THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINITY AMONG THE CHUKA
THROUGH CIRCUMCISION, 1906-2000.
MURANGIRI MURUGI RITA, B.ED (ARTS)
C50/CE/11306/2007
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL
SCIENCES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE
AWARD OF A MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE IN HISTORY OF KENYATTA
UNIVERSITY
OCTOBER 2014
ii
DECLARATION
This thesis is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other
university or any other award.
Signature…………………………………………… Date………………………….
Murangiri Murugi Rita (C50/CE/11306/07)
Department of History, Archaeology and Political Studies
SUPERVISORS
We confirm that the work reported in this thesis was carried out by the candidate under
our supervision.
Signature……………………………………. Date…………………………………
Dr. Edward N. W. Kisiang’ani
Department of History, Archaeology and Political Studies.
Signature……………………………………. Date…………………………………….
Dr. Godwin   R.  Murunga
Department of History, Archaeology and Political Studies.
iii
DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to my parents Rev. Festus Murangiri and Mrs. Christine
Murangiri, my husband Justus Mwiti Kanga and my children Grace Karendi Mwiti and
Victor Mwendwa Mwiti.  It is also dedicated to all those who toil in pursuit of
knowledge.
iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would want to express gratitude to my university supervisors Dr. Edward Kisiang’ani
and Dr. Godwin Murunga for accepting to direct this work and more so, for their
inspiring guidance and encouragement. They selflessly dedicated themselves to reading
through my work and providing incisive and valuable comments that in turn broadened
my perception. Besides, am grateful to all the other staff members of the Department of
History, Archaeology and Political Studies at Kenyatta University for their enormous
support and encouragement that they provided me with throughout the research. In
particular, I wish to thank the following members of the department for assisting in
various ways; Dr. Lazarus Ngari, Dr. Washington Ndiri, Prof. Henry Mwanzi, Dr. Edwin
Gimonde, Prof. Samson Omwoyo, Dr. Pius Kakai, Dr. Hassan Jama, Dr. Mildred Ndeda,
Dr. Felix Kiruthu, Dr. Peter Wekesa and Dr. Martha Musalia. Moreover, I feel deeply
indebted to my field assistants Steve Alex Muchiri, Arnold Mugambi, Peter Mutwiri and
Lawrence Kaburu for their efforts to collect data. Special thanks go to my colleagues at
Muthambi Girls High School for their moral support. My classmates Beatrice Imbuye,
Jane Opiyo, Benrose Chikamai, Washington Main and Eston Kamwaro deserve sincere
appreciation for their intellectual discussions which were rewarding to me in the course
of our study. I commend Jane Kimuu and Doreen Kagendo for patiently typing the drafts
and the final version of this work. My deepest appreciation however, goes to my husband
Justus Mwiti and my nuclear family for their moral and material support. Above all I
glorify the almighty God for giving me the strength and health to be able to accomplish
this enormous task.
vTABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION............................................................................................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iv
LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... x
DEFINITION OF TERMS.............................................................................................. xi
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS....................................................................... xii
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................... xiv
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND .................................................................... 1
1.1 Background to the Study............................................................................................... 1
1.2 Literature Review.......................................................................................................... 6
1.3 Statement of the Problem............................................................................................ 21
1.4 Research Questions ..................................................................................................... 22
1.5 Objectives of the Study............................................................................................... 23
1.6 Research Premises ...................................................................................................... 23
1.7 Justification and Significance of the Study................................................................. 24
1.8 Scope, Limitation and Delimitation ............................................................................ 26
1.9 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................... 29
1.10 Research Methodology ............................................................................................. 40
1.11 Study Site .................................................................................................................. 41
1.12 Sampling Techniques and Sample Size .................................................................... 43
1.13 Research Instruments ................................................................................................ 44
1.14 Data Collection ......................................................................................................... 44
1.15 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................ 45
1.16 Data Management and Ethical Considerations ......................................................... 47
1.17 Summary and Conclusion ......................................................................................... 47
vi
CHAPTER TWO
ORIGINS, SOCIO-POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF THE
CHUKA UP TO 1906...................................................................................................... 48
2.0 Introduction................................................................................................................. 48
2.1 The Origins and Migration of the Chuka .................................................................... 48
2.2 The Social-Political Organization of the Chuka in the Pre-colonial Period ............... 60
2.3 Economic Organization of the Chuka in the Pre-colonial Period............................... 75
2.4 Summary and Conclusion ........................................................................................... 79
CHAPTER THREE
RITE OF CIRCUMCISION IN CHUKA BEFORE 1906 .......................................... 81
3.0 Introduction................................................................................................................. 81
3.1 Possible Origins of the Chuka Circumcision Rite ...................................................... 82
3.2 Pre-Circumcision Rituals in Pre-Colonial Chuka ....................................................... 85
3.2.1 Pre-manhood training and preparation.................................................................................. 85
3.2.2 Preparing for the Circumcision Season................................................................................. 93
3.2.3 The Eve of the Operation ...................................................................................................... 96
3.3 The Actual Operation in Pre-Colonial Period........................................................... 100
3.4 Post-circumcision Rituals in the Pre-Colonial Period .............................................. 112
3.4.1 The Naming ceremony........................................................................................................ 112
3.4.2 Seclusion and Education of Junior Men ............................................................................. 115
3.5 Summary and Conclusion ......................................................................................... 119
CHAPTER FOUR
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CHUKA CIRCUMCISION RITE; 1906-1963.
......................................................................................................................................... 121
4.0 Introduction............................................................................................................... 121
4.1 European Contacts with the Chuka........................................................................... 122
4.1.1 Establishment of colonial rule in Chuka ............................................................................. 122
4.1.2 The Shift of Hegemony from Elders to ‘Blanket’ Chiefs ................................................... 126
vii
4.1.3 Dismantling of Warriorhood............................................................................................... 133
4.2 Pre-Circumcision Rituals in Colonial Chuka............................................................ 144
4.2.1 The ‘Kurathia’ ceremony in colonial Chuka....................................................................... 144
4.2.2. ‘Thauthi’ Dances in colonial Chuka .................................................................................. 147
4.3 Hospital Circumcision in Colonial Chuka ................................................................ 151
4.4 Post- circumcision Rituals in Colonial Chuka. ......................................................... 160
4.4.1 Education and seclusion...................................................................................................... 160
4.5 Summary and Conclusion ......................................................................................... 169
CHAPTER FIVE
CHUKA CIRCUMCISION AND MASCULINITY IN THEPOST-
INDEPENDENCE ERA 1963-2000 AD. ..................................................................... 171
5.0 Introduction............................................................................................................... 171
5.1 Pre- circumcision Rituals in Post-independence Chuka ........................................... 172
5.1.1 The ‘Kurathia’ ceremony. ................................................................................................... 172
5.1.2. ‘Thauthi’ Dances................................................................................................................ 176
5.1.3 The new men’s shelters....................................................................................................... 179
5.2 Actual Operation in the Post-Independence Period .................................................. 185
5.2.1 Ritualized Circumcision in the Post-Independence Period. ................................................ 186
5.2.2 Hospital Circumcision in the Post-Independence period. ................................................... 191
5.3 Post-Circumcision Rituals in Post-Independence Chuka ......................................... 200
5.3.1 Education and Seclusion in Post- Independence Period ..................................................... 200
5.3.2 End of Seclusion Ceremonies ............................................................................................. 207
5.4 Summary and Conclusion ......................................................................................... 212
CHAPTER SIX
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................ 214
6.0 Introduction............................................................................................................... 214
6.1 Summary ................................................................................................................... 214
6.2 Conclusion. ............................................................................................................... 218
6.3 Recommendations..................................................................................................... 222
viii
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................. 228
APPENDICES ............................................................................................................... 239
APPENDIX 1: MAP OF KENYA.................................................................................. 239
MAP SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THARAKA-NITHI COUNTY .................................. 240
APPENDIX 3.................................................................................................................. 241
MAP SHOWING THARAKA NITHI COUNTY ....................................................................... 241
APPENDIX 4.................................................................................................................. 242
RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS.................................................................................................... 242
PART A; ......................................................................................................................... 242
QUESTIONNAIRE GUIDE........................................................................................................ 242
QUESTIONNAIRE GUIDE........................................................................................... 243
PART B........................................................................................................................... 247
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE ......................................................................................................... 247
PART C........................................................................................................................... 248
FIELD OBSERVATION GUIDELINES .................................................................................... 248
APPENDIX 5: LIST OF INFORMANTS ...................................................................... 250
APPENDIX 6:................................................................................................................. 251
GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................................ 251
APPENDIX 7:................................................................................................................. 255
PICTURES TAKEN DURING THE FIELD WORK ................................................................. 255
ix
LIST OF TABLES
Table 2.1: Chuka age sets 1735-1906 A.D …………………………………………......64
Table 2.2:  Gender roles in Pre-colonial Chuka ………………………………………..67
Table 3.1: Showing Life Stages of Chuka Males ……………………….…………..… 91
Table 3.2:  Rivers/pools for Chill Baths ……………………………………………… 106
Table 4.1: Chuka age sets 1906-1965………………………………………………... 140
xLIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1: Map showing Chuka –Igambang’ombe Constituency...............…………….42
Figure 2.1: Map of the Lamu Archipelago showing possible location of Mbwa ………54
Figure 2:2: Migration routes of the Proto-Ameru group from Mbwa………… …….....59
xi
DEFINITION OF TERMS
Candidates Those who are about to be circumcised
Insiders Circumcised men
Outsiders Uncircumcised men/women
Patriarchal dividend Benefits accrued to men
Real Men The courageously circumcised men
To be cut or/ Face the knife To be circumcised.
xii
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS
Aids - Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
Aug. - August.
B . C. - Before Christ.
C. P. E. - Certificate of Primary Education.
C. M. A. - Catholic Men Association.
Cm - Centimetres.
C.S.M. - Church of Scotland Ministry.
D.C. - District Commissioner
Dec - December
Dr. - Doctor.
F.G.M. - Female Genital Mutilation
Fr. - Father.
G.B.V - Gender Based Violence.
G.O.K. - Government of Kenya
HIV - Human Immunodeficiency Virus.
I.M.F - International Monetary Fund.
K. A. R - Kings African Rifles
K. A. U. - Kenya African Union
K. A. N. U. - Kenya African National Union
K. C. P. E - Kenya Certificate of Primary Education
K. D. F. - Kenya Defense Forces
K. N. A. - Kenya National Archives
Ksh - Kenya Shillings
L. N. C. - Local Native Council.
M. Y. W.O. - Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Oraganisation.
NGO’s - Non Governmental Organizations.
Oct. - October
xiii
P. A. T. H. - Program for Appropriate Technology in Health
P.C.E.A - Presbyterian Church of East Africa
P. C. M. F. - Presbyterian Church Men’s Fellowship
Pl - Plural
R. I. P. - Rest in Peace.
Rev. - Reverend.
U.S.A. - United States of America.
U.K. - United Kingdom.
U. N.O./ U.N. - United Nations Organization.
UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization.
xiv
ABSTRACT
Masculinity denotes the attributes that a particular society judges to be ideally associated
with men and boys. It is distinct from maleness, a biological and physiological
classification concerned with male reproductive system. Masculinity entails socially
constructed features, behaviour and secondary sex characteristics associated with men.
Among the Chuka, the definition of manhood is not only complex but also embedded in
the practice of circumcision.Thus circumcision is a process through which boys ‘become’
men after acquiring certain attributes, values and skills that have come to define a ‘real
man’. It is a rite through which boys become men and acquire certain attributes, values
and skills that define a ‘man’. It is a pubertal rite of passage which enacts a symbolic
rebirth of boys into the domain of adulthood. This research has focused on the
circumcision rite as a whole, its practice, importance and its role in creating a ‘man’
among the Chuka.  It has therefore highlighted various rituals associated with this rite as
boys strive to become ‘men’.The research elaborates on the heavy price the male person
had to pay for his masculine privilege and power. This study has utilized the concept of
Hegemonic Masculinity advanced by Robert Connell, which theorizes that in any society,
there is a form of masculinity which indirectly controls and dominates others without
using any form of coercion. The concept has been used in this study to evaluate how
some circumcised men occupy positions of power, control and influence over other men
and women. Hegemonic masculinity not only enables us to understand how the ritual of
circumcision embodies the most honoured way of being a Chuka man, but opens avenues
for us to isolate and interrogate the escalation of subordinate and marginalized
masculinities.The current study proposes that the rite of circumcision is of great value
and importance to the individual as well as to the society. This is based on the assumption
that during the colonial and post-colonial eras, the rite of circumcision underwent
fundamental changes. The study also offers a challenge to old renditions of masculinity
and opens possibilities of new ways of thinking and understanding ‘masculinity’ in
Chuka. The study population was sampled using purposive and snowballing techniques
and data was collected through use of interviews, field observations and questionnaires.
Being a historical study, primary and secondary sources from the National Archives and
libraries around the country were significantly used. The data was analyzed and presented
using descriptive statistics.
1CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
1.0 Introduction
This chapter highlights the background to the study, the statement of the problem,
objectives, research questions and premises, justification and significance, scope and
limitations.  Besides, it covers the literature review and the theoretical tools employed in
this study. Lastly, it elaborates on the methodology used during the research, explaining
the geo-political setting where this study was conducted as well as the data collection
and analysis strategies.
1.1 Background to the Study
What does it mean to be masculine or feminine?  Are we born masculine and feminine
or has society constructed a means of identifying people around these gendered
categories? Are the resulting identities cast in stone or are they socially fluid? These
were the core questions that necessitated and informed this research. The study focuses
on the rite of circumcision in Chuka during the pre-colonial, colonial and post-
independence eras. It also interrogates the influence that this rite of circumcision had in
the construction of different versions of masculinities.
Thus, societal expectations of a man or a woman begin at a very young age, when boys
and girls are led to believe in unwritten ‘rules’ of what is expected of them on the basis
2of their biological and physiological makeup. As such, different ways in which women
and men behave are linked to genes, though not necessarily determined by their X and
Y1-chromosomes respectively. This categorization of male or female occurs at birth and
it is the first step in the process of adducing and developing gender identity in society.
Nature determines an individual’s sex while culture influences the attitudes, character
and behavior patterns appropriate for each sex.  Historically, individuals have learned to
adapt to these expectations as they shape their personal and professional lives. This has
led to gender roles which outwardly manifest and express maleness and femaleness,
though the expected attitudes, character and behavior of males and females are related to
the environment where one lives. Therefore, masculinity is the gender- linked
constellation of traits that have been traditionally associated with men while femininity
entails the socially constructed traits associated with women.
Certain qualities of maleness are defined as masculine because of the societal view of
what being male means. As a result of this, a ‘real man’ has behavioral characteristics of
males which must conform to the culturally defined standards of maleness in that given
society. Circumcision is a rite of passage which imparts attributes of manhood to
1 The sex chromosomes of the female are identical and are called X chromosomes thus the genotype of the
female is XX. In males, the sex chromosomes differ in both shape and size. One male sex chromosome is
identical to the X chromosome of the female while the other is generally smaller and is called and the Y
chromosome, thus the genotype of the male is XY. XX for the females and XY for the males are the
biological determinants of sex –linked traits in human beings (Kohlberg 1966).
3initiates, during which the society prescribes panoply of values, behavior patterns,
personalities, duties and roles associated with the male gender. It is this social-cultural
institution of male circumcision that constructs the masculine attributes in males by
imbuing a generic set of expectations on initiates, while depicting them as the owners of
property, providers of basic necessities and protectors of society (Njoya, 2008).
Consequently, many of the Bantu speakers in Kenya practice circumcision for boys and,
in some cases, clitoridectomy for girls, (Mbiti 1992, Wanyonyi 1992, Daniels 1970,
Wagner 1949, Sangree 1966, Merritt 1976, Mwaniki 2004, 1976). In most of these
communities, the boys are socially conditioned towards the development of
masculinities which Lisa and Stephan (2003) describes as behavioral patterns, norms
and values which explicitly and implicitly express expectations of how men should act
and present themselves to others.
In  the ‘initiation schools’, men are not only  taught  to demonstrate their virility in
dealing with women, but are also encouraged to celebrate their actual physical strength
evidenced in their roles as protectors, providers, while being  made to understand that
they own all property. In addition, traditional circumcision socialized and bonded men
into their masculine gender roles and identity. For instance, among the Maasai, manhood
was a prize to be wrestled for and won through cultural sanctions, rituals, trials of skill
and endurance during circumcision (Ole-Kulet 1972). This practice is similar to that of
4the Chuka who believe that real men must prevail in situations that require physical
strength and fitness (Browne 1925, Mwaniki 2004, Fadiman 1994, Nyaga 1986).
In many pre-colonial African societies, the initiation period was a moment of ‘formal’
schooling during which the cultural expectations and responsibilities of the ‘men’ and
‘women’ were transmitted to the initiates. As such, men who had been taken through
initiation rituals were distinguishable from the others by their conspicuous social
behavior and peculiar use of vocabularies, which they learnt during their seclusion
period. Circumcision was and still remains a permanent bodily alteration which signifies
membership to a new group of ‘the real men’. For ‘real men’, any expression of
weakness, emotion or sexual deficiency is a major blow to their virility, self-esteem as
well as a betrayal to their manhood. To be content, these men must feel that they are
decisive, self-assured and rational (Pype 2007), and the Chuka are not an exception to
such principles governing the behavior of the circumcised as boys transit into manhood.
The male circumcision which involves the removal of all or part of the foreskin of the
penis has been widely practiced as a religious, tribal and, most recently in the context of
proliferation of HIV, as a medical rite (Marck 1997, Khanakwa 2011, Rizvi et al 1999,
Bailey et al 2002, Kelly et al 1999). Although its origin is unknown, the earliest
circumcision practice dates back to 2300 BC in Egypt where it is thought to have been
used to mark slaves (Johnson 1993).  By the time of the Roman takeover of Egypt in 30
5BC, the practice had some ritual significance and only circumcised priests could perform
certain religious offices (Encyclopedia 1973). In the Jewish religious tradition, infant
male circumcision is required as part of Abraham’s covenant with God (Genesis 17:11-
12). Moreover, circumcision also appears widely among the indigenous people of
Africa, the Malay Archipelago, New Guinea, Australia and Pacific Islands (Hastings
1971, Beidelman 1987) whereby the operation certified a subject’s readiness for
marriage and adulthood and attested to his ability to withstand pain as a ‘real’ man.
In addition, circumcision was and has been used to distinguish cultural groups from their
uncircumcised neighbors and in this respect, the Chuka are not an exception to some of
the cultural deployments to which circumcision is put (Daily Nation Feb.8; 2007:3,
Feb.15; 2007: 37, Mwaniki 2004, 1982, Saturday Nation Feb.17; 2007:9, Orde 1915,
Thomas1992). Precisely, circumcision among the Chuka is a transition from childhood
into adulthood which imposes expectations, obligations, and responsibilities for the men.
During the seclusion period, the Chuka initiates enter into a number of rituals, activities
and teachings which emphasize specific attributes of manhood that are similar to those
witnessed in some other African societies like the Babukusu of Western Kenya (Wagner
1949), Abatachoni of Western Kenya (Wanyonyi 1992), Tsonga of South Africa  (Junod
1962) and  Nyaneka-Nkumbi of South-Western Angola (Eastermann1979). Hence, the
lessons inculcated into the new initiates during seclusion or in the ‘initiation schools’
formed the core of the ‘Chuka masculinity’.
61.2 Literature Review
This section is dedicated to the review of the available literature starting with those on
the global scene, followed by African and Kenyan studies. Further, some efforts have
been made to review specific related literature on the Chuka, in order to identify the
knowledge gaps around which this study was justified. Reviewing literature from a
world scale and delineating it to Africa and to the Chuka presents a variety of different
configurations of masculinity based on differing social locations. This helps us to
analyze different perspectives of masculinities and sheds the most revealing light on
how the Chuka masculinity is constructed through circumcision.
Although numerous studies on masculinity have been carried out in the Western
scholarship, very few of them deal with the non-Western societies. However, these
studies raise fundamental theoretical and empirical perspectives that could be useful to
our interrogation of the construction of the Chuka masculinity. Connell (2003) and
Gilmore (1990) affirm that there are several studies of masculinity focusing on
communities in the U.S.A., Europe and Asia. Such studies have been carried out in
Germany and Canada by Kaufman (1993), in Japan by Roberson and Suzuki (2003), in
Peru by Fuller (2001) and in Turkey by Sinclair (2000). Masculinity studies have also
been done in India, Brazil, and Mexico (Connell 2003), while in U.S.A the studies are
covered in (Baca 1982, Hooks 1992, Messnner 1993). Most of these studies have taken
7up debates on violence, fatherhood, sexuality, patriarchy, men’s conduct and the social
construction of men, which are insightful to this study of Chuka masculinity.
According to Hearn et al (2001), the first large-scale comparative study of men and
gender relations has recently been completed in ten European Countries. Such studies
give insights on the features associated with male gender and expressions of
masculinities in Western rather than the African context. Kimmel et al (2005) records
that there is a world handbook of research on men and masculinities, particularly on the
concept of hegemonic masculinity that show how some circumcised men wield power
and control over other men and women. However, none of the studies mentioned above
gives any empirical data that is specific to the ‘Chuka masculinity’.
Most of the literature on femininity pays special attention to the rights and position of
women in the society (Foucault 1980, Butler 2007, Ruth and Marian 1978, Thomas and
Gallagher 1987). They portray women’s position as being unequal to that of men and
examine how the society is structured to benefit men politically, economically and
socially to the detriment of women. They critique the social system that relegates
women to inferior positions while demanding for equal civil rights between men and
women. Most of the feminist’s literature focuses on theories that explain gender
inequalities and advocate for different ways of redressing them. One such feminist is
Simone de Beauvoir (1973:301) who asserts that ‘one is not born a woman but rather
8becomes one’, a statement which implies that gender is culturally constructed and
interpreted.
Such literature on femininity offers a way of rethinking gender as a cultural construct
within the Eurocentric context. Most of the feminist literature unjustly neglects and
ignores the ideology of masculinity but fruitfully examines the role of women in society.
The femininist literature deals with the social-cultural dimension of maleness implicitly
rather than explicitly. This is a departure point in this study since it seeks to explore
masculinity as an equally important and problematic area of study which has been taken
for granted in the feminist literature. Besides, the literature on femininity lacks empirical
data for this study which is historicized in an Afro-centric setting in Chuka.
Most of the literature on gender reveals that the construction of femininity and
masculinity in western culture begins early in life. This is with regard to basic issues
such as the colour of the children’s clothing, with pink going for girls, and blue being
the preferred colour for boys. The nature of toys (such as dolls for girls and cars for
boys), reinforce the masculine and feminine identities of children in future (Kohlberg
1966). The way people interact with children further solidifies the child’s gender identity
(Rice 1999:147). Thus, if a boy falls down, they are warned that boys don’t cry while
little girls are nurtured to belief that they should not get dirty while playing.
9In the West, girls develop femininity and boys’ masculinity by being exposed to scores
of influences ranging from parents, the television and schools. Children are encouraged
to accept the appropriate gender identity, being rewarded for ‘normal’ behavior and
punished, criticized and pressurized to comply with it. At this point of ‘normalizing’
masculinities and femininities, the oppression and domination of one gender over the
other begins. The society constantly constructs attributes of femininity and masculinity
that appear normal and natural to each gender. This study seeks to explore how Chuka
boys develop masculinity through successful participation in circumcision rituals rather
than through the televisions, parents or schools.
It is important at this point to review the attributes of a real man in the Western literature
in order to shed light on our understanding of the attributes of a real man in Chuka.
Oslon et al (2000:238) and Brannon (1976) describe a real man in Western culture as a
big wheel, successful, one with status and to be looked up to.  This means, achieving
wealth or fame or exhibiting symbols of success in the West is manly. Besides, a man is
expected to be a sturdy rock, tough, confident and self-reliant, unemotional and one who
never reveals his tenderness or weaknesses. Thus, ‘big boys don’t cry, they make others
cry,’ seems to be the overriding message to prove that one is manly. Most of the
European parameters for masculinity are that real men should be aggressive, dominant,
strong, forceful, and self-confident, rugged, virile, instrumental, logical, ambitious,
10
unemotional, direct, independent, courageous, adventurous, and to have a predisposition
for mathematics and the sciences.
Lombard (2003:10) gives the qualities of manhood in New England as having rational
control of emotions, virility for fatherhood, providing for the family, owning property as
well as having financial autonomy. Messner (1993) has identified two contemporary
forms of masculinity in the United States of America (U.S.A). On one hand is the ‘new
man’, who is heavily involved in parenting and is emotionally expressive while on the
other hand is the ‘traditional man’, who is inexpressive and hyper masculine. This
classification of masculinity in U.S.A. is based on the parameters of dress, patterns of
consumption, sexual orientation, vigor, speech, discourse, work, fatherhood and men’s
relations with women (Nye 2005).
Other western studies on masculinity equate manhood with being strong, successful,
reliable, and in control (Kimmel 1994). Kimmel gives a hegemonic definition of
manhood as a “Man in power, a man with power and a man of power” (Ibid: 124).  He
concludes by showing that ‘the chief test of a man is not being like a woman’. In other
words, manhood is the anti-thesis of womanhood. Theoretically, the western literature
posits the dominant masculinity as fixed and one that every man aspires to achieve in the
western context. On the contrary, this study reveals that the hegemonic masculinities in
Chuka are not only contestable but also change over time. This western literature sheds
11
light to our understanding of circumcised men in Chuka as ‘men in power, with power
and of power’.
Besides, the western literature has established connections between men, private and
public power, ushering in new hierarchies of hegemonic masculinity of the ‘new man’
(Brod 1987, Connell 1995, Hearn et al 1990, Kaufman 1987, Kimmel 1987, 1994,
Seidler 1991). The ‘new man’, in these studies is a model generated in the well-
resourced social context of the developed world which cannot suit studies of men in
poorly resourced social contexts in Africa. The ‘new man’ in western literature differs
from the African man who is exposed to varying cultural experiences during the
circumcision rituals. This study interrogates how a ‘new man’ is constructed in Chuka
through circumcision rather than through acquisition of western education or salaried
employment as demonstrated in the developed world. This study has analyzed the
versions of manhood in an African context and the contests between the traditional and
emerging versions of manhood in the colonial and post-independent Chuka.
African models of masculinity have been sparsely studied and are described in (Uchendu
2008, Morell 1998, 2001, 2007, Lindsay et al 2003, Dunbar et al 1994, Reid et al 2004,
Luyt et al 2001). These studies describe masculinities across African cultures and are an
important starting point for our interest in Chuka masculinity. The studies stress
measures of manhood in Africa as being responsible, protecting the family, providing
12
for them, wisdom signified by seniority in age and ability to foster harmony. Illife
(1995:94) describes a real man in Africa as a ‘big man’, one who has many wives,
children especially sons, has resources and is powerful.
These studies show that the concept of an ideal masculinity is as different as the diverse
cultures in Africa. This study is justified since none of the African studies is specific to
the construction of the Chuka masculinity. Besides, developments of men’s studies in
Africa are still at an incipient stage compared to studies in Australia, parts of Europe,
and North America (Ratele 2008). This raises the need to study the African man more
critically because Africa is an important site for gender studies as posited by (Amadiume
1987, Matroy 1994, Oyewumi 1997, Achebe 2000).
There are few studies of masculinities that shed light on the nature of masculinity in pre-
colonial Kenya. Well-developed literature exists which shows how colonially
constructed masculinities articulated with indigenous expressions of masculinity
(Lindsay et al 2003, McKittrick 2003, Cooper 1940).The transformation of indigenous
masculinities in colonial times is a prevalent theme in this literature, which sheds light to
this study on how the colonial rule altered the circumcision practices and the consequent
masculinities. Most of this literature seems to suggest that the indigenous masculinities
simply gave way to the foreign masculinities. This study presents a divergent view and
13
interrogates how the ritually circumcised man in Chuka navigated and contested with the
foreign ideals of masculinity during the colonial period.
More literature on imperial masculinity in Africa focuses on the use of force and the
glory of combat led by the British men as discussed by White (2003). White shows that
the establishment of an all-male imperial army promoted ethos of restorative
masculinity, which led to a political culture of masculine prowess and militarism that
was bound up with gender-based violence (Mama, 2007).This masculinity was
constructed on the basis of weapon-centered ideology rather than through circumcision
rituals as interrogated in this study.
The literature by White and Mama helps us to examine how colonial institutions such as
heavily bureaucratic governments, schools, armies and hospitals transformed existing
expressions of masculinity in Africa (Morell 1998) and apply it to this Chuka study.
Colonial institutions such as the armies shaped the way men and women thought about
and expected of a man. This study demonstrates that colonialism did not totally collapse
the traditional Chuka understanding of ideal masculinity but rather provided alternative
masculinities which were also contested by some community members.
Western education was a powerful site where the traditional ideology on the
construction of African masculinities was greatly transformed. Achebe (1959)
14
demonstrates this by describing an African hero named Okonkwo who tragically killed
himself for being excluded from the new colonial structures of authority and power.
Contrary to tradition the marginalized but educated men such as Nwoye were elevated to
a hegemonic status. This example attests to the fact that colonial education profoundly
affected male status and opportunities in Africa by shifting hegemony from senior elders
while bestowing power to younger African elites. This discourse is useful in chapter four
of this study which examines how colonialism transferred the hegemony of the
circumcised males   in the ‘gaaru’ (barracks) to the Chuka elites.
Studies of colonial wage labour and work are useful to this study since they reflect on
the transformations and the nature of gender relations in Africa. Wage labour for
instance, transformed men into ‘boys ‘which in colonial times refers to the servant status
of a grownup African man. Mwaniki (2004), records that among the first people to be
jailed in colonial Chuka was a man named Gatungwa, for tearing a letter which a ‘boy’,
(denoting a servant to the colonial masters) was delivering from Embu to Chuka. In
other circumstances, the title ‘boy’ has been used as a device of inclusion as elaborated
by Onselen (1992), in his study of paternalism in South Western Transvaal. Here, the
white farmers proudly spoke of ‘my boys’, to refer to their laborers’. However, in many
pre-colonial African societies, the title ‘boy’ was used offensively to capture a refusal to
acknowledge the possibility of growth or achievement of manhood (Morell 1998,
Branford 1980, Gqola 2007). This study is a valuable investigation on the ideologies and
15
gendered behaviour of ‘man’ and ‘boy’ in colonial Chuka in relation to the achievement
of manhood and the appropriate gender identity.
Some of the gender studies in colonial Kenya show how manhood and masculinities
have been transformed (Cooper 1983, Kitching 1980, Van 1975, Stichter 1982).
Manhood here refers to the state of being an adult male while masculinity means the
qualities or attributes appropriate to the adult male such as physical strength and
courage. Other gender studies in colonial Kenya shed light on transformations of
womanhood and femininity and focus on the relationship between work and women
during the colonial period (Strobel 1979, White 1990, Kanogo 2005). Most of the
colonial feminist literature focus on women and deal with social-cultural dimensions of
maleness more implicitly rather than empirically. For instance, White (1990) elaborates
how the Mau Mau2 movement sparked new debates on manhood as male gender was
constructed and maintained as being superior to the female gender. This study is
important to the Chuka discourse as it sheds some light on the understanding of the
specific effects of Mau Mau on the ‘Chuka masculinity’.
2 Mau Mau Uprising (also known as the Mau Mau Revolt/Mau Mau Rebellion) was a military conflict that
took place in Kenya between 1952 and 1960. It involved a Kikuyu-Embu- Meru dominated anti-colonial
military aggression against elements of the British army, its auxiliaries and the anti-Mau Mau
natives/British loyalists. Its key cause was a long buildup of resentment caused primarily by land
appropriation, and the colonial masters’ ignorance towards the natives’ grievances against economic
exploitation (Clough 1998, Wasserman 2008).
16
Elsewhere, a number of authors (Hodgson 1999, Kabaji 2008, Njoya 2008, Ole Kulet
1972, Robertson 1997, Khanakwa 2011, Kisianga’ni 2004, 2011,) raise critical issues on
masculinities such as the historical processes of gender construction, sexuality, order and
rank in the home and patriarchy in the African context. They provide interesting reading
on the roots of masculinity through circumcision, education, marriage, bull-fighting,
cattle raids and gender decolonization. The authors have identified customary standards
of ethnic masculinities such as bravery and have also contextualized African men’s lives
within the historical processes. These studies show that there are similarities as well as
differences on the specific construction of masculinities African societies.
To illustrate this point is Egara Kabaji’s study on the construction of masculinity among
the Luhya of Western Kenya (Kabaji 2008). He demonstrates that the bull-fighting
contests are central to the generation and dissemination of masculine values among the
Luhya. Victory in the contests is the lens against which the hegemonic masculinities
define other masculine styles as inadequate and inferior. On the contrary, the Chuka
defined hegemonic masculinities through numerous circumcision rituals such as victory
in ‘gaaru’ (barracks) battles rather than through bullfighting contests like the Luhya.
Chuka men aspired to score highest in the performance of these rituals to avoid being
rated as inferior men.
Other researchers, works and programmes on masculinities in parts of Africa focus on
what they have called a ‘crisis of masculinities’ (Barkar 2006, Njoya 2008, Odhiambo
17
2009, Morell 1998). These studies associate gender identity crisis to hegemonic
masculinities or what Njoya (2008: xix) refers to as ‘flawed masculinities and suicidal
manhood’. Murunga (2010) has described this flawed masculinity as ‘one that teaches
young girls to become ‘things’, and young men to become ‘people’, whereby ‘things’
are owned by ‘people’. Such reviews make this study a worthy course in order to
interrogate the socialization process through circumcision rituals and whether they may
have led to flawed masculinities in Chuka.
Current studies on masculinity in Africa demonstrate that the socially recognized version
of manhood is facing a crisis due to limited gender-based research. This suggests that
there is need to research on the social construction of masculinity in order to unravel the
challenges facing young boys as they strive to become men. An in-depth analysis of how
boys became men through circumcision in Chuka exposes some of these challenges.
Following the social-economic changes such as formal schooling, the Christian church,
urbanization, employment and globalization in Africa, the masculinity crisis has
assumed alarming proportions. This calls for an urgent research on the construction of
African gender that is ‘decolonized’ and relevant to the African condition as advised by
Kisianga’ni (2004). This Chuka study presents a decolonized gender research and
explores the effects of the socio-economic and political transformations on the
circumcision rituals and the ensuing masculinities.
18
To study man in the Sub-Saharan Africa, one is compelled to study structures and
institutions such as initiation which impart manhood attributes to the young men.
Traditionally, many Bantu societies celebrated passage into manhood with initiation
rituals as the second rite in life (Mbiti 1991).  As confirmed in many circumcising
cultures in Africa, the uncircumcised is not a ‘man’ until he complies with this cultural
requirement (Hastings 1971, Ole-Kulet 1972, Khanakwa 2011, Wagner 1949, Saturday
Standard Feb24; 2007:16, Mbiti 1992). The rite is so important in the lives of men and
consequently, the uncircumcised man is seen as “weak, nothing, cursed, divided and
exiled, goes around alone and can get no woman” (Hastings 1971). He is excluded from
society and even women refuse to have sexual intercourse with him. In fact, failure to
get circumcised is a good ground for divorce in some African communities.
The significance of circumcision as a rite of passage is reflected in many African literary
texts such as ‘The River Between’ by Ngugi wa Thiong’o, in which he articulates the
centrality of the rite in the lives of young Kikuyu boys, as depicted by the character
named Waiyaki (wa Thiong’o 1965:45). In circumcising societies, being
‘Uncircumcised’ is an abomination and a disparaging term ‘kibici’ is used to describe
the uncircumcised in Chuka. In other societies such as the Maasai, inheritance is
conditional to circumcision. Ole-Kulet (1972:15) shows that there is no property for an
uncircumcised Maasai man since he remains a child no matter how big he gets. Among
the Meru, the rite is so important that the date when one was ‘cut’ (circumcised) is a
19
vital detail in his eulogy’ (Saturday Standard Feb 2007:16). Such literature broadens our
understanding of the significance of circumcision to men and helps us to investigate the
place of ‘kibici’ (uncircumcised) in Chuka.
Studies on circumcision also show that the operation creates a tense moment as the
initiates are not expected to cry or show any sign of fear or reaction to the injury.
Shouting out in pain during circumcision can prevent a boy from being accepted as a
man (Wanyonyi 1992, Daniels 1970, Wagner 1949, Merritt 1976, Mwaniki 2004, Nyaga
1997). Women participate in socializing the boys into ‘men warriors’ by ensuring that
their boys do not cry during the actual operation as posited by Mutunga (2009). This
means that women activists should pay more attention to circumcision rites which
according to Mutunga (Ibid) gives men power over women.
Barker (2006) quotes a section of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography in which he
describes the circumcision ritual the former South African president went through and
how Mandela thought he was not quite a man because, he had hesitated for too many
seconds before yelling out, “I am a Man”. In contrast, “real men” say it immediately
without gasping in pain. Most African studies on circumcision show how initiation is a
transition from childhood to manhood (Mbiti 1992, Khanakwa 2011, Khanakwa 2011,
Wagner 1949, Wanyonyi 1992), but do not follow up to shed light on the kind of
20
masculinities that grow out of circumcision. It is this additional element that this study
on the social construction of Chuka masculinity attempts to explore.
Some of the studies also show that a boy is never considered a man if circumcised under
anesthesia and mocking of hospital circumcision is common in much of Kenya (Ole-
Kulet 1972, Khanakwa 2011, Wanyonyi 1992). Members of the circumcising
communities, fully aware of the health risks associated with this practice, view any
deaths or injuries occurring during the ritual as a way of isolating those boys who were
not fit to play the role of men in society. To compound this ‘natural selection’ technique
is the belief that if the initiate suffers medical complications during the ‘cut’, he has
brought it upon himself through some form of wrongdoing and is therefore being
punished (Khanakwa 2011:90) . It was therefore worth finding out in this study the
‘natural selection’ technique that the Chuka employed and how ’real men’ portrayed
their bravery during circumcision.
