Kikuyu Council of Elders postpones boys' circumcision to next year

Under the ‘Kiama Kia Maa’, the elders noted that circumcising the Grade 8 boys this year would have no meaning as they would return back to Grade 9 which is still domiciled in primary schools.

For years, the community has circumcised boys who are transiting from primary to secondary but this year, the process has changed following the introduction of the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) system.   

Speaking in Naivasha after a meeting for the top leaders from the community, the elders challenged the church which is also involved in the initiation ceremony to also change their dates.

The Council Director of Culture Kigochi Waimeri noted that the new learning system had forced the community to change the initiation dates.

Flanked by the elders, Kigochi said that the real meaning of circumcision in the community meant transitioning from boyhood to manhood.

"Those boys who will be circumcised this year will return back to primary school and they won’t change mentally and hence this decision by the community elders."

The council deliberated on the initiation issue and have agreed to allow the boys one more year in primary school before being circumcised next year.

Kigochi at the same termed the ongoing politics coupled with plans to impeach the Deputy President as unhealthy for the country and one of the reasons for the financial crisis.

On his part, an elder Joseph Thiong’o said that they supported the new curriculum which had seen the boys get an extra year in primary schools.

He was, however, quick to note that the council would not force any boy to forego this year’s initiation ceremony adding that this had been left to the families to decide.

Another elder Ng’era Waforo decried rising cases of suicide among the youth in the community terming the trend as worrying and with tens of lives lost every day.

They are calling for cleansing ceremony on the scenes where these acts were committed either in homes, on trees or rivers.