towards enhancing a peaceful nation.“We are not forgetting that despite having peace in the country, our neighbours South Sudan and Somalia are in war. This is a time to reflect on our shortcomings and also ask God to intercede since all African are one people,” she said.

Enkeseni, who was two years ago bestowed with the title Mekatilili Wa Menza II by the Kaya community, noted that Africa has a higher population than both North and South America. She said with is peace and tranquility, the continent can stage a vibrant economy that can be able to shape the world’s destiny.

“We are also praying for blessings and calling on Kenyans to maintain their cultures. We have been forced to have a change of mind, where we even forgot that we had forefathers who had their own ways of praying to God, and also doing other things,” she said.

Mountain pilgrimage

Mr Kamitha said Mt Kenya was used as a place of worship, noting that most communities that lived near the mountain believed God lived in the mountain.

“The Pharaohs of Egypt, the Biblical Moses and Prophet Isaiah visited mountains for prayers. Before Pharaohs could be bestowed with kingship, they used to hold a pilgrimage in the mountain, where they would hold prayers for seven days,” Kamitha said.

The faithful drove anti-clockwise around Mt Kenya, stopping seven times on the way to pray.

This year’s event went on uninterrupted, unlike previous years when police in combat gear stopped the worshippers and searched their vehicles mid-way.