There is a set of literature on circumcision and manhood among the Chuka, though most
of it is anthropological and describes their social-cultural, economic and political ways
of life (Orde 1925, Mwaniki 1982, 1974, 2004, Nyaga 1997). The Chuka have some
distinct features that set them apart from the other Meru groups. These include their
dialect and their practice of circumcision (Mwaniki 2004). They should therefore not be
21
abandoned as incomprehensible whereas there is so much bulk of oral traditions which
can be carefully analyzed to reconstruct her past rich cultural heritage.
Insightful as these studies may be, none examines the role of circumcision in creating
and sustaining masculinities in Chuka. This study shows how patriarchal practices of
male dominance are reinforced during the circumcision rituals. It seeks to address how
this rite gives men an identity and the ability to renegotiate their manhood. Furthermore,
the study analyzes how socially constructed masculinities have been historically shifting
since the late 19th C in Chuka.
1.3 Statement of the Problem
It should be noted that the most important aspect in men’s lives is not that biologically
they are males, but rather that they become ‘men’. Apart from their male anatomy, boys
are not born socially male; they become ‘men’ through socialization by the society.
While this fact is acknowledged and extensively studied in relation to the social
construction of gender, gender is often treated as a female concern. This study shifts the
focus from women to men and to circumcision. Consequently, circumcision is treated as
an important rite of passage that inculcates into men certain values, expectations and
responsibilities of manhood.
The study is an analysis of circumcision in this context evaluating the uncertainties,
vulnerabilities and anxieties that males experience as they strive to become “real men”
22
through circumcision. It is an assessment of historical shifts of masculinities among the
Chuka from the early 20th to the beginning of the 21st centuries. It explores the dilemmas
and the understanding of ideal male adulthood while examining the positive and the
negative implications of this ‘Chuka masculinity’ as an outcome of initiation.
It historicizes how circumcision rituals and teachings give order, structure and meaning
to men’s lives. It also investigates the explanations of these ritual activities to society.
While identifying masculine stereotypes of the past, the study addresses masculine traits
emanating from the rite of circumcision. Besides, it examines the behavior that is
punished and investigates how young boys complied with or deviated from this societal
demand that circumcision was a compulsory rite for the Chuka men.
The study interrogates the various ways in which the Chuka masculinity is shaped or
distorted by social, political and economic changes. It assesses how changes such as
colonialism, evangelization of Christian values, urbanization, education, social mobility
and employment have rendered circumcision peripheral to the construction of an ideal
masculinity in Chuka.
1.4 Research Questions
This study is informed by the following questions;
(i) What are the origins and the social-economic organization of the pre-colonial
Chuka?
23
(ii) What are the main features of the Chuka Circumcision rite up to 1906?
(iii) In what ways was the Chuka circumcision rite transformed during the colonial
period?
(iv) How was the Chuka circumcision rite transformed during the post-independence
era?
1.5 Objectives of the Study
The study aims at achieving the following objectives;
(i) Describe the origins, socio-political and economic organization of the Chuka.
(ii) Identify main features of the Chuka circumcision rite up to 1906.
(iii) Assess the transformation of the Chuka circumcision rite during the colonial era.
(iv) Analyze the changing phases of the rite of circumcision in the post-independenct
Chuka.
1.6 Research Premises
This study is based on four premises. It proposes that:
(i) The social, political and economic organization of the Chuka significantly
influenced their circumcision rituals.
(ii) The circumcision candidates in Chuka went through elaborate circumcision
rituals in the pre-colonial period.
(iii)The rite of circumcision was of great value and importance to individual men as
well as to the society in general.
24
(iv)The traditional circumcision rite in Chuka underwent fundamental changes in the
colonial and post-independence eras, creating new versions of manhood.
1.7 Justification and Significance of the Study
This study has contributed to the understanding of men as an engendered category.
While acknowledging that gender is socially constructed, many gender studies often end
up focusing on women, without similar treatment of men as gendered beings. The study
has taken into account the masculinities that come into existence in specific
circumstances through the rite of circumcision in Chuka. Cultures continue to socialize
boys into men through dangerous and risky means such as, acts of provoking ferocious
beasts into rage and killing them in order to prove their readiness to become men. In the
process, some boys may get killed by the vicious beasts causing emotional suffering to
their mothers and relatives. This too applies to Chuka whereby initiates are exposed to
various dangers as they strive to become ‘men’.
As young children grow, they internalize the standards and rules of being a ‘boy’ or a
‘girl’. They work hard to develop an ideal gender that is socially imposed, since society
does not tolerate any variations from it. The boy is brought up believing that he has to
behave ‘manly’ all the time, which means enduring pain without blinking an eye,
disassociating from women and feminine roles such as sitting in the cooking place,
25
helping in cooking, laughing with women, not fetching water from the river and
refraining from any other duties considered  women’s work.
This study has enabled us to understand how a ‘man’ is socially constructed through
circumcision in Chuka. Understanding such a construction is indispensable if we wish to
transform the nature of relationships between men and women, and among men. There is
also need to initiate a gender renaissance and build a new identity of a man and woman,
free from western domination and control. Besides, gender studies should offer a critical
platform for confronting the deteriorating social, political and economic condition in
Africa (Kisiang’ani, 2004). This study contributes to this critical need of addressing
issues of masculinity and endeavors to contribute to a more peaceful world order. The
study increases our understanding of how young men individually and collectively
negotiate relationships within their male friendship groups.
The findings of this study have unmasked hegemonic masculinity in Chuka and its
influence on the lives of men. Further, the study has enriched our interrogation of gender
inequalities by showing that male superiority is not a divinely ordained reality but a
changeable construction. Masculinity has been studied as a form of gender to rescue
manhood from its naturalized stereotypes. In so doing, the ills that have been committed
through the assumption that the male is superior and the female inferior can adequately
be addressed. The challenge of  Gender- Based- Violence (GBV) cases that go
26
unreported due to cultural inhibitions can find a good home in this study.  Thus the goal
of Women’s Liberation Movements can best be pursued by understanding men, and
conducting studies on masculinity.
The results of this research justify the need for programs which focus on masculinities
that are less aggressive, violent and of less exaggerated performances of power over
others.  It shows   that “real men” who do not dominate, oppress, discriminate or exploit
others can be constructed through circumcision. The choice of the Chuka community by
the researcher was based on her familiarity with the region, which made it easy to create
a working rapport with the informants during the actual research.  This enabled this
research to fit within the timeline of the study and to be cost-effective while adducing
authentic results.
1.8 Scope, Limitation and Delimitation
The study covers the Chuka people who are a sub-ethnic group of the Ameru, one of the
highland Eastern Bantu in Kenya. The Chuka share common oral traditions with the
other Ameru sub-groups namely Igoji, Miutini, Imenti, Tigania, Muthambi, Mwimbi
Tharaka and Igembe. Between 1912 -1932 the Chuka were administered from Embu and
in 1933 they were reverted back to Meru as part of Southern Meru together with
Muthambi and Mwimbi (KNA, DC/EBU/1/3/1, 1914:5, KNA, DC/EBU/1/3/2, 1934:3).
However, the Chuka are very distinct from the other sub-groups of the Ameru
(Middleton and Kershaw 1972, Orde 1925) and should be studied as an autonomous
cultural group.
27
This study covers a historical period beginning from 1906 AD to 2000 A.D. The choice
of 1906 A.D. marks the year of actual Chuka conquest by the British imperialists and as
such enhances our understanding of circumcision rituals before they were influenced by
colonization. Circumcision was a highly contested terrain in the colonial and the early
post- independent Chuka. Various historical developments during this period shaped the
way Chuka men and women argued and thought about circumcision. This study ends at
2000 A.D., which marks the start of the 21st C and gives us an appropriate period to
comprehensively study the transformations that have occurred on the rite of
circumcision. The study proceeds on a ten-year interval, in order to be able to capture
the change in circumcision rituals over time and space. This is based on the assumption
that each age group conformed to the economic and social possibilities of its time and
refashioned the circumcision rituals to suit their specific historical context.
Being female, the researcher acknowledges that male chauvinism, which is highly
prevalent in Chuka, may have influenced the findings with regard to male circumcision.
Majority of the males take it as a taboo to discuss matters of circumcision in public and
more so to a female researcher. This called for the use of three excellent, qualified and
well directed male assistants who contacted informants beforehand, yielding balanced
and authentic results. The research assistants collected data from the some of the
reluctant informants through proxies of their close relatives. Since the subject of the
research involves male genitals which the Chuka men hardly discuss freely and publicly,
28
high levels of confidentially were maintained for all the sensitive data during the
research.
Though the Chuka trace their history back to 300 years, existing written documents
cover only the past ninety years. These documents deal exclusively with problems
encountered by various Europeans (English, Scottish, Italian, Dutch, and Irish) in
imposing colonial rule. Fadiman (1994:5) observes that most of these documents present
the Africans as fringes of a European play. In them, Africans appear in supporting roles
as carriers, servants, unpaid laborers or as loyal subordinates (converted Christians,
tribal police) or as cosmic relief (alcoholics, witchdoctors). Others present the Africans
as non-cooperators and Mau Mau rebels, fleeing British imperial justice into the safety
of the forests. Besides, these documents mention the Chuka as fringes of the Ameru and
as such give little information on Chuka traditions or generalize the Chuka as Ameru
(Orde 1925). With this high level of uncertainty and prejudice in the written documents,
the re-construction of circumcision practices in the pre-colonial period relied heavily on
oral sources.
Most of these oral sources presented a problem of periodization of events, which called
for references to the scanty written sources to determine the relative dates of events.
Some of the informants’ faint memories prolonged the time taken to extract all the
relevant information from them, causing further delays on schedule of the work. Mzee
29
Nkari Magite who had been mentioned severally by other oral sources to have been
among the earliest ‘Iroge’ (men who were circumcised in hospital) died on 21st July
2011, before his scheduled interview. His death was sad and regrettable and brought to
the realization the urgent need to hasten the oral reconstruction of the history of our
societies, as the oral sources are becoming extinct.
Gaining the confidence of the respondents was not always easy. Some men who had
been circumcised in the ‘kagauni’ (traditionally / ritualized circumcision) hesitated to
disclose the details of their rituals. At times, the interviewer encouraged reluctant
respondents by declaring his own traditional circumcision status, or by signaling it
secretly using hand gestures. Men who had been medically circumcised too did not
always admit it readily for fear of being ridiculed and branded ‘kiroge’ (bewitched) by
the traditionalists. A few respondents expected some remuneration in exchange for their
information but they dropped the idea of asking for the payment once the objectives of
the study were made known to them.
1.9 Theoretical Framework
Until very recently studies theorizing on masculinities and femininities were conducted
primarily within the realm of psychoanalysis which is centered on Sigmund Freud’s
30
formulation of the Oedipus Complex3 (Arlow 2005). Freud demonstrated that adult
sexuality is an end product of the complex process of development based on a child’s
relations to the parents. Freud demonstrated that mental life functions on both the
conscious and unconscious levels of the individual and childhood events have powerful
psychological influence throughout an individual’s life. His ideas focused on biological
determinisms and oppositions in early life as determinants on the development of
masculinity or femininity. He thus conceptualized that a person’s anatomy influenced
ones destiny.
Post-Freudian theorists such as Erik Erikson, Ralph Greenson, Robert Stoller and D.W
Winnicott applied Freud’s ideas to show that manhood is a reflection of male and female
natures, based on their anatomy and hormonal composition (Gilmore 1990). These
theorists studied the concept of identity in little boys and made a conclusion that gender
identity is non-contradictory and unitary in the first years of one’s life. These theorists
understood manhood strictly from a biological point of view.
Freud’ psychoanalytic idea on the development of sexuality was advanced in Adler’s
concept of Masculine Protest (Adler 1992). Adler established that males who doubt their
3 Oedipal period is between age’s four to six, when a boy-child develops an emotional attachment to the
mother and acts as a rival to the father. For girls it is called the Electra Complex when the girls get
attracted to their fathers and become antagonistic to their mothers. Freud (1931:229) describes these
complexes as ‘the fateful combination of love for one parent and simultaneous hatred for the other as a
rival’
31
sexual role exaggerate the traits which they consider masculine in order to dominate
women. He theorized that the force behind human motivation was the sense of
inferiority and the desire to overcome it through domination and exercising power over
others. Adler’s sketch of ‘psychology of power’ in the masculine protest was an abstract
idea but it could be used to explain why some men strive for superiority over women
and other men through acts of bullying and tyranny.
Ideas of domination in the Masculine Protest were advanced in Jung’s Archetypal
Theory (Jung 1982). Jung explained that the development of masculinity equals
repression of femininity and vice versa. Jung demonstrated that the very masculine men
have carefully guarded their soft, emotional and feminine life just as a woman considers
it unbecoming to be ‘mannish’ (Jung 1953:187). Jung developed universal principles of
masculinity and femininity as ‘animus’ and ‘anima’ which he described as irreducible
cores of sexual identity. His idea on archetypes was a primitive mode of thought that
personified natural processes of manhood and womanhood in understanding the
development of masculinity and femininity respectively.
The Critical debates triggered by Melaine Klein of the English school employed the
psychoanalytic ideas on the construction of masculinities and femininities (Klein 1928).
Klein characterized mental attitudes into depressive (those which are retained within the
individual) and paranoid (those which are projected towards the external world), as ways
that people use in dealing with anxiety. Further, Karen Horney (1932) studied character
32
and situation neurosis as the forces against anxiety. Melaine and Karen’s therapy on
anxiety could be used to study the fundamental connection of the making of masculinity
and the subsequent sub-ordination of femininity. This sub-ordination could be a
projection or a neurotic reaction of the males towards females, as they struggle to
overcome their anxiety. Such ideas serve to normalize the sub-ordination of women to
the demands of social reality rather than question the terms on which masculinity is
constructed.
The Frankfurt School theorists of the 1920’s such as Max Horkheimer (1936), Theodor
Adorno and Jurgen Habermas (1950), drew too from psychoanalytic and Marxist ideas
to offer a historical typology of masculinities. They departed from Marxism by locating
the sources of domination in the realms of culture and belief systems (ideology), rather
than basing it solely on the economic structure of the society. They investigated the
impulse towards domination and sources of obedience to authority based on cultural
practices. They observed the traits of the fathers’ dominance over the family, sexual-
emotional repression of women as well as aggression over the females as patterns of
conformity to authority. This ideology could help to unravel how circumcision promotes
inequality between men and women but may not help us to understand why some
circumcised men have hegemony over other circumcised men.
The inequality of males and females was further elaborated by the Radical and Feminist
Psychoanalytic theorists such as Judith Lober, Sundra Bartky and Judith Butler (Lober
33
1986) who added their intellectual voice on psychoanalysis ideas on sexuality.  They
focused on the ways in which women’s perceptions were determined by the particular
nature of the female body and the female roles in reproduction. They theorized that
masculinity was rooted in patriarchy which divided rights, privileges and power
primarily on gender lines. These radical feminists held that masculinity was the drive for
domination, power and conquest of women through universalized male experiences. The
feminists held the view that women and men ought to be socially interchangeable and
opposed the use of gender as the organizing principle of the society. Their ideas help in
understanding how men enjoy their patriarchal dividend but their theory fails to
conceptualize why the dividend is amassed unequally among all males.
The psychoanalytic and sexuality theories discussed above are useful lines of thought
that are based on dualisms (Barkar 1966, Jung 1982), biological determinisms,
oppositions and sexual universals (Baca 1982, Hooks 1984). The theories view manhood
as a polar reflection of female and that the nature of the males is based on their anatomy
and hormonal composition. Deployed in detail, the theories may enrich our
understanding of social dynamics of men’s gender and masculinity. However, to treat
any of the above hypotheses as a priori framework for a comprehensive study of
masculinity would be misuse of psychoanalysis which on its own is inadequate. Further,
the Psychoanalytic theories are definitely out of fashion because they often treat gender
as fixed constructions and give limited attention to changing sex roles. Besides, male-
34
female concepts are not as simple as a set of opposite traits as has been uncritically
predicated by the Psychoanalysts in their ‘Sex-Role’ theories (Brannon, 1976). On the
contrary, being male or female is a reflection of a history and a context, which implies
that manhood and womanhood are mutable categories that can only be theorized as such.
Using the theory of hegemony, the concept of ‘hegemonic masculinity’ has been coined
and used in this study on the social construction of masculinity in Chuka through
circumcision. The concept is more relevant than the Sex Role theories in examining the
dynamics within and between gender categories in this study. Hegemony is a
sociological term which describes the process that keeps a dominant group in power, by
ensuring that subordinate groups support or accept the way things are through their
‘spontaneous consent’ (Strinati 1995, Donaldson,1993). Hegemony is about winning and
holding to power, which leads to formation and destruction of social groups in the
process. Hegemonic masculinity is a concept that implies enforcing certain cultural
standards of real manhood at a particular time in history. It involves the persuasion of
the greater population through organized social institutions in ways that appear natural,
ordinary and normal. This concept is best placed in this study of circumcision as a
‘natural’ institution that makes some circumcised men to dominate other men and
women in Chuka.
Hegemony is a pivotal concept in Antonio Gramsci’s Prison Notebooks (1933), which is
used to refer to a process of indirect control with some nations holding power and
35
influence that build or destroy other social groups (Strinati 1995, Gramsci 1971). The
purpose of hegemonic control is to exploit, dominate and access power in ways that
appear natural and normal without coercion on sub-ordinate groups. The concept of
hegemony enables us to understand why some circumcised men naturally dominate
others in Chuka.
Applied to this study, the concept of Hegemonic masculinity refers to a form of
masculinity which without much coercion, controls other men and women through
cultural institutions and persuasion. It is therefore that form of masculinity that is
ascendant and dominant over the uncircumcised men and women who consider the
circumcised men as invincible role models. The concept of hegemonic masculinity was
first proposed in reports from a field study of social inequality in the making of
masculinities in Australia (Kessler et al 1982). Other basic sources of this concept were
feminist theories on patriarchy, who laid the groundwork for questioning the universal
categories of men (Goodie 1982, Snodgrass 1977, Baca 1982, Hooks 1984, Angela
1983), and the New Left school (Tolson 1977).
The concept of hegemonic masculinity was advanced by Robert Connell, an Australian
historian who has considerably influenced recent thinking about men, gender and social
hierarchy. It is a powerful concept that has been employed for over twenty five years in
men’s studies. According to Connell (1985, 1987), the Sex-Role theories which had
been used in gender studies for a long time were inadequate in accounting for issues of
36
power in society since they neglect historical change and have a homogenizing effect on
the gender concepts.
Connell who was part of a group of scholars referred to as the ‘New Sociology of Men’
(Morell 1998) were extremely influential in the masculinity studies in the 1980s. They
established that gender identities were socially constructed and acknowledged the
existence of dominant and marginalized forms of masculinity in society. These scholars
studied masculinity and femininity through the filters of the structures of power, the
division of labour and the social organization of sexuality. They came up with the four
categories of masculinities as dominant, complicit, submissive and oppositional/protest.
It was out of the four categories that Connell (2005) developed the hegemonic
masculinity which he described as the dominant masculinity that embodies the most
honored way of being a man.
The successful application of the concept of hegemonic masculinity to a wide range of
cultures suggests that in all human societies, there is some form of masculinity that
emerges as dominant, in control, socially central and associated with power. Such
masculinity draws heavily on patriarchy which is a system that supports male
domination over women. Patriarchy embodies a pattern of practices that present the most
current and honored way of being male and legitimizes the super- ordination of some
men over other men and women. The concept of hegemonic masculinity is therefore a
37
powerful tool that helps us to assess masculinity as a historical process which is
contested and negotiated within shifting social and historical contexts.
Hegemonic masculinity has also been employed by many scholars to study the sub-
ordination of women by men (Connell 2005, Carrigan et al 1985, Brod 1987, Cockburn
1983, Messner 2003, Chapman et al 1988, Donaldson 1993). These studies present
hegemonic masculinity as a powerful concept that can be used in theorizing gender. Its
usage in this study enables us to understand how particular groups of men inhabit
positions of power and wealth and how they legitimize and reproduce the social relations
that generate their dominance. The application of hegemonic masculinity in this study
allows us to question the category of man as monolithic and to recognize the hierarchy
of masculinities following circumcision. It helps us to locate why relationships among
men change within different historical, cultural, and social contexts.
Applied as a conceptual tool in this study, hegemonic masculinity helps us to understand
the entrenched connections between masculinity and power, which is ascribed to the
circumcised male. The concept is applied in this study to show how the circumcised
Chuka men (‘insiders’) dominate the uncircumcised men and women as ‘outsiders’ and
how within the ‘insiders’, some men have hegemony over other men. This is based on
the premise that though all circumcised men enjoy ‘patriarchal dividend’, the dividend
does not accrue to all men in the same manner or in an equal measure (Uchendu
2008:13). Those men who enjoy more patriarchal dividends dominate and control others
38
and produce cultural images of ‘real men’, hence creating a hegemonic masculinity
which is the ‘most honored or desired form of masculinity’ (Connell 2005:77).
This concept further suggests that masculinity is dynamic and is liable to contestation
and change due to social factors such as generation, race and class. It therefore facilitates
the researcher to mount and sustain arguments for historical variations in the nature of
masculinities in Chuka. The concept helps us to identify a multiplicity of masculinities
or plurality of masculinities and their hierarchies within broader and shifting historical
contexts. Using this concept of hegemonic masculinity, this study examines the shifting
nature of masculinities as products of human actions and rituals during circumcision
ceremonies.
Through the lenses of hegemonic masculinity, this study demonstrates why some men
and women in Chuka uphold traditional circumcision as the only avenue of producing an
ideal manhood, while others contest the traditional circumcision as primitive. The rite of
circumcision is still very popular as the authentic means of constructing masculinity,
though the rituals accompanying the rite have been dynamic and must be historicized.
The concept of hegemonic masculinity in this study helps us to interrogate how a
number of the masculinities co-existed in different historical contexts. It also helps us
to cross-examine how a particular masculinity held sway over others, bestowing power
and privileges on men who espoused and claimed it as their own.
39
This concept provides an understanding on how circumcision in Chuka contributes to
the gender order and unequal distribution of power, wealth and privileges. Proponents of
this concept claim that people who exhibit hegemonic masculinity in any given society
define other masculine styles as inadequate or inferior (Connell 2005, Cornwall et al
1994). In the case of Chuka, circumcised men openly display clout over the
uncircumcised men and women in order to maintain their hegemony particularly when
they perceive a threat or challenge on their manhood. This justifies why the concept of
hegemonic masculinity is a powerful concept that has been applied in this study of the
Chuka masculinity.
Critiques of this concept of hegemonic masculinity posit that Connell tends to equate
‘power’ with domination and to locate power in the hands of exemplary men. This
power is however not possessed by all or even most men, though they may benefit from
it. This disavowal of power creates an automatic sense that someone else is doing
masculine power while others are less directly involved in its articulation (Moller,
2007). In the process, Connell fails to show how this masculine power is named and
located.
In seeing power only as domination, we run the risk of seeing how men subject
themselves to subtle modalities of contemporary power and this suggests that men are
always subjects of power. This weakness notwithstanding, the concept still stands as a
powerful tool that can be used to trouble the entrenched connections between power and
40
masculinity. Since this study captures discrete, privileged and relatively small peer
groups of Chuka men at given historical intervals of ten years, the concept of hegemonic
masculinity can be used to analyze hierarchical masculinities of these men.
Another critique on the concept of hegemonic masculinity is that it tends to overlook the
complexity of the phenomena of masculinity which it investigates. As a result of this,
more mundane practices of masculinity and masculine power tend to go unnoticed. In its
usage a researcher may lose sight of the specificity of men’s practices (Jefferson 2002)
because the concept lacks ways of appreciating the complex meanings which may be
articulated through image or practice. Due to this shortcoming, this study has tried to
create space in which many aspects of masculinity can be heard. The study has explored
the plurality, complexity and contradictions of masculine experiences and feelings of
circumcised men rather than locate them in their respective positions using a coherent
pattern.
1.10 Research Methodology
While due attention is paid to all methods that inform the historian’s approach, it will be
recalled that every discipline is defined by what it forbids its practitioners from doing
(Jenkins 2003). Historians have, of necessity, to be selective in their methodology and as
such, the framework developed in this study was guided primarily by the historian’s
approach which proceeded by giving due attention to the archive. It sought to
41
counterbalance archival narrative with a combination of primary and secondary sources
of data relevant to the issue of Chuka masculinity.
In particular, due attention was given to the spoken/oral word which is described by a
leading traditionalist Amadou Hampate Ba as ‘the sap of authenticity and the richest and
fullest of all sources of history’ (UNESCO 1989; Vol 1: xvii). In designing this research,
the sampling procedures, the sample size, and research instruments were all thought of
in relation to how they assisted to elicit historically verifiable and relevant data.
1.11 Study Site
The study was carried out among the Chuka who live in four divisions namely Mariani,
Mugwe, Magumoni and Igambang’ombe, which are situated in Tharaka-Nithi County
and Chuka–Igambang’ombe constituency. Though linguistically similar to the other
Ameru groups, the Chuka have a different oral history and mythology (Lambert 1950).
They are located on the fertile eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya and are primarily agrarian.
Chuka land goes up to the bamboo zone of Mt. Kenya forest (‘Mirangini’), to River
Tungu towards Muthambi.
The border of Chuka with the Embu is Thuci River, while on the lower side they border
the Tharaka. Their land is situated between latitudes 000 03’ 47’’North and 000 27’
28’’South and between longitudes 370 18’ 24’’East and 280 19’ 12’’ West. Meru-South
district covers an area of about 734km and is within an altitude of 5,200 meters at the
42
peak of Mt. Kenya and 300 meters in the dry lowlands (Murithi 2008, GOK:
Development Plan 1997- 2001). They speak Kichuka, a dialect of Kimeru language.
The map below illustrates the study site.
Figure 1.1; Map showing Chuka –Igambang’ombe Constituency, of Meru-South
District.
Source: Inima, Kenyami (2012), Flickr Maps, Images by Nokia.
KEY
Boundaries showing divisions
Boundaries showing
Locations
W
N
S E
- Boundaries showing Divisions
-Boundaries showing locations
E
43
1.12 Sampling Techniques and Sample Size
The study adopted a purposive sampling procedure and interviewed men and women
whom I had reason to believe were knowledgeable on the history and practice of
circumcision. I used local contacts to identify the potential informants. I conducted in-
depth interviews on a multiplicity of twelve men and women. They comprised of two
retired civil servants, three elderly women who had been involved in circumcision rituals
and were judged as forthcoming with relevant information for this study. The informants
were also chosen on the basis of their status in Chuka society to include the Chairman of
the clan elders, two local administrators, two medical practitioners and two religious
leaders who were consulted and yielded relevant information for this study. The twelve
were aged between 40-89 years a variation which enabled them to present competing
and sometimes conflicting perceptions towards different forms of circumcision.
Another twenty two informants were chosen raging from 30 years to 94 Years of age.
Among them were, a retired army officer who had served in the imperial army (King’s
African Rifles), Mau Mau veterans, descendants of famous colonial chiefs and a
‘mutani’ (traditional circumciser). Besides several Chuka academicians and ordinary
men and women shed light on the general circumcision practices. Questionnaires were
administered to eighty people who provided details on the practice of the rituals of
circumcision and the resulting masculinities.
44
1.13 Research Instruments
Data was obtained using formal and informal interviews, questionnaires and field
observations. Archival materials such as official records from the local administrators,
health centers and hospitals, photographic collections, maps, census data, charts, life
histories, film data, correspondences, annual reports, brochures, and minutes of
meetings, work descriptions and budgets were reviewed. Original archival materials
sourced from the Kenya National Archives in Nairobi were harnessed to give significant
information on the circumcision trends in Chuka.
Being a historical study, a number of secondary sources such as published and
unpublished documents, books, maps, charts, treaties, journals, magazines, articles,
unpublished theses, seminar papers, periodicals and pamphlets were used. They were
sourced from libraries in the universities like the University of Nairobi Moi Library,
Kenyatta University Post-Modern Library, and the Kenya National Archives.
Resourceful information was electronically sourced from the internet for this study.
1.14 Data Collection
Data was collected partly through interviews and by means of questionnaires. The
questionnaire was administered to eighty people aged between 30-55years. This age
bracket includes the first generation to undergo hospital circumcision (referred to as
‘iroge’) and members belonging to the younger age groups. Snow balling and purposive
45
sampling were used to select twelve elderly men and women for regular and in depth
interviews on the circumcision practices. Health workers from Chuka district hospital,
Mpukoni, Kibugua and Mukuuni health centers were purposively interviewed to give
information on hospital circumcision.
The primary information collected from the oral interviews was recorded and transcribed
on the same day to retain its originality. The researcher and three assistants took detailed
field notes to capture and highlight major points from the informants. A questionnaire
(Appendix 3 of this thesis), was designed and used to elicit information from informants.
The assistants translated the questions into Kiswahili or Kichuka for the informants who
did not understand the English version. Probing and follow- up questions were used to
verify feedback, solicit depth and obtain the required details. In order to capture full and
exact quotations for analysis and reporting, information from field observations on
habitual routines of masculine behaviour was video- recorded whenever possible for
analysis.
1.15 Data Analysis
The data was systematically organized and categorized thematically to facilitate
analysis. The themes identified were the pre-circumcision rituals, the actual operation
and the post-circumcision rituals during the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial
periods. Quantitative analysis was done using a code book in which data was converted
46
into numerical codes representing measurements of the independent variables such as
the preparations for the operation, the operation, songs/ dances, naming and age set
formation and roles of the circumcised men over the different historical periods.
This study acknowledges that each form of data source has its strengths and weaknesses
and used them in an inter-disciplinary approach. The archival data for instance, gives a
primary account to investigations and answers questions that would be difficult or
impossible to study in any other way. For oral information whose custodians are the
aged, precaution was taken to deliver historical truth based on the fidelity of the oral
record handed down over the generations. This was done by interrogating the oral
information with the information in the written sources.
Use of integrated sources of history such as the oral, written, linguistics and archaeology
helped to avoid unreliable data and to check on the level of information bias and
subjectivity. Thus, while sieving through data, weaknesses of both primary and
secondary sources were born in mind, establishing their levels of reliability within the
limits possible for a historian.  Once all the data was analyzed, a conclusion was made to
reaffirm whether the results of the study corresponded with the hypothesis. The
conclusion also elaborated on how this study positively contributed to the field of
knowledge on the construction of masculinity through the rite of circumcision.
47
1.16 Data Management and Ethical Considerations
While collecting data the researcher informed respondents beforehand so that they could
give their consent to participate.  The researcher tried to minimize all harm or discomfort
to the respondents, keeping their responses and behavior confidential. The interviewees
were treated with respect bearing in mind that it was a privilege to peer into their
personal experiences. The right to anonymity was maintained by avoiding disclosure of
the real names of respondents where necessary. Privacy and copyright issues of archival
and written documents was maintained by acknowledging any utilized work in the study.
In data presentation the researcher avoided untrue, deceptive or doctored results. The
findings of this research were shared to all interested parties without any discrimination.
1.17 Summary and Conclusion
It was the objective of this research to investigate how circumcision was and has been
used to socially construct a man in Chuka man from 1906-2000 A.D. The underlying
theme of this study was to show that the rite of circumcision had a fundamental role in
the social construction of role-based and existential gender identity of a man.
48
CHAPTER TWO
ORIGINS, SOCIO-POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF THE
CHUKA UP TO 1906.
2.0 Introduction
This chapter highlights the migration history of the Chuka from Mbwa in 1300 A.D., to
their present homeland on the eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya by 1730 A.D.4.  The objective
of this chapter is to describe the pre-colonial social, political and economic structures of
the Chuka which specifically influenced the rite of circumcision. This chapter’s aim is to
present the background information on the Chuka people, hence furnish us with a deeper
understanding of their circumcision practices. This is based on the assumption that the
social construction of the Chuka masculinity was shaped by the socio-cultural, economic
and political forces within which it was created and nurtured.
2.1 The Origins and Migration of the Chuka
Much of the available written and oral evidence suggests that the ancestral homeland of
the Chuka, who were part of the Ameru, lay off the northern Kenya Coast, precisely on
the northwestern edge of Manda Island, a place referred to as Mbwa. The Chuka are an
offspring of the larger proto-Ameru, who broke off during their migrations and came to
4 According to Thomas (1992) and Fadiman (1994), the Chuka may have fragmented from the ‘Ngaa’
people, the proto-Ameru group that began migrations from the coast at Mbwa, on Manda Island, before
arriving to their present homeland by 1700-1730AD.
49
be known as ‘Chabugi’ or ‘Irari’ (Nyaga 1997), also referred to as Ciambugi in Fadiman
(1973) and confirmed from Cianguo (O.I: 21st April 2011). Evidence by H. E. Lambert,
a notable linguist and former Commissioner of Meru district (in 1933–1935 and 1940–
1941) supports this contention (Fadiman 2012: 23).
Lambert suggests that the name Mbwaa or Mbwa is derived from the Swahili term
‘pwani’ (beach or shore). The linguistic difference between ‘pwani’ and ‘mbwa’ is that
‘pwani’ "has added the locative ending (-ni) while discarding the nasalization ("b") in
favor of aspiration ("p"), whereas ‘mbwa’ having retained the "m" has kept the "b"; "n"
becomes "m" before a labial. Lambert explains that the Swahili stem ‘pwa’ denotes not
only "shore", but also a "place where the tide ebbs”. This linguistic link between ‘pwani’
and ‘mbwa’ is evident from the oral sources who refer to “Mbwa’ as “Mbwani’, which
they say is the possible origin of the Chuka (Cianguo O.I: 24th April; 2011, M’baini
O.I:10th July; 2011).
Fadiman (2012:24) elaborates that Lamberts’ linguistic explanation given above could
be used to try and identify the possible location of Mbwa.  This he says is supported by
examination of historical variants of the word ‘Mbwa’, ‘Mbwaa’ and ‘Mbwara’. The
oral traditions collected between 1930 and 1970 spell the Island of Chuka origin as
‘Mbwa.’ However, earlier oral traditions collected between 1917 and 1925 use the
longer variant "Mbwaa" and before 1917 the name ‘Mbwara” was used in the place of
50
the short variant ‘Mbwa’. Using the three variants, Fadiman (Ibid) explains that in many
Bantu languages, including those of the contemporary Meru region, intervocalic ‘r’
tends to disappear over time when surrounded by vowels within a syllable as in the case
of ‘Mbwara’; the three letters run together, gradually evolving into a single short vowel,
hence the name ‘Mbwa’. To Fadiman therefore, if ‘Mbwa’ in 1930s–1960s, was once
‘Mbwaa’ in the 1920s, it must have been expressed earlier as ‘Mbwara’.
This linguistic linkage of the proto-Ameru to Mbwa is made stronger by the existence of
a specific region on the western side of Manda Island known as ‘Mbwara Matanga’. The
name ‘Matanga’ in the Manda dialect means ‘sands’ and is used to refer to a type of
sand containing iron ore. This meaning of ‘Matanga’ seems to mesh quite clearly with
the Mbwaa iron-working traditions. The Manda traditions have made frequent references
to the existence of routine iron-working practices of making spear points, smelting and
iron smiths, which suggests that the people of the island had easy access to the iron ore
Fadiman (Ibid).
Geographical evidence partly supports Manda as the proto-Ameru point of origin based
on the fact that two-thirds of Manda is surrounded by coral reefs. The most striking
argument lies in the behaviour of the Island's tides which corresponds to the pattern
described in the Mbwaa traditions (Fadiman 2012: 25).  To the North West of Mbwara
Matanga lies a narrow channel known as ‘Mkanda’, which fills and empties twice daily,
51
due to tidal bore. When the channel is empty, it leaves a landscape of streaming mud and
tidal pools. The behavior of the ‘Mbwa’ ocean tides is also described by Cianguo (O.I:
24th April 2011) and Gitari (2005) as, ‘runci rukuthii kuria nyaki’ (‘water that goes to eat
grass’) and M’baini (O.I:10th July 2011) as ‘ruuji rukuthii’ (‘water that goes’).
Subsequent traditions of the proto-Ameru flight from the enslavement at Mbwa were
probably facilitated by their knowledge of this ebb and the flow of its tides. They must
have taken the advantage to leave Manda Island when the ocean waters had receded at
this ebb. In his study of ‘the concept of God in the traditional faith of the Ameru’, Gitari
(2005: 59) confirms a common  belief by his informants that the proto-Ameru came
from ‘Mbwa’, ‘mwena jwa urio’(the right hand side) or side facing North Africa, which
is probably the point known as ‘Mbwara Matanga’ on this Manda Island.
Proto- Ameru traditions also speak of the peoples of "Bua," "Nderi," and "Dzunda," as
their neighbors who lived on an island near Mbwaa (Fadiman 1994: 23). Historical
evidence shows that the three groups are part of the contemporary sections of Pokomo.
The Pokomo oral traditions confirm that these three groups had some of their clans
living on Lamu Island which was once called Bua and is located about one mile from
Manda's western shore (Bunger 1970). The three groups may have been the proto-
Ameru neighbours and is further evidence of Manda Island as their probable point of
origin.
52
The proto-Ameru fled from Mbwa in the early 1700 due to persecutions from the ‘Nguo
Ntune’/‘Nguruntune’ (red clothed or red legged people) of the East African coast
(Hobley 1910, Gitari 2005, KNA; GP/309/Lam1934). The use of ‘Ngurutune’ has a
derogatory implication of ‘red legs’, which refers to the skin color of these persecutors.
The exact identity of the ‘Nguruntune’ who lived in Mbwa, the original homeland of the
Proto-Ameru is not clear. They appeared in a large sailing vessel that landed on the
mainland opposite the Island's western shore. The ship's crew then crossed the
intervening waters on crude wooden rafts. The invaders are remembered as being tall
and light-skinned non-Africans who were Europeans, Persians, or Arabs, commonly
perceived as ‘red’ by Bantu-speaking people of the Island.
