Hundreds turn up for pilgrimage to Mt Kenya

Prayers for peace and gratitude held during the 8th annual Mount Kenya prayer pilgrimage. [Photo/Standard]

 

Hundreds of people turned up yesterday for the annual pilgrimage to Mt Kenya.

The indigenous worship takes place in at least six counties among them Nyeri, Kirinyaga, Embu, Tharaka Nithi, Meru and Laikipia, which border the mountain and the pilgrims drive anti-clockwise around the mountain, making seven stopovers for group prayers while facing Mt Kenya.

Wednesday’s pilgrimage was the tenth since 2008.

The event has a cultural attachment to the Gikuyu community, who believe that their god resides in the mountain, although the annual event has in the recent years attracted other communities.

During Wednesday’s prayers, various communities, among them the Mijikenda, Luo and Somalis attended the prayers, and they all had a common agenda – to pray for the country, especially security, peace and the slumped economy.

The organisers, Gikuyu and Mumbi Cultural Museum officials Samuel Kamitha and Ruth Enkeseni, said the prayers were necessary peace and unity after the election.

"We want all leaders to see that we came to the prayers as Kenyans, with no political affiliations," said Enkeseni.