In an unprecedented but well-calculated political move, the Kikuyu Council of Elders and Kiama Kiama Cultural Associations have set the Agikuyu free from the 1969 oath.
The oath, which was reportedly administered in 1969, barred the community from socially and politically associating with the Luo community following a political clash between former President, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, and his vice the late Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.
The oath was, on Sunday, July 18, 2022, cleansed with the Kikuyu community being set free of any cultural bondage pertaining to cultural events and acts of the period between 1969 and 2022.
Being a cultural problem, the elders resolved to invoke cultural solutions through rituals and prayers.
In a joint statement themed "Harmful Campaigns by Persons of Ill based on Historical Acts and Utterances", the two bodies said that the move was taken after three years of internal consultations.
The Kikuyu elders, who had gathered at their Ruaka shrine, in Kiambaa, Kiambu County said that the community can now intermarry with any other communities without cultural hindrances.
"Our people can now freely marry and associate either politically or socially with any other community because they are henceforth free of any cultural bondage pertaining to cultural events and acts," elder Ndungu Gaithuma said.
The statement was signed by the national chairmen and Kikuyu Council of Elders' national patrons, Ndungu Gaithuma, Wachira Kiago, and Kinyua Mwangi.
The joint council said that disgruntled elements disguising as elders have been engaged in dis-informing the youth.
Other Kikuyu elders warned
"Kikuyu elders have over the years been aware of a sinister campaign of disinformation by persons of ill will targeting the youth hinged in actions and utterances made during the turbulent period of the community's history from 1969 onwards," the elders said.
They said that the aim of the campaign has been to bring hatred and division within the Agikuyu for selfish gains.
"Following extensive internal consultations that started in 2019, elders concluded that the campaign had the potential for causing irreversible social and cultural damage to the community, now and in future," the statement read.
The elders appealed to the community to disregard ill-intentioned persons, practices, policies, and politics designed to divide and deviate them from their common good.
On matters of religion, the elders stated that they are firm participants in religious faith, Christianity, practised by the community.
The community has been at crossroads from the time President Uhuru Kenyatta declared that he would support his former political rival Raila Odinga for the presidency.
A section of elders termed the move as culturally impossible and dangerous citing the 1969 oath while others affirmed that the same was no longer binding.