They were possibly the East African coastal Arab descendants from Middle East
(Fadiman 1994: 48) .These Arabs had formed numerous commercial communities along
the Kenya-Somali coast. The ‘Nguo Ntune’ may have come merely to plunder, having
been attracted by the occasional tusks that the Islanders brought to them for trade. The
‘Nguruntune / Nguo Ntune’ may have attacked ‘Mbwa’ around 1700 A.D. when the men
of ‘Ntangi’ age set were warriors (Gitari 2005: 60).  They wore single red cloths tied
around their waists and shoulders, and another bound around their heads hence the name
‘Nguo Ntune’ for ‘red clothes’ (Ibid). They carried short swords of the scimitar type
whose blade curved backward and only the outer edge was honed. This type of a sword
is common among the Arabs, evidence which shows that the invaders were of Arab and
53
not European origin. These invaders also carried several guns and may have invaded
‘Mbwaa’ in a single battle in which the use of the guns proved decisive or perhaps the
Islanders did not resist them.
These ‘red legged’ people remained at Mbwa and forced the proto-Ameru to herd, fish,
and cultivate for them. After a period of submission to their invaders, the proto-Ameru
grew increasingly hostile, refusing to herd the flocks and till the fields as commanded.
Angered by this defiance, the ‘Nguo Ntuni’ summoned the council of elders (Kiama) for
judgment and set for them a series of unreasonable tasks as punishment for their
disobedience. The ‘Kiama’ was a system of legal precedents among the ‘Mbwaa’
community which was administered by elders' councils and governed according to
traditions of the tribal ancestors.
The proto-Ameru were enslaved to perform impossible tasks such as making a shoe with
hair on both sides, removing a fruit from a pit without the use of any sticks, killing all
elders until their blood flowed like a flood, providing an eight sided cloth, getting a dog
with horns and making a steer that could produce a ‘Diatomite’ (Nyaga 1997: 1, Bernadi
1989). In all these tasks, the Proto-Ameru prophet named Koome Njue, was able to
provide convincing solutions to the ‘Nguru Ntune’.
However this prophet was presented with the last but most difficult task of making a
ladder that touched heaven and earth. Having no solution to this, Koome Njue
54
interpreted it to imply a long journey which sparked off their departure from ‘Mbwa’.
Such persecutions forced the proto-Ameru to flee from Mbwa on the Manda Island. The
above traditions have it that Koome Njue led the proto-Ameru in the miraculous
crossing of the ocean waters to their present homeland.
Figure 2.1: Map of Lamu Archipelago showing the location of Mbwa (Source; Fadiman;
1994:24).This figure shows the possible location of Mbwa at the East African Coast,
which is believed to be the origin of the Chuka people.
Such an oral tradition of persecution, fulfillment of impossible tasks, and evasion by
flight across a conveniently retreating water body is too similar to biblical themes of
KEY
- Islands
- Coast line
W E
N
S
- Islands
- Coast line
- Coast region
55
migration and settlement to be accepted literally. The themes are frequently repeated
within both Arabic and Hebrew literature (Exodus: 12-15) and may have been passed on
to the African people with whom they had contacts with. It seems possible to assume
therefore, that the proto-Ameru acquired the basic elements of their flight tradition
through their interaction with an Arabized people at the time when they were enslaved.
The proto-Ameru traditions do not point out on attacks from the Galla/Oromo or the
desiccation of farmlands as possible causes of their migration like other northeastern
Bantu tribes who fled from the coast. However, natural calamities such as drought and
famine cannot be ruled out as possible reasons for this migration since the ancient
patterns of Bantu migrations were occasioned by unfavorable climatic conditions and
environmental degradation (July 1992).
Another probable cause for the proto-Ameru flight from ‘Mbwa’ was the rise of other
archipelago principalities such as the Pate Island (Fadiman 2012).  The people of Pate
may have usurped and imposed power over the Manda Islanders, forcing the Ameru to
flee from this pressure. All in all, the traumatic shock of conquest, the enslavement
traditions, together with the introduction of an ideology glorifying persecution,
prophecy, and flight seem to have been the catalysts that set some of the proto-Ameru
people on their way from ‘Mbwa’.
Following the blessing of their prophet Koome Njue, the proto-Ameru left Mbwa in
three bands. These were, the black cluster called ‘Njiru’ which means darkness, together
56
with the moonlight group called ‘Nyaga’ which means light in the midst of darkness,
which departed in the night. Others were the two daylight groups known as the white
cluster or ‘Njeru’ and the red band known as ‘Ntune’ for dawn. The different departure
times for each band ensured that if one clan did not make it in their migration or were
pursued by their enslavers, the other bands would possibly survive.
Steadily moving westward /inland from ‘Mbwa’, the migrants spent about four seasons
along the Tana River's southern bank (Gitari 2005:60). They experienced food shortages
and supplemented their diet by fishing, using the traditional wooden hooks. They drew
water from seasonal swamps that dried up wholly or partially, which forced the migrants
to periodically move on. By around 1720, they arrived at a desert place ‘Ngaaruni’/
‘Maliankanga’ (desert), where they began to call themselves the ‘Ngaa’ people
(Fadiman 1994:53).
The ‘Ngaa’ arrived at Ntugi hill towards the late 1730s, and settled at a place called
‘Igaironi’ (sub-divide) located in present day Tharaka, from where they fragmented into
two groups. One group called itself the Mukunga or Muku Ngaa (people of Ngaa) and
the Murutu. The Murutu subsequently sub- divided further into three smaller sections,
with one group remaining on the plains to become the Tharaka. The second group that
gave rise to the Chuka moved westward towards Mount Kenya and eventually reached
57
the mountain base at the modern region of Mwimbi (Kibungi, Kanga O.I; 15 th Aug
2011).
The third Murutu group, pressed north into Tigania from where they split into five
smaller segments of the Igoji, Abogeta (South Imenti), Abothuguchi (North Imenti),
Mwimbi, and Muthambi. By the 1730s, the Chuka and the Tharaka had arrived at
Orimba hill and Mt. Kiaga, from where they established a long association. This perhaps
marks the beginning of ‘gichiaro’ (‘birth’) system, a blood military alliance that the
Chuka and Tharaka formed to adjudicate conflicts.
Lambert (1956:12) asserts that the ‘gichiaro’ systems were blood military alliances
between the Meru sub-groups which helped them to reinforce their defense. The sub-
groups had divided themselves into opponents and allies regulated by the ‘gichiaro’.
Lambert (Ibid), records that by 1900 the Ameru ‘birth’ alliances were divided into three
clusters. The first group embraced the Tigania, Mwimbi and Murutu while the second
alliance comprised the Igembe, Imenti, Igoji and Muthambi. The third alliance was made
up of the Tharaka, Chuka and Miutini. Such alliances prohibited their members from
doing battles or else misfortunes would befall them for shedding common blood.
The ‘Ngaa’ sub- groups settled along river valleys and may have fragmented as they
spread across the Meru land. The groups were eventually separated by forests and the
58
rugged ridges leading to loss of their common identity as the ‘Ngaa’ people. Natural
boundaries between the groups were imposed by the giant gorges and racing rivers that
divided the fertile lands. This created a series of long and narrow ‘rigde-top’
communities referred to as ‘miiriga’ (Pl)5 comprising several clans. The groups settled
along the narrow spines which marked the boundaries of each ‘mwiriga’ (clan).
The Chuka groups advanced upwards towards the mountain while clearing new land for
settlement. Each group evolved unique social-political institutions that were slightly
different from the original institutions of the ‘Ngaa’ people and from the other segments
of the Ameru. For purposes of administration, each ‘mwiriga’ had a ‘kiama’ or council
of elders of its own, a tradition probably carried forward from their original homeland at
‘Mbwaa’.
5 ‘Miiriga’ (Plural), is a Kichuka verb for clans, (singular is ‘mwiriga’), that lived at the ridge tops/ along
the narrow spines, and were separated from each other by the deep gorges in the region, (Kibungi, O.I:
15th Aug 2011, Fadiman 2012:76,).
59
Figure 2.2 showing the Proto-Ameru migration routes.
Sources; Fadiman (1994:63), Mwaniki (2004:194).
As the Chuka sub-groups spread across the ridges, they encountered representatives of
three non-Bantu cultures that were scattered in small numbers along the mountain's
lower slopes. These were the eastern Cushitic segments of the Galla/Oromo who
inhabited the woodland, the Kalenjin-speaking Ogiek peoples inhabiting the higher star
grass zone and the lower fridges of the black forest.The Chuka also encountered the
Maa-speaking communities occupying Tigania plains and other adjacent grassland
(Fadiman 1976:153). The contemporary name Meru may have its origin from the Maasai
word ‘miru’ or ‘meiru’, a ‘Maa’ term which refers to a ‘repelling or ‘still forest’ as well
as the people who lived within it (Ibid:1994:93).
W
S
E
Mt. Kenya
Rivers/streams
KEY
Bush
Water
Migration route
Hills
Mt. Kenya
Rivers/streams
KEY
Bush
Water bodies
Migration route
Hills
W E
N
S
- Bush
- Water bodies
- Migration route
60
Historical accounts by Orde (1925: 21) and Mwaniki (2004: 133; 200), confirm that the
Chuka had contacts with the Agumba/ Gumba cattle keepers whom they fought and
displaced. Mwaniki (Ibid) describes Agumba who lived in pits, holes, or caves and used
barbed weapons to spear and arrowheads characteristic of weapons used by some
Kalenjin-speaking Ogiek. The Agumba are also mentioned in the traditions of the Chuka
neighbors such as the Agikuyu (Kenyatta 1938: 23, Muriuki 1974: 37) and the Embu
and Mbeere (Mwaniki 1974: 15). The appearance of the Agumba in these records
confirms that, the Agumba had inhabited the Mt. Kenya region long before the arrival of
the highland Bantu in the 18th C. Mwaniki (2004:207) outlines the pattern of the spread
of the Chuka towards the slopes of Mt. Kenya, from ‘Karura ka Nthi’6 to Ntakani,
Magumoni, Itugururu, Mukuuni, Kinoru, Mugaani, Thuita, Mwonge and Karingani.
2.2 The Social-Political Organization of the Chuka in the Pre-colonial Period
The Chuka evolved an elaborate social-political system based on the indigenous
practices of the ‘Ngaa’ and influenced by the communities which they came into contact
with during their migration and settlement. The family was the basic socio-political unit
which comprised a man, his wife or wives and their children. The father was the
administrative head of the family, whose authority was autonomous (Middleton 1979).
The father owned everything in the family including the wife (or wives) and property
6 ‘Karura ka Nthi’ is a place located in Tharaka where rivers Ruguti and Thuci converge and is cited by
Mwaniki (2004:207) as a possible point where further fragmentation of the Chuka group occurred during
their upward movement towards Mt. Kenya.
61
such as cattle and land. In his absence or death, the eldest son of the senior wife took
charge of his father’s duties.
A man was privileged to marry and start a family after serving actively as a warrior and
siring a male child to replace him in the ‘gaaru’ (barracks). By marrying and siring heirs,
the Chuka men proved their manhood since they broke the wall of female resistance by
fathering children hence controlling their wives reproductive powers. Real men had to
sexually perform as best as possible, failure to which they were seen to be sexually
dysfunctional, which spelt critical blows to their reputation and was a source of
community gossip (Cianguo O.I: 21st April, 2011). As such, a childless man had no say
among other men since he lacked evidence of having conquered women sexually.
Marriage indicated a true test of a forceful man, one who had fearlessly conquered
women. Entry into marriage was only possible after the rite of circumcision. Thus,
masculine honour was always bound up with aggression and potency. To be fully
masculine, a Chuka man had to marry, father many children, especially sons and create a
large vigorous family.  The more wives and children a man had, the more power he
wielded over other men and women. Manhood was not only about bringing up sons who
ensured the families continuity, but also about the man’s ability to support a dependent
wife(s) and household.
62
Differentiation of gender in Chuka began at birth and naming whereby the number of
ululations marked the sex of a new born; four for the male and three for the girl (Murithi
2008: 153). In many instances, the first child was named after the paternal grandparents
to reinforce the patrilineal descent of the children. As children grew up, they constantly
learnt their gender roles through tales, riddles and proverbs. Division of labour among
children was based on one’s gender. The major role of the young uncircumcised boys
was to herd cows, sheep and goats which they learnt from the elder men. The young
girls did domestic chores such as cooking, fetching firewood and water and babysitting
through apprenticeship with their mothers.
The Chuka were stratified into ‘nthuke’/ ‘marika’ 7(age sets) which were created
following circumcision of both men and women. Circumcision structured the
community into ‘marika’ which mobilized men and women into some identity groups
that governed their life in all spheres. Each male age set carved a form of masculinity
governed by generational identity and was distinguished from the others by its distinct
property relations, political rights and domestic responsibilities. The male age sets
fostered leadership, authority and protection of the society. Female age sets dealt with
issues affecting women only such as punishing female offenders, girls’ initiation and
religious ceremonies related to sacrifice in times of drought and pestilence (Middleton
Op.cit: 40).
7 Age sets, known as ‘Nthuke’/ ‘Marika’ among the Chuka means groups of men and women bound
together over a period of ten to fifteen years, following their circumcision (Murithi 2008: 36,
Mwaniki2004:149).
63
The names of the age sets were chosen by the ‘Mugwe’ (prophet) upon consultation with
‘kiama kia mugongo’ (senior most council of elders/ Chuka country elders). According
to Mwaniki (2004: 49), this senior council was the highest source of authority in the land
and drew its members from the ‘kiama kia nkome’ (junior council of elders). Cianguo
(O.I: 24th April 2011), literally describes ‘kiama kia mugongo’ as ‘the owners of the
land’, which suggests that members of the senior council had executive powers in all
community affairs. One of the cardinal duties of the ‘Mugwe’ and the senior council was
to conduct the ‘ntuiko’ (ritualized ceremony to transfer power from one age set to
another). This ‘ntuiko’ marked the transition of males from boyhood into warriorhood,
then to junior elderhood and finally to senior elderhood (Kibungi, O.I:10th Aug 2011).
This means that the ceremony was highly determined by the circumcision of boys to
usher them into the warriorhood stage. Therefore ‘ntuiko’ paved way for the formation
of new age sets and consequently the proclamation of a circumcision season. The rite of
circumcision was the key determinant of the man’s translation from one stage of power
and authority to another.
The following table 2.1 shows the names of the proto-Ameru age sets from the time of
their departure at Mbwa in the 1730s, up to the advent of colonial rule in 1906. It also
indicates the events associated with each group and the possible meaning of the names
chosen for the age set.
64
AGE-SET DATE REMEMBERED EVENTS/MEANING
Irangu 1905-1908 Conquest by imperialists
Murungi/ Murango 1904/1900
(estimated)
New warriors at time of subordination to Great
Britain (1906).
Kiremu 1895-1896 Mbogoni invasion, British soldiers camped at
Fort Naka (Chuka).
Kang’ori 1893 Mururungo famine, Plagues of smallpox,
jiggers, rats, Kamba refugees came to Chuka.
Kiramana or
Kilamunya
1892(estimated) Fought several skirmishes with white men.
Recorded by European sources, 1890s, from
Igembe to Gikuyu.
Kaburia 1880 First to see, and fight, white men. First
recorded entry into Meru, late 1880s, written
sources.
Kubai 1868 Trade with Acomba (men of the coast, i.e.,
Arabs, Swahili, Somali). Embu traditions
record Arabs first entering that area (1860s)
and extending trade northward (early 1870s).
Nturutimi 1856 Wars against Maasai. Prophecy: "Last born
children of Nturutimi [i.e., Miriti] will walk
unarmed" (i.e., because of peace established in
their area by Europeans).
Thamburu 1844 Wars of displacement with the Maa-speakers.
Kiruja /Nguthugua/
Mbarigu/
Githangaria/
Ratanya
1826
1813
1800
1787
1774
Made contact with Maa-speaking peoples,
either Maasai or (earlier) Maa-speaking Ogiek
groups, such as Il Tikirri, Mumunyot. Contact
led to decades of warfare, interspersed with
periods of peace and intermarriage. Gradual
adoption of Maasai methods of war.
65
Table 2.1 Showing age sets of the Chuka (1735-1906)
Sources; (Thomas 1992, Fadiman 2012); confirmed from Cianguo (O.I: 21st April 2011),
Ciekamba (O.I: 6th July 2011) and Mwambia (O.I: 11th June 2011).
Initiation ceremonies for males and females were conducted between the ages of 15 and
20 years. This marked the formation of new age sets as well as a stage to educate the
youth on community affairs. Further, the seclusion of new initiates and the isolation of
junior warriors in the barracks led to the transmission and perpetuation of cultural norms
and values of manhood and womanhood. Thus, circumcision as a rite of passage
organized and facilitated men’s smooth entry into the realm of authority and power.
Successful completion of this rite helped to define the success for men and carved out an
automatic reward system in which resources were distributed. Following their healing,
the new initiates were ushered into the warrior barracks which was a second stage of the
‘gaaru,’ and an abode for all warriors.
Warriorhood was a coveted role, which was accorded to young men following their
circumcision and graduation from boyhood. Male circumcision rituals affirmed the
Michubu Githarie 1761
1748
First age-sets to make contact with Mt.Kenya's
earlier occupants, expelling small bands of
Cushitic and Kalenjin-speaking peoples (Galla,
Ogiek) from the foothills and slopes of Mt.
Kenya.
Mukuruma 1735 Crossed Tana River to reach base of Mt.Kenya.
Fragmentation of pre-Meru (then called Ngaa)
into small bands, each of which approach Mt.
Kenya.
66
masculine strength and fortitude of the men to the disadvantage of women and non-
dominant men. The primary reason for the practice of female circumcision among the
Chuka was to insure female virginity and chastity (Cianguo O.I: 21st April 2011). It was
used to shield women from their own sexual desires based on a psychoanalytic premise
that the clitoris was the center of female sexuality. The removal of the clitoris was a sure
way of having the men gain sexual control over the women because it repressed the
sexual desire in women.
During the seclusion period, boys were introduced to the societal traditions, religious
taboos and sex, while girls were prepared to face responsibilities of womanhood (Op.cit:
153). Boys were socialized into gender roles in the public domain as warriors and
protectors of the home and the society, while girls were socialized into the domestic
domain and taught to be submissive, serving and caring. An uncircumcised individual
was looked down upon as a social misfit in Chuka. The Chuka believed that
uncircumcised men and women were not capable of producing offspring and therefore it
was a taboo for anyone to marry the uncircumcised. They were social outcasts, incapable
of taking up any adult duties (Ciekamba O.I: 6th July 2011).
After undergoing a successful initiation, adult men and women took up well defined
gender roles. Women performed household chores such as cooking, looking after
children, fetching water and firewood, and weeding. The primary duty of the adult men
was to defend the community against attacks and to raid from their neighbours. Men
67
were entrusted with the more difficult tasks which were regarded as men’s jobs such as
clearing of virgin land and cutting poles for building houses.
The division of labour in Table 2.2 below demonstrates that men undertook hard
physical tasks while women did what Murithi (Ibid) calls, ‘soft and easy tasks, where
safety and security was ensured’. The table also shows that the men did occasional
duties while women did continuous duties. Men used the unequal and hierarchical
division of labour to justify their superior and exploitative position over women. The
duties of men were considered to be more important and valuable compared to the
women’s work.
MEN’S’ DUTIES. WOMEN’S’ DUTIES
Warfare, legal and ritual experts. Trading and dealing with social welfare
issues
Owners of property such as cattle, sheep,
goats  and land
Owned as property by either, their fathers or
husbands
Guarding the homestead Domestic chores; cooking, washing
Cutting and erecting timber for buildings Cutting grass for thatching buildings
Clearing fields, virgin land for cultivation Sowing weeding, pruning cereals
Planting perennial crops such as yams,
bananas.
Planting seasonal crops such as millet,
sorghum, and vegetables.
Making wooden and iron implements Pottery, basketry, weaving
Fathering children as a measure of potency Giving birth and nurturing the young
Hunting for wild meat /game Gathering fruits, roots, berries and leaves
Table 2.2; The gender roles in pre-colonial Chuka
Source:  (Middleton 1979:21, Murithi 2008: 145).
68
The social organization and gender-based division of labour was a microstructure of
inequality that the Chuka men used to exclude women from positions of power and to
dominate them. Within the gendered division of labour men and women were assigned
different roles and responsibilities that were valued and ranked differently. Men and
women internalized and transmitted their roles and behavior patterns through the process
of socialization. As men and women interacted they learnt and acted according to
societal rules, simultaneously constructing and maintaining the gender order.
According to the theory of hegemonic masculinity men’s dominance over women appear
in ways that appear natural and normal without the use of any coercion. Applied in the
social organization of the Chuka, a husband’s hegemony and masculine honour were
intertwined in his ability to support his wife and children. A man’s masculinity was
embodied in his ability to bring up a successful family, which prescribed the most
honoured way of being a man. Men claimed and sustained leading positions in social life
through their kinship and patriarchal authority.
Legitimacy of patriarchy guaranteed the men a dominant position over women through
culture and persuasion and not through the use of any form of coercion. The social
structuring called for axiomatic reverence from women and girls towards men and boys.
Women and children in patriarchal African societies became men’s’ property, to be
provided for and protected and they had no option rather than to surrender to male
69
dominance (Njoya 2008: xiv). The Chuka expressed the male dominance in this
patriarchal ideology, whereby the man was the ‘head of the family which meant that he
was the ‘boss’ and the one in charge.
Through circumcision, the males were divided into three broad categories. The
grandfathers made up the senior most categories of elders who were charged with the
spiritual well being of the community and who served as ritual experts. They determined
how initiation rituals would be conducted and the successful translation of the males into
the junior age-sets. Traditionally the senior elders were retired members of the councils
of elders who had a fire place at the entrance of their homes where they held meetings
with their male counterparts.  The senior elders posed as the neighborhood bosses,
meeting regularly for traditional beer drinking and snuff-taking sessions. The senior
elder’s fire place was out of bounds to women, for they were prohibited from
participating in the men talk.
The second category of males was that of the fathers who were mandated with the
administration of the community. This group comprised the retired warriors who were
entrusted with legislative, executive, and judicial roles. The junior elders exercised
hegemony over warriors and women. Junior elders who had entered the council
following their son’s circumcision had more authority in decision making than the elders
who joined the council by virtue of their daughter’s circumcision. This practice
70
reinforced the concept of hegemonic masculinity since men who had sired sons were
considered to be of a higher ranking than those who had daughters.
Politically, the clan was the basic unit which consisted of families that had a common
descent. Within each clan, conflicts were resolved by governing bodies known as ‘kiama
gia nkome’ (elders who wore a ring) made up of the junior elders. ‘Nkome’ was a
wooden ring fitted on the second finger of the right hand of the elders (Mwaniki
2004:211). The councils were also known as ‘kiama kia ncuguma’ (elders who carried a
forked walking stick). Each member of the council had to wear the ring and carry the
forked walking stick which symbolized their seniority over warriors. Junior elders were
men who had their son(s) successfully circumcised and had joined warriorhood stage.
This means that circumcision was an important rite that conferred power to males within
a single family lineage.
These junior councils of elders nominated a few of their members to form an umbrella
council known as ‘kiama gia mugongo’ (Chuka country elders) which was a supreme
council of elders in charge of the entire community. The senior councils such as ‘kiama
kia mugongo’, presented forums for men to debate community issues on transfer of
political power to the well behaved younger males through ‘ntuiko’(ritualized transfer of
power). During crucial deliberations, decisions were made collectively and by consensus
71
among the elders. All the elders were allowed to exercise ritual power and hegemony
over younger men and all women.
In pursuit of justice, the ‘Kiama’ (councils of elders) had three tools at their disposal.
The first tool was the ancestral oath, which was a public declaration by the individual,
on the truth of the words he uttered. A suspect was expected to take this oath by his
words. For instance, one could swear that ‘if he lies may the oath kill him’ (Fadiman
1994: 39). The second tool that was used by the ‘Kiama’ in solving conflicts was asking
the suspect to offer a sacrifice of livestock such as a goat, sheep, or cattle. They believed
that the animals’ blood bound the suspect to the ancestral spirits. When they failed to
reach some consensus using the first two tools, the elders resorted to the third tool of
inflicting physical pain on the suspect by subjecting him/her to a painful ordeal such as
licking a hot iron rod or executing a thorough beating. Senior elders exercised their
hegemony by meting out punishments to errant members of the society.
The third and lowest rank of the males was the sons, whose core duty was the military
guardianship of the society. Each mountain ridge clan was guarded by its band of
warriors who lived together in a single ‘gaaru’ (barracks). The ‘gaaru’ was a residence
military barracks strategically located in each ridge-top clan. Saribatore (O.I: 8th Aug
2011) describes the ‘gaaru’ as a huge ‘house’ that was thatched with either banana
leaves or reeds and not mudded on the walls. The structure had no doors or windows,
72
which enabled the warriors to easily view their attackers from all the directions. Tree top
huts were built near the ‘gaaru’ as watch towers from where the warriors had aerial
surveillance on incoming intruders. The primary duty of the warriors was defense.
The warriors kept a big fire burning inside the ‘gaaru’ for protection against wild
animals and for warmth during cold nights. Living in the ‘gaaru’ and warriorhood
experiences mystically and ritually connected the Chuka men. It gave them an identity
and a right to belong to a group of men who formed the junior masculinity in the land.
Circumcision incorporated the new initiates into this group of protectors of community.
Women were excluded from warriorhood hence, denied the power bestowed upon the
warriors. The exclusion of women from warriorhood was based on the premise that
women were a weaker sex, who could not fight or raid.
According to Thomas (1992:127), the Chuka survival was extremely threatened by their
neighbors, forcing them to develop a sense of ethnic solidarity and homogeneity. Kanga
(O.I: 6th June 2011) posits that the Chuka were always targeted by their hostile
neighbors known to as ‘maitha’ (raiders) and had to develop formidable regiments of
warriors to defend themselves. Kanga elaborates that save for the Tharaka, all the other
Chuka neighbours such as the Mwimbe and Imenti to the north, Embu and Mbeere to the
south and Kikuyu to the west raided Chuka regularly.
73
These hostile neighbors coveted the well watered Chuka land and the abundant self
sufficient economy. Their attacks on the Chuka departed from the regional tradition of
raiding neighbours for livestock, to capturing men and women who would be ransomed
for the livestock (Fadiman 1982: 123). Due to constant external attacks, the Chuka
developed a highly regimental lifestyle in which all the males from their teens to the mid
ages stayed in constant military readiness in the ‘gaaru’. The hostility towards the Chuka
forced them to withdraw to their mountain fortresses and to perfect their barracks system
that embraced the entire adult male population.
Reports by Thomas (1992) and Crampton (1927) indicate that by the late 1800A.D, the
hostility on the Chuka from the Imenti, Embu, Mbeere and Kikuyu neighbours
heightened, forcing them to withdraw from their land and assume defensive techniques
and posture. The Chuka warriors constructed defense barriers in the forest by felling
trees, digging pits and encouraging the growth of tangled under bush of 20ft in height
and 9ft in width (Thomas 1992:127, Crampton 1927:24). In other instances the Chuka
destroyed all the roads into their land leaving the tunnels through the vegetation which
required travelers to advance in a single file and made it easier for the warriors to
counter- attack any hostilities. Thomas (Op.cit:128) asserts that through their defensive
strategies and the well established regimental systems, the Chuka survived a series of
organized allied invasions from numerically superior forces between 1885- 1900.
74
In the military barracks, a warrior’s life was centred on the construction of his
masculinity. As men were expected to fight and enlist their military service, the women
were barred from such warring activities. Consequently, combat and military
experiences estranged men from women, while binding the men together. Each barracks
was governed by a selected council of senior warriors who were given heroic status,
subject to the authority of the elders' council. The senior warriors had to be physically
impressive with qualities such as big physique, tallness, agility, gracefull movement and
ability to command confidence in order to validate their manhood (Kibungi O.I: 15th
Aug. 2011). Warriors who excelled in their duties were axiomatically revered by
colleague warriors as their ‘gaaru’ spokesmen. The hierarchy and inequality among the
warriors shows that the men in the barracks did not influence and control others to the
same extent.
We can rightfully conclude that the Chuka men used the rite of circumcision to reaffirm
their positioning above women and to create ranks of masculinities amongst themselves.
The stratification of the males into senior elders, junior elders and warriors sub-
ordinated women in ways that appeared normal and natural. The non-conforming men
were downgraded as marginalized masculinities, while those men who presented their
manhood in the right way such as ‘gaaru’ spokesmen formed the hegemonic
masculinity.
75
The theory of Hegemonic masculinity postulates that in many human societies,
masculinities and femininities are constantly reconstructed as dynamic relational
processes (Messner 1993:724). In the social-political organization of the Chuka, the
masculinity that occupied the hegemonic position was always contestable and not fixed.
Throughout the manhood stages, men constantly positioned themselves in unequal but
shifting power relations. As demonstrated above, the Chuka had a multiplicity of
masculinities which were determined by age and seniority but sanctioned through the
practice of circumcision. The senior council of elders was the hegemonic group which
secured the spontaneous consent of subordinate and marginalized masculinities.
2.3 Economic Organization of the Chuka in the Pre-colonial Period.
The Chuka environment favoured a wide range of economic activities. Upon settlement
in the region, the Chuka became hunters (‘athi’) who used small bows, axes and iron
knives to hunt and gather for honey and meat. Besides obtaining food, hunting provided
the Chuka with feathers and skins for aesthetic and ritual purposes. An example was the
Colobus monkey hair dress that was won by the initiates and the circumciser.
Proficiency in hunting which involved taking long journeys over a rough and gorgy
terrain was a gauge for real manhood. Hunting and gathering was not just an economic
activity but a social operation that isolated the naïve and weak from the witty men and
women. Those who excelled in the hunting and gathering wielded social control over
those who were ungifted. Women gathered fruits and vegetables which was an activity
76
done closer to their homesteads as they worked with the children and enjoyed the men’s
protection (Kanga O.I: 6th June 2011).
Other members of the community cultivated crops such as millet, sorghum, peas,
sugarcane, maize, beans, bananas, a variety of vegetables and fruits. The main food
crops were cassava, yams, sweet potatoes and pumpkins. Women weeded for the grains
such as sorghum and millet which were labelled as ‘women crops’ while men planted
specific crops such as yams, bananas, and sugarcane. This reflects some gender-division
of crops, similarly practiced by the Ibo of Eastern Nigeria where women grew smaller
tubers such as cocoa yams and cassava,  while men were charged with the yam which is
described as the ‘king tuber’ (Achebe 1959). This division allowed men to exercise
hegemony over women by creating the impression that the men’s crops were of a higher
status than the ‘women crops’. Initiation ceremonies were conducted following a
bumper harvest since the initiates had to be properly fed throughout their seclusion
period.
Wild plants and trees such as the Mbatha, (stinging nettle), Miringa, Mituntu, Migumo
(Fig tree), Mibariki (castor tree), Migaa trees, (Acacia trees) and various herbal plants
influenced the division of gender roles and the circumcision rituals in many ways. Parts
of some plants such as banana leaves were used in the construction of the ‘kiagau’
(healing hut) for initiates. The name ‘kiagau’ is derived from the Kichuka verb ‘magau’,
for dried banana leaves.
77
Besides, the green banana and ‘Maringa’ leaves served as ‘plates’ on which food was
served. The Fig trees were sacred, and the ritual of plucking their twigs assured the
initiates protection from ‘Mwene Njeru’ (‘Owner of the White’ also known as the Chuka
God). The Castor tree nuts were a source of initiation oil whereas the Stinging Nettle
plant was used to sting the initiates to test their endurance. The ‘mituntu’ and banana
leaves sap was applied on the raw circumcision wound to facilitate healing. This
demonstrates that the crops that were grown in Chuka significantly affected the
circumcision rituals which were most important in influencing the social construction of
a man.
Men provided hard labour such as clearing away the bushes, preparing new fields and
cut firewood which they gathered into bundles for the women to carry. Most of the trade
expeditions were also a men’s domain. The Chuka reared various types of livestock
including cattle, sheep, goats and poultry. The men tended cattle which were a great
source of prestige and a measure of wealth. Young children assisted in harvesting,
though young boys herded smaller animals such as goats and sheep. Apart from being
great sources of protein, livestock and poultry were given as gifts during the initiation
process. For instance, cattle, sheep and goats were used as payments to circumcisers and
gifts to ritual experts during the circumcision process such as the sponsors (Mucioka
O.I:22nd April 2011).
78
What is more is that, the Chuka engaged in the economic practice of bee keeping and
beer brewing. Significantly, the beer was made from honey and was a reserve for senior
elders. Both the honey and bee hives were often given out as ‘ndatho’ (gifts to maternal
relatives) by the initiates. Thus, honey harvesting and bee keeping were economic
activities which also shaped the social transformation of the young males to men.
Mwaniki (2004: 89) asserts that only the ritually pure women would be allowed to touch
or carry the hives up to the forest edge for the hive- men, since carrying loads was a
female role.
Economically, the traditional circumcision created a masculinity that was based on land
ownership and linked to the lineage and kinship networks.  Inheritance of land, property
and cattle was patriarchal, since boys were looked upon as the future fathers and heads
of families. In view of this, the circumcised men were administratively responsible for
the family property especially land allotment and use. Njoka (O.I: 30th Aug 2011) posits
that Chuka men had the power and authority to apportion land, cattle for bride wealth or
even for slaughtering. This power to allot, withhold resources and command others
defined real manhood in Chuka and presented men with the opportunity to exercise
control over the women. The senior men exercised this hegemony over junior men by
controlling land distribution hence monopolizing control over the society’s reproductive
capacity.
79
The senior men did not have equal ability to exercise hegemony and control the society.
Rich men who had huge herds of cattle and the highest number of wives and children
were bestowed with power and authority to make decisions while commanding
honour/respect from poorer members of their clans. The concept of hegemonic
masculinity postulates that men in power sub-ordinate other producers by appropriating
productive forces such as labour, land and the produce (Mies 1988:92).
This is reflected in the economic structuring of the Chuka since men appropriated factors
of production such as land and the produce from the land. Men used their positions of
power to legitimize, extract and exploit the women through their access and
manipulation of resources (Kaunda O.I: 3rd Sept 2011). This means that the Chuka men
controlled the economy and imposed their authority over women. Rich men controlled
poor men and were perceived to have full control over women and other clan members.
2.4 Summary and Conclusion
This chapter has outlined the possible origin of the Chuka, the social–economic and
political organization influencing circumcision in Chuka before 1906. The analysis of
this chapter shows that gender categorization played a major role in setting a platform
for the construction of hegemonic power among the Chuka. The distinction between the
male and the female operated within the family, the economy and political institutions.
80
Individuals were expected to fit into these two limited gender statuses, by recognizing
and recreating their version of women and men at a particular time.
Besides, within one gender, there were other forms of control by those members who
enjoyed various forms of social status. For instance the men who enjoyed the status of
serving in the councils of elders wielded control over the warriors, by virtue of a higher
social status accorded to the elders. In conclusion, this chapter has elaborated that
circumcision was the most important rite of passage which directly or indirectly ordered
the gender statuses and gave some men hegemony over the subordinate and
marginalized men and women.
81
CHAPTER THREE
RITE OF CIRCUMCISION IN CHUKA BEFORE 1906
3.0 Introduction
In chapter Two, we outlined the origins as well as the socio-political and economic
organization of the Chuka. We also interrogated circumcision as an important rite that
directly or indirectly influences the social-political and economic life of the Chuka
community. In this chapter, we examine the construction of masculinity and the main
rituals of circumcision in Chuka. This includes the possible origin of the rite of
circumcision, pre-manhood training, preparations for circumcision, the actual operation
and the post- circumcision rituals during the pre-colonial era. Moreover, the chapter
evaluates the role that the circumcision rituals had in creating the cult of manhood.
This chapter examines the extent to which circumcision rituals are integrated as an
inevitable part of the Chuka culture, based on the assumption that the rite adds greater
value to the whole society than to the individual men. Using the concept of hegemonic
masculinity, this chapter broadens our understanding of how the circumcision created
hierarchies of masculinities among circumcised men and how this rite socialized boys to
become real men.
82
3.1 Possible Origins of the Chuka Circumcision Rite
Like other highland Bantu groups, the Chuka live around the Mt. Kenya region and are
linguistically classified as the ‘Thagicu’ by Bennet (1967). Others in this group include
the Mbeere, Embu, Gikuyu, Mwimbi, Igoji, Tharaka, Igembe, Tigania, Meru (Imenti)
and Kamba (Ndungo 2006). Common to this group is that they all practice the rite of
circumcision.
The Chuka have no legendary theories on the origin of male circumcision. The origin of
male circumcision in Chuka is not known with certainty but oral sources claim that the
rite is as old as the Chuka society itself (Kibungi O.I: 26th May 2013). Kibungi says that
the oral information handed to him by his father M’Kibungi proposed that circumcision
began as rite of passage to mark a boy’s entrance into adulthood and to ensure virility and
fertility. He claims that the Chuka may have borrowed this practice from Mbwa traditions
where records show that the ‘Nguru Ntune’used circumcision as a means of humiliating
the slaves (Fadiman 2004). Kibungi also hypothesizes that the proto-Ameru may have
adopted circumcision to demonstrate the man’s ability to endure pain and increase his
attractiveness to the women.
Njau, an oral informant in Mwaniki (2004:139) postulates that circumcision in Chuka
may have originated from a woman who circumcised his son using a ‘rugio’ (piece of a
broken pot). This woman is said to have acted in fear that his son would impregnate a
girl before he was circumcised and bring great shame to the family. This source
83
however, indicates a possibility of a renaissance of circumcision traditions rather than
the origin.
