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Hundreds to attend 100-year anniversary in honour of kind chief

The quiet Tuthu village in Murang’a County is an important cultural heritage site for the Agikuyu. It is not only home to Tuthu Shrine, it is also the first place where the Consolata Missionaries celebrated mass under a mugumo tree, considered sacred among the community. One cannot mention the history of the church without mentioning one man.

A picture of the present Tuthu Catholic church. PHOTO:BONIFACE GIKANDI

The late paramount Chief Karuri Gakure accommodated the messengers of Christ during their first sojourn. Back then, the clergy team of four was en-route to Ethiopia before they diverted after a king in Somalia declined to provide guides and security.
When the team got to Nairobi, they were introduced to chief Gakure by then Murang’a District Commissioner as they attended a ceremony to celebrate enthronement of the British King in 1902.
Later on, the first church was built with support of the paramount chief and the local community in 1902 before it was burnt during Mau Mau liberation.
According to historians, then Murang’a DC introduced the clergy to the chief to seek for accommodation.

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