Elders plan cleansing ceremony after Mugumo tree falls in Nakuru

Kikuyu elders residing in Nakuru County have organized a ceremony on Friday to ‘cleanse’ a Mugumo tree fell at the Nakuru Showground on Monday destroying nearby buildings.

The Showground management invited the elders on Wednesday to advise them on the way forward after the tree, believed to be sacred, fell portending bad omen.

The Kikuyu community believes that when a Mugumo tree falls, it is a change from one generation to another which they refer to as ituika.

Speaking to Citizen Digital, Kigochi Waimeri an elder who led his peers to the scene, said that they suspect the tree could be 400 years old.

“The Nakuru Show was started 100 years ago and it’s evident that the fallen tree existed even before the show was established. Traditionally, no one is allowed to cut a Mugumo tree or make furniture from it unless Kikuyu elders have been consulted and proper rites done to cleanse the tree,” Waimeri said.

Waimeri said on Friday, two sheep will be slaughtered and thereafter one of them will be completely burnt to ashes to appease God, the other sheep will then be roasted and shared among the elders.

The elder explained that once white smoke from the burning sheep goes up in the sky, kikuyu customs indicate that God is happy about the ceremony.

Waimeri said that only Kikuyu elders who qualify to perform Kikuyu traditional ceremonies will be allowed to attend the ceremony and the show management will cater for the cost of the ceremony including purchasing the two sheep.