Oral sources conceptualize circumcision as a bodily modification on boys that marks the
rite of passage from childhood to adulthood (Kibungi O.I: 10th August 2011, Mwambia
O.I: 11th June 2011, M’Baini O.I: 7th October 2011). Other sources indicate that the
Chuka may have adopted circumcision customs from the Kalenjin-speakers (Agumba),
the Maa-speakers (Maasai) or even the Oromo-speakers whom they displaced during
their settlement in the early 18th C (Fadiman 1994).
Although the actual origin of male circumcision seems uncertain among the Chuka,
written sources provide a general consensus that it was the most important rite of
passage (Middleton 1979, Mwaniki 2004, Fadiman 1982). It was integral to the
transition of males from childhood to adulthood and a prerequisite to the attainment of
all the respect and responsibilities that went along with it. Traditionally, it elevated the
boys’ status into warriorhood and toughened them to become men. On average boys in
Chuka underwent circumcision between their late teens to their late twenties. The
operation was performed at regular intervals of five years (Fadiman 1982, Mwaniki
1982). This interval gave the community room to accumulate an adequate number of
initiates who would form a regiment.
84
The traditional operation was performed by a specialist surgeon known as ‘mutani’
(circumciser), who was assisted by his porters. The operation was certainly very painful
with the initiate expected to remain still and silent and refrain from showing any
emotions or any involuntary responses such as flinching, blinking or even moving his
eyes (Mwaniki 1982, Orde 1915). Males who endured this pain without any show of
emotions proved to be ‘real men’ (‘kiumantha’) which made a significant mark on their
masculinity. Circumcision was an elaborate practice involving lengthy preparations and
a cluster of pre and post circumcision rituals discussed later on in this chapter.
Oral sources described variations in the Chuka circumcision and that of their close
Ameru relatives (Muriira O.I: 10th Aug 2011, Mutiso O.I: 9th July 2011). The Tigania
and Mwimbi did not remove as much foreskin as the Chuka and they left a small
distinctive flap of the foreskin hanging from below the glans of the penis. This
differentiation in the Chuka and Tigania/ Mwimbi operation probably occurred because
the Chuka believed that real manhood,  entailed total ‘pruning ’(removal) of the foreskin
(Muriiira O.I: 27th May 2013).
Consequently, Chuka men considered themselves superior to the Tigania and Mwimbi
men who had their foreskins partially removed. The practice of removing the entire
foreskin was also witnessed among the Chuka neighbors including the Embu (Mwaniki
1982). This style of circumcision was referred to as ‘karinga kathige’ which literally
85
means ‘pruning the whole foreskin’ (Mucioka O.I: 22nd April, Kaunda O.I: 3rd
September 2011). Kaunda (Ibid) suggests that the removal of the whole foreskin
indicated the degree of power that the Chuka men wielded over those men who had their
foreskin partially removed. Besides, the final outlook of a ‘wholly pruned’ penis of the
Chuka men was perceived better than the partially ‘pruned’ penis. The scar from this
style of the circumcision operation marked the identity for a real Chuka man.
3.2 Pre-Circumcision Rituals in Pre-Colonial Chuka
3.2.1 Pre-manhood training and preparation.
Before the advent of the British colonial administration in Meru, the social structures in
Chuka remained and continued almost uninterrupted. Their social organization was
maintained around clans which lived at the top of the ridges due to the hilly terrain on
the eastern slopes of Mt. Kenya. Within each ridge-top clan, the boys reached puberty at
the estimated season for circumcision. Once the number of uncircumcised boys matured
to fill one segment of a warrior band or a ‘regiment’ of not less than fifty boys, a
circumcision night was formally proclaimed by the elders. For the boys to be
circumcised they had to make various preparations and undergo a number of pre-
circumcision tests.
A description of these tests is important to illustrate how masculinity was differentiated
from femininity. For a start the boys had to be physically and mentally mature to be able
86
to defend the society following their successful initiation. The shift from young boys to
men came with manly responsibilities such as being protectors, providers and owners of
property. Young males aged between 12 and 15 years of age were ‘trained’ to assume
the above responsibilities (Mucioka O.I: 22nd April). Part of this training was enshrined
in their duty of herding in the dense, hilly and forested terrain. In the process they also
hunted wild animals and gathered fruits. It should be noted that while the boys were
busy herding and hunting, the girls of their age were busy doing domestic chores such as
cooking for these boys.
The enormous task of feeding the boys was communally done by the mothers assisted by
their daughters. Here, a division of labour along gender lines is detected, which served to
imbue in the girls their domestic roles as opposed to the warrior roles of the boys.
Whereas the boys’ task was to provide and protect property, the girls took up domestic
chores which clearly drew the distinction between masculine and feminine roles that
were ‘fixed’ to either gender.
During the herding, boys were exposed to a communal lifestyle which laid the
foundations for age set formation. This communalism cemented a strong bond of
identity between the boys who belonged to one herding band .The bonding
unconsciously prepared the boys for the forthcoming barracks life as warriors. The
division of labour and isolation of the boys from their sisters encouraged them to begin
87
to exercise hegemony over the girls. Whereas the girls remained at home caring for the
day to day needs of the family, the boys had to work hard in herding and hunting in
order to gain this hegemony. Consequently, this relegated the girls to a subordinate
position in the private domain while elevating the boys to a superior masculine status in
the public domain.
It was during the puberty stage, between 12 and 15 years, that the boys began living in
separate shelters known as ‘gaaru ya Ibici’ (barracks for the uncircumcised boys).
‘Gaaru ya ibici’ was located below the ‘makumbi’ (traditional granaries). According to
Cianguo (O.I: 21st April 2011), the boys had to pass certain tests of boyhood to be
allowed to leave their mothers houses for the ‘gaaru ya ibici’. Keenly monitored by the
older boys in their ‘gaaru’, younger boys were expected to hunt for twelve ‘Igoros’ (fowl
birds) or twelve chicken. This, it was assumed, instilled the masculine attribute of hard
work and was geared towards preparing them for their future role as providers.
They were also forced to swallow the gizzard of a hen, to symbolize growth of the
Adams Apple. This was emblematic of the masculine attribute of a deep, broken and
authoritative voice. The summit of these boyhood tests was a ceremony known as ‘gutua
miringa” in which the older boys armed with ‘murembu’ sticks, mounted a guard of
honour for the novices to match through while whipping them (Mbungu O.I: 17th June
2011). Crying or showing signs of fear or cowardice past the whipping parade meant the
88
young boy was not ready to leave his mothers’ house for boyhood ‘gaaru’. He was
considered unprepared for manhood since masculinity was constructed away from
crying.
The separate accommodation for boys helped them to disassociate with the feminine
attribute of dependency on parents, making the males more independent and
consequently better men. The separation from their mothers enabled the boys to develop
a different identity from that of the girls. During their leisure times, boys of different
ridges would congregate for competitions which unconsciously prepared them for the
‘gaaru’ and ‘thauthi’ dances during their circumcision season.
All the above tests of manhood aimed to distance the boy from any feminine traits or
mannerisms before undergoing the circumcision operation. If the boy failed in any of the
tests, he was ridiculed and mocked for ‘being a girl’ and punitively retained in his
mothers’ house. Boys had to conform to these requirements, failure to which one was
ostracized and excluded from their peer group and gender. Masculinity studies show that
hegemonic masculinity concerns the dread of and flight from women (Carrigan et- al
1985, Connell 2005, Messner 1985). As a measure of true manhood, boys were trained
from a very early stage in life to distance themselves from all women, including their
own mothers. This inculcated into the young males that to be a man, one was not
supposed to associate with feminine attributes. Boys who maintained the required social
89
distance from women and girls eventually became hegemonic over other boys and
women.
This separation of boys from their mothers and the girls marked the first step towards the
construction of real manhood, as the boys indirectly began to gain control and
independnce. Their development of a hegemonic masculinity began to be idealized at a
personal level and also at a collective level in the society. This is because, not only did
the men monitor the conformity of the boys towards becoming men but also the mothers
and girls who keenly monitored these boys to ensure their conformity. In other words,
hegemonic masculinity was as much about distinction between genders as it was about
differentiation within the gender. In this case hegemony depended on a gerontocratic
practice of senior men policing the masculine behaviour of junior men.
The male had to go through three phases of the ‘gaaru’ system sanctioned by the rite of
circumcision. The first stage was that of the ‘gaaru ya ibici’ (barracks for the
uncircumcised) which housed the boys who had successfully graduated from their
mothers’ houses aged between 12 and 15 years. At this stage, the boys remained
children irrespective of their age and size until they successfully underwent the
operation.  Once circumcised at roughly the ages between 19-28 years, boys moved to
the second phase known as ‘gaaru ya nthaka’ (warrior barracks). These warriors were
senior to the uncircumcised as they determined who among the boys in the ‘gaaru ya
ibici’ would be circumcised. The warriors believed that they were divinely ordained to
90
‘remove’ the ‘ubici’ (behavior of the uncircumcised) from the younger boys who
revered them as their seniors.
A warrior was expected to court and get a wife, establish a homestead and raise children.
Only after his children grew to warriorhood or womanhood would the family head
become a senior or ruling elder by assuming responsibility for governing the clan
(Lambert 1956). A man graduated into this council upon the initiation of his own child
whether male or female. Entry into this stage upon initiation of one’s son was a source
of great tribute and prestige for the man over his peers than if it was due to his
daughters’ circumcision.
This ushered in the third phase ‘gaaru ya Mukuru’ (elders barracks) for the senior men
who had retired from the ‘gaaru ya nthaka’ and were precisely above 40years of age.
Besides their seniority in age, majority of the men at this stage constituted the highest
political unit ‘Kiama kia mugonngo’ (Chuka country-elders). ‘Kiama kia mugongo’as
elaborated in chapter two was the supreme decision making organ in Chuka. Each ridge
top clan had a local council known as ‘kiama kia ‘ncuguma’ or ‘nkome’ (council of
elders), whose role was to resolve disputes and govern their clans (Fadiman 2012:10).
91
These male stages are illustrated in table 3.1 below;
Age Life Stage Termination Chuka Term
For Life Stage
Masculine Duty For
Life Stage
0-7+ Infant/Child Appearance of
second teeth
Kabici Being nurtured by the
mother
7-15+ Uncircumcised boy Puberty Kibici/Ibici(pl) Herding/ hunting with
the elder boys
15-18+ Elder
boy(candidate for
circumcision)
Circumcision Ntinguri Hunting and Herding
cattle sheep and goats
18-25+ Warrior(New
Initiate)
Entry into ‘gaaru
ya Nthaka’
Ntane Defense /Raiding
30-50+ Family head
/apprentice elder
Entry of first son
into warrior hood
Muthee Husband/ family head
50-70+ Ruling elder Subsequent
transfer (Elder
Huts)
Kamukuru;
tumukuru(pl)
Join Council of elders
as junior elders
70+ Retired elder Subsequent
transfer
Mukuru;
Akuru(pl)
senior elders, acted as
ritual experts
100+ The aged Death Kimukuru;
Imukuru
(pl)
The senior most
elders, guardians of
ritual expertise.
Table 3.1 Showing life stages of Chuka males; Fadiman (2012:10) and confirmed by
Kibungi (O.I: 10th Aug 2011).
From Table 3.1 above the key stages of males were childhood, boyhood, warrior hood,
junior elders and the senior elders. The hierarchy prepared boys and men to take charge
of power and resources within the community. The men controlled hunting, herding,
defense, raiding, family matters and rituals. In the course of men’s life, they reproduced
their dominance over women and complicit masculinities through their roles.
92
Men worked to do extremely well in their masculine duties in order to become famous
and gain indirect control over other men. Men who failed to meet the set standards for
each stage acquired a masculinity that was submissive to the other men in their age set.
Diligent men became dominant over their peers exercising control, power and influence
over the sub-ordinate or submissive men. Junior cadres of men in the age set obeyed
orders from senior men without any coercion. Indeed, junior males operated as if they
were constantly watched over by the diligent men who positioned themselves as their
supervisors.
In conclusion the ‘gaaru’/age set system presented multiple notions of masculinity in
Chuka. The earliest stage was a junior masculinity which was acquired by the boys in
their boyhood as their debut form of masculinity. This was followed by adult
masculinity signified by warriorhood in the ‘gaaru ya nthaka’. The apex stage of
masculinity was that of senior masculinity reflected in the figure of an elder who had
retired from the ‘gaaru ya nthaka’. Needless to mention here, women were not stratified
using any ‘gaaaru’ system hence relegating them to a separate and obviously an
inferior status in the society.
The ‘gaaru’ system positioned the men as ‘organizing intellectuals’ of hegemonic
masculinity to regulate, manage, reflect and interpret gender relations and regimes. The
Chuka men were the regulators of hegemonic masculinity even when what most men
93
supported was not necessarily what they were. Hegemony was naturalized in the form of
a hero which many men failed to attain in their stages. This setup was defective because
hegemonic masculinity was applicable to the dominant class only and living in the
‘gaaru’ did not guarantee true manhood for all men. This is because as the men
institutionalized their dominance over women, there emerged statuses among the men in
the ‘gaaru’, with some men commanding more respect from their peers. For instance, the
masculinity of the ‘gaaru’ spokesmen was hegemonic over that of the ordinary men in
his ‘gaaru’. The latter formed the marginalized or subordinate masculinities, depending
on their performances in the ‘gaaru’ undertakings.
3.2.2 Preparing for the circumcision season
Before the onset of colonial rule, circumcision was a socially sanctioned rite of passage
whose rituals, season and success was influenced by several factors. Parents, particularly
the father had to give consent for his son to be circumcised. The father had to liaise with
the elders and the warriors of the barracks nearest to his home in determining the season
for his sons’ circumcision. Such consultations portrayed the rite of circumcision as a
socially endorsed rite of passage whereby the senior men directly determined who
among the boys in the boyhood barracks would be circumcised. The elders and warriors
wielded hegemonic authority over the young boys and the society.
The agricultural cycle also influenced the time when the Chuka would schedule the
circumcision season. For instance, circumcision ceremonies were disallowed in 1887-
94
1888, because cattle herds were decimated by rinderpest disease that swept through the
African cattle from Sudan to South Africa (Fadiman 2004). A similar occurrence was
reported 1891-1892, due to affliction by drought, overwhelming swarms of locusts and
an outbreak of smallpox (Thomas 1992:20). During such calamities the Chuka did not
have plenty of foodstuffs required for the initiates and as such, they postponed the
circumcision ceremonies. Most circumcision ceremonies preceded the cereal harvest in
the months of August – September when there was a successful food harvest (Kibungi
O.I: 15th Aug. 2011, Kanga O.I: 6th June 2011).
This confirms that the circumcision was not an annual event but it was carried out at
irregular intervals stretching up to fifteen years apart, depending on the prevailing
circumstances in the society. The number of ‘Ndinguri’ (overgrown uncircumcised
boys) in the community also determined when the elders would proclaim a circumcision
season. Their number had to be large enough to fill one regiment/ warrior band of a
minimum of fifty boys (Kibungi O.I: 10th Oct. 2011). The greater the number of boys,
the cheaper this ceremony would be, especially in feeding the initiates and their
relatives. With the Chuka being patriarchal and the men traditionally polygamous, the
order or position of the boy in his family determined which position in the circumcision
queue he would take on the day of the actual operation.
The status of the boy’s father too influenced when the boy would be circumcised. It was
upon the circumcision of a son that a father got licensed to join the coveted senior
95
masculinity and to perform the roles of elders. Men who failed to sire boys rose to the
level of junior elders upon the circumcision of their daughters and willingly submitted to
the authority of the senior elders. Impotent men had no power or influence before their
peers because they had failed to prove their manhood through their ability to conquer
and control women. The impotence of a man was a top secret among his family
members to shield him from community gossip and ridicule (Cianguo O.I: 21st April
2011).
In pursuit of their seniority, men did all that was within their powers to ensure that their
sons got circumcised at the earliest opportunity. This was given impetus by the socio-
economic status of the family since some parents could not afford to meet the
circumcision expenses, food and material items for the ‘mutani’ (circumciser). Some of
the boys became ‘Ndinguri’ (overgrown uncircumcised boy) due to poor family
backgrounds which making it difficult to meet the circumcison expenses. The ‘ndinguri’
were eventually circumcised through ‘kwangua’ or ‘kibata’, i.e. being paraded nude
around the village in ‘thauthi’ (circumcision dances), to solicit for the circumcision
necessities from well-wishers (Cianguo O.I:  21st April 2011).
It therefore appears poverty was an anti-thesis of being masculine and was probably
feminine. Poor men were treated as if they were women, that is, inferior and subject to
control by the rich men within the Chuka community. The over-grown boys who got
96
circumcised after soliciting support through ‘thauthi’ never took up leadership roles in
their ‘gaaru’. They had a stigma of inferiority because of the way they had been
circumcised and accepted without coercion to be led and controlled by those men whose
parents were rich (Kibungi O.I: 15th Aug. 2011).
3.2.3 The eve of the operation
In pre-colonial Chuka, circumcision entailed a long process of well-designed rituals
which had to be adhered to for the well being of the ‘man’ and the society.  After parents
or elders consented to the boys’ circumcision, the boy had to make journeys to his
maternal relatives and uncles to seek their blessings in a ceremony known as ‘kurathia’.
Accompanied by his peers in song and dance, the boy presented gifts such as goats to his
uncles/relatives. On arrival at the uncles’ homestead, the boy repeatedly sung such
choruses as below; (Saribatore O.I: 8th Aug 2011)
…. ‘Guku kwa mama wakwa
Nkangambire thome”
Translation; ‘Here at my uncle’s home
I have come for blessings’.
In response, the uncle gave him gifts in form of goats, axes, beehives, or weapons as a
blessing to the nephew which symbolized his impeding manhood status. These gifts
were known as ‘Ndatho’ hence the verb ‘kurathia’ or ‘ndatho’ song. The bows, spears
and arrows showed that the boy was ready to take up his masculine role to guard the
97
society. The axes, goats and beehives symbolized his masculine ability to engage in the
economic activities of farming, herding, and bee keeping for food. This could also be
interpreted to mean that once the boy got circumcised, he assumed his masculine role
over women through of family wealth.
The goat presented to the boy was called ‘mburi ya gutura matu’ (goat for piercing of
the ears), because traditionally the boys’ ears were pierced by the uncle as a pre-
initiation ritual. Pierced ears were probably a physical mark for the men who had
participated in the ‘ndatho’ ceremony and had legitimate authority over those poor men
who had skipped the ‘ndatho’ ceremony. M’Baini (O.I: 7th Oct 2011) elaborates that the
piercing of the boy’s ears was aesthetic and that men used different sizes of rods to
elongate the ear lobe. This suggests that men who had longer ear lobes signified
seniority of their age groups and enjoyed automatic reverence from the men who had
shorter lobes or those without pierced ears. According to Mwaniki (2004:10), a person
whose ears were not pierced could not speak in the presence of those whose ears were
pierced. This means that ear piercing conferred authority to individuals in Chuka
community.
Another ritual by the initiation candidate was ‘kuuna miti’ (‘breaking sticks’) from
gigantic fig trees which were commonly found within the sacred forests, reserved for the
ancestors (Fadiman 2012: 218, Gitari 2005:109). The number of twigs picked depended
98
on the number of days to the actual operation (Muriuki 2004:139). The boy’s mother had
informed her friends about her son’s occasion which was described as “gukura’ which
means, ‘to grow up’. It was an abomination for women to speak directly and say that
their son was going to be circumcised but they refered to it as ‘gukura’.
The boys’ father made the final preparations of liaising with the circumciser (‘mutani’)
and the ‘mutiri’ (sponsor). ‘Mutiri’ is derived from a Kichuka verb ‘gutira’ which
literally means to ‘support’. The sponsor was to cater for the initiate after the operation
and to monitor the proper healing of the wound. The sponsor educated the initiate on the
basic ideals of manhood and communicated any relevant information to the initiate from
the family members. The ‘mutani’ and the ‘mutiri’ determined the success of the whole
operation. Their experience based on age, expertise and moral uprightness were
paramount (Cianguo O.I: 21st April 2011).
The ‘mutani’ had to be endorsed by the council of elders after having successfully
circumcised his own son. The chairman of the ‘mugongo’ (combined clans’ councils of
elders) informed us that the position of a ‘mutani’ was hereditary or acquired through
apprenticeship by ‘akui mboro’ (porters of the ‘mutani’s’ bag). The ‘mutani’ carried a
leather bag containing a knife and a dik-dik horn for mystical powers. He also carried a
small gourd with ‘mbugu’ (small seeds) inside that he would shake to invoke blessings
from the ancestors. He wore ‘bangiri’ (armlets), animal skin and a colobus monkey
99
helmet (Kibungi O.I: 15th Aug. 2011) which signified his ritualized authority and clearly
distinguished him from the other people. The Colobus monkey helmet was a symbol of
power and authority in Chuka. The dress code of the ‘mutani’ symbolized his power and
authority to perform the operation and to transmit the masculine attributes to the
initiates. His sons or porters learnt and inherited the skill to perform the operation by
seeing what the ‘mutani’ was doing or through apprenticeship.
Young girls awaiting circumcision did a ‘kurathia’ ceremony but their nature of the gifts
differed from that of the boys. The girls’ gifts were feminine such as necklaces, grinding
stones, gourds, calabashes and baskets, as opposed to masculine gifts received by the
boys such as goats, beehives, axes, shields and spears. Besides, the girls received the
gifts from their maternal aunties rather than uncles to perhaps emphasize their inferior
position to the boys. Whereas the boys’ gifts reinforced masculine attributes such as
prowess in the men, the girls’ gifts exhibited their feminine roles and inferiorated them
to the men.
Following the ‘Ndatho’ and the ‘kuuna miti’ ceremony, the boy was expected to build
his temporary shelter known as ‘iganda’ within his homestead which would serve as his
convalescence hut. The ‘iganda’ was made up of dried banana leaves that were tied
together using the local fibres. In readiness for the ceremony, some of the boys shaved
one another to symbolize that the powerless boy had to die before the powerful man was
100
born. The clean shaven heads of the boys distinguished them from the elder men who
had warriorhood braids that were a mark of their seniority and power over the novices.
In some instances the initiates made two ‘mibiro’ (long stick of about one metre with
feathers attached to one edge) carried on their shoulders to mimic the carrying to
weapons to signify their imminent role of defense.
3.3 The Actual Operation in Pre-Colonial Period
The removal of the prepuce was the core of male initiation which was preceded by a
series of rituals that intensified one day to the operation. It was inaugurated by ‘kuuna
gaaru’ (breaking into the warrior barracks) by the initiates. In this ritual, the bravest,
well-built and biggest uncircumcised boy (‘kibici’) was sent to the ‘gaaru ya Nthaka’ to
awaken the warriors while singing, trotting and jumping high up. The boy’s physique
was an attribute of boyhood which permitted the boy to command respect from peers.
The physically well built boys were ordained to exercise power and hegemony over the
other boys in the ‘gaaru’. The biggest uncircumcised boy was entrusted with the mission
to provoke the ‘nthaka’ into rage. In song and dance, the boy dared the warriors to prove
their manhood by consenting to his circumcision. An example of a ‘Kuuna gaaru’ song
is given below;
‘Wegua uri muka nagukia utiukire
Uyu iiohoi mwijii   x 2’.
‘Wegua uri muka utikegue, utigetikire nta ubici’
101
Uyu iiohoi mwijii   x 2’.
Translation; ‘If you are a woman do not wake up to this call; do not respond to
my Call if you are a woman.
Here I am the uncircumcised boy’
If you are a woman do not listen to me, do not allow me to be
Circumcised; Here I am the uncircumcised boy’
By referring to the warriors as women in the above song, the boy’s intention was to
annoy the ‘nthaka’. Ensuring that he had fully aggravated the warriors, the boy went
back to the ‘gaaru ya ibici’ where he and the other boys began to adorn themselves for
their ceremony. They painted themselves with red ochre (‘monyo’ or ‘ciakimuri’ or
‘Nondo’) for purposes of easy identification. A clinician Zakayo Kwendo from
Kakamega asserts that the use of red ochre in the Bukusu circumcision helped to arrest
haemorrhage (Sunday Standard: Aug 3; 2014:6). This could probably be a viable reason
for the application of red ochre by the boys, to control excessive bleeding.
The boys put on circumcision regalia which comprised ankle and leg bells, whose
rhythm announced their presence to the neighborhood. Since an initiate was not
supposed to meet with women and children along the way, the sound of the bells
signaled his presence to women and children who had to give way to oncoming initiates.
The social distance between the initiates and women was widened by unwritten rules
such as crouching in the bush to hide from initiates, in order to justify the hegemony of
102
men over women. Womanhood was equated with powerlessness and a state of
dependency which was an anti-thesis of manhood.
In retaliation to ‘kuuna gaaru’, the ‘nthaka’ followed up the provocative boy to prove
their manhood and to detest any association with feminine attributes as suggested in the
song. All the rituals that ensued were done in song and dance, communicating the
anticipated ceremony. An example of the ‘nthakas’ retaliation song is given below;
Nthaka… ‘uraukire kwa mau uu ui mwiji? X2
….. ‘Nyomba ya nyukwe ikururuma ndu /cimba/njogu, etc
….. ‘uu ui mwiji’x2.
Translation: To whose home had you come to, too early in the morning? You the
Uncircumcised x2
Your mothers’ house has now been invaded by leopards roaring,
you the Uncircumcised’x2
In your mothers’ house is a roaring lion, you the uncircumcised x2
In your mothers’ house is a roaring elephant, …………………. x2
In this song the ‘nthaka’ in fury refer to themselves as roaring/ trumpeting, fierce
animals (leopards, lions or elephants), to oppose the boys reference to them as ‘women’.
These wild animals symbolize potency, agility and clout as they easily make their prey
vulnerable. Whereas mothers/ women and the uncircumcised are the ‘prey’, the men are
the ‘predators’. By implication, this meant that men were aggressive, strong and
103
determined while women were at their mercy. Such circumcision songs epitomized the
Chuka understanding of the character of a real man, emphasizing an ideal masculine
man as a risk taker, aggressive, rational and powerful, virile, agile, swift, and
independent.
The songs reminded the participants of the attributes of an ideal masculinity, thereby
perpetuating images of sturdiness, hardiness and endurance at all times. All the songs
presented a woman as subordinate to the man. The masculine attributes were contrasted
with the feminine ones, the latter being expressed as dangerous, irrational, vulnerable,
dependent, frail and mysterious. The songs moulded the initiate to fit into the Chuka
version of manhood while defaming womanhood. For the boys to be men, they had to
become the opposite of girls and women. This is a binary mapping of power relations of
men and women as strong/weak, brave/cowards, independent/dependent and
rational/irrational respectively. The songs demonstrate that masculinity and femininity in
Chuka were two contrasting categories that were internally fissured by the sexual
anatomy and other systems of inequality. The underlying message in the songs was that
a man was not expected to act in feminine ways.
Even as this message was relayed in the songs, men and women had an inextricable link
because the man was incomplete without the woman. Each gender constituted the
critical half that made the human being complete. Although women were regarded as
104
inferior in the songs, the mothers supplied plenty of food to re-energize the men for the
dances. Indeed, women were mobilized to participate in ensuring that their boys were
not to be like women. Women watched these performances by the ‘nthaka’ and
supported them by singing and ululating from a distance. In other words, masculine
hegemony was not just exercised among younger boys awaiting circumcision, but rather
mothers were expected to ensure that their sons became real men.
The retaliation by the ‘nthaka’ marked the beginning of ‘thauthi’ (circumcision dances).
The coded songs advised the initiates on how they were expected to behave and to
endure the anticipated pain of the operation. An example of such a ‘thauthi’ song is
given below.
Nthaka; Wona nkitheka nti mwega, uu ui mwiji x2
Wegua kagau tika ka mwanki, uu ui mwiji x2
Translation; ‘Even if you see me laughing, I am dangerous’
‘And if they hear of a dried banana leaf,
It’s not the one used in lighting fire’.
This song was meant to ‘scare’ the initiates and to instill in them the fear of the ‘nthaka’
who described themselves as very dangerous people. The ‘kagau’ mentioned in the song
was the venue for the final operation. The use of the ‘kagau’ (literal for dried banana
leaf) symbolized the death of boyhood and the beginning of manhood. In this venue, the
‘mutani’ (circumciser) skillfully removed the subcutaneous layer from the penis of the
initiate which marked the second and final stage of the operation. In the songs, the coded
105
language indicates that the warriors were powerful and had the authority to pass on
manhood to the candidates in the ‘kagau’. Another ‘thauthi’song is given below;
Nthaka;  ‘Yii, uhui nkethekagira’
Miinu ikienjwa, uii mwiji x2
Or
Nthaka; Kwingiri gugukia ukaune miraga mwiji x2
Uuu uuii mwiji x2
Translation; ‘I will be laughing as your penises get shaved’
‘ the uncircumcised x2
Or
‘It had better be morning so that you
Can go to break your ‘miraga’ thorns’
‘ the uncircumcised x2
In the foregoing songs, the ‘nthaka’ informed the initiates that they would have their
penises shaved before the operation. Unaware of the pain that lay ahead of them, the
initiates were teased that as they got shaved, the ‘nthaka’ would be laughing at them.
The songs served as a blessing from the ‘nthaka’ to the initiates. The ‘nthaka’ expressed
concern that it had better be morning for the initiates to prune the ‘miraga’ thorns that
would be used to clip the foreskin at the ‘itiri’ (first stage of the operation). ‘Thauthi’
songs were danced towards dawn on the day of the operation, as the initiates were driven
to rivers for the chill baths.
106
As the dances progressed, the horn was blown five times to mark the re-birth of a real
man. Early morning, the boys were taken to the nearest river for ‘Mithambo’ (cold or
chill bath) ritual.  The water was so cold at this hour that it numbed the body and acted
as a local anesthesia. Besides, the use of water signified a source of life implying that
after the ‘Mithambo’ ritual the ‘man’ became a source of life. This ceremony was also
known as ‘nthambo’ (washing) which symbolized cleansing of boyhood. As candidates
were driven down stream, the song and dance encouraged them for what lay ahead of
them. One ‘mithambo’ song ran thus:
‘Igankubire ii mwiji, ii mwiji gankubire x2
‘kwithamba’,  ‘Ruguti’,
‘Tungu’, ‘Mwirithii’.
Translation; Let me take you, the uncircumcised,
Let me take you, to bathe, in River ‘Ruguti’
,or ‘Tungu’, or‘Mwirithii’.
The table 3.2 below, shows a list of the rivers where ‘Mithambo’ ritual was conducted.
Name of the River/Stream/Pool Villages Near the River.
River Ruguti Thuita, Kithunguri, Mukuuni, Mucatha,
Mwonge, Ikuu, Rubate.
River Naka and River Tungu Kiang’ondu, Kiereni, Gatumbi, Iriani, Kangutu,
Ndagani, Njaina, Kaanwa,
Mwirithii stream/ Iria ria Jeradi Nthambo, Kigogo, Njuri
Kananki stream Chera
Pool of Ngacii Gatanga
River Thuci Gitotogoto, Kiamuriuki
Kuruguca stream Ndagani
Table 3.2, showing the names of some of the rivers/pools where the initiates bathed
before the operation. Source; Saribatore (O. I: 8th Aug 2011).
107
Accompanying the ‘mithambo’ was the smearing of the candidate’s body with ‘mbariki’
(castor tree) oil to anoint him for manhood. Candidates were also presented with shields
to symbolize their role of defence. A ‘muthiori’ (girdle cloth) was tied around each
candidate’s waist by the ‘mutiri’ for the purpose of identification.
The whole exercise of preparing the initiates through song and dance, river bathing and
oil smearing was ritualistically done and deliberately geared at mystifying the male
person and empowering them to exercise mysterious power over others including over
women. Once the water rituals were done, the candidates took a specified posture
described in Mwaniki (2004:104-5) as, ‘looked down, faced forward, stretched arms out,
closed fists and bent forearms up wards at right angles with the upper arms’. The
candidate would trot in this position to the operation field called ‘itiri’ or ‘kigirini’ for
the first stage of the operation.
Following is an example of another ‘mithambo’ song that was sung by the ‘nthaka’ as
they escorted to the ‘kigiri’/ ‘itiri’ (first stage for the operation), which was some kind of
a village stadium.
‘Waunjuga ndia wegua ikarii atia
uii I uui mwiji’ x2
Translation, ‘When you stirred the waters, how did you feel it like’
You the uncircumcised x2
108
The place was encircled with dried banana leaves to shield it from uninvited onlookers.
The ‘nthaka’ heavily guarded the ‘itiri’ making a ‘kigiri’ (tightly knit circular setting of
the warriors) to prevent any woman or uncircumcised boys from intruding/peeping from
a far. Men would ululate in song and dance while women responded from a far distance.
The women were powerless and could not be allowed to witness the transfer of power to
the boys.
As indicated, the ‘itiri’ was the first stage for the operation, which began with the
‘mubanda miraga’ (planter of Acacia thorns) pulling out and clipping the boys’ foreskins
with Acacia thorns. The ‘planters of thorns’ were men who had portrayed proper traits of
manhood and exercised their power in passing the mantle of manhood to the initiates.
The ‘mutani’ literally flew past the ‘kigiri’ into the ‘Itiri’. He plucked off the thorns
while severing the foreskins of all the candidates.
The ‘mutiri’ (sponsor) then firmly supported the initiate by his shoulders to maintain an
upright posture. The ‘mutani’ used the same knife to cut all the candidates foreskins,
with their numbers soaring up to one hundred candidates in some of the seasons. While
the foreskins were being cut off, the ‘nthaka’ were busy dancing and the women ululated
from a far. The ceremony was most exciting whenever a boy showed courage and
bravery. The initiate was not expected to cry out of this painful operation. He had to
dance too, even though some of the ‘ntane’ (newly circumcised men) bled severely
109
(Saribatore O. I: 8th Aug 2011). Initiates valued this frightful circumcision experience
because it imbued in them their manhood. Circumcision marked the transition from
boyhood to manhood statuses that gave the new men priveleges and authority in the
society. The traumatic circumcision procedure involving the cutting of the prepuce
without any anesthesia was a key testimony of the transition to real manhood. Enduring
the pain was an expression of mental strength and physical power.
The first born boy of the first wife had to be circumcised first to give way for the
circumcision of the other wives’ sons. By being circumcised first, this boy was indirectly
socialized to be in control of his younger siblings. The order of circumcision gave the
son to the first wife hegemony over the other sons. This was based on the understanding
that in the absence of the father, the first son to the first wife assumed the role of the
family head as shown in the social organization of the Chuka. This practice entwined
with the religious belief that families which respected first sons and transfered power
accordingly invited blessings to their lineage.
Once the foreskin was cut the candidate was tossed up and as he landed on the ground,
he was dressed in a Colobus monkey head dress. The head dress was worn by men to
symbolize power, which implied that the ‘ntane’ had acquired power and authority.
Initiates who demonstrated the slightest fear were ridiculed for behaving like ‘women’
and this was meant to psychologically charge the cowards to get tough. Circumcision
110
gave the initiates a chance to prove their dexterity and maturity. Initiates who survived
this ordeal without showing any signs of fear proved their ability to endure all obstacles
in their lives. This correlates with the findings of Gilmore (1990) which he explained
how the ordeal of circumcision awakened fierceness in the boy, making him an
independent actor, afraid of nothing after experiencing the worst pain that life could
offer during his circumcision operation.
The initiates were escorted calmly in rhythm of hitting sticks ‘mpa….mpa….mpa….’
and slow music that was intended to take their mind off the pain. They were ushered into
the second stage of the operation known as the ‘kagauni’.  An example of a song at this
point of the ceremony is here below.
Ii Mwindi uu
Mwindi uri njau namutungire na Gichunge ii x2
Translation; ‘Mwindi’, had a calf, I met with him and ‘Gichunge’ x2.
This song equates the newly circumcised with a calf hence symbolizing newness or
rebirth of the man from the boy. The ‘kagauni’ was the venue where the ‘mutani’ in
sobriety, skillfully primed initiate’s penis to make him a real man. The candidate was
laid down on his back on wet banana stems. Our sources indicated that this position
helped to elevate the lower back of the initiate so as to make it possible for the ‘mutani’
to access the penis from all angles, while carefully removing the subcutaneous tissue
(Kibungi O.I: 10th Oct. 2011, Kanga O.I: 6th June 2011).
111
Asmentioned earlier, the Chuka style of circumcising was ‘Karinga kathige’, which
entailed the total removal/ pruning of the foreskin. At this ‘kagauni’ stage, the operation
was intensely painful but the initiate had to remain motionless and silent.  Even an
involuntary twitch of the eye would be interpreted as a sign of fear. If a candidate
showed any fright, he was forever shamed as a coward and was denounced by members
of his age set.  Besides, he brought ruin upon his lineage forever and earned himself
demeaning names such as ‘therenja’ (one who moves by his buttocks), ‘kiguoya’
(coward) and ‘gitomo’ (one who cries easily).
Those boys who had been forcibly circumcised as a punishment for their misdeed had
the worst moment at this stage. The ‘nthaka’ barred the ‘mutani’ from completing the
operation until the boys’ father paid the fine stipulated by the warriors (Mwaniki 2004).
Participation in the circumcision ceremonies granted men control over ritual practices
since only men were allowed to be present around the venue. According to Mwaniki
(Ibid), no woman was expected to be at the ‘kigiri and the ‘kagauni’. Since the events
surrounding the operation were private and unknown to women, the exercise gave the
men some sacred and mysterious powers that rendered women powerless and
submissive. On successfully completing all ‘kagauni’ rituals the ‘ntane’ were taken to
their ‘iganda’ for healing and training for manhood.
112
3.4 Post-circumcision Rituals in the Pre-Colonial Period
3.4.1 The naming ceremony
On completion of the operation at ‘kagauni’, the ‘ntane’ (newly circumcised man) was
taken in song and dance to his ‘Iganda’ (healing hut) or ‘Kiagau’ in less vigor. An
example of a song to escort him is given below.
Waurua ni abai wauma kuu
Wauma kiria kuthugura ndigi
Riiu, riiiu, waumaku ndigi? x2
Translation; if asked by the uncircumcised where you have come from,
‘ you have come from ‘kiria’ to get the circumcised’
‘Now, now, where have you come from the circumcised?’
