Speaker Muturis coronation is like King Davids anointing: Kikuyu elders

National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi was crowned as Mt. Kenya region spokesperson on Saturday in a special ceremony at the Mukurwe Wa Nyagathanga, the Agikuyu people’s Garden of Eden.

The ceremony was the culmination of an eight-day series of events that saw Muturi enter a strict, special cultural regimen at his Thigiri residence.

During this time, he was expected to eat only certain foods, bathe in a specific manner, and refrain from coitus.

CORWNED: The elders have spoken from the craddle of Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga and mandated @SpeakerJBMuturi to go forth to unite the people of the mountain and speak for them. pic.twitter.com/g2KtMvFFYX

— Speaker JB Muturi's Communications (@JBComms) May 22, 2021

And on Saturday, Muturi made his sojourn to Central Kenya for his coronation, flanked on the side by hundreds of the region’s elders.

Prof Peter Kagwanja, the patron of Murang’a elders, said during the coronation that it was the first of its kind in Central Kenya, and that for the first time, Central Kenya had gained a leader, not a politician.

According to Prof. Kagwanja, the intricate events leading up to Mr Muturi’s coronation were so special that certain elders who were deemed ceremonially unclean were excluded.

During the event, the elders used the opportunity to downplay suggestions that the coronation was an attack on President Kenyatta, who is still in office.

Prof Kagwanja compared Mr Muturi’s coronation to the biblical anointing of King David—a scrawny shepherd from the fields—while King Saul was still in power.

“When David was anointed king, Saul’s rule continued and they worked confidently; there is no conflict between him and the president,” Prof Kagwanja said. “He is our David, and he comes from the smallest community.”

Speaker Muturi, who was newly coronated and dressed in a ceremonial goatskin, headgear, and flywhisk, promised to live up to his task of uniting the region.

According to Muturi, the region cannot claim to be seeking unity throughout Kenya unless it first unites.

He did, however, explain that the region’s unity does not prevent it from having different ideologies.

“Na tusisahau historia yetu. Bila sisi kuwa na umoja, hatuwezi sema tunatafuta umoja wa mataifa mengineLakini umoja sio kuwa ati hatuna maoni tofauti. Speaker Muturi said “Sisi kama watu ambao historia ya nchi hii imeguza sana lazima tufikirie umoja wa watu wetu. Tukiwa kitu moja ata nchi itakiwa kitu moja,”

At the same time, Speaker Muturi defended President Kenyatta against allegations that he had neglected the region’s development.

President Kenyatta, according to Muturi, remains the Central Kenya leader regardless of how much time he has left in office.

“Let us not be misled by those who are saying President Uhuru’s government has not done anything for us, he has done a lot of things for us,” Speaker Muturi said. “It does not matter whether he has one month in office, President Uhuru is still our leader, we work together closely,”

With his new role, Muturi says he will traverse the country in meetings to seek ways of bringing the region together.

Elders arriving at the Mukurwe wa Nyagathanga shrine in Gaturi, Murang'a as ceremony to crown National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi begins. Follow live updates from the ground here… #JBMuturiCoronation pic.twitter.com/KL8tlL85v6

— Speaker JB Muturi's Communications (@JBComms) May 22, 2021