Community elders have been urged to take up an active role in the circumcision of male children in a bid to rescue men who have been enslaved by drugs and alcohol abuse in the country.
The Kikuyu National Council of Elders Patron Kung’u Muigai argues that delegation of the key role to elders will significantly enhance sensitization against the uptake of outlawed substances that have seen scores of families continue to suffer.
In the Kikuyu tribe’s setup, elders’ councils are responsible for mentoring and guiding the newly-circumcised men by taking them through teachings on their culture, traditions and taboos.
After the circumcision, the elders are also responsible for training the boys’ parents and guardians on how to keep off their boys’ healing process until they fully recover.
But the role has been taken over by church institutions in the spirit of modernization, a development that is now threatening cultural norms in the transition from childhood to adulthood.
Speaking when he spearheaded the graduation ceremony of 96 initiates in Juja, Kiambu County, Kung’u revealed that community elders across the country have undertaken to revert back to the traditional circumcision norms to rescue boys who have continuously been endangered.
“We have noted with concern, a possibility of our boys vanishing as a result of modernization and as elders in the country, we have taken over the circumcision role to train them on best life practices,” he said.
He said that with men in charge of circumcision, the young men are able to express themselves freely and through constructive interactions, the initiates get to learn their culture which does not tolerate abuse of drugs and illicit brews.
He took issue with the church for abdicating its gospel-spreading role and instead moving to interfere with a duty he said it has no structures to undertake.
“We are happy that parents have also discovered the need to bring their children to us for mentorship and to the church, your role is to preach and help people go to heaven. You will never see community elders baptizing people because we respect your responsibilities. We are not fighting you but note that the circumcision role solely belongs to elders,” Kung’u stated.
The patron regretted the widespread abuse of outlawed substances among young men and further lamented that alcohol use among Kenyans begins during teenage life, a situation that has destroyed the most productive ages.
His sentiments were echoed by Njoroge Wa Minai, the Kiambu County Kikuyu Council of Elders chairman who insisted that men have been actively going back to the roots in a bid to secure the future of their children.
“We are committed and serious about this undertaking. We are teaching the youngsters against the use of items that can harm their bodies, our cultural practices and the best way to live,” Minai stated.
Alcohol abuse has been largely blamed for rendering most victims into zombies and affecting the men’s productivity and they cannot engage in economic activity, let alone perform conjugal duties.
The initiation of boys to become responsible men marks their admission into full membership of Kikuyu society and remains a momentous occasion, both socially and individually.
Through circumcision, boys are able to qualify for full membership in the community.
Several years after circumcision, responsible men are also allowed to qualify for marriage.
At the same time, the social consequence of a boy's circumcision in the previous times meant that they would now become a warrior, and would spend several years in the service of the entire people to defend and protect, and occasionally attack neighbouring tribes.
While the uncircumcised are not excommunicated from their Kikuyu tribe, they still remain to be boys, their old age notwithstanding and are often barred from getting married and raising children.