Here the ‘new man’ was being cautioned in this song to disassociate himself from the
boys due to his new status. On arrival at the ‘iganda’ the escorts of the initiate danced to
celebrate the new man and to inform the members of the family of their son’s new
status. In case a boy died in the process of his operation, the ‘nthaka’ planted a twig at
the entrance to the ‘iganda’ and screamed to alert his kin of the misfortune. The elders
and the warriors liaised with the family members and consulted the ‘mugo’ (medicine
man) to ascertain the cause of the death. If the cause of the death was as a result of
recklessness during the operation, the ‘mutani’ was henceforth barred from circumcising
any other boys and required to pay a ‘thamantia’(huge fine) to the elders (Cianguo O.I:
113
21st April 2011). The dead body was dishonourably disposed in the forest because it was
a threat to masculine power and authority.
Four to eight days after the operation, a ceremony known as ‘nciabuni’ (naming
ceremony), was conducted at the ‘ntane’s’ home. His new name was embedded in
‘nciabuni’ song which portrayed the conduct of the initiate during the operation and the
warriors’ expectations about the new man. The chosen name epitomized masculine
values taken after ferocious beasts such as ‘M’Njogu’ (elephant), ‘M’Mbogo’
(Bufffalo), ‘Ntwiga’ (Giraffe), or names with religious meanings such as ‘M’Njeru’
(Chuka God).
The names symbolized the attributes of real manhood as strength, agility, courage and
supremacy that were anticipated from the new men. The name signified the new mans’
achievement of masculine power and authority over complicit masculinities and women.
The ‘nciabu’ song relayed messages of true manhood while demeaning womanhood as
demonstrated in the following song by Saribatore (O. I: 8th Aug 2011).
Solo; Ihai ii ui yiaa maibuni nciabu Na M’mbiuki; (in this naming
‘nciabu, M’Mbiuki’)
All; nirietu ii yiaa maibuni nciabu; (Is ours in this naming ‘nciabu’)
Solo; Ria kwirimiria? (It has been earned?)
114
All; Na mwiri ii yiaa maibuni nciabu; (through the body in this naming
‘Nciabu’)
Solo; Nthaka cia Mbiuki? (the warriors of Mbiuki?)
All; Kung’enta ii yiaa maibuni nciabu; (Are very aggressive ours in this
naming ‘nciabu’)
Solo; Ciatwere Njogu? (They climbed the elephants’?)
All; mugongo ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (back in this naming ‘nciabu’)
Solo; Nicio cieragwa? (They were told?)
All; Uro uro ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (hey, hey! in this naming ‘nciabu’)
Solo; Watunga ngi’na wa? (if you meet with the mother of?)
All; Kibici/Therenja ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (the uncircumcised or
mover on his Buttocks)
Solo; Ringa unaune? (Hit and break?)
All; Mugongo ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (the back! in this naming
‘nciabu’)
Solo; Watunga ngi’na wa ? (if you meet with the mother of? )
All; Kiuma ntha ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (the non-flinching in this
naming ‘nciabu’)
Solo; Ringa kithaka? (run to the bush?)
All; Na nkingo ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (by neck in this naming ‘nciabu’)
115
Solo; Nwari Mugumo? (I wish a Mugumo?)
All; Kuguka ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (uproots in this naming ‘nciabu’)
Solo; Ugakura gaaru ya? (Uproot the barracks of?)
All; Ibici ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (the uncircumcised in this naming
‘nciabu’)
This song illustrates how men’s’ status was elevated while women and the
uncircumcised were demonized. The song above despised mothers of cowards, the
weak/feeble and the uncircumcised while at the same time praising the mothers of the
strong, courageous, tough, muscular, agile, brave, and the powerful men. Those without
the latter qualities were wished bad luck.
Apart from belonging to an age set, a circumcised penis was integral part of masculine
identity and a cultural asset that granted men a superior status in society. This was
symbolized in the acquisition of the new name during the ‘nciabuni’ ritual. Apart from
the new name, the new men began to wear a ‘nyorotha’ (beaded head lace) to mark his
new status. Henceforth, it became a serious offence to refer to a circumcised man by any
other name other than his ‘nciabuni’name.
3.4.2 Seclusion and education of junior men
The ‘Ntane’ spent most of their day time in the river valleys and gorges receiving
instructions on their new role as warriors. The bulk of the seclusion period lasted
116
between two to three months during which the initiates learnt how to be proper men
(Saribatore, O.I: 8th Aug 2011). During this convalescence period, ‘ntane’ were taught
the virtues of obedience and respect for elder men. The education given to the fresh
initiates was called ‘kirarire’ or ‘kirira’ (‘catechism’) which lay emphasis on
independence and self-reliance. Warriors who had emerged victorious in battles were
senior to the other warriors in their ‘gaaru’ and were entrusted with authority and control
over the new initiates.
The elders and senior warriors educated the initiates on diet prohibitions. The initiates
were not supposed to eat any form of birds including chicken, fowls and eagles because
birds were considered ‘cheap’ animals that could only be eaten by young boys and
women. Men proved their manhood and hegemony over the women and boys by eating
meat from bigger and tougher animals like cattle, goats and sheep. The fresh initiates
were also prohibited from drinking beer because alcohol would dull their senses against
an enemies attack. The Chuka women learnt how to brew varieties of millet beer and
potent honey wine, although its actual consumption was by the senior elders.
Kibungi (O.I: 15th Aug. 2011) posits that the Chuka forbid women from drinking
alcohol to prevent them from becoming sexual immoral. Such regulations on beer
consumption show that the senior elders had hegemonic control over the junior
masculinities and women. Warriors in the ‘gaaru’ sang songs that had some of the
117
lessons learnt during the catechism. An example of such a song is given below (Nyangi
O.I:13th Dec 2012);
‘Nthaka ni kithaka’
‘Igendaga mbere ya riua’
‘Nthaka’
‘Igendaga na mukororima’
Translation ‘Warriors are the bush’, ‘They move before sunrise’
‘Warriors’, ‘They move in underground tunnels’
This song clearly indicates that warriors were not supposed to walk along the same paths
used by women and children. Women and children had to run into the bushes on hearing
warrior songs, in order to give way to the warriors. Worthington (1920) confirms that in
many African societies young boys and women displayed an exaggerated form of
respect to warriors by racing and crouching into the bush to hide from an approaching
warrior. This practice reinforced male superiority and ensured that women axiomatically
accepted and respected the male as superior gender in the Chuka society.
Lifestyle in the ‘gaaru’ was a compulsory stage for all men and pulling out of this
barracks was seen as unmanly and cowardly behavior which would attract ridicule and
stringent punishments from the elders. Internal wrangles in the ‘gaaru’ were possible
causes for some warriors to pull out of their ‘gaaru’. A warrior’s performance and
conduct during the ‘gaaru’ warfare and raiding activities determined his hierarchy or
118
position in his barracks. For example, each ‘gaaru’ had a leader or ‘spokesman’ referred
to as a ‘mugambi wa gaaru’ or ‘Ncamba’ (the cock), who had to prove his fisticuffs and
toughness in battles, displaying his bravery and vindicating his manliness in physical
combat.  The bruises and scars that he obtained in such fights accumulated his prestige
and bestowed on him hegemony over his peers. The spokesman linked the team of
warriors under his control to the council of elders and influenced the decisions made for
his ‘gaaru’ by these elders.
According to Saribatore (O.I: 8th Aug. 2012), an ideal ‘gaaru’ spokesman was eloquent
in speech and factual while exercising justice (‘ugambi’) hence the title ‘mugambi'. He
must have endured the circumcision pain without any show of emotions to prove himself
as a ‘ncamba’ (cock). Such a man was envied and admired by other men and had
ultimate hegemony over them. The gaaru warriors’ occasionally met at the ‘Itiri’,
(village stadiums) for ‘battle matches’ organized by the ‘gaaru’ leaders to prove their
prowess. The battles were executed by wrestling and watched by the villagers. The men
who lost in the wrestling were judged to be less manly and their ‘gaaru’ warriors became
inferior to the winning ‘gaaru’ warriors. The winning ‘gaaru’ was famed for having real
men who became enviable for their masculine competence.
Married men had to live in the ‘gaaru’ until such a time that their son or daughter was
circumcised.  The man’s retirement from warriorhood was based on the assumption that
119
his role in the ‘gaaru’ would be inherited by his circumcised son or daughter. A man
who retired from warriorhood following his sons’ circumcision gained a higher esteem
and honor than the one who retired on the grounds of his daughter’s circumcision. This
was because the men’s’ role of defending the society was ranked above the women’s
role in the domestic domain. The power and authority of elder men and women was
based on the gender of their adult children and their roles in the society.
3.5 Summary and Conclusion
This chapter has explained that the Chuka men were irrefutably esteemed and a favored
class than the women having gone through a successful circumcision operation. They
were culturally imbued with notions that they were superior to women and enjoyed
multiple privileges including their inherent right to dominate. Real manhood was
something that men aspired to achieve because it guaranteed them dominant positions
over women. Attributes of an ideal masculinity were handed over to men through a
series of pre- and post- circumcision rituals.
In conclusion, this chapter elaborates that though it was the desire of all men to attain
hegemony, some men failed to meet the necessary criterion to belong to this coveted
category of the men with power. The male misfits remained under the control of fellow
men. Consequently, some of the circumcised men fell in the category of sub-ordinate
masculinities because of failing to adhere to the circumcision rules and for presenting
120
their masculinity in the ‘wrong’ way. Other men fell in the category of complicit
masculinities that had connected with hegemony but did not fully represent hegemonic
masculinity. Such men exemplified a normal masculinity, with nothing really
exceptional about their manhood and as such they did not receive the full benefits and
privileges accrued to the real men who were purely hegemonic.
121
CHAPTER FOUR
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CHUKA CIRCUMCISION RITE; 1906-
1963.
4.0 Introduction
In chapter three we examined the origins of the Chuka circumcision rite and outlined the
pre-circumcision activities. We also evaluated the components of the actual operation
and concluded with the post-operation rituals in pre-colonial Chuka. Generally, the
chapter demonstrated that the practice of circumcision empowered the initiates to wield
immense power in the society.
In this chapter, we undertake to assess the transformation of the circumcision rituals
during the colonial era. In an effort to achieve our objective, we discuss the influence
wrought by imperialists to the traditional circumcision rituals and their subsequent
effects on manhood. This chapter is based on the assumption that colonial rule had
profound influence on the male status and the gender relations in Chuka.
122
4.1 European Contacts with the Chuka
4.1.1 Establishment of colonial rule in Chuka
Written evidence shows an early European contact with the Chuka (Southern Meru) by
the late 19th C. The first European traders came to Chuka accompanied by Kamba,
Swahili, Somali, and Arab caravans (Fadiman 2012:127). Habitually, the caravans
travelled to Mount Kenya region during every dry season. The Chuka labeled them as
‘Acomba’ which meant ‘men of the coast’ (Cianguo O.I: 21st April 2011, Mwaniki
2004:44). They brought with them trinkets, cloth and ‘shanga’ (coastal beads) in
exchange for tusks, honey, goats and grains.
Among the first white traders to cross through the Chuka region were Karl Peters,
Herman Tiedemann and William Astor Chanler (Fadiman 2012:128). These traders used
the pattern of plunder, counter-attack, rifle fire, and subsequent alliances for the next
decade to enter Chuka. Warriors viewed each intrusion by such European traders as their
chance to raid for goods and livestock as well as to gain glory among fellow warriors.
Many thoughtful elders opposed the warrior’s attacks on the caravans because of their
straightforward fear of military defeat.  The elders viewed their collaboration with these
traders as a means to acquire wealth and material rewards. Undeterred by warrior
attacks, European caravans came to Chuka carrying big quantities of goods and guns
throughout the 1890s.
123
Long before the British arrival, the Chuka elders had learnt about the colonization of the
neighbouring communities from the Chuka warriors who had wandered to the Gikuyu
region. The wandering warriors narrated startling tales of how the Gikuyu had
surrendered to the whites because of the power of the gun. They described how the
Gikuyu warriors had laid aside their spears in favor of the ‘woman's digging sticks’
during the road construction projects. Such stories served as a warning to the Chuka
elders about the impending challenge on their manhood upon the arrival of the British.
The warriors and elders expressed the fear that they too could be forced to dig like the
Gikuyu, knowing clearly that it was a taboo for men to ‘dig like women’ (Cianguo O.I:
21st April 2011).
Colonial rule was formally established in Chuka following the arrival of Edward Butler
Horne in Southern Meru in July1906 (K.N.A., DC/MRU/1/3/2). Oral information
handed down to M’Baini (O.I: 7th Oct 2011) indicates that Horne was popularly referred
to as ‘Kangangi’ (little wanderer) due to his constant movements across the Chuka
region. The Chuka decided to sue for peace with ‘Kangangi’, probably due to the
prophetic warnings on the futility of any armed resistances. Such prophecies had been
made by M’kurengia from Rubate and Ciangemi and Kiragu from Mukuuni (Cianguo
O.I: 4th April 2011).
124
The Chuka are among the African communities who offered passive resistance to the
European incursion into their land which at times has been referred to as collaboration.
Interpreted wrongly, collaboration could insinuate that the Chuka had subordinated
themselves to European colonialists. In reality, the Chuka used passive resistance as a
strategy to gain where they deemed necessary. Adu Boahen (1990) refers to this
approach as ‘alliance’ or ‘cooperation’ by some African communities that
‘collaborated’. The armed resisters should not be branded as heroes while passive
resisters like the Chuka as traitors because in the final analysis, both armed and passive
resisters lost their sovereignty and independence to the imperialists. Besides, the Chuka
motive of submission was an attempt to regain their freedom and not to give it away.
The Chuka’s submission strategy to the Europeans was inspired by similar factors to
those of the Yoruba states of Nigeria, the Ngwato, the Lozi, the Sotho and Tswana of
Southern Africa as described in Boahen (1987:39). Boahen shows that these
communities readily surrendered to the Europeans since they knew it was futile and
costly to confront the imperialists. The Yoruba of Nigeria derived their lesson of
submission from the disastrous defeat of the Ijebu who had dared to oppose the British.
Similarly, the Chuka submitted to the British for the fear of being humiliated and
defeated like the much larger and more powerful neighbours as the Gikuyu (Muriuki,
1974), Mbeere and the Embu in 1906 (Mwaniki 1974).
125
Oral sources indicate that some Chuka warriors defied the elders’ advice to submit and
waylaid the British at Thuci boundary. The resisters’ efforts were thwarted following the
killing of a powerful warrior named Mukanda from Mugaani by the British soldiers. The
batch of resisting warriors withdrew on the realization that they had poor arms (spears,
arrows) as compared to the British gun (Cianguo O.I: 4th April 2011). In his analysis of
the African resistances, Boahen (1987:26) posits that the Europeans breech-loading
rifles such as the maxim gun were more powerful than the African bows and arrows. In
the case of Chuka, the warriors were armed with bows, spears and arrows which barely
matched such muzzle-loading rifles of the British.
Poorly armed and with the examples of their defeated neighbours, the Chuka elders
chose to readily submit to the British. In July 1907, Horne had passed through Chuka
without much incidence since the Chuka submission had already been sought (Orde
1925). Horne was accompanied by one company of the King's African Rifles (K.A.R.),
supported by tall and fierce Maasai spearmen and Gikuyu and Embu porters. Horne
moved through Ndiruni, Kambandi and to Gatumbi (present day Chuka town), before
encamping at Mwitari which was later renamed Meru town (Fadiman 1994:194,
Mwaniki 2004:55). He rode on a white horse and displayed the rapid firing of his gun in
order to maximize his initial impact. Horne explicitly informed his subjects that he came
to rule, stop raids for livestock and women, and to solve all conflicts (Orde 1925).
126
4.1.2 The shift of hegemony from elders to ‘Blanket’ chiefs
The elderhood conferred on Chuka men through circumcision cycles, was greatly
affected by the establishment of colonial rule in 1907. Upon his arrival, Horne appointed
Mbogori M'Mwendo as the first chief of the Chuka-Mwimbi region. Mbogori was
widely acclaimed for his physique, courage and service as a commander of the
‘gaaru’warriors, which impressed Horne. In order to formalize this appointment, Horne
presented to Mbogori a ‘kanga’ or black cotton blanket as a symbol of the chief’s office
(Fadiman 1994). This perhaps explains the origin of the title ‘Cibu wa murengeti’ or
‘Munene wa Kanga’ (blanket chief) for colonial chiefs in Chuka (Kibungi O.I: 15th Aug
2011). Each colonial chief was given the black cotton blanket to symbolize his
chieftainship. The blanket chiefs were sourced from the young warrior leaders in the
‘gaaru’ to become the new ‘Agambi’ (spokesmen) on all European matters. This meant
that the ‘gaaru’ spokesmen were given power over the councils of elders (kiama)
contrary to the tarditions. The new appointees or ‘blanket chiefs’ began to take away
power and authority from the councils of elders, thus altering the traditional ordering of
male age sets.
While membership to the ‘kiama’ or councils of elders was determined by one’s age and
initiation through circumcision, the appointment of chiefs by European governors did
not put this requirement into consideration. As a result of this, legitimate claimants to
power found themselves powerless, as they were forced to obey leaders who could not
127
have held under the traditional pre-colonial Chuka society. Hence determination of
leadership and distribution of power and authority of councils of elders was distorted.
The role played by the elders in the circumcision rituals started to be challenged.
Seniority of age sets based on when its members were circumcised ceased to be the
organizing principle of authority among men. Senior age sets were stripped of their
hegemony by the junior age sets as young leaders’ exercised control over all the people
irrespective of their age.
Frustrated by Horne’s appointees, members of the councils of elders initiated the blanket
chiefs to the elder councils, in an effort to continue exercising control and authority over
them. The new appointees gradually usurped hegemony from the council of elders to the
blanket chiefs. In 1907, the ruling elders were of the ‘Kiramana’ age set who contested
for authority with the colonialists and the blanket chiefs. Horne and his European
counterparts did not understand the different status of the warriors and the elders.
From 1911, the mantle of elderhood was put aside at will as the Europeans searched for
the native laborers. Among European settlers, the sole criterion for male labourers was
not their but their strength to work. As settlers, missionaries, hunters and entrepreneurs
settled in the surrounding regions the demands for labour multiplied each year. Within
the first ten years of colonial take-over in Chuka, the traditional transition of males
through boyhood, warriorhood, junior elderhood and to senior elders had been
128
dismantled (Mwaniki 2004). This was either due to the establishment of a new
administration by blanket chiefs or the recruitment of both the young and the old into
forced/ wage labour.
The British administration set up a sub-station at Fort Naka (present day Chuka town) in
1912 due to a series of uprisings and attacks against Imenti labour seekers (Fadiman
1994). Chuka was geographically far from British military control at Mwitari (present
day Meru town) and the opening of the Naka Fort made it easy for the colonizers to
administer Nithi (southern part of Meru which comprised the Mwimbi, Muthambi and
Chuka). In 1912, Orde Browne was appointed as the first assistant District
Commissioner (D.C.) for Nithi. He was popularly referred to as ‘Kirauni’ (for ‘Crown’)
by the natives because he served the British king (Kanga O.I: 6th June 2011). Orde’s
entourage to Fort Naka comprised three hundred Embu porters, a Kamba policeman, two
British officials, three Asians to supply the station and one Kikuyu interpreter
(K.N.A.DC/EBU/1/3/: 1914). Orde’s horse ride, use of the ‘magic’ lanterns, fireworks
and his looking glasses all served as great attractions to overawe and compel obedience
from the ‘primitive’ Chuka. He was able to quickly win the submission of the Chuka
natives to his administration (Orde 1925).
129
During the second decade of colonial rule, Chuka was governed by a series of
administrators. This era has been described by Fadiman (1994:264), as the period of
‘pragmatists rule’, because the rulers were not as emphatic about the Chuka traditions as
Horne. The new commissioners worked to become efficient administrators and induced
the natives to perform various tasks. They were interested in practical results and not in
cultural theories or principles. The ‘pragmatists’ made alterations to the councils of
elders, which had dire implications on the hegemony of circumcision men. By 1917, the
last year of Horne’s administration, the councils of elders in Chuka, Igoji and Imenti had
almost stopped functioning and the number of cases heard by these councils had dropped
from over 100 in 1916 to 41 in 1917 as recorded in (K.N.A. DC/MRU/1/3/2; 1917).
In 1920, for instance the governing council meeting that was convened by D.C. D.R.
Crawford was addressed by younger men as opposed to being addressed by the council
of elders (K.N.A. DC/MRU/1/3/2:1921). The younger council had been handpicked by
Crawford, against established tradition of constituting such councils with elderly men.
By 1922, younger men continued to rule in place of the councils of elders. As a result of
this, the councils of elders in Chuka ceased to meet, allowing the ‘Nkome’ council and
consequently the ‘gaaru’ systems to fall into disuse. Fadiman (1994:185) asserts that by
the mid 1920s, the concept of social order was forced to give way as ‘kids began to lead
the goats’, where the ‘kids’ implies the young men of Murungi age set while the ‘goats’
were the Kaburia age set elders who were the rightful members of the governing council.
130
The above illustration shows that the ‘pragmatist’ rulers such as Crawford restructured
the indigenous administration of the councils of elders by incorporating younger and
educated men into them. Besides, they widened the scope of administration for these
new young leaders to include guiding and implementing colonial policies and mandates.
This restructuring of the governing councils became elaborate with the launching of the
Meru Local Native Council (L.N.C.) in 1925 which officially took over the roles of the
‘Nkome’ (indigenous) council of elders (K.N.A., M.C.C./10/12/25, 1925). This L.N.C.
comprised twenty two men; with eight elected members and fourteen appointees of the
D.C. Majority of the L.N.C. members were former warriors who were elected partly due
to their command of Kiswahili, the colonial lingua-Franca, and also due to their
successful work blanket police. The L.N.C. members had pro-British attitudes and could
be regarded to as ‘young, bright and energetic’ by the British administrators (Ibid). In
Chuka terms the L.N.C. members belonged to the Murungi age set, which was scheduled
to rule after the Kaburia age set (Thomas 1992). The ‘pragmatist’ administrators used
young appointees to assume positions of the senior men. The new crop of young leaders
was presumably men of administrative vigour, who commanded physical presence.
By 1927, the mantle of elderhood was ripped off at will by the British who were in
search of the new brand of rulers and the need for communal labourers. The new
generation of leaders ignored the old ways of the elders and transformed the British rule
131
into reality. The L.N.C. offered an opportunity to the men of political tenderness to share
in the responsibility of ruling their people. This change in administration brought an
alien understanding of masculinity and real manhood. As a consequence, the fledgling
elders’ expectation of sitting quietly in councils to absorb ancestral wisdom was
rendered useless through this restructuring of the governing councils (Fadiman 1994).
The traditional role of elderhood which had been anticipated with much pleasure simply
disappeared as elders ceased to control the smooth transition of males from boyhood to
manhood through circumcision.
By 1937, the council of elders (‘Nkome’) existed only in the memories of its former
members, having been systematically suppressed by the vigor of British district officers.
Henceforth, Chuka was ruled by appointed blanket chiefs and tribal retainers who
eventually become too powerful to withstand. The key role of the retainers was to collect
taxes and liaise with the blanket chiefs on the successful implementation of colonial
policies. Faced with such frustrations, the ‘Nkome’ elders retreated into apathy and
abandoned their role of governing the Chuka. The elders had become passive,
disheartened by the rule of the young and the disintegration of the norms. In retaliation,
men who were deprived this coveted position of elderhood   resorted to having secret
meetings at night to deliberate on what they viewed of importance to the community
(Thomas 1992). By 1940, the indigenous council system had wholly lost its significance
132
as the ‘pragmatist’ rulers had ceased to consult the elders and worked through the Local
Native Councils.
H.E. Lambert, who had served as the D.C in 1933-1935 and 1939-1942, (Lambert 1950,
K.N.A/DC/MRU/1/4: 1944) briefly restored the council of elders in the entire Meru
region. Lambert viewed the council of elders as ‘a positive force within a tribe’
(Lambert 1950:16). However he set minimum conditions for the elders, requiring them
to meet in daylight rather than at night, as they had done for over a decade (Kinyua
1970). Lambert grouped the council of Chuka, Mwimbi, Muthambi, Miutini and Igoji
into one unit called Nithi which formed the Southern Division of Meru. His efforts were
unsuccessful following alleged assertion by the Imenti that the Nithi were not ‘true
Ameru’ (Lambert 1950).
Lamberts’ efforts to revive the Councils in the 1940s were futile as the indigenous
system of elders was almost extinct (K.N.A/GP/301 Lam: 30). The Chuka had become
more acquainted to the ‘blanket’ chiefs and the tribal retainers. In the absence of the
elders influence the detailed organization of traditional circumcision ceremonies was
drastically diluted. The ‘gaaru’ system became obsolete and lost its significance. Many
young men abandoned the barracks life in search for jobs in order to earn money for
paying their taxes.
133
During the last decade of colonial rule, the Chuka experienced further political changes
that transformed the relegation of hegemony among men. In 1951, a woman named
Ciokaraine in Meru was appointed to the Local Native Councils (KNA MSS/7, Kinyua
1970), thus changing the gender based stereotype that men were in charge of the
political power in the community. Leadership was no longer associated with men only
but also began to engage women. This infers that going forward the hegemonic
masculinity was feminized as males who had hitherto exercised hegemony shared
positions of authority with women leaders. Thus, the Chuka people began to question the
legitimacy of the rite of circumcision in bestowing power on men over other men and
women.
4.1.3 Dismantling of warriorhood
Warriorhood was systematically dismantled in colonial Chuka which reduced the
importance of circumcision in ushering the young males into warrior hood. By July
1907, Horne relied wholly on the K.A.R. to protect and defend the Chuka land.
Consequently, the Chuka warriors lost their sovereignty and their right to control their
destiny, plan for the initiation ceremonies, and conduct their own diplomacy.
Within the first year of his administration, Horne supplemented this alien force with
Chuka warriors. Each blanket chief was instructed to choose two warriors who would
serve as ‘blanket askari’ (police) to Horne’s (‘Kangangi’s’) initial force (K.N.A,
DC/MRU/1/3/2: 1908). ‘Kangangi’ preferred men of outstanding size and physical
134
vigour, men of attested masculine qualities such as the tallest and strongest warriors.
Such requirements excluded men of small stature, advanced age, or physical infirmity
regardless of their experience, wisdom, or status from being in charge of community
affairs. The appointed warriors were designated as porters to the British soldiers and
were issued with blankets to symbolize their new appointments. Horne referred to them
by the Swahili term ‘askari’ (police) but the Chuka called them ‘Askari ya Kanga’
(blanket police).
The ‘blanket askari’ ranked lower than the British soldiers, but they were more powerful
than the traditional warriors. Though the blanket police were allowed to retain their
traditional shields and spears, they became subordinate to Horne’s ‘askari’ who carried
the gun. Many traditional warriors sought out the position of colonial police as a means
for adventure, military action and future praise for their masculinity. The creation of the
British force led to the co-existence of distinct militant masculinities.
This scenario of establishing an all-male police in the British colonies was an essential
aspect of producing a militant masculinity among the natives (Mama 2007).  The norms
of this army were defined by male bodies and ‘masculine’ practices which, just like in
the traditional set-up, denied women access to work and hold careers in the defense
forces.  Recruitment and conscription into ‘blanket’ police was carried out in accordance
with the divide and rule principle while targeting the local warriors. The recruitment of
135
these warriors into the police force removed them from their ‘gaaru’ set up and altered
the traditional flow of hegemony among the Chuka warriors.
Disgruntled warriors had to seek other avenues of reinforcing their manhood with many
of them opting to look for the low cadre jobs such as being cooks, messengers and
grounds men within the British system of administration, given their low education
levels. In 1908, Horne’s decree that weapons were not to be carried openly with pride
affected warriorhood (K.N.A. DC/CKU/1/1/2; 1908). This means that the shields and
spears ceased to serve as symbols of manhood without which effective training of the
warriors proved very difficult. This forced the family heads to carry fighting sticks in the
place of the forbidden weapons. The ban on carrying weapons by the warriors denied
circumcised men the opportunity to prove their manhood in ‘gaaru’ battles. It took away
powerful symbols of men’s authority and control. Circumcised men were denied the
open clamor for authority rendering them powerless before the British soldiers.
In the establishment of colonial rule, Horne mapped out the boundaries of each location
and designated them as native reserves. Colonial land policy of carving out African
reserves put pressure on the men’s authority over land appropriation. The entire Mt.
Kenya forest region was declared Crown Land which forbade the natives from
inhabiting and hunting in that zone (K.N.A. DC/CKU/1/1/2; 1908). In carving out the
location boundaries, forested uphill areas were reserved for the crown.
136
Crown land Ordinances were supplemented with Native Pass Systems of 1908, in which
all natives were restricted to their designated tribal reserves. The pass systems forbade
warriors from leaving their own locations for any reason except with the permission of
their chiefs. All natives who traveled outside their designated areas were required to
carry a pass or ‘Cheti’ (Muriira O.I: 10th Aug 2011). This restriction took away the
function of the circumcised men as custodians of clan land and disorganized the warriors
from their ‘gaaru’ set up.
Besides, travelling in groups of any size was totally forbidden. As a result of these
restrictions on movement, raids became difficult to stage. The warriors were forced by
the new circumstances to endlessly provide labour for the white man. By 1912, raiding
was outlawed by Horne, which meant that younger warriors who had not yet raided
sufficient animals were unable to marry in honour and to provide for their children
(Fadiman 2012). The ban on raiding changed the traditional concept that a circumcised
man was the provider for his family, casting misgivings on the man as the head of the
family.
Warriorhood was also affected during the construction of the gigantic road from Embu
through Naka and Meru Forts. This road was named ‘Horne road’ and was completed
using ‘mitiro’ (digging sticks) by 1912 (K.N.A. DC/MRU/1/3/1; 1912). The project
outraged the warriors for being ordered to dig, a job that was traditionally reserved for
137
women. Horne refused to exempt the men on request that this digging was against their
customs on division of labour. Consequently, men and women participated equally in
the road building and shared identical punishments for disobedience. The subjection of
the circumcised men in the road digging took away the pride of the manly warriors while
relegating them to the feminine duty.
Frustrated and stripped of their manhood privileges’, the warriors began to drink millet
beer and strong honey, which were hitherto a prerogative of elderhood. The pattern of
drunkenness intensified among the warriors due to their enforced idleness. Worse, the
pattern of drunkenness spread from warriors to the unmarried girls, which was a greater
violation of tradition. The codes that governed sexual relations between warriors and
unmarried women began to erode as well. Fadiman (1994) elaborates that traditionally,
warriors were supposed to abstain from drinking as well as sexual relations in order to
maintain their strength and alertness in case of an attack. The breaking of liquor
regulations by the warriors caused conflict between elders and the warrior age-sets.
Further conflict was witnessed between the warriors and the uncircumcised boys when
the latter adopted warrior braids and dress. Hegemony among the men was no longer
expressed in diet prohibitions or in the dress codes.
Between the years 1909 and 1911, Horne introduced a hut tax to be paid in form of
currency (initially rupees, subsequently shillings) or in kind such as livestock and labour
138
for the whites. Large contingents of hut retainers were recruited by the British
administrators to count and record every hut for purpose of taxation. The introduction of
the hut tax seriously affected warriorhood as young men abandoned their ‘gaaru’ life
style in search of wage labour.
By the mid 1915 the effects of the First World War (WW1) in Europe began to be felt in
Chuka (K.N.A.DC/MRU/1/3/1-2: 1914, 1916). Hundreds of native warriors from Chuka
were recruited as carrier corps for the British Expeditionary Force (K.N.A.
DC/CKU/1/3/1; 1911-1914). Chuka warriors scrambled for this opportunity in a bid to
recover their long hidden weapons and restore raiding which had been outlawed
(M’Baini, O.I: 7th Oct. 2011). However, the warriors were disillusioned when it turned
out to be that only whites formed the combat while the native warriors carried head
loads. This role was traditionally reserved for women and forcing native warriors to take
up feminine roles in the WW1led to further disintegration the well established gender
order.
The return of the carrier corps to Chuka in 1916 triggered a virulence outbreak of
dysentery and drought (K.N.A. DC/MRU/1/3/2; 1916). Archival records show that three
thousand warriors were killed following this outbreak and the famine that ensued. By
1917, the rising tide of illness intensified resulting into sporadic tax collection by the
British. The fear of confiscation of the Chuka cattle to feed the Whites at WW1 led to
139
resentment and anger from the warriors. Many of them devoured their cattle across the
ridge tops butchering them and holding feasts in the night (Fadiman 1994).
Despite the drastic changes on warriorhood, elements of the ‘gaaru’ system survived on
in the first decade of British rule in Chuka. Circumcised men continued to identify
themselves with a certain age set, though they hardly congregated in the ‘gaaru’ for any
warriorhood activities. The pioneer administrators had a personal inclination to deeply
probe the society and worked to preserve some of the cultural practices that the people
held so dearly in order to compel obedience from the natives.
The socio-political and economic changes within this first decade of colonial rule caused
a delay in the cessation of ‘Ntuiko’ (ritualized transfer of authority) between ruling
elders/ family heads and their warrior sons who were approaching warriorhood. The
delay to promote men to their next stage of manhood forced former warriors to take to
universal defiance of traditions and many of them engaged in sporadic brawling and
alcoholism. It is clear that the colonial administration overhauled the social stratification
of the age sets in Chuka.
140
Age-set Date of Entry
into Warriorhood
Remembered Events/Meaning
Kiambutu 1965 Majority were elites who had
embraced hospital circumcision.
Kiamuiruthi/Kiambutu 1956 Ban on female circumcision forcing
women to circumcise themselves.
Kiamatuma 1953 Fierce Mau Mau war, end of emergency,
floods of ‘muntu wa makembo’
Guantai,/Kianjuri/Kian
didi/kiamaguna/kirauko
1942-1950 Disillusionment about colonizers
Njabani 1933(estimated) Chuka administration shifted from
Embu  to Meru
Kiambutu,Kaburu(ii) 1928-1930 Famine of locusts
Kiruca 1926 Eclipse of the sun, earth tremor C.S.M
built a school at Ndiruni/Kiereni.
Kimuti/Nkonge 1921 End of World War1,Kenya became a
British colony
Miriti/kaburu (ii) 1913-1917
Young men/ warriors abducted for war,
in British East African Campaign,
World War 1, first D.O. to Chuka (Fort
Naka), and ‘Nchangiri’ (Embu-Meru)
road constructed Dysentery, foot and
mouth, and famine.
Irangu 1905-1908 Conquest by imperialists
Table 4.1 Showing the Chuka age sets in the colonial period.
Sources: Fadiman 2012; confirmed by Cianguo (O.I: 4th April 2011).
The period between 1925- 1945, traditional warriorhood in Chuka was abandoned due to
changes wrought by the colonizers. It is plausible that from 1945, men joined the Mau
Mau in the forest, in a bid to reinstate the warriorhood which had been ripped apart by
the colonizers. They seized this opportunity to perform their warriorhood role of
carrying weapons which had been prohibited by the imperialists. The warriors failed to
succeed in this objective since the fighters and sympathizers were arrested and detained
141
by the British. In order to disillusion the warriors further, the colonial administrators
took their land and gave it to the collaborators (Kibungi O.I:24th Nov 2012).
The state of emergency in 1952 and subsequent creation of emergency villages at
Ndagani and Thuita were political changes which destroyed the construction of
masculinities in the ‘gaaru’ through circumcision (Kibungi O.I: 15th Aug 2012). The
women, children and the elderly were confined in emergency villages, where hunger and
disease were common.  Entry and exit into and out of these villages was tightly
controlled by the British men. Children were escorted to schools by colonial soldiers in
order to delink them from the Mau Mau warriors. The restrictions on freedom of
movement and association denied the men an opportunity to congregate for any social
rituals of circumcision.
According to Muriira (O.I:10th Aug 2011), the Chuka actively participated in the Mau
Mau war more than any other sub group of the Ameru. The Mau Mau rebellion lasted
the better part of 1950s and had serious implications on the circumcision rituals. Men
ceased to carry out all the traditional circumcision rituals due to heightened insecurity in
the region. Out of frustration and the urge to attain their manhood, boys who had come
of age turned to the hospital (medicalized) circumcision. The age sets that were formed
after 1952 had many of their members circumcised the hospital way other than the
traditional way. An example of this was the Kiamatuma male age set which was
142
associated with the state of emergency. The name is derived from the fact that its
members resorted to cooking arrowroots in the river valleys due to restrictions on
movement. The arrow roots were readily available along the river banks for the Mau
Mau fighters who had no access to civilian support for food following the creation of the
emergency villages.
The Mau Mau was a male dominated movement which destroyed the masculinity of
fathers, sons and brothers through the experiences of the fighters in the forest. As the
movement heightened, men were forcibly recruited into it in the guise that they were
being registered for employment opportunities. By 1953, Mau Mau activities in Chuka
had reached their peak. The fighters burnt colonial schools at Mukuthuku, Chera,
Kambandi, Ndagani using ‘Gikutha’ (home- made detonations). The men were against
the interference with their social ordering of the males by the colonizers (Kibungi O.I;
24th Nov 2012). Manhood debates reached new and politicized intensity, following the
recruitment of some women to join the men in the forest. This shows that the military
and defense roles which had previously been associated with men as sites of hegemonic
masculinity no longer remained monolithic. This feminization of the Mau Mau
witnessed the end of the ‘manly warrior’ and the birth of a ‘womanly warrior’.
The political changes that were brought about by Mau Mau compelled many young men
to opt for hospital circumcision. This led to the formation of the of Kiambutu age set
143
which according to Kibungi (O.I; 24th Nov 2012), was not properly constituted because
its members supported hospital circumcision. This age set is therefore not considered by
many as a true representation of an age group. During this period too, the traditionalists
who were ardent supporters of ritualized circumcision openly showed defiance towards
the ban on female circumcision. Between 1956 and 1958, young women in entire Meru
region circumcised each other as a show of resistance to the ban on female circumcision
(Thomas 1996). The ban came into effect in March 1956 when the D.C, J.A Cumber
outlawed female circumcision describing it as, ‘an iniquitous tribal tradition’ (K.N.A.
CS/1/14/100; 1956).
By 1959, ‘ngaitana’ (self- circumcision) had spread among Meru girls who feared to be
referred to as cowards, or ‘nkenye’, which is a reproachful name for the uncircumcised
girls. The practice gave rise to the female age set ‘Kiamwiruthi’ (‘circumcising oneself’)
which was named after the act of the women circumcising each other. The Mau Mau had
mobilized many young women to support ‘Kiamwiruthi’ as a form of resistance to
imperialists’ interference with the female circumcision rituals. As this was happening in
Chuka, Murray (1974) reports a similar scenario in Central Kenya, where female
circumcisers cut a large part of their clients’ genitals as defiance to the missionary ban
on the practice.
By 1960, the crises on male circumcision became a serious site for debates on real
manhood. The men’s struggle for hegemony was between the traditional adherents who
144
supported a ritualized circumcision and the Christian converts who were strong
proponents for hospital circumcision. However, as the Chuka approached independence,
focus shifted from debates on real manhood and masculinity to debates on their territory
and the possible threat on their land by the Agikuyu (Fadiman 1994). This means that
the men shifted their attention from safeguarding a masculinity that was too dented by
social-political and economic changes to land and territorial sovereignty.
In conclusion, the imperial rule in Chuka brought to a halt the elaborate barracks system
that had defined stages of manhood in pre-colonial Chuka. Imperial notions of
masculinity displaced the traditional notions of masculinity with more calculative,
rational and regulated masculinities. The defined spaces of men and women that rarely
overlapped in pre-colonial period were affected by the British rule.
4.2 Pre-Circumcision Rituals in Colonial Chuka
4.2.1 The ‘Kurathia’ ceremony in colonial Chuka
The ritual of ‘Kurathia’ went through major changes during the colonial period. During
the pre-colonial period, the circumcision candidate was accompanied by his peers to
seek blessings from the maternal relatives. However, in the colonial period the candidate
was escorted by his father to his maternal relatives. This reflects a change on the practice
since the boy was not in the company of his peers and no ‘ndatho’ songs were
145
performed. This change was influenced partly due to the administrative changes that the
colonialists had implemented.
For instance, Horne had outlawed the feasts and songs that accompanied the ‘kurathia’
ceremonies because he considered them obscene. Besides, the Native Pass System of
1908 forbade people from travelling in groups of any size and demanded that boys had
to cover their nudity during the ritualized ‘kurathia’ dances (K.N.A. DC/CKU/1/1/2;
1908). Since boys were prohibited from dancing while nude, it became increasingly
difficult for them to participate in the ‘ndatho’ songs.
Another aspect of the ‘kurathia’ that changed during the colonial period was on the
nature of ‘ndatho’ gifts. The boy received ‘ndatho’ goods that were in the form of either
a blanket or a cloth. Such items were associated with power and authority, because the
British administrators gave blankets or cloths to their appointed ‘blanket chiefs’ and
‘blanket police’, as symbols of their authority. Besides being new symbols of power and
authority, the cloth or blanket became ideal gifts for the initiates which they used to
cover their nakedness.  The traditional ‘ndatho’ gifts which symbolized manhood
attributes such as the bows, shields and arrows ceased to be presented to the initiate.
This was especially so from 1908, when Horne issued a decree that weapons were not to
be carried openly with pride (K.N.A. DC/CKU/1/1/2; 1908) which challenged the
established ‘ndatho’ traditions.
146
The girls too did a similar ‘kurathia’ to that of the boys during this period. The only
difference was on the nature of goods that they presented to their maternal aunties. Girls
took with them some grains such as sorghum and millet in exchange for feminine goods
such as trinkets and ‘shanga’ (coastal beads) which had been introduced to the Chuka by
the Arabs and Swahili traders, also known as ‘Acomba’ (Mwaniki 2004:44). The gifts
presented to the boys signified that they had control over girls who received inferior
gifts that had no relation whatsoever with power and authority.
During the ‘kurathia’ ceremony, the pre-initiation ritual of ear piercing declined by 1920
because of influence from the Scottish missionaries. Oral information handed down to
Rev. Alexander (O.I: 2nd Aug 2011), shows that the missionaries put pressure on the
boys to stop ear piercing and close up the ear lobes because it was ungodly. Ear piercing
had been practiced over a long time for aesthetic purposes and to symbolize authority
from those who had the widest earlobes (M’Baini O.I: 7th Oct 2011). By 1930, both
Catholics and Protestant missionaries abhorred the ear piercing and declared it a
mutilation of the body. For the missionaries, the ear piercing was against the will of God
and they required that the earlobes be sewn up by their converts. Heightened missionary
campaign against ear piercing led to its diminished practice during ‘kurathia’ ceremony.
By 1963, the tradition of ear piercing had become extinct among the Chuka.
147
4.2.2. ‘Thauthi’ dances in colonial Chuka
Another aspect of pre-initiation rituals that changed drastically during the colonial
period was the ‘thauthi’ (circumcision dances). The Chuka warriors continued to
perform the ‘thauthi’ dances as long as they covered their nudity with goat’s skin or
cloth or a ‘kithithi’ (skirt-like short that was made of reeds). Within the first ten years of
British rule, the warriors’ participation in the ‘thauthi’ had significantly dropped by over
20 % (Kibungi O.I: 10th June 2013). This could be attributed to the restrictions on the
dressing and on freedom of assembly that made the ‘thauthi’ less exciting to the
participants and the spectators.
The decline in the ‘thauthi’ worsened between 1917 and 1927, the second decade of
colonial rule in Chuka. The Christian missionaries forbade all their converts from
joining or even watching these ‘thauthi’ dances. The Protestants and Catholics alike
objected the ‘thauthi’ due to the way males publicly displayed their nudity. The fact that
not all the youth participated in the ‘thauthi’, denied the converted warriors the
opportunity to display their nudity and clout during the dance performances. Further, the
missionaries associated the drumming with savagery and the time when these dances
took place at night and in the darkness with the evil (Fadiman 2004). This was in line
with the Christian doctrine that the devil works at night as opposed to day time. The
‘thauthi’ dancers were not only considered devilish by the missionaries but also obscene.
148
The ‘thauthi’ dances were described by the missionaries as lascivious and undermining
their progress in evangelization. The messages in the songs were sexually provocative
because the verses often elicited the audience response through sexual innuendo. Muriira
(O.I: 18th Dec 2012) refers to the style of dancing these ‘thauthi’ as ‘kumunta mburi’
(literally meaning ‘piercing a goat’). The ‘thauthi’ dances were sexually provocative
perhaps to intimidate the women and other men to believe that circumcision brings about
irresistible sexual virility. The dances could also have been used to intimidate women
into submission and to force the weaker men to obey the stronger ones.
Due to the missionary view on the ‘thauthi’ dances, the number of willing participants
declined by over 40 % by 1930 (Kibungi O.I: 10th June 2013). This decline indicates that
the missionary presence in Chuka was slowly gaining effect against the construction of
masculinities in Chuka. On the contrary, the traditionalists who continued to practice the
‘thauthi’ viewed the dances as a pre-circumcision guidance that offered counseling to
the candidates and prepared them to withstand the circumcision pain. The missionaries
replaced the ‘thauthi’ dancing and its ‘pagan’ elements with Christian prayer as a pre-
initiation ritual for the mission youths. Missionaries called for the virtues of humility
from the converts as opposed to the arrogance that was displayed by the warriors during
the dancing. The missionaries sought to ‘purify’ the Chuka male circumcision by
excluding ‘thauthi’ songs from the hospital/medicalized circumcision (Muriira O.I: 10th
Aug 2011). A similar scenario of excluding ritualized dances from the hospital
149
circumcision was recorded in Central Kenya, where protestant missionaries ‘purified’
the male and female circumcision by excluding rituals that placed undue emphasis on
sexual life (Thomas 2003).
Between 1927 and 1937, the entrenchment of Christianity and Western education
affected the general appeal of the ‘thauthi’ dances among the mission youth. Generally
speaking, the organization of the warriors at village levels had nearly been dismantled
due to the demands of migrant labour. During this period, many warriors had to source
for wage employment in settler farms in central Kenya in order to meet the taxation
demands. By 1935, the rate of translation of the youths from the villages as migrant
labourers was quite high. This reduced the number of youths in the villages who could
effectively participate in the ‘thauthi’. The demographic changes forced the youths from
many adjacent villages to combine for the ‘thauthi’. Kanga (O.I: 15th June 2013) posits
that information handed to him by his grandfather shows that by 1940, warriors across
Magumoni, Mwonge and Karingani ridges combined forces to dance the ‘thauthi’. This
implies that by 1940 the ‘thauthi’ dances had drastically reduced from the village levels
to ridge top groupings that comprised many villages.
Between the years 1937 and 1947 the ‘thauthi’ dance had not only become rare, but it
had also been exclusively preserved for the entire community. The few individuals who
adhered to the traditional circumcision rituals performed the ‘thauthi’ dances at a
150
community level rather than the village level. Horn blowing was used to communicate to
the participants about these dances, which had become very rare occurrences. The
messages in the song disparaged the colonizers and the mission youths who evaded the
dance. The songs despised the colonizers and branded them as ‘uncircumcised’ (Muriira;
O.I: 18th Dec 2012). Christian parents prohibited their sons from participating in the
‘thauthi’ due to the Christian teachings that the dance was evil. Majority of the youths
participated in the dances secretly because the dance was no longer a spectacular
performance for the villagers.
The ‘thauthi’ dances became obsolete after 1952 following the establishment of the
Emergency villages after the outbreak of the Mau Mau struggle. Kibungi (O.I: 10 th June
2013) informs us that by 1957, the ‘thauthi’ dance had lost the gist that it once had in the
construction of masculinity in Chuka. Kibungi posited that he and a majority of his peers
did not take part in the dances because of his Christian parents. He refers to those who
participated in these dances as ‘acenci’ (pagans). However, the men who had
participated in the ‘thauthi’ such as Saribatore (O.I: 8th Aug 2011) felt that they had
rightfully earned their manhood and had power over those men who had not danced
‘thauthi’. Moreover, the ‘thauthi’ had become unpopular by 1960s, with the Christian
men believing that their masculinity was pure and better than the ‘impure’ masculinity
of those who had danced ‘thauthi’. The men grouped themselves into two broad
masculinities of advocates of ‘thauthi’ and the opponents of ‘thauthi’.
151
By 1963, the ‘thauthi’ dances ceased to be an important ritual in creating hegemonic
masculinity among the Chuka. Indeed, the Christian converts proved their superiority
over the traditionalists by focusing on the benefits which they accrued from their petite
education such as wage labour. The debates on hegemonic masculinity focused more on
employment and literacy skills as the proper attributes of manhood, contrary to the
traditionalists’ view that a real man had to have danced the ‘thauthi’. The converts
eventually wielded power over the traditionalists and won more audience from the
youth, who were preparing for their rite of circumcision and who chose to discard the
ritual of dancing the ‘thauthi’.
4.3 Hospital Circumcision in Colonial Chuka
Hospital circumcision in Chuka can be traced back to the arrival of European
missionaries in the early 1920s. Missionaries strained the Chuka social life and the
traditional circumcision operation. Influenced by the missionaries, converts vehemently
denounced as primitive practices, the traditional circumcision rituals such as the
‘ndatho’, ‘kuuna gaaru’, ‘mithambo’, ‘kagiri’, and ‘nciabu’.
Initially, the Scottish and the Roman Catholic missionaries made every effort to
Christianize the circumcision rituals, as they worked to spread the Christian God. They
questioned many traditional rituals, training and activities of the traditional initiation.
152
Missionaries described the rituals of traditional circumcision as ‘strange and backward at
best and evil and demonic at worst’ (Thomas 1992:25). Missionaries violently objected
to the traditional operation as a direct violation of God's will. But even in the wake of
sustained attacks from Western missionaries, many newly converted Chuka men refused
to abandon the much cherished traditional circumcision rituals, forcing the Europeans to
reluctantly recognize the practice (Ibid). The missionaries had to come to terms with the
Chuka traditions which exalted male and female circumcision as the single most
important event in the lives of the members of this Mt. Kenya community.
However, the missionaries objected to female circumcision as a form of genital
mutilation. Other than discard the rite, the missionaries began to christianize the male
circumcision by   allowing the operation to be done within the mission dispensary. The
Christian youths in the mission stations had to undergo separate circumcision
ceremonies from those of the ‘pagans.’ Initially, the medical personnel who were mostly
whites replaced the ‘mutani’ in his role of performing the operation. The power wielded
by the ‘mutani’ over the initiates was now transferred to hospital doctors with European
training. Thus hegemony was transferred to other actors and the mission dispensary
became the new ‘itiri’ and the ‘kagauni’ venues, which were the sites for transmitting
manhood attributes to the initiates.
153
The hospital operation had to follow basic procedures as narrated by two medical
practitioners who perform the operation among the Chuka to date. The hospital
circumcision was short and inexpensive. It also had very few actors. The procedure
began with the doctors administering local anesthesia on the initiate’s body to induce the
loss of sensitivity to pain. The missionaries were particularly concerned with the
exposure of young men to excess pain during the traditional operation that could at times
lead to the death of the initiates. The procedure in hospital circumcision was painless,
largely because of the use of anesthesia (Mwambia O.I: 11th June 2011, Mutiso O.I: 9th
July 2011). This was contrary to customary demands which forbade any male from
showing pain during the operation.
Traditionally, a man who successfully bore the bite of the knife gained full entry into the
hegemonic masculinity and exercised power over the men who had behaved cowardly
during their circumcision operation. The disappearance of the circumcision pain due to
the application of anesthesia removed the value of pain in strengthening the courage and
bravery of the initiates. Twitching or blinking of eyes due to the pain of the operation
ceased to be parameters for false manhood among men who were circumcised in
hospital.
The removal of pain due to the use of anesthesia denied the Chuka men an opportunity
to create a hegemonic masculinity based on bravery. The hospital circumcision created a
154
new category of men, derogatively referred to as ‘Iroge’ which means ‘poisoned’
(Saribatore and Nyangi O.I: 8th Aug. 2011). Those circumcised through the hospital
were perceived to have acquired their manhood in a cowardly and ‘womanly’ way.
Since the ‘iroge’ had failed to endure the pain they were not expected to lead or control
the traditionally circumcised men.
It has been argued elsewhere (Philipose 2007) that those African men who avoided the
pain of circumcision were considered boys irrespective of their age. They were locked
out in the social standing as illegitimate men and shunned from participating in debates
with real men who had endured the pain of traditional circumcision. The traditionalists
held the view that bearing the circumcision pain legitimately epitomized ideal Chuka
masculinity.
However, it is plausible that some Chuka men may have welcomed hospital
circumcision as an alternative to the excruciating pain of traditional circumcision.
Indeed, Mwaniki (2004:107) describes the ‘Kagauni’ experience as a ‘terrible place’
because of the severe pain that was experienced by the traditional initiates. This was the
venue where the ‘mutani’ totally scrapped all the subcutaneous layer of the foreskin
without any application of anesthesia on initiates. Contrary to the ‘kagauni’ experience,
the youth who were circumcised in hospital simply met the basic condition of attaining
manhood through circumcision, irrespective of whether they had displayed any signs of
155
fear or not. Further, the application of anesthesia denied the mission youths an
opportunity to participate in the ‘mithambo’ (cold bath) that the traditional initiates had
to experience. By keeping off the ‘mithambo’, these youth missed out on the important
manhood lessons that were embedded in the ‘mithambo’ songs. Gradually, the mission
youth wielded control over the traditionalists because of the literacy skills which they
learnt in the mission schools.
The hospital operation was performed under sterile conditions as compared to the
traditional circumcision at the ‘itiri’ and ‘kagauni’ venues. The initiate was laid on a
hospital bed during the entire operation process as opposed to lying on the wet banana
trunks in the ‘kagauni’. The amount of foreskin to be removed was estimated and
clamped outwards. The clamp replaced the ‘miraga’ thorns that had been used in the
traditional circumcision to clip the foreskin. The nurse who assisted the practitioner
became the new ‘mubanda miraga’ (‘planter of thorns’) and the ‘mutiri’ (sponsor) of the
initiates. Using a pair of scissors, the foreskin was then opened up via the orifice to
reveal the tip of the penis. The inner lining of the foreskin (epithelium) was then bluntly
separated from its attachment to the glans. Finally, a scalpel or a pair of scissors was
used to sever the foreskin (Mwambia O.I:11th June 2011).
The circumcision wound was then stitched and dressed to facilitate healing. During the
entire operation, the initiate was put under medical observation and precaution to control
156
any excessive bleeding. The use of the sterilized equipment in the hospitals gave the
mission youths power over the traditionalists whom they considered as ‘backward’ in
their circumcision procedures.
Apart from the missionary intrusion, other factors may have influenced the Chuka to
slowly adopt the hospital circumcision. The impact of famine and epidemics on the
family resources vis-à-vis the high expenses of traditional circumcision ceremonies may
have led the Chuka to accept the hospital circumcision (Ciekamba O.I: 14th June 2013).
In Petersons (2004) study of Central Kenya, the Kikuyu boys opted for group
circumcision at the mission dispensary from 1912 due to lack of goats/sheep to pay for
the circumcision fees to the local surgeons. For the case of Chuka, the effects of the
‘Kithioro’ famine of 1916-1919, the outbreak of foot and mouth disease and the
influenza epidemic of November 1918 caused many people to adopt hospital
circumcision (K.N.A. DC/MRU/1/3/2, 1918-1919). Hospital circumcision was perceived
cheaper in terms of feeding of the initiates.
By the mid-1930, economic hardships rendered hospital circumcision common among
the Chuka men since it was seen as an easier avenue for attaining manhood. From 1947,
hospital circumcision at the dispensaries was shifted to the mission schools due to
heightened animosity between the traditionalists and the ‘iroge’. The 1950s marked the
period when the Chuka men seriously engaged in the Mau Mau activities forcing many
157
boys to opt for circumcision in the mission schools. In so doing these boys evaded the
forced conscription into the Mau Mau struggle.
In the mission schools, the teachers and the clergy registered candidates to be
circumcised and selected trained native surgeons to perform the operation. The boys
went to the church for prayers and for blessings from the clergy before being lined up
for the operation at the school compound. The native surgeons had been handpicked
from among the converts and trained by the missionaries on how to conduct the
circumcision operation in hospital. The use of the native surgeons reduced the resistance
by the Chuka converts towards the European surgeons and such a move was anticipated
to increase the number of youths who preferred medicalized circumcision. The native
surgeons too used the modern circumcision tools such as the clamp, scissors, scalpel and
applied anesthesia on initiates (Mwambia, O.I; 11th June 2011, Kibungi, O.I; 10th August
2011).
The circumcision in the hospital undermined the roles of the traditional circumcisers and
the elders in passing on manly lessons to the new initiates. As such, traditionalists
continued to oppose the hospital circumcision because they viewed the ‘iroge’ as men
who were ill-prepared for manhood. The medically circumcised men continued to
increase in number and gained popularity among many youths because of the benefits of
the education and literacy skills which they acquired.
158
The hospital circumcision created a geneology of Chuka men who became critical of and
who shunned traditional rituals of circumcision. Results of this denigration of custom
created an entire generation of people who held a very low opinion about the traditional
circumcisers and seldom talked about them (Thomas 1992). Through the hospital
circumcision, the missionaries assumed they had civilized circumcision ceremonies
during the 1950s. According to White (2003), this period marks the time when the
Christian missionaries made great effort to refashion African men in Central Kenya. The
missionaries had forced the mission youths to abandon the traditional rituals for a
‘purified male circumcision’ in the schools. Having schools as the venues for
circumcision, the missionaries scheduled the operation to be done during the school
holidays to avoid disrupting learning.
Schools became the new ‘iganda’ where youths were guided by the catechists and
teachers as their sponsors. With the collapse of the barracks system, the missionary
intervention in school circumcision shaped the way men and women thought and talked
about real manhood (Kibungi O.I: 15th Aug. 2011). From the mid 1950s, the colonial
administrators had passed legislations that further led to disintegration of the traditional
rituals of circumcision. Efforts were made to restrict all the initiation ceremonies,
requiring that circumcisers obtain a certificate of registration at a fee of five shillings or
fifty rat tails. The latter requirement was an attempt by the administration to contribute
159
to public heath campaigns of eradicating the rat menace (Thomas 1996:340, Nyaga
1986:13). But the registration requirement created European hegemony on the ‘mutani’.
It also caused many traditional circumcisers to lose power over the community.
The new legislations that regulated circumcision practices contributed to a decline in the
number of traditional circumcisers. Majority of the local surgeons feared retribution
from the colonizers and abandoned their work. Others continued circumcising the boys
under cover because they had failed to raise the money for the license. This means that
the coveted position of ‘mutani’ as the giver of manhood became an abomination and
many men dissociated from it. The administrators also resolved that all initiation
ceremonies were to be done at puberty, rather than the late teens as was tradition. This
requirement helped to curb the rising incidences of abortion among the youths (Thomas
1996:341).
After 1955, senior age sets that were initiated through hospital circumcision began to
emerge. The members associated their circumcision with gains such as access to
employment in the colonial economy. They willingly advocated for the school
circumcision for their sons, rather than lose the opportunities which came with being
educated. Such males used education and employment to establish themselves as men,
against the traditionalists’ view that traditional circumcision was the means to real
manhood. By 1963, the use of schools as venues for circumcision and the use of native
160
surgeons had been adopted by over half of the initiation candidates as opposed to the use
of white surgeons in the dispensaries (Kibungi O.I: 15th Aug. 2011). The men who were
circumcised through schools by trained native surgeons wielded more power over those
circumcised through the hospitals by white surgeons, since many Chuka men yearned to
decolonize themselves from the social-political and economic exploitation of the
colonists.
4.4 Post- circumcision Rituals in Colonial Chuka.
4.4.1 Education and seclusion
Missionaries were keen to introduce a new form of seclusion for the mission initiates in
order to prohibit them from the traditional seclusion patterns. Missionaries in particular
isolated the converts from their families in order to safeguard them from being
‘contaminated’ with ‘pagan’ influences. The hospital initiates were secluded in mission
huts. This denied them the ‘iganda’ experiences which was the seclusion for the fresh
traditional initiates. Initially the contest for hegemonic control and power was between
the men secluded in the ‘iganda’ and those of mission huts. The latter were used by the
Europeans to implement their indirect rule policies which gave them power over the men
secluded in the ‘iganda’. Slowly, the young men, women and the elderly began to
succumb to indirect control of those circumcised through the schools.
By 1924, Methodists, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics alike had around 300 converts
who had enrolled in their centers (Rev. Worthington 1920). This number of converts
161
represents a small fraction of people compared to the estimated population of 160,000
persons in region (Ibid). These converts chose to live in the mission centers other than
the warrior huts. Initially, the small number of converts made it possible for the newly
circumcised mission youth to be accommodated in the mission huts during their
convalescence period. According to oral information handed down to Muriira (O.I: 18th
Dec 2012), the mission youth became popularly referred to as ‘nthaka cia Christo’
(Christ’s warriors).
In 1925, the contest for real manhood was between those youths who had undergone
hospital circumcision and were secluded in the mission huts versus the warriors who had
been secluded in the ‘iganda’. The latter felt that they were the real men and that the
mission youths were children, because they had not learnt the ‘catechism’ for manhood
(Muriira O.I: 18th Dec 2012). Whereas the traditional Chuka men and women opposed
seclusion in the mission huts as an attack on their culture and their social customs,
majority of the mission initiates embraced it as a means to elevate their social status
among fellow converts.
Initially, the warriors who were the majority mounted pressure on the minority mission
youths to abandon seclusion in the mission huts and move to the ‘iganda’. The warriors
held the view that the ‘iganda’ was the proper venue for manhood catechism. This
ideology influenced some mission youths to openly oppose the missionary attempts to
162
shelter them in the mission huts. The mission initiates strongly identified with the
traditional ‘iganda’ as the ideal and socially sanctioned venue for the construction of real
men. In order to retain the converts, the missionaries began to allow the mission youths
to undergo hospital circumcision but get secluded in their ‘iganda’ within their
homesteads.
Oral sources indicate that by 1930, the ‘iganda’ that was traditionally made of banana
leaves was improved by the hospital initiates to reflect their new status and to
differentiate themselves from the warriors (M’Baini O.I: 12th June 2013). The new
‘iganda’ was built using poles and was mudded on the walls. It is possible that the
increasing number of mission initiates forced the missionaries to give in to their
demands to be secluded in their homes in order to ease congestion at the mission
schools. The new ‘iganda’ became a popular venue for the recuperation of the medically
circumcised initiates which gave them more power over the initiates who had been
secluded in the traditional ‘iganda’ that was clumsily built.
The missionaries set several conditions for the youth who were secluded in the new
‘iganda’. First, the missionaries demanded that the initiates return to the mission centers
immediately after healing in order to isolate them from the pagan teachings in the
‘gaaru’. This demand stripped the mission youth of the opportunity they had to redeem
their manhood through ‘gaaru’ performances. Another condition to these initiates was
163
that they had to shave off their warrior braids and refrain from piercing their ears which
traditionally symbolized the emerging warriors. Oral information handed down to
Mbungu (O.I; 17th June 2011), indicates that the missionaries did not only disapprove of
the warrior regalia, particularly the warrior  braids, but also put pressure on the mission
youth to stop ear piercing and close them up. Braids and long ear lobes that marked
junior masculinities were no longer ideal for mission youths.
Thirdly, the missionaries demanded that the red ochre used to enhance the beauty of
women and warriors alike was to be scrubbed from the mission youths’ hair and body.
Beads, skins, and every form of ornament used to mark warriorhood were cast aside by
the missionaries. Besides, the missionaries helped to enforce the ban on the taking and
brewing of beer, which had been outlawed by the blanket chief Mbogori 1914 (K.N.A,
DC/CKA/1/3/2:1914). Consequently, the mission youth were not allowed to brew or
take beer since the Protestant and Catholic faiths opposed intoxication. The last
condition for the mission youth was that through baptism, they had to acquire new
names that had religious meanings as opposed to the traditional names given in ‘Nciabu’
songs. Examples of such names were Isaiah, Peter, John and Paul, based on Biblical
authors. They were instructed to refrain from taking the traditional names in honour of
such wild beasts as ‘Njogu’ (elephant) and ‘Mbogo’ (buffalo). Naming in the ‘nciabuni’
ceremony ceased to be an important post-initiation ritual among the mission youth. The
164
Christian baptism became the new ‘nciabuni’ ceremony during which the mission youth
were given new names that had religious significance.
Boys who chose to join the new faith had to be isolated from their ‘pagan’ age-mates
and from the life of the community. The religious prohibitions separated the mission
youth from the warriors who adhered to ritualized circumcision. The emerging
differences between the warriors and the mission youth inevitably stimulated hostility
between the two sets of young men and created two centers of power.
Informed by the new changes, the mission youth began to lead a different lifestyle from
their peers. They discarded the warrior braids and red ochre for European shorts and
shirts and learnt how to prepare coffee in place of traditional beer and could speak the
English language as opposed to the coded warriorhood language (Cooper 2002). The
new lifestyle by the mission youth influenced them to gradually gain control over the
young boys who were curious to adopt the new dressing and consumption patterns. This
ripped off the traditionalists their hegemony over the young boys, as new initiates envied
and adopted a new lifestyle in the mission schools (Rev. Alexander O.I: 2nd Aug 2011).
Real contest for manhood focused on the kind of education imparted on the initiates
during their seclusion perriod. The structuring and the content of the formal education to
the mission youth had major disparities with the informal traditional education because
165
they learnt literacy skills. Scottish missionaries led by Dr. A. Clive Irvine, Rev. Dr. John
William Arthur, G. Dennis and A. R. Barlow who worked in British East Africa between
1907 and 1937, significantly increased the number of mission schools. The Catholic
missionaries too established schools under the flagship of Father Comollio. (Rev.
Alexander O.I: 2nd Aug 2011, Orde 1925).
By 1937, many schools had mushroomed in nearly all the mission stations within Chuka
land (Kibungi O.I: 10th June 2013). The schools became sites for re-socialization and
construction of elite masculinity among the mission youth. Christian missionaries sought
to socialize and shape the mission youth into real men. Cooper (2002) shows that in
many parts of Africa, the seclusion of initiates in the schools enabled the missionaries to
tear down the ‘savage’ beliefs and practices of the African people. This form of
seclusion enabled the missionaries to shelve aside kinship ties, age groups, the council of
elders and other collectivities to the Chuka social life. The mission youth were expected
to abstain from the ‘pagan’ teachings and warfare associated with traditional ‘gaaru’
warriors.
The missionaries entrenched individualism in the entire education process and
dismantled the communalism that was common in traditional circumcision. Schools
became the new ‘gaaru’ for the mission youth from where they acquired the new
knowledge and skills while being exposed to the new faith. Schooling divided the Chuka
166
men into two broad categories of elite (also referred to as the readers) and non-elite
masculinities, with the former being in indirect control over the latter. Further, the elites
who excelled academically gained hegemony over their peers who did not do well in
school (Mbungu O.I: 17th May 2011).
The theme of the mission education was to inculcate the virtues of obedience and
humility on initiates as opposed to the traditional education which imbued on the
initiates the manhood attribute of aggression. Having gone through education in mission
schools, the youth found nothing wrong in shaking hands with their mothers or younger
siblings. They ceased to look at womanhood as an anti-thesis of manhood. On the
contrary, the youth believed in exercising the cardinal rule of honouring their parents.
Oral information handed down to Cianguo (O.I: 21st April 2011) confirmed that the
mission youth  freely shook hands with their mothers and by the 1940s, the social
distance between mothers and their educated but circumcised sons began to erode.
The mission schools enrolled the circumcised and uncircumcised men and women alike
which changed the traditional perception that the hegemonic masculinity had to be
constructed away from women and from the uncircumcised. Admission into the mission
schools was based on conversion to Christianity which differed from admission into the
traditional ‘gaaru’, which was based on the rite of circumcision. Initially, the youth who
167
attended mission schools were abused as ‘ibici’ (uncircumcised) and their school huts
were equated with the small boyhood huts by the ‘gaaru’ warriors.
During the inception stage of  the Western education, the warriors throughout Chuka
shamed the mission scholars with bursts of song referring to them as ‘hairless animals,
fearful animals, mice, termite eaters, egg eaters’ and bean eaters’, foods traditionally
eaten by small boys and women. The songs were also directed  to girls who looked at
these mission youth/ as their future husbands, warning them that if they married the
mission youth, they would spend the rest of their  life on their ‘knees’. Further, the
mission youth were shamed and ridiculed for their western clothing which were seen as
‘women clothes’ and henceforth they were referred to as women, ‘who spoke softly to
children, to whom the warriors barked orders’ (Fadiman 2012: 258-259). This ridicule
was the order of the day around all the mission schools in Chuka for the next decade.
Fathers and elders continued to lose control over the generation of elites whom they
expelled from their homesteads because ‘they were spoilt for manhood and unworthy to
receive cows to help them marry’ (Ibid: 256).
Fathers and elders lost the power to allot property in form of land and livestock to their
sons. Through their wage earnings, the elites realized that they could establish
independent livelihoods without relying on their fathers to allocate them land and bride
wealth, something that fathers did following their sons circumcision. Since schooling led
to gainful employment, the rite of circumcision declined in its significance of
168
determining property ownership among men. Through salaried employment, the elite
masculinity could independently own property and this influenced them to have a new
following from mission youth and boys whom they indirectly controlled.
Whether judged positive or negative, the mission education produced an ideational
climate that was much more receptive to social change on warriorhood. By 1937, the
mission youth isolated themselves from the entire spectrum of circumcision rituals
which would have ushered them into warriorhood. The warriors exercised control over
the minority mission youth, possibly due to the fact that the benefits of formal education
had not began to be felt in the society. However, between 1937 and 1947, schooling had
become an attraction for many warriors who viewed it as a means to acquiring jobs
within the colonial economy. Through employment, the youth anticipated to earn
enough wages to be able to pay taxes and purchase European goods (Cooper 2002).
Due to formal schooling, the elite masculinities acquired new skills to secure wage labor
which the warrior masculinities did not have. Men who went through hospital
circumcision and Western education qualified to get jobs and earn money to support
their families. The attribute of hegemonic masculinity was no longer based on the
bravery of the men during circumcision but on acquisition of Western education and
consequently waged labour. Salaried men began to control and intimidate other men to
submit to their control. From the 1950s, more and more elites became economically
empowered and ceased to depend on their fathers for property allotment. Traditionally,
169
fathers apportioned land to their sons who had successfully gone through all
circumcision rituals. The males who defied this cultural requirement of ritualized
circumcision were denied their right to inherit property from their fathers. In the early
1960s, education became the new avenue for property ownership and inheritance.
By 1963, the socio-political and economic changes in Chuka created multiple and at
times conflicting notions of real men. On the one hand, the elites viewed education and
employment as the means to proper manhood while others viewed the ritually
circumcised men as the real men. On the contrary, the elites considered the traditional
rituals of circumcision as heathen and backward (Muriira (O.I: 10th Oct. 2011). The
prevailing demands from formal schooling made it difficult for many men to go through
ritualized seclusion. As such, the efforts by some men to adhere to ritualized
circumcision were frustrated and altered by 1963.
4.5 Summary and Conclusion
This chapter has shown that the imposition of colonial rule in Chuka changed the
understanding and construction of masculinities through circumcision. The colonizers
and the missionaries emphasized on the European stereotype of masculinity. As a result,
they dismantled the social, political and economic structures that had for a long time
created the Chuka masculinity.
170
Missionaries trained the Chuka men to hate their traditional circumcision rituals, by
presenting them as ‘pagan’ and savage. They introduced hospital circumcision and
seclusion which forbade the converts from participating in ‘thauthi’, ‘kurathia’, ‘itiri’
and ‘kagauni’ rituals. The traditional ideology that a real man had to show courage by
withstanding the circumcision pain was altered through the use of anesthesia. By 1963,
the traditional notions of masculinity were replaced with some new forms of
masculinities. For instance, feminine masculinities emerged as women began to take up
leadership positions as ‘headmen’ and councilors. Masculine femininities too emerged
as circumcised men began to do feminine duties such as digging and cooking. Due to
their economic independence, the elites challenged the relevance of the traditional
circumcision in producing Chuka men and embraced education as the new means to
proper manhood.
In conclusion, the imposition of colonial rule transformed the traditional rituals of
circumcision and created new versions of manhood and the consequent masculinities.
The indigenous masculinities simply gave way to the foreign masculinities as the ritually
circumcised men navigated and contested for hegemony with the men who were
circumcised in hospitals.
171
CHAPTER FIVE
CHUKA CIRCUMCISION AND MASCULINITY IN THEPOST-
INDEPENDENCE ERA 1963-2000 AD.
5.0 Introduction
In chapter four, we highlighted the transformation of the Chuka circumcision during the
era of formal colonial rule. We observed that among the features that underwent
transformation were the ‘thauthi’ dances, the role of the ‘mutani’, the significance of the
‘gaaru’ warriors, the pattern of seclusion of initiates and the quality of education given
to the initiates.  We concluded that the European colonizers and the Christian
missionaries dismantled the traditional rituals and structures of circumcision in Chuka.
In this chapter, we assess a further transformation of these rituals of circumcision in
post- independent Chuka. The objective of this chapter is not only to evaluate the
fundamental changes on the circumcision rite but also to assess how the political liberty
attained in 1963 affected the construction of masculinities in Chuka up to the close of
the 20th C. The concept of hegemonic masculinity has been used in this chapter to
evaluate how different masculinities co-existed with each other during the post-
independence period and how the educated men indirectly controlled the illiterate men.
172
5.1 Pre- circumcision Rituals in Post-Independence Chuka
5.1.1 The ‘Kurathia’ ceremony.
The ‘Kurathia’ ceremony transformed from being a ritualized event in 1963, to a non-
ritualized or casual event during the post-independent period in Chuka. Tradition
required that all the circumcision candidates visit their maternal relatives for blessings
and to inform them of the intention to ‘gukura’ (literally means ‘to grow’, or to be
circumcised).
From 1963, the ‘ndatho’ goods that were offered or received by the maternal relatives
and the candidates differed from those goods that were used during the colonial period.
This was determined by whether the candidate favoured a ritualized circumcision or
advocated for hospital circumcision. Those who were to be ritually circumcised offered
‘ndatho’ goods such as a drum of honey. Honey was used in brewing beer for senior
men who had authority over the junior men. Christian converts on the other hand offered
goods such as blankets and food stuffs (Muriira O.I: 18th December 2012). The blanket
was used by colonial chiefs who were symbols of authority during the colonial period.
The differences in the ‘ndatho’ goods reflect a contest for hegemony between the ritually
circumcision and the ‘hospital’ initiates. The ‘ndatho’ goods in the post-independence
era ceased to impart attributes of courage and resilience among the circumcised men.
173
Besides, the ‘kurathia’ ceremony in the post-independence period ceased to be a
communal event since the candidate went alone or was escorted secretly by his father to
the maternal relatives. The ceremony became highly individualized with most fathers
determining the quality and quantity of goods to be offered to the relatives. In the
absence of the peer company, initiates found it difficult to perform the ‘ndatho’ dances.
By 1973, the ‘kurathia’ ceremony had increasingly become rare, perhaps due to the
expense of the ‘ndatho’ goods or the school schedule which denied the candidates ample
time to conduct the visits. Kibungi (O.I: 10th June 2013) informs us that by mid 1970s,
many boys had enrolled in schools and lacked time to visit their maternal relatives. This
forced many fathers to visit their in-laws for the ‘kurathia’ on behalf of their sons. In
other instances, the boy would visit the relatives over a school holiday. By 1982, the
girls had totally abandoned the ‘kurathia’ ceremony due to the government ban on
female circumcision (Thomas 1996: 353). President Moi had directed the police to
charge anyone who conducted female genital mutilation (FGM) and caused the death of
girls with murder. This ban was as a result of the death of fourteen girls in Kathiani
location of Machakos district due to FGM related complications (Gazette Notice 3539
1982, Nairobi Times Sept 6; 1982:1).
From 1983, the form of the ‘ndatho’ goods was highly determined by the socio-
economic status of the families. During the second decade after independence there was
an inclusion of a wide range of household goods such as grains, sugar, flour and
174
livestock for ‘ndatho’. Educated men gave ‘ndatho’ goods of academic nature such as
novels and pens, while the employed gave the goods in monetary form. This shows that
‘ndatho’ goods began to be associated with success in academic work and with
schooling. The nature of the new goods hardly prepared initiates for circumcision rituals
but for formal education.
There emerged a more powerful group of masculinities revolving around education. The
educated men and women gained indirect control over the uneducated but brave warriors
(Rev Alexander O.I: 16th June 2013). This shows that after independence, education had
become a key parameter for real manhood since the ignorant but brave warriors could
not gain access to the power bestowed upon the educated men and women. Academic
achievements and gainful employment, other than bravery during circumcision had
become the distinguishing characteristic of hegemonic masculinities from the
subordinate and marginalized masculinities.
After 1985, traditional ‘kurathia’ ceremony gradually diminished as a pre-requisite for
circumcision. This was largely due to failed rains that led to a famine that was popularly
recalled by many residents as the ‘T9’ famine of 1984-1985. The name ‘T9’ was
possibly because of the allegation that stray wild dogs attacked and killed the people in
search for food (Kanga O.I: 6th June 2011).The famine was experienced in much of
Africa during which the economic growth rate in Kenya was at its poorest performance
175
of 0.9% (Miller 1984). The end of the drought in 1985 was marked by an outbreak of
army worms that cleared all the crops and vegetation, leaving the Chuka farmland land
bare. This forced the Chuka people to feed on yellow maize which was given as aid by
the government (Cohen and Lewis 1987, Mbungu O.I:17th May 2011).
The deteriorating food situation led to a cholera outbreak and affected all the social
ceremonies as the ‘kurathia’ ceremony which became individualized at family level.
Gospel songs replaced the ‘ndatho’ songs by the initiates who were seeking God’s
blessings during their circumcision. Families were free to invite guests and pastors to
preach and lay hands on initiates (Rev Alexander O.I: 16th June 2013). This shows that
by 1990, the ‘kurathia’ ceremony had become more of a religious ceremony rather than
a pre- circumcision ritual.
From 1991, the ‘kurathia’ ceremonies were negatively affected by the poor performance
of the Kenyan economy. This could be attributed to external as well as domestic factors
such as reduced tourism and increase in the cost of oil in Kenya following the Persian
Gulf War of 1990 to 1991 (The Global Coalition for Africa Report; 1992). Besides, the
inflation rate remained above ten percent as the shilling continued to decline in value as
well as a significant rise in unemployment (UN 1992). Foreign aid and investments were
down and the price of coffee which is the main cash crop in Chuka remained low due to
the collapse of the International Coffee Agreement in July 1990 (Edmund 2002).
176
In November 1991, twelve major donors to Kenya such as I.M.F., World Bank and
United States of America warned that unless political pluralism and economic reforms
were forth-coming, Kenya could face aid cuts. The poor economy in Kenya, coupled
with the high demands of schooling posed a huge burden to many Chuka families,
forcing them to shelve the ‘kurathia’ festivities. Focus shifted from the rituals of
circumcision to the individual’s academic performance. Muchiri (O.I:21st April 2011)
attests to the fact that him and eight peers who were circumcised together at Chogoria
Hospital in 1996 did not ‘kurathia’ as a pre-requisite for the operation. He says it was
ones volition to visit their maternal relatives for blessings before the operation but this
was not a compulsory requirement. It is plausible that by 1999, the ‘kurathia’ ceremony
which had been practiced over the years as a pre-circumcision ritual had either become
redundant, optional or highly individualized.
5.1.2. ‘Thauthi’ Dances
The ‘thauthi, dances was another ritual of the circumcision rite that went through major
changes during the post-independence period. The main change was on the messages
conveyed in the ‘thauthi’ songs. In 1963, the participants in ‘though’ were mainly the
candidates who favored the traditional circumcision. As shown in the previous chapter,
the traditionalists cherished the ‘thauthi’ as the authentic means to attain ‘real’ manhood.
The candidates danced ‘thauthi’ beginning from the eve of the circumcision day. Their
audiences during these dances were the traditionally circumcised men who believed that
177
they were the ‘real’ men. It was a taboo for the ‘iroge’ (those circumcised in hospital) to
participate in ‘thauthi’. The traditionalists perceived the ‘iroge’ as men who did not
comprehend ‘real’ manhood thus, not fit to participate in the ‘thauthi’ dances (Kibungi
O.I: 15th Aug. 2011). By 1965, the number of participants in the ‘thauthi’ dances had
increased compared to the previous years, possibly due to the perceived freedom
wrought by the political independence.
On the circumcision day, the traditional initiates were driven to the rivers for the
‘mithambo’ ritual. The ‘thauthi’ songs had coded messages to ridicule and disparage the
‘iroge’ for accepting the anesthetized circumcision. Kanga (O.I: 15th June 2013) gives
the following example ‘thauthi’ song, which had coded messages to demean the ‘iroge’
during the 1960s;
Iii kiroge x2
Kiarogerwe Chogoria ii Kiroge
Na runci rwa Mbakuri ii Kiroge x2
Translation: yes the poisoned one x2
Has been poisoned at Chogoria, yes the poisoned one
With a bowl of water, yes the poisoned one x2.
The message in this song indicates that the ‘iroge’ who were circumcised at Chogoria
hospital had been ‘poisoned’ due to the application of anesthesia. The song ironically
insinuates that the ‘iroge’ had used a bowl of water for ‘mithambo’ as opposed to being
178
dipped in the rivers for the cold bath. The quantity of the water that was used by the
initiates transmitted power to initiates which could be interpreted to mean that the
‘iroge’ were less powerful than the traditionalists who had the cold bath in the rivers. By
1975, however, the ‘thauthi’ had totally declined and this may be attributed to the
increased demands of schooling as well as the increasing practice of hospital
circumcision. Besides, the churches continued to oppose the ‘immorality’ depicted in the
circumcision songs and discouraged Christians from associating themselves with
‘thauthi’ dancers.
Both the traditionally circumcised men and those circumcised in hospital thought that
they were all ‘real men’ due to their different perceptions of real manhood. Men
circumcised in hospital viewed their masculinity superior because of having gone
through formal eduction whereas those men who were traditionally circumcised thought
they were real men having gone through rituals such as the ‘thauthi’ dances.
Consequently, the traditionalists lost some of the controls and audiences to the ‘iroge’.
Some of the things, people, institutions and responsibilities of the traditionally
circumcised men were taken over by the ‘iroge’. Thus indirect control by the
traditionally circumcised men ceased from being a fixed variable but was inclined
towards the ‘iroge’ who had increased in number. Kibungi (O.I: 24th November 2012)
estimates that by the end of the second decade after independence, over 60% of the
males in Chuka preferred to be ‘iroge’, which shifted the nature of the resulting
179
masculinities Using the concept of hegemonic masculinity, this analysis demonstrates
that masculinity became contestable due to provision of formal education which
influenced most men to discard the traditional circumcision.
Apart from formal education, there are scores of influences that worked against the
dancing of ‘thauthi’. By 1985, Christianity which had become widespread in Chuka
preached against the ‘harmful’ and ritualized ‘thauthi’ during circumcision (Rev.
Alexander O.I. 16th June 2013). Intermarriages between the Chuka and other ethnic
groups that did not dance ‘thauthi’ also led to its disuse. Besides, as members of other
communities migrated and settled amongst the Chuka, this led to a decline on the use of
‘thauthi’. In the last decade of the 20th C, the Chuka had ceased to attach any meaningful
importance to the ‘thauthi’ and as Kibungi (O.I: 15th Aug. 2011) posits, the dances were
re-enacted in schools during the music festivals.
5.1.3 The new men’s shelters
The shelter for the circumcised men was an important pre-initiation preparation that
greatly transformed during the post-independence era. It was a basic requirement that all
initiation candidates built huts for their residence. Chuka traditions forbade circumcised
men from sharing a shelter with their mothers and or the younger uncircumcised
siblings. Proper manhood had to be constructed away from women and children. The
men’s huts were popularly referred to as ‘simba’ (lion), to symbolize the agility that the
occupants of these huts would have.
180
Kibungi (O.I: 15th Aug. 2011) recalls that by 1963, the boyhood barracks were non-
existent, because boys graduated for their circumcision from their mothers’ huts. The
boys who skipped the experiences in the ‘gaaru ya ibici’ formed a younger masculinity
in the 1960s, that was perceived to be less powerful than the older masculinity of the
men who had lived in the boyhood huts. By virtue of having endured the boyhood tests
the elder men indirectly controlled the younger but new masculinities. The contest for
hegemony was between the new generations versus the older generation of men. Men
who were senior in age exercised indirect control over the younger men by teaching
them the lessons which they learnt at the boy hood barracks. However, the women and
the uncircumcised boys remained subordinate to all circumcised men.
During the post-independence period too, fathers continued to play an important role in
preparing for their sons circumcision. The father’s key role was to determine the site for
the location of their son’s hut. This shows that in the post-independence era, fathers took
over the hegemony from the councils of elders in determining the location of the shelters
for circumcised men. It should be recalled here that in pre-colonial Chuka the councils
of elders had the hegemony to determine the location of the warriorhood barracks in the
villages as discussed in chapter two. After independence, fathers usurped this hegemony
from the councils of elders since they apportioned land to their sons on which they
would build their circumcision huts. The huts became important marks for real manhood
181
because their completion testified the men’s readiness to be circumcised and
demonstrated that they were about to be self-governing (Mutunga O.I: 3rd Sept 2011).
Owning a hut signified that a man was about to control his destiny and to take up
societal responsibilities.
In 1973, men built shelters that were round, grass thatched huts. The huts became the
new ‘gaaru ya nthaka’, since the traditional ‘gaaru ya nthaka’ had become a rare
occurrence; virtually nil. However, a man had to successfully go through the rite of
circumcision in order to be allowed to start living in his hut. The circumcision hut
became a permanent residence for the man because he married and raised his family in
this same hut. This explains why by 1975 A.D., many huts had mushroomed in almost
each and every homestead (Kanga O.I: 15th June 2013).
Due to land and economic constraints in building the huts, instances of sharing one
circumcision hut among brothers or cousins was common especially in the poor families.
Boys from the poor families who could not afford to put up their own shelters were
accommodated by their peers. The ability of the boy to put up his own hut became the
new parameter for proper manhood. Consequently, boys who owned a hut had more
power and hegemony over those who did not have one of their own. This reflects a
construction of masculinity based on economic ability since circumcised men who lived
alone in their huts indirectly controlled other men who shared their huts with their
182
siblings. Besides, it became common for elder brothers to share the same huts with their
younger brothers after their circumcision.
This gave the first born sons hegemony as they defined their younger brothers to be
inferior to them in age. The concept of separating the circumcised men’s shelter from
their mother’s house continued to dominate the lives of young men. The construction of
men’s huts away from their mother’s huts led to unequal distribution of power because
men used this to claim hegemony over women. Up to the late 1970s, manhood debates
largely revolved around whether a circumcised man lived in a separate shelter from that
of his mother. Our conclusion here is that circumcised men who shared shelters with
their mothers presented a submissive masculinity and were victims of violence from
men who lived in their own huts and epitomized a hegemonic masculinity. Nyangi (O.I:
13th Dec 2013) claims that men who presented their masculinity the ‘wrong way’ by
sharing shelter with their mothers were dihonoured by being scolded, roughed up and
physically abused by their peers.
By 1983, the architectural design of the huts improved remarkably with regard to the
construction materials that were used. Boys from the fairly opulent families built houses
of timber or stone while the boys from poor families built mud houses. The roofing
materials ranged from the iron-sheets, reeds and banana fibers. The contest for
hegemony among men shifted focus to the quality and size of their shelter. To promote
183
their son’s ego, wealthy fathers began to put up houses for them using modern building
materials such as stone and timber.
Manhood debates ceased to be centered on the boy’s ability to build his own hut to the
quality of the hut. Nyangi (O.I: 13th Dec 2013) observes that some parents built
extensions on the family houses as shelters for the circumcised sons. Hegemony among
men was no longer determined by whether he had gone through hospital or traditional
circumcision, but on the type of house that he lived in following circumcision. The men
who had descent housing units intimidated initiates from poor backgrounds to submit to
their control. The hegemony among men was affected by economic challenges of the
1984-1985 wrought by drought and famine that is mentioned earlier in this chapter.
Fathers were preoccupied with sourcing for food to feed their families rather than
putting up descent houses for their sons. Housing temporarily ceased to be an important
parameter for ‘real’ manhood among circumcised men due to the effects of the famine.
After the famine, the contest for hegemony was between the men who had literally built
their own houses over the men who had their houses built for them by the parents. By
1995, the debates on real manhood revolved around the quality of a house that one lived
in and not the means of its construction not forgetting that parents built quality houses
for their sons, compared to the ones that the sons would build. Men who had self
184
contained houses indirectly intimidated their peers who had single roomed houses to
submit to their control.
Housing became an important determinant of a man’s masculinity and social standing
among by the beginning of the 21st C. It became a common practice for circumcised
boys to be accommodated in their parent’s houses. Manhood debates focused on how
some circumcised men shared shelter with their mothers as opposed to the practice
where manhood was supposed to be constructed away from womanhood. Traditional
norms disallowed the circumcised men from sharing shelter with their mothers and as
such these men had to submit to the hegemony of the men who lived away from their
mothers shelters (Mugambi O.I: 2nd Aug. 2011, Mwambia O.I: 11th June 2011). It is
probable that fathers who had fallen victims of violence and harsh training for manhood
as indicated earlier, desired to secure their circumcised sons from experiencing a similar
violence by accommodating them in the family house. The sharing of shelter could also
be attributed to scarcity of land and the need to fully utilize the small plots of land for
farming.
Other reasons which may have led the circumcised Chuka men to be housed in their
parent’s shelter were the social-economic challenges and urbanization which ushered in
an unfettered, self-centered individualism among initiated males. Besides, majority of
the initiates were barely in their early teens and were therefore ‘children’ in the eyes of
185
their parents. Muchiri (21st April 2011) narrates how he was housed in his parents’ house
upon circumcision at Chogoria hospital in 1996. He recalls how he was ridiculed and
accused of betraying manhood by the men who had built or lived in their own houses.
He was forced to comply by putting up his own house in order to prove his manhood as
a ‘real man’.
By the close of the 20th C, the men who espoused hegemony over their peers were those
who had their own houses as opposed to those who continued to live in their parents’
houses. It would be of interest to note that even though building one’s house proved his
manhood, many boys did not practically build their hut because of the demands of
schooling or lack of finances to buy the construction materials. Most of the boy’s houses
were put up by their fathers or kinsmen. As such housing declined from being an
important parameter for real manhood in Chuka by 2000 A.D.
5.2 Actual Operation in the Post-Independence Period
By 1963, the Chuka people acknowledged two versions of circumcision. Many
Christians advocated for the hospital circumcision which had been introduced by the
Christian missionaries, whereas the cultural nationalists adopted the traditional
circumcision. It is important to interrogate the two versions of circumcision and how
they constructed the Chuka masculinity after independence.
186
5.2.1 Ritualized circumcision in the post-independence period.
Following independence in 1963, the cultural nationalists advocated for the traditional
circumcision as the true means of constructing the hegemonic masculinity. These men
preferred the traditional circumcision as the authentic means to real manhood. The
traditionalists chose to engage a traditional ‘mutani’ to perform the circumcision
operation.
The traditional initiates were either the cultural nationalists who adhered to the
traditional religion or the Christian converts who did not comprehend the Christian
teachings against the ritualized traditional circumcision. The converts who favored the
traditional operation by a ‘mutani’ held their cultural practices so dearly and opposed
any European influence on the rite. It is possible that majority of the men who were
circumcised by the ‘mutani’ saw it as a means of expressing their liberty and freedom
which had previously been suppressed by colonizers.
The traditionally circumcised men participated in the ‘ndatho’, ‘thauthi’ and the
‘mithambo’ rituals which had hitherto been forbidden as illegal and dirty by the
imperialists and the Christian missionaries. At dawn, the candidate was driven to the
nearby river amidst dance for the ‘mithambo’ (chill bath) ceremony. The cold bath was
adopted as a local anesthesia to numb the nerves and reduce the circumcision pain. The
187
traditionalists demonized the use of modern anesthesia and venerated the traditional
initiates for their presumed audacity.
After the river rituals of ‘mithambo’, the candidate was escorted in the ‘thauthi’ dance to
his hut for the circumcision operation by a ‘mutani’. Since the traditional venues of
‘kigiri’ and ‘kagauni’ venues for the transmission of manhood had ceased to exist, the
entire operation was done from this same hut. The stages of the circumcision operation
included the pulling, clipping and cutting of the foreskin and the removal of the
subcutaneous tissues as discussed in the previous chapter. The ‘mutani’ used the
traditional tools such as the ‘miraga’ thorns for clipping the foreskin and the knife to
sever it.
A critical assessment of this operation reveals that it was not traditional per se, since the
boys did not go through the stages of ‘kagiri’ and the ‘kagauni’ experiences as the case
in the pre-colonial period. On the contrary, the two stages of the operation were
completed all at once in the initiate’s hut. The operation had thus been transforming into
a highly individualized rite of passage. Perhaps, new venue in the hut limited the number
of participants in the circumcision ceremony as compared to the ‘kagiri’ venue.
Consequently the members of the age sets that followed were loosely bonded to each
other. Due to the individualized ceremonies in the huts, the traditional initiates failed to
identify with one another as members of the same age set. Besides, the hut venues
188
limited the role of the ‘nthaka’ in determining who among the initiates was most
courageous and therefore hegemonic over their peers. The ‘nthaka’ lost control over the
new initiates by being locked out of the hut which served as the new circumcision
venue.
By 1973 A.D., the contest for real manhood was based on whether one was circumcised
by a ‘mutani’ the traditional way, or by a practitioner the modern way. The main
contention was on the use of anesthesia on the ‘iroge’ and the ‘mithambo’ for the
traditionalists. The traditional initiates rarely interacted with the men who were
circumcised in hospital. The iroge’ and ‘traditionalists’ became the opposing sets of
masculinities, with each individual man being keen to identify only with the men in his
category.
Men who had gone through the traditional circumcision famed their manhood, while
perceiving the ‘iroge’ as cowards not fit to enjoy the privileges for the real men (Muriira
O.I; 18th December 2012). Muriira also posits that during the first decade after
independence, the ‘iroge’ were not allowed to participate in public debates in the
presence of the traditionalists. However knowledgeable they may have been, the ‘iroge’
had to remain passive listeners and could not contribute to the debates by the
traditionalists who perceived themselves as the ‘real men’. On this premise, the ‘real
189
men’ continued to exercise power and authority over the ‘iroge’. Men congregated and
socialized on the basis of ‘iroge’ and ‘real men’, which fueled hostility between them.
Mbungu (O.I; 18th December 2012), who was a primary school teacher in the 1980s,
recalls how the traditionally circumcised boys undermined the ‘iroge’ and female
teachers. She narrates how the female teachers declined to give punishments or allocate
manual duties to the traditionally circumcised boys, because they were ‘real men’ who
would refuse to obey the female teachers. These ‘real men’ believed that they were
grownups who could not receive any orders from women. The ‘real men’ espoused
power and control over the uncircumcised and the ‘iroge’. They refused to mud the walls
of the classrooms or fetch water because such roles were feminine. Moreover, these ‘real
men’ refused to share desks or text books with the uncircumcised/ ‘iroge’ classmates and
only associated with the traditionally circumcised boys and girls.
The traditional circumcision declined following an administrative decree by President
Daniel Moi against female circumcision in Gazette Notice (1982: 3539) which created
fear among forcible circumcisers such as ‘mutani’ (Thomas 1996: 353). Majority of the
traditional circumcisers probably abandoned their work, for fear of being accused of
forcible circumcision, paving way for the trained medics to take over the role of
‘mutani’. Mwambia (O.I; 11th June 2011) estimates that about 20% of the traditional
circumcisers continued to perform the operation under cover while 10% adopted modern
190
aspects of operating the initiates. An example of a change that was effected by the
‘mutani’ was adoption of hygienic practices during the operation such as sterilizing the
circumcision knife after using it on one initiate (Muriira O.I; 20th Aug 2014).
After 1990, some of adherents of the traditional circumcision began to engage a trained
practitioner to perform the operation from their homes rather than from the hospitals.
This is a clear indication of the declining number of traditional circumcisers. Mwambia
(O.I; 20th Aug 2014) who is a practicing medic in the region estimates that during this
period, 90 % of the boys turned to trained practitioners for their circumcision operation.
He laments that the seclusion period for the initiates was inadequate forcing them learn
inadequate manhood lessons from the elder men and sponsors. On one hand, a small
fraction of men estimated to be 10% (Ibid) went through the traditional circumcision
rituals and indirectly controlled the community on matters of tradition. However, the
latter who were majority controlled matters of education and were at an advantaged
position to secure gainful employment. Circumcision ceased to be the means to gaining
hegemony but it became a symbol of solidarity among the age mates who espoused a
collective masculinity.
The traditional circumcision had become uncommon perhaps due to the increase in the
population, or the economic constraints of conducting elaborate rituals described in
chapter three. It had become expensive to host relatives for elaborate circumcision
191
ceremonies. Besides, the operation by a ‘mutani’ exposed the initiates to high risks of
HIV/Aids infection who shared the circumcision knife. The risks of ritualized
circumcision forced most men to seek cheaper and safer alternatives by engaging medics
to perform the operation. As the Chuka closed the 20th C, more and more families turned
to hospital circumcision for their sons in order to fulfill the cultural obligation in the
safest way possible.
5.2.2 Hospital circumcision in the post-independence period.
Hospital circumcision also referred to here as modern circumcision gained force in the
post- independence Chuka. According to Mbungu (O.I: 17th June 2011), most of the
elites and the converts preferred the hospital circumcision. Maintaining a traditional
circumcision had become increasingly difficult as shown in the previous section.
Besides, by 1963, the roles and privileges of the Chuka men in public matters had
drastically changed. The traditional Chuka culture which had for a long time governed
initiation rituals lost autonomy, as many people proclaimed adherence to Christianity.
The traditional culture became identified in the minds of many people, because
Christianity represented new development, progress and the future. The advancement of
Christianity tilted many Chuka men to prefer hospital circumcision as the proper means
of attaining manhood.
192
After 1963 A.D., fathers organized for trained native surgeons to medically circumcise
their sons from home (referred to as ‘home circumcision). These surgeons had been
trained in the mission hospitals and could effectively circumcise the boys following the
medical procedures. During this operation, the initiates laid emphasis to exclude what
they perceived as ‘dirty’ and anti- Christian such as the ‘thauthi’ dances (Kanga O.I: 15th
June 2013, Muriira, O.I: 10th July 2011). This category of men omitted the ‘thauthi’ and
the ‘mithambo’ which they branded as obscene and synonymous with the devil.
In the home circumcision candidates discarded the ritualized circumcision and adopted
hospital circumcision. The practitioner administered anesthesia on the candidate to
reduce pain and ease the operation. As indicated in chapter four, the application of
anesthesia rendered the operation in the less painful than the ritualized circumcision.
Modern equipment such as the clamp to clip the foreskin and scissors for cutting it were
used. The circumcision wound was treated and dressed to facilitate healing. The home
circumcision was highly individualistic since it involved the candidate, his father, the
sponsor and the practitioner.
By 1983, the home circumcision had become the norm as more and more parents
acquired education and began to appreciate the medical procedures of circumcising
young boys. Other initiates began the practice of going to the dispensaries and hospitals
for this operation, accompanied by their sponsors who escorted them back home for
193
healing and seclusion. The hospital circumcision was a highly individualized affair at the
nuclear family level or father to son level. Boys typically went to hospital to get
circumcised in the company of their fathers and sponsors. Out of the 80 respondents to
the questionaire, 57 of them (70%) favoured hospital circumcision and seclusion, 16
respondents (20%) were for medicalized circumcision and seclusion at home, while 10%
advocated for traditional circumcision.
This hospital circumcision may have applied three different surgical techniques. Mutiso
(O.I; 9th July 2011) and Brown et al (2001) have indicated that the following three
procedures were commonly used in hospital circumcision and resulted in varying genital
appearances. In one technique, the prepuce was retracted and injected with local
anesthesia, then pulled forward and clipped with artery forceps just beyond the tip of the
glans of the penis. Approximately 4 centimeters (cm) of the tip was cut off, and the
remaining prepuce retracted behind the glans. If too much of the outer layer of the
prepuce was judged to remain, this layer was again pulled over the glans, trimmed, and
allowed to retract. The inner layer of the prepuce (attached to the corona) was then
trimmed, and the cut edge of outer skin stitched to the corona. Functionally, this
technique removed the entire prepuce and both the inner and outer layers.
In the second procedure the prepuce was pulled forward and approximately 1 to 2 cm of
the tip was cut off. The remaining prepuce was pulled back forcefully, tearing 1to 2 cm
194
of skin and leaving a ring of raw, exposed skin on the penile shaft behind the glans. The
prepuce was pulled forward again, and a 1 to 2 cm ring of its inner surface was scraped
off. Finally, the prepuce was allowed to retract behind the glans, so that its raw inner
surface was in contact with the raw outer surface of the shaft. A bandage was applied for
several hours to hold these surfaces together as healing and adhesion began. This
technique removed most of the inner surface of the prepuce, leaving a small portion of
the outer layer.
The third procedure involved pulling the prepuce and approximately 1 to 2 cm was cut
from the tip (Ibid). The remaining prepuce was pulled back forcefully, tearing
approximately 3 cm of skin from the shaft. The prepuce was again pulled forward, and
approximately 3 cm of its inner surface was scraped off. The prepuce was pulled further
forward, and the circumciser inserted his/her thumb under the prepuce, above the glans.
With the thumb protecting the glans, he/she cut a small slit transversely in the top of the
prepuce. The glans was then pulled through this slit, leaving the prepuce suspended
below the penis. The suspended prepuce shrunk over time, but remained visible
throughout life. This technique removed approximately the same amount of both outer
and inner layers of prepuce as technique two, but left part of the outer layer as an
appendage on the underside of the shaft.
195
Of the three techniques, the first technique removed both the inner and outer layers of
the entire prepuce. This was in line with the traditional technique of Chuka circumcision
known as the ‘karinga kathige’ (removal of the entire foreskin). The second and third
techniques described above removed most of the inner surface of the prepuce, but left a
small portion of the outer layer of the foreskin. A clinical officer Mutiso (O.I.; 9th July
2011), who is based at Kibugua dispensary and operates on initiates claimed that most
boys preferred the first technique which entailed removing the entire prepuce rather than
the second or third techniques.
The initiates who went through the first technique believed that their penis was more
attractive and pure than that of the men who chose the second and the third procedures
of the operation. As such, men who had total removal of the prepuce gained power over
fellow men and women because their penis was ‘pure’ (Nkonge 28th Aug 2011). This
means that a penis circumcised following the first technique was integral to the cultural
definition of the male body in Chuka. The style of ‘karinga kathige’ was one way of
ensuring that the male body complied with the cultural ideal of Chuka manhood.
It is important to identify the causes for the shift from the traditional circumcision to
hospital circumcision by the Chuka men. Results of the study by Kibebe et al (2012), on
the socio-economic factors that may have influenced the Bukusu of Western Kenya to
adopt the hospital circumcision appear similar to the causes for the same shift among the
196
Chuka. The key factors for this change are, modernization, intermarriages, the spread of
Christianity, migration, level of literacy, high cost of living, high unemployment rate,
high costs of education and inadequate resources (Kithinji 7th Sept2011, Kamunyi O.I:
4th Sept. 2011). It is imperative to try and interrogate these factors at this point.
The Chuka men may have adopted modern circumcision to relieve the initiates of the
fatigue that was caused by the elaborate ‘thauthi’ dances (Mwambia O.I: 11th June
2011). The increased level of literacy and awareness led the Chuka men to choose the
hospital circumcision over the traditional circumcision. Besides, the working class
would be inconvenienced if they chose the traditional circumcision since it meant going
back to their rural villages for the circumcision rituals.  Moreover, employment had been
embraced as an alternative way of attaining real manhood since it did not matter
anymore whether one had been circumcised traditionally/ ritually or in hospital.
After 1983 A.D., some boys who were circumcised at the hospitals chose a new form of
seclusion whereby they were admitted for two to three weeks in the hospital. Parents and
siblings were free to visit the initiate in hospital as often as they wished. In the eyes of a
traditionalist, it was a taboo for mothers and uncircumcised siblings to socialize with the
circumcised men, particularly during seclusion. However, parents who visited their sons
during this period took it as their parental duty to do so (Mwambia O.I: 11 th June 2011).
197
During these visits, the initiate received education from the elder siblings and parents on
emerging issues such as H.I.V/AIDS, and sexuality. The men who were secluded in
hospital had their wounds properly nursed and dressed for proper healing. After their
healing, the initiates who were secluded in hospital got discharged to resume their
normal life. They wielded more control over those men who secluded at home and
probably took a longer time to heal their circumcision wounds. Since the hospital
seclusion was only possible at a fee, men from poor families who could not afford this
cost became intimidated to submit to the men who had been secluded in hospital.
From 1996 A.D., the hospital circumcision evolved into the institutional-based
circumcision. This involved taking the initiation candidates to public or Church
sponsored boarding schools for the operation. In this institution- based circumcision, the
initiates were operated on and nursed by practitioners who occasionally visited them at
the selected institutions. The initiates were charged a fee of Ksh. 3000 to Ksh. 6000 for
their upkeep during the two- three weeks period (Mutiso, O.I: 9th July 2011). This form
of circumcision was preferred during the December holidays, as the boys awaited their
K.C.P.E results. The institution-based circumcision was organized by groups such as the
Catholic Men Association (C.M.A.) of the Roman Catholic Church and the Presbyterian
Church Men’, Fellowship (P.C.M.F.) of the P.C.E.A. church.
198
Mwambia, (O.I: 11th June 2011), who is a practicing clinical officer attests to have
circumcised eighty boys at Ndagani and fifty at St. Joseph primary schools in
December 2010. He observed that majority of the boys had enlightened parents who
preferred the institution -based circumcision. He attributed this to the safety and
convenience of the institution- based circumcision. It was less tedious since the initiates
did not travel to and from the clinic while having the raw wound on their penis.
Although many parents faced the challenge of raising the circumcision fees, many boys
preferred the institutional- based circumcision (Mutiso O.I: 9th July 2011). However, due
to the shortage of finances to pay for the institution-based circumcision, some of the
initiates visited the clinics for circumcision and went back to their homes for healing and
seclusion.
Mutiso (O.I: 9th July 2011) revealed that many parents took their sons to be circumcised
at Kibugua dispensary had them recuperate at their homes. He shared the advantages of
hospital circumcision as it helped in the management of complications arising from
blood clotting, hemophilia and low immunity of the HIV infected boys. In addition to
the use of anesthesia, Mutiso checked on the initiate’s blood pressure and sugar levels to
rule out Diabetes Mellitus and to ascertain the wound healing process. After the
operation, he dressed the wound and reviewed it regularly to prevent fatal infections.
The fact that these medical precautions were ignored or omitted in the traditional
circumcision may have informed many parents to choose the hospital circumcision for
199
their sons (Mutiso O.I: 9th July 2011). This led to emergence of a hegemonic masculinity
among the boys who were secluded in the institutions and subordinated masculinities of
boys who were secluded at home due to their inability to pay for the seclusion fee.
Other than the health risks associated with the ritualized circumcision, the Chuka may
have adopted the institution-based circumcision due to the rural-urban migration. The
families that lived in towns and market centers had housing constraints for their initiates,
forcing them adopt the institution-based seclusion for their initiates (Njagi O.I; 4th Sept
2011). Urbanization created an urban masculinity that wielded indirect control over the
rural masculinity because of their exposure to the town life as well as their teachings and
experiences during seclusion. Moreover, the initiates may have adopted the institution-
based circumcision following the intervention of the governmental, non-governmental
and human rights organizations that opposed ritualized circumcision of boys. Some of
these organizations are the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) and
Maendeleo Ya Wanawake Organization (MYWO)8 which fought against female genital
mutilation and harmful ritualized circumcision for males.
By the end of the 20th C, the Chuka debates on ‘real’ manhood revolved around the
themes of education and the benefits accrued from it. The elite masculinity gained
8 Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organization (MYWO) is a Kenyan women's movement which has been
working since 1990 to eradicate female genital mutilation. PATH is an international non-profit
organization whose stated mission is to improve the health of women and children.(Nation; 30th March
1999;Nairobi),
200
hegemony over the non-elites, irrespective of whether one was circumcised or secluded
in hospital or at home. By this period, many parents had attained skills for wage labor
and were economically endowed to meet the cost of hospital or the institution-based
circumcision for their sons. Besides, the elites challenged the relevance of traditional
circumcision in producing real Chuka men to control land, labour and capital.
This shows that the traditional circumcision alone had increasingly become inadequate
in constructing and consummating one’s masculinity. A ‘real’ Chuka man had to acquire
modern education and money. A ‘real’ was revered and respected by other men and
women following his accumulation of wealth. Men with valuable resources could be
appointed to lead community groups and committees since they had proved their
manhood. The poor, circumcised and uneducated men were conditioned to believe in
being controlled by the wealthy, circumcised, and educated young people.
5.3 Post-Circumcision Rituals in Post-Independence Chuka
5.3.1 Education and seclusion in post- independence period
The seclusion patterns of the initiates were transformed greatly during the post-
independence period. There was consensus from all oral informants that after 1963, the
traditional seclusion period of three to four months was drastically reduced to two-three
weeks period.  This was due to the demands posed by the school schedule on the
initiates. Besides, the school holiday was short ranging between three weeks to one
201
month, which made it difficult for the initiates to enjoy three-month period for their
seclusion.
Given the short seclusion period, lessons on manhood were informally taught to the
fresh initiates by elderly men. The curriculum focused on life-skills related themes such
as responsible behavior, healthy boy-girl relations and sexuality (Mukwanyaga O.I; 21st
April 2011). It should be noted that the medical procedure of treating and dressing the
wound facilitated healing and as such the two-three weeks seclusion period proved
adequate. Mwambia (O.I: 11th June 2011) confirmed that the ritually circumcised men
required a three months seclusion period because the wound took too long to heal since
no medicine was applied to facilitate healing. During this seclusion period, the fathers
continued to play profound roles in the lives of their sons, teaching them affairs of
manhood. This shows that while colonialism and Christianity helped to shape the
‘Chuka masculinity’, they did not overshadow the roles of fathers in its construction. It
is implicit here that fathers exercised indirect control over their newly circumcised sons,
because they assumed the role of their educators during seclusion.
The ritually circumcised initiates dramatically separated from their mothers and their
households in order to construct in them proper masculinities that were not feminine.
The initiates entered into a luminal or threshold phase of rituals, in which their joint
separation from the normal society and their lack of status were stressed. They were
202
subjected to various ordeals and tests of endurance, which required their subjection to
the ‘nthaka’. The education for the ritually circumcised men stressed attributes of
endurance, courage fortitude and resilience. The men had to prove their bravery and
readiness to take up the responsibilities of adult life through wrestling and ‘gaaru’
contests. Only the ‘nthaka’ were allowed into the huts of the ritually circumcised men.
The mother’s role was to prepare food for her recuperating son, through the ‘nthaka’.
This shows that though women played a key role in determining the construction of
masculinities, they subjected their sons to the control of the circumcised men.
It was clearly elaborated in chapter three that during the traditional seclusion of initiates
in the ‘iganda’ and the ‘gaaru’, men learnt to distance and dissociate themselves from
the ‘iroge’ and women whom they viewed as outsiders. The ‘Nthaka’ were the key
educators of the traditional initiates who aimed at instilling discipline in them. This
discipline was meted out to them in form of brutal acts such as caning, over-feeding
them and plucking off their nails (Mbungu O.I; 17th June 2012). The initiates were
inducted into shared new knowledge and incorporated into productive adults in the
society. The seclusion gave order, structure and meaning to the men’s life and deviation
from the teachings on manhood was not entertained.
During this seclusion, the social statuses of men were carefully constructed through
prescribed processes of teaching, learning, emulation and enforcement. Individuals born
203
and sexed as males were gendered to be masculine in rituals. It is plausible that a great
correlation existed between violence and the seclusion rituals. This was particularly so
during the first two decades of independence as shown in the previous chapter, where
ritually circumcised men (‘real men’) openly disparaged the medically circumcised men
(‘iroge’). It is plausible that undergoing the ritualized circumcision gave the circumcised
men sole rights over acts of violence as they wanted to prove their manhood.
Violence associated with circumcision and botched ritual circumcision has been
recorded in the study by Ncayiyama (2003), in which he identifies malpractices such as
gratuitous beatings, physical abuse, and extreme exposure to elements, nutritional
deprivation and withholding of medicines during circumcision as common causes of
death during circumcision in South Africa. It is possible that the education for the
traditional initiates in Chuka was riddled with acts of violence, some of which may have
been fatal. Nyangi (O.I: 13th Dec 2012) cautions that instances of violence on initiates
went unreported for the fear of retribution from the ‘nthaka’. The mistreatment was
worse where the ‘nthaka’ visited a ‘kiroge’ during the seclusion. The ‘iroge’ therefore
faced the danger of being re-circumcised by the ‘nthaka’ in a bid to re-construct their
manhood. Kaunda (O.I: 3rd September 2012) disclosed that incidences of penile
amputation could not be ruled out as the ‘nthaka’ visited the ‘iroge’ to re-fashion them
into real men.
204
The seclusion for the medically circumcised men was different from that of the ritually
circumcised men. Education for the medically circumcised men revolved around the
Christian themes of obedience, love and the respect of parents. Following this education,
the medically circumcised men were perceived as ‘modern’ initiates who would shake
hands with their mothers or younger uncircumcised siblings as indicated in the previous
chapter. At times, mothers took food to their recuperating sons without fear of
embarrassment for breaching the traditional norms. The medically circumcised initiates
willingly performed feminine or masculine roles that were assigned to them. This shows
that the education to the modern initiates differed from that of the traditionally
circumcised initiates. Their principles and contrasting ideologies may have fueled
further animosity between the traditionalists and the modern men (Saribatore, O.I: 8th
Aug. 2011, Kanga, O.I: 6th June 2011).
Despite their differing ideologies, circumcision and seclusion continued to be upheld by
many men as important sites for the transmission of manhood. In the Secondary schools,
torture may have continued to be meted out on the uncircumcised boys (Daily Nation,
Feb 15, 2007:37). This article reports that older boys forced the new comers (form one
students) to strip naked so that they could be inspected. Those found uncircumcised
spent the whole night going through all manner of torture and insults, such as being
called “kibici”, (uncircumcised man). The origin of torture on the uncircumcised can
possibly be traced to the contest between the traditionalists and the modernists during
205
the seclusion period. This brutality from the circumcised to the uncircumcised men was
a way of winning loyalty and exacting indirect control on the uncircumcised boys.
From 1993, the seclusion for initiates had slowly become individualized, due to this
alleged torture on them. Men who had performed well in school were revered as real
men as opposed to those who performed dismally in school despite their circumcision
status. Schools became the new centers of acculturation while the teachers took up the
role of the sponsors and fathers in educating the initiates on responsible adulthood.
Manhood lessons on responsible adulthood were integrated into several subjects learnt in
the schools such as Christian Religious Education (C.R.E.) and Social Education and
Ethics (S.E.E.).
The debates on real manhood focused on where one was secluded after being
circumcised. The initiates who had been secluded in their parents’ houses were ill-
treated by their peers (Mutiso O.I:  9th July 2011, Muchiri O.I: 21st April 2011).
However these initiates who healed from their mothers’ houses believed that the proper
way of proving their manhood was by excelling academically rather than through where
and how they were secluded. Academic excellence therefore became the new way of
constructing hegemonic masculinity among men and as such, the educated men gained
indirect social control over illiterate men.
206
After 1996, a new form of seclusion began to emerge, whereby the circumcised boys
were accommodated in the schools/ institutions for two-three weeks period. This form of
institution- based seclusion brought together many boys who had been medically
circumcised. They congregated in these institutions for their healing and socialization.
Institutions where this seclusion was done according to Kaunda (O.I; 3rd Sept 2011) and
Mwambia (11th June 2011), include St. Joseph Boarding in Magumoni, organized by the
Magumoni parish Catholic Men Association (C.M.A), Chuka Boys organized by the
Chuka parish C.M.A and Ndagani Secondary school organized by the Presbyterian
Church Men Fellowship (P.C.M.F).
The C.M.A. and the P.C.M.F. appointed sponsors from among the university youth and
men who had excelled academically and had positions of influence in the society to
guide the initiates. The new category of sponsors’ wielded indirect control over the new
initiates because they were knowledgeable and were associated with success having
excelled academically. This confirms that, education and attaining good jobs became a
new parameter for real men. However the institutional-based seclusion was simply an
emblem of adulthood, because it scantly retained some traditional teachings on
adulthood but lacked the wider social significance of the traditional seclusion.
207
5.3.2 End of seclusion ceremonies
During the post-independent period in Chuka, initiates who had successfully completed
their seclusion went through an important ceremony known as ‘kuuma nyomba’
(‘getting out of the house’). This ceremony replaced the traditional ceremony known as
‘nciabuni’ which not only marked the end of seclusion but also the new man’s
resumption to normal life.  The ‘kuuma nyomba’ ceremony was characterized by
feasting with the family members , during which the new man was showered with gifts
such as clothes and books as opposed to the traditional gifts of spears, bowls and arrows
given during the ‘Nciabuni’ ceremony. The new gifts laid more emphasis on academic
achievement for the man rather than courage and aggressiveness which were attributes
of manhood emphasized in the ‘nciabuni’ ritual.
The ‘kuuma nyomba’ ceremony was not compulsory for the men and it was organized
depending on individual families. An important departure from the ‘Nciabuni’ was that
during the ‘kuuma nyomba’ the candidate was not given a new name. The man retained
the name given to him at birth or during his baptism for the Christian initiates. The
circumcised men were revered and respected as ‘daktari’ (doctor) ‘mwalim’ (teacher),
pastor or business people who   constantly controlled the lives of the people directly and
indirectly.
208
During the 1973-1983 decade, the ‘kuuma nyomba’ ceremony emphasized educational
achievements by the initiates. This message was given in the new ‘kuuma nyomba’
songs and speeches from the invited guests. An example of such a song is given below
by Nyangi (O.I; 13th Dec 2012).
Solo; Ihai ii ui yiaa maibuni nciabu Na M’njogu; (and the man Njogu)
All; Nirietu ii yiaa maibuni nciabu; (Is ours)
Solo; Ria kwirimiria? (The name has been earned?)
All; Na kithomo iii yiaa maibuni nciabu; (through education)
Solo; Nthaka cia Njogu? (The sons of Elephant?)
All; Kuthoma ii yiaa maibuni nciabu; (Are very learned men)
Solo; Ciagira  Nthumbi? (They got degrees?)
All; Ya kithomo ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (in education)
Solo; Watunga ngi’na wa?  (If you meet with a mother of?)
All; Mucenci ii yiaa maibuni nciabu (the uneducated).
Solo; Ringa unaune? (Hit her hard until you break?)
All; Mugongo ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (the back)
209
Solo; Watunga ngi’na wa ? (if you meet with the mother of? )
All; Muthomi ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (One who is educated)
Solo; Ringa kithaka? (Run into the bush?)
All; Na nkingo ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (by body and neck)
Solo; Nwari Mugumo? (It was better if a Mugumo tree?
All; Kuguka ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (fell down)
Solo; Ugakura gaaru ya? (And uproot the barracks of?)
All; Acenci ii yiaa maibuni nciabu, (the uneducated boys’)
The rhythm of the song above is similar to that of the traditional ‘nciabuni’ song.
However, this song lays emphasis on the value of education and academic achievements
by the man, other than associate manhood with the qualities of fierce animals such as the
elephant, lion, as was the case in the ‘nciabuni’ song.  The new song describes
education, securing a degree and employment as some of the greatest attributes of real
manhood. The song also despises the academic failures as men who should be punished
by society and indirectly controlled by the educated men such that even before they talk
to them or point out their inadequacy, the uneducated are instructed to run into the bush.
A second example of a new ‘nciabuni’ song by Muriira (O.I; 18th December 2012) is as
follows;
Solo; Twi turi nthaka, riu twakura tugecererie kithomo
210
All; ah!
(We are the circumcised, we have matured to go and search for
education)
Solo; Twerwa turi nthaka gintu kia mbere Ni kithomo
All; ah!
(Being called the warriors, first priority is education)
Solo; Nthaka nthomu itiremagwa ni gauntu ona kariku
All: ah!
(An educated warrior does not get defeated by anything however
simple)
Solo; Twiukei mbuku na karamu tugecererie giki kithomo
All; ah!
(Let us take our books and pens as we go to search for this
education)
Solo; Ngitwa kirima mubanyobanyo na karia kangi cukuru gucua
kithomo
All; ah!
(As I go up this hill and the other hill majestically to school to seek
education)
Solo; Niuntu kithomo nikio uturo wa nthuke yetu
All; ah!
(Because education is the livelihood of our age set)
Solo; Nthaka nthomu itiaga wira kenda itethia uturu wawe
All; ah!
211
(An educated warrior will not be jobless; will get a job to help him
be helpful in his life)
This song still stresses on the value of education and employment as the only proper
means to a good livelihood. From this song, it is clear that the platform of constructing
masculinity changed from that of traditional rites to modern rites as witnessed by the
new faith in education and religion.
During the third decade after independence, an important transformation on the naming
patterns manifested itself on the usage of the title ‘boy’.  Traditionally, ‘boy’ refered to
uncircumcised males but during this period the title could now be used to address
circumcised men. Hitherto, use of this title on circumcised men was offensive since it
acknowledged the childhood status of a male. Besides, it was interpreted as a refusal to
acknowledge the ‘growth’ (maturity) of the man. According to one retired teacher
Mbungu (O.I: 18th Dec 2012), teachers used the title ‘boy’ as from the mid-1980s to
refer to the male students in the schools regardless of whether they were circumcised or
not. She asserts that many parents too refered to their circumcised sons as ‘my boys’.
It was common practice for the newly initiated men to be refered to as ‘boys’ during the
‘kuuma nyomba’ (getting out of seclusion) ceremony. It should be noted that even
though circumcised men accepted to be called ‘boys’, they were accorded great respect
for their status as grown up men. During the ‘kuuma nyomba’ the institution-based
212
initiates were awarded certificates for successful completion of seclusion detailing the
skills which they had learnt. The kin witnessed the ceremony after which the men
resumed their normal life and schooling. The discussion above shows that by the close
of the 20th C, the Chuka delinked the title ‘boy’ from the circumcision rituals and its
usage implied the physical and physiological features that differentiated males from
females. The masculinities that emerged during this period took no offence on being
referred to as ‘boys’.
5.4 Summary and Conclusion
This chapter has clearly elaborated how the circumcision rituals evolved in the post-
indepedence Chuka. Contests on masculinity were between the traditional man who
maintained aspects of ritualized circumcision and the modern man who favoured
hospital circumcision. Major changes have been note on the ‘thauthi’ dances that were
slowly replaced with the gospel songs. The ‘mithambo’ (chill bath) became unpopular as
the venue for the operation changed from the ‘itiri’ and ‘kagiri’ to the hospitals.
Different seclusion patterns emerged in hospitals, in institutions and in the homes.
Different types of masculinities emerged and co-existed with each other due to the
diverse social and economic backgrounds of the initiates.
This chapter has demonstrated that the uncircumcised men became social deviants and
had no place in Chuka. They were forced to comply with this cultural rite or get
213
punished through torture that was meted out to them by the circumcised men. By the end
of the 20thC, hegemony among various masculinitities was not only linked to
circumcision but also to acquisition of education and employment. Men who amassed
wealth out of their academic excellence in schools insubordinated men who failed to
succeed academically. Despite the varying masculities that emerged, this chapter has
demonstrated that circumcision remained an important rite of passage and a cultural
practice through which the Chuka men organized their lives.
214
CHAPTER SIX
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
6.0 Introduction
This chapter is a summary of this thesis, and gives the general outline of what each
chapter sought to achieve and the conclusions and recommendations based on the
findings of the research.
6.1 Summary
Chapter One covered the proposal for this study, whose problem was to interrogate how
boys are socialized to become ‘men’, through the rite of circumcision. The chapter
presented the hypothesis that circumcision was an important rite of passage for the men
and the society in general. The premise for this study was that a number of masculinities
co-existed in Chuka and that the hegemonic masculinity bestowed more power and
privileges on men who espoused it, over the sub-ordinate masculinities. It was based on
the assumption that the installation of imperial institutions in the late 19 th century
transformed the existing ‘Chuka’ masculinities.
Chapter One too presented the methodological approach used in the data collection
during several periods of field work. Different sources such as interviews,
questionnaires, observations, archival data and other written sources were relied upon.
Purposeful sampling among other methods of choosing respondents was very
215
instrumental in getting resourceful informants. This study was not confined within the
geographical boundaries of Chuka but efforts were made to seek useful information
beyond these boundaries.
Chapter Two traced the origin and migration of the Chuka people from Mbwa to their
present settlement. This gave us a deeper understanding of the nature of the Chuka
people and the origin of their circumcision practices. This chapter analyzed the social,
economic and political organization of the Chuka in order to locate the significance and
effects of this organization on the circumcision rite.
Chapter Three described the practice of circumcision in the pre-independence period.
This was reviewed under the pre-initiation, actual initiation and the post-initiation rituals
of circumcision. Circumcision being a socialization institution portrayed a man as being
physically strong, intelligent and aggressive in his roles.  Circumcision was a universal
rite, which was performed on the pre-adolescent boys and driven by the cultural
influences in Chuka.
The construction of the social statuses of men through prescribed processes of teaching,
learning, emulation and enforcement were also discussed in this chapter. Individuals
born and sexed as males were gendered to be masculine during the circumcision rituals.
Finally, attempts were made to investigate the powers and privileges for circumcised
216
men in Chuka. This chapter demonstrates the price men had to pay in acquiring true
manhood, through the series of pre, actual and post- circumcision rituals. Besides, it
shows as real men had responsibility to defend, a right to belong to an age set and to
elevate their social status. The findings show that male circumcision governed social
norms and roles of men since manhood was defined through circumcision in Chuka.
Chapter Four analyzed the entrenchment of imperial rule in Chuka and its effects on the
traditional circumcision rituals. Attempts were made in this chapter to show how the
Christian missionaries attempted to Christianize and civilize the circumcision rituals
through the introduction of hospital or school circumcision. A particular effort was made
to scrutinize how the establishment of imperial rule had profound implications for the
male circumcision and consequently on the male social roles, values and identity. It
elaborated how missionaries created new versions of manhood as a result of the alien
and contradictory education and the new faith, which were different from the traditional
versions of manhood.
This chapter showed that the establishment of Western education and Christianity in
Chuka by the C.S.M and the Consolata missionaries in 1922 and 1930 respectively gave
rise to elites who attained skills for wage labor and economic empowerment. Educated
men were able to establish independent livelihoods without relying on their fathers to
217
allocate them land and pay for them bride wealth, something that fathers traditionally
did following their sons’ circumcision.
Chapter Five presents an analysis of how the attainment of independence changed the
Chuka understanding of manhood and how the modern circumcision eventually took
precedence over the ritualized traditional circumcision. With economic independence
the elites challenged the relevance of traditional circumcision in producing real men, as
elders continued to lose control over this elite generation. Since independence,
hegemony in adult men was based on their ability to control essential means of
production, with circumcision no longer being the definitive single indicator of their full
participation in community life. Contrary to the Chuka tradition and culture, there was
an emerging trend where most men turned to the modern methods of circumcision at the
hospitals. This change could be attributed to modernization, Christianity, intermarriages,
high literacy levels and migration among many other factors.
Chapter Six has provided a summary of each chapter in this thesis, basing it on the
objectives that this research was set to achieve. It has also provided a conclusion and
recommendations based on the findings of the research. The recommendations are meant
to help us understand circumcision as a rich cultural heritage among the Chuka and open
for us gaps for future research and investigation.
218
6.2 Conclusion.
This study proposed that circumcision was of great value and importance to individual
men as well as to the society. The analysis of data indicates that circumcision was an
elaborate practice involving lengthy preparations and a cluster of pre- and post-
circumcision rituals. Male circumcision is still one of the most important rituals deeply
ingrained in the Chuka culture. It marks the transition of males from boyhood to
manhood and the attainment of all the benefits and responsibilities of adult men. Chapter
two has clearly shown that male circumcision is as old as the Chuka society and was a
basis that directly or indirectly influenced the way the society was socially,
economically and politically structured.
From chapter three we learn that the uncircumcised male had no place in Chuka and was
a social deviant, who was forced to comply or get punished by the ‘real’ men. This
chapter confirms the premise that through circumcision different versions of masculinity
were created and co-existed with each other in different historical periods. Based on the
theoretical framework of Hegemonic masculinity, the findings confirm that there were
multiple masculinities in Chuka. At any one given time, the hegemonic masculinity was
ascendant and in charge of the marginalized and sub-ordinate masculinities. The rite of
circumcision constructed many categories of men and bestowed on each category
different levels of indirect control.
219
Before the onset of colonial rule ritualized circumcision was used in constructing ‘real’
men and was an inevitable part of the Chuka culture. Although circumcision was a
compulsory rite men who showed no signs of fear during their ritualized circumcision
gained more power and authority over other men and women.  Such men were chosen as
the ‘gaaru’ spokesmen for portraying an indisputable courage and having a well built
physique. The council of elders was another category of men who espoused hegemony
over other men. Their authority was derived from their seniority in age, as they
controlled the social hierarchy of males through circumcision. The findings of this study
show that male circumcision governed social norms and roles of men in the Chuka
society and that manhood in this community was defined by circumcision.
Over-valuation of men was normalized through a long circumcision process which
started at the family level, to childhood stage and continued through to adulthood. The
Chuka males’ authority was normalized in ways that appeared natural, and without any
form of coercion, women were relegated to being their subordinates. During the
socialization process, boys internalized and acted according to the prescribed men’s
behavior while girls had to behave like women. Men were encouraged to adopt and
develop certain personality traits that were often referred to as masculine for males while
women developed feminine traits.
220
Circumcision was an institution through which men constantly created and recreated
their gender in male segregated settings such as the ‘gaaru’ and councils of elders
meetings. These were some of the zones where masculine attributes were transmitted
from the older men to the younger ones by force, personal examples and the
appropriation technique. The prerequisite to participate in such arenas was that one had
to be circumcised, a rite that was deeply ingrained and valued in Chuka culture. This
study confirms the research premises that circumcision as a rite of passage was not only
important to the individual men but also to the Chuka society in general.
This study was premised on the assumption that the rite of circumcision underwent
fundamental changes in colonial and post-independence eras. Analyzed data confirms
that during the colonial period, the traditional circumcision rituals and male activities
that closely linked men’s identities disappeared. Majority of the migrant workers lived
under deplorable conditions that truncated their attainment of proper manhood. These
workers became marginalized by the whites’ masculinities who exercised hegemony
over the blacks’ masculinities. Ordering of masculinities on racial lines had profound
consequences on the Chuka male gender and female gender identities and relations. The
installation of imperial institutions in the late 19th century transformed existing ‘Chuka’
masculinities and disrupted the gender order especially in the division of labour.
221
Changes on men’s roles and privileges were aggravated in the colonial period, when the
Chuka men’s involvement in public matters drastically changed following the disruption
of the barracks life. The creation of new versions of masculinities was compounded by
the missionaries’ attempts to Christianize and ‘civilize’ the circumcision rituals through
the hospital and school circumcision. This resulted to cultural nationalists who
advocated for ritualized circumcision and militant Christians who proposed medical
circumcision. However, maintaining a traditional circumcision had become increasingly
difficult during the post-indepedence era due to dynamism wrought by schooling and
western medicine. Many boys preferred to be circumcised in hospitals as opposed to
going through the ritualized circumcision. The traditional rituals diminished probably
due to modern schooling, urbanization and modern medical practices.
The concept of hegemonic masculinity which is used in this study helped to identify
ways through which some men dominate both women and other men. This study
revealed that hegemonic masculinities were contested and changed over time.While for
instance some Chuka men and women upheld ritualized circumcision as the only avenue
of producing ideal masculinity, others contested this as a ‘primitive’ approach and
embraced new forms of masculinity based on acquisition of Western education,
Christainity and salaried employment.This reveals competing perceptions of what
constituted a hegemonic masculinity in Chuka particularly in the late colonial and early
post independence periods.
222
The concept of hegemonic masculinity may have limited our understanding of
experiences and meanings of men’s lives and the complex meanings of power. By
seeing power as domination practiced by some men, the concept presented an automatic
sense that someone else is doing masculine power and that others are less directly
involved in its articulation. This posed a risk of seeing the practice of hegemonic power
everywhere. To neutralize this drawback, the concept was used to analyse discrete,
priveledged and small peer groups of men within ten year intervals. Thus, this concept
was insightful in interrogating conditions under which masculinities change and to
mount and sustain arguments for this change over time.
6.3 Recommendations.
In this study, I may have raised more questions than I could answer. However, I hope
that they will indicate areas where future research may be conducted. The study
emphasizes a need to examine in depth the changing African social contexts and the
collapsing structures and institutions such as the traditional schools of circumcision.
There is need to examine the emergence of unstable situations that have given rise to
new social roles and values to both genders in Chuka.
There is need to explore how changes on circumcision rituals have affected the male and
female gender identity, the relations between the sexes and in particular their behavior.
We should reconsider and re-conceptualize conventional and stereotyped assumptions
223
about the relationship between men and women. This should not only be done in Chuka
but also in other social, cultural and economic contexts in Kenyan societies, where there
is instability and transformation of gender relations.
There is dire need to rethink the notion that the circumcised males are dominant and all
powerful, whereas the females are sub-ordinate and to be dominated. The stereotype of
male domination and women’s subordination is dangerous, static and does not allow for
change. Through circumcision rituals, men help to naturalize inferiority on women and
this may lead women to internalize themselves as subordinates. While patriarchal
ideology may be embodied in the lives of socially dominant men and subordinate
women, it does not mean that all men are successful patriarchs or that all women are
passive victims.
Results of this study show that medical circumcision is increasingly becoming the
preferred version of creating manhood as opposed to the ritualized traditional
circumcision. This calls for the government’s intervention to reduce or even clear off all
circumcision charges in our health centers. Free circumcision services in the hospitals
will encourage more people who are staunch followers of tradition and culture to opt for
the safer and hygienic medical circumcision. There is need to intensify campaigns
against risky traditional circumcision practices particularly to the people in the rural and
interior areas. This is because most of the people practicing the risky traditional
224
circumcision rituals are in the heart of the rural villages and not in urbanized
environments.
People should be sensitized on the dangers of ritualized and botched circumcision
practices through the governmental and non-governmental organizations. Men should be
enlightened to adopt circumcision practices that are congruent with the changing
demands of the time. The government should decentralize the health centers or adopt
mobile circumcision clinics to reach out to the people who are far away from the urban
and health centers. This will motivate the people to embrace the modern practice of
circumcision that is safer, cheaper and convenient.
Circumcision rituals should not be left to interfere with the education and rights of the
uncircumcised boys, particularly in our secondary schools. One would ask like Makokha
in Saturday Nation (Feb 17; 2007:9), ‘how does the foreskin hinder the learning of
Mathematics’? On this strength, the school system should offer the best chance to
engage with the youth on how masculinities are socially constructed. The educationists
need to understand how a dented cultural masculinity is nurtured in our schools and how
it produces anti-social, irresponsible and violent behaviour in the society.
By understanding the beliefs and customs of our forefathers, we are able to delink the
boy’s circumcision from his education. This calls for concerted efforts by human rights
225
activists, educationists and interventionists to avert the culturally sanctioned violence
emanating from the practice of circumcision in our boys’ secondary schools. This
intervention will produce citizens who will contribute to their development as well as
that of their peers and the society.
Besides, the area of the male body and the cultural ideals of gender in circumcision
rituals, speech and gestures remain under-researched in Chuka. Even less research has
been conducted on the relationship between circumcision and violence, even though the
results of this study indicate that there are modest correlations between circumcision
rituals and aggression. The construction of masculinity via circumcision legitimates the
use of violence and undemocratic assertion of power by the circumcised men over
uncircumcised men and women. Although the practice of circumcision has been watered
down by modernity, the aspects of violence related to this practice have become a
vicious cycle whereby the once bullied boys in turn become bullies after they meet the
condition of being circumcised.
Allegations have constantly been made that Kenyans have abandoned their rich cultural
and moral foundation that was built by many generations of their forefathers. One way
of tackling the rising cases moral and social is to learn how our traditional societies
functioned and adapt as much as possible our current society to the positive traditional
practices. Moreover the youth should rediscover their heritage for the good of the
226
society, and discard that which is “bad” cultural practice. Today, the Chuka man is
plunged into a world of change since culture is dynamic. The study of our past heritage
is very important because it tells us how our ancestors lived in a harmonious society,
reminds us of our roots and gives us a point of reference for the present and our future.
Finally, male circumcision has been widely suggested as a possible intervention to
reduce the spead of HIV and other genital infections in African men. This study has
revealed that there are different styles of circumcising among the Ameru subgroups.
This could be the scenario in other circumcising communities such as the Igbo of
Nigeria (Achebe 1959), Maasai (Ole-Kulet 1972) and the Bukusu of Kenya (Sunday
Standard Aug 3; 2014:6). In choosing a circumciser and a technique for their adolescent
sons, families are influenced by cultural traditions as well as their religion. Three
different surgical techniques of male circumcision have been identified and described in
this research which include, the removal of the entire foreskin, folding part of the
foreskin/ prepuce or leaving it suspended below the penis. The resulting genital
appearances vary considerably in the various Ameru subgroups.
Following this revelation, detailed knowledge of local circumcision techniques and their
physiological results is necessary, as we advocate for the removal of the foreskin as a
current intervention to the spread of HIV. As young men in non-circumcising societies
adopt circumcision, they are likely to copy the styles of circumcision from neighboring
227
ethnic groups. Medical practitioners and researchers should be knowledgeable about the
existing local styles and consequences of circumcision in order to make the right
recommendations that can best help to reduce H.I.V. infection. In so doing, the rite of
circumcision will be ccurately used in the fight against H.I.V. pandemic.
228
REFERENCES
PRIMARY RECORDS
DC/MRU/1/1/13 – Meru District Annual Report 1957.
DC/MRU/1/1/14 – Meru District Annual Report 1958.
E.B. Horne (1913), J.G. Hopkins(1918)and C.W. Wise(1925), ‘Lambert Papers’.
East African Ordinances 1910.
DC/EBU/1/3/1 Embu District Political record1, 1914-1927.
DC/EBU/1/3/2 Embu District Political record 2 1917-1958.
GP 301, LAM, H. E. Lambert, (Undated), Disintegration and Re-integration in the Meru.
H. E. Lambert and J.G. Hopkins, ‘Ngurutune Variants’ in Lambert Papers
Kenya Gazette Notice no. 3539 of 1982.
KNA 15/1/14/100 Minutes of the meeting of the African District Council (ADC 3/8 –
9/56
KNA CS/1/14 /100 Meru A.D.C Minutes 1955-1957.
KNA DC/KBU/7/3 N.A.D Circular No. 36 of 9/21/25.
KNA DC/MRU/1/1/12/1 Meru District Annual Report 1956.
KNA MSS/7, Mary, E. Holdings, ‘The functions of Women’s Institutions in Meru
Society’.
MAC354.676 LAM, Lambert H.E. ‘The use of Indigenous Authorities in Tribal
Administration of the Meru in Kenya Colony’.
MCC, Meru Local Native Council Book, No. 1, Minutes of 10/12/25/ 6/2nd -3rd/27.
SECONDARY DATA
Achebe, Chinua (1959), Things Fall Apart.  New York: Anchor books.
Achebe, Nwado (2000), Farmers, Traders, Worriors and Kings: Female Power and
Authority in Northern Igbo land 1900- 1960. Los Angeles: PhD Dissertation,
University of California.
Adler, A. (1992), Understanding Human Nature. Oxford: One World.
Adorno, T., Frenkel- Brunswik, E.Levinson, D.J &Sanford, R.N. (1950) The
Authoritarian Personality. New York: Harper
Amadiume, Ifi (1987), Male, Daughters and Female Husbands: Gender and Sex in
African Society. London: Zed   Books.
Arlow, Jacob A., and Herma, John L., (2005) ‘Psycho Analysis’ Microsoft Encarta ®
2006 DVD, W.A Microsoft Corporation.
Baca, Zinn Maxin (1982 a), ‘American Women in Social Science: Review Essay’, in
Signs, Vol. 8 No. 2.
_______________ (1982 b), ‘Chicano Men and Masculinity’, in Journal of Ethics
Studies, Vol.  10 No. 2.
229
Bailey, R.C, Moses S., Parker C.B., Agot K., Maclean I., Krieger J.N., Williams C.F.,
Campbell R.T., Achola J.O., (2002) ‘The Acceptability of Male Circumcision
to reduce HIV infections in Nyanza Province, Kenya’: AIDS Care, 14 (1).
Barkar, Gerry (1996), Young Males and Masculinity in Sub-Saharan Africa. HIV/ Aids,
Conflict and Violence. Brazil: Promundo.
Bennet, Patrick (1967), Dahl’s Law and Thagicu African language Studies. Vol 8.
London; London University Press.
Bernadi, B. (1989), A Blessing Prophet. Nairobi; Gideon’s Were Press.
Beidelman, T.O. (1967), The Matrilineal People of Eastern Tanzania. London:
International African Institute.
Bible Society, (2008), The Bible Genesis 17:11-12, Revised Standard Version. Britain:
Bible society Resources Ltd.
Boahen, Adu A. (1990), ‘Africa and the Colonial Challenge’ in General History of
Africa, Voll Vii, Berkeley: University of California Press.
(1987), African Perspectives on Colonialism, Baltimore: The Johns
Hopkins University Press.
Branford, J. (1980), A Dictionary of South African English, Cape Town: Oxford
University Press.
Brannon, R. (1976), ‘The Male Sex Role  and What It’s Done For Us Lately’, in R.
Brannon and D. David (eds), The Forty-Nine Percent Majority. Wesley: M.A
Addison.
Brod, H. (1987), The Making of Masculinities. The New Men’s Studies. Boston: Allen
& Unwin.
(1994), ‘Some Thoughts on Some Histories of Some Masculinities, Jews and
Others’, in Theorizing Masculinities; Eds, D.S David and R. Brannon; U.SA.
Thousand Oaks, C.A.Sage.
Brown, Judith et al (2001), ‘Varieties of Male Circumcision: A Study from Kenya;
Chogoria Hospital;’ in Sexually Transmitted Diseases Volume 28; Issue
10. Medical Fund of Charlottesville; Virginia.
Bunger, R (1970), ‘’Pokomo Political History and Organization’’, Discussion paper,
Institute of African Studies. Nairobi; University of Nairobi.
Butler, Judith (2007), Gender Trouble New York: Rout ledge.
Carrigan, T., R.W.Connell, and Lee, (1985), ‘Towards a New Sociology of
Masculinity’ in Theory and Society, Vol.14 No.5.
Chapman, R. and Rutherford J., (eds), (1988), Male Order: Unwrapping Masculinity.
London: Lawrence   & Wishart.
Clough, Marshall (1998), Mau Mau Memoirs: History, Memory and Politics. Boulder:
Lynne Reiner Publishers.
Cockburn, C.K. (1983), Brothers: Male Dominance and Technological Change.
London: Pluto.
230
Cohen, J.M., Lewis D.B. (1987), Role of the Government in Combating Food
Shortages : Lessons from Kenya 1984-1985, in Glantz M.H. (ed), Drought
and Hunger in Africa. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press.
Coltrane, Scott (1994), ‘Theorizing Masculinities in Contemporary Social Sciences’ in
Harry Brod, and M. Kaufman, (eds), Theorizing Masculinities. USA: Sage
Publications.
Connell, R.W. (2003), ‘Masculinities Change and Conflict in Global Society: Thinking
about the Future of Men’s studies’ Journal of Men’s Studies, Vol.11
No.3.
__________ (2005), Masculinities. California: University of California.
__________ (1993), ‘The Big Picture; Masculinities in Recent World   History’, in,
Theory   and Society Vol. 22 No.5.
___________ (2000), The Men and the Boys, Australia: Sydney Allen & Unwin.
___________ (1987), Gender and power. U.K: Cambridge.
___________ (1985), ‘Theorizing gender’ in, Sociology. Vol. 19 No. 2.
Cooper, Fredrick (2002), Africa since 1940: the Past and Present. Cambridge;
Cambridge University Press.
(1996), Decolonization and African Society: The Labor Question in
French and British Africa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Cornwall, A and N. Lindisfarne (editors), (1994), Dislocating Masculinities;
Comparative Ethnographies. London; Rout ledge.
Daniel Anderson  David (2006), ‘A Very British Massacre’ in History Today Vol
1;Bennet Branch HUW.
Daniels, Robert (1970), By Rites a Man; A Study of the Social and Individual
Foundations of Tribal Identity Among the Kipsigis of Kenya. U.S.A: PhD
Thesis, University of Chicago.
Davison, J (1987), ‘Without Land we are Nothing. The Effect of Land Tenure Policies
and Practices upon Rural Women in Kenya’; Rural Africana 27:19-33.
Donaldson, Mike (1993), ‘What’s Hegemonic Masculinity?’ in, Theory and Society
Vol. 22 No.5. Australia: Springer.
Demetriou, D.Z. (2001), ‘Connell’s Concept of Hegemonic Masculinity, A Critique’ in,
Theory and Society Vol.30 No.3.
Dunbar, Moodie and Ndatshe V., (1994), Going for Gold, Men, Mines and Migration.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
Eastermann, C (1979), The Ethnography off South-Western Angola ll; The Nyaneka-
Nkumbi Ethnic Group. London: Africana Publishing Company.
Encyclopedia, (1973), Britannica Vol 5. USA: Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. Fadiman
Foucault, Michel (1980), ‘Right of Death and Power over life’, In The History of
Sexuality Volume 1, An Introduction .Translated by Robert Hurley. New
York: Vintage.
231
Freud, Sigmund (1927), ‘Some Psychological Consequences of the Anatomical
Distinction between the Sexes’ in International Journal of Psycho-analysis
Vol. 8.
Fuller, Norma (2000), ‘The Social Construction of Gender Identity among Peruvian
Men’ in, Men and Masculinities Vol. 3.No.3.
Gitau Njoroge (February 24; 2007) ‘Why Circumcision Rite is deeply entrenched
among
the Meru’. Saturday Standard pp 15-16.
Gitari, Marete (2005), ‘Concepts of God in the Traditional Faith of the Meru People of
Kenya’. Johanesburg; M.A. Thesis, University of South Africa.
Gilmore, David (1990), Manhood in the Making: Cultural concepts of Masculinity.
Yale London: University Press.
Goodie, W.(1982), Why Men Resist in Rethinking the Famiy, Some Feminist questions
edited by B.Thorne and M Yalom. New York; Longman.
Government of Kenya, (2011), Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Map Nairobi:
Government Printers.
Government of Kenya (1997-2001), Tharaka-Nithi District Development Plan. Nairobi:
Government Printers.
Gramisci, Antonio (1971), Selections from the Prison Note Books. Translated and
edited by Quintin Hoare and Geofrey Nowell. New York; International
publishers.
Gutmann, Mathew (2002), The Romance of Democracy: Compliant, Defiance in
Contemporary Mexico. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Hastings, James (ed), (1971), Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Vol. 111 Britain:
Morrison and Gubbled.
Hearn J., and   Morgan D., (eds), (1990), Men, Masculinities and Social Theory.
London: Unwin Heyman.
Hearn Jeff, and Wendy Parkin (2001), Gender, Sexuality and Violence in
Organizations. The Unspoken Forces of Organization Violations. C.A.
Sage: Thousand Oaks.
Hearn, J. (2004), From Hegemonic Masculinity to the Hegemony of Men, in, Feminist
Theory Vol. 5 No 1.
Hobley, C.W, (1910), Ethnology of the Akamba and other East African Tribes.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hodgson, Dorothy L. (1999), “Once Intrepid Warriors’’. Modernity and the Production
of Maasai Masculinities” in Ethnology Vol.38 No.2.
Hooks, Bell (1992), Black Looks, Race and Representation. South End Press, Boston.
Hooper, Charlotte (2001), Manly States: Masculinities, International Relations and
Gender politics. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hopkins, A.J (1928) Trail Blazers and Road Makers: A Brief History of the East
African Mission of the United Methodist Church. London: Henry Hooks
United Methodist Publishing House.
232
Horkheimer, M (1936), Studies on Authority and Family. Paris: Alcan.
Illife, John (1995), Africans, the History of a Continent. Cambridge: Cambridge
University press.
Inima, Kenyami (2012), Map of Chuka-Igambang’ombe Constituency. Flickr Maps,
Images by Nokia.
Jefferson, T (2002), ‘Subordinating Hegemonic Masculinity’, In Theoretical
Criminology Vol 6:1. London: Routeldge
Jeffrey, Fadiman (1982), An Oral History of Tribal Warfare, The Meru of Mt. Kenya.
Ohio University Press; Ohio.
_________ (1973), ‘Early History of the Ameru of Mt. Kenya’, in Journal of African
History 14; No 1.
________ (2012), Meru’s Golden Age. An oral History of the Ameru. Nairobi; Kiraitu
Murungi Foundation.
________ (1976), ‘The Meru Peoples’ in, B.A. Ogot, (Ed), Kenya before1900:  Eight
Regional Studies. Nairobi: East African Publishing House.
(1994) When we began there were Witch men. An Oral History of the Mount
Kenya. University of California Press: California.
Jenkins, Keith (2003), Re-thinking History. London: Rout ledge.
Johnson, P (1993), A History of the Jews. London: Phoenix Press.
July, R. W. (1992), A History of the African People. Illinois: Waveland Press Inc.
Jung, C. G.  (1982), Aspects of the Feminine. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
(1953), The relations between the ego and the unconscious In Collected
works, Vol 7 Two Essays on Analytical Psychology. London: Routledge
&Kegan Paul.
Junod, H.A (1962), The Life of a South African Tribe. New York: UN Book Inc
Kabaji, Egara (2008), ‘Masculinity and Ritual Violence: A Study of Bullfighting among
the Luhyia of Western Kenya’, in Egodi Uchendu, (ed), Masculinities in
Contemporary Africa, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Kanogo, Tabitha (2005), African Womanhood in Colonial Kenya, 1900-1950. Ohio:
Ohio University Press.
Kaufman, Michael (1993), Cracking the Amour: Power, Pain and the Lives of Men.
Toronto: Viking.
__________, (ed), (1987), Beyond Patriarchy; Essays by Men on Pleasure, Power and
Change. Toronto: Oxford University Press.
Kelly, R (1999), ‘Age of Male Circumcision and Risk of Prevalent HIV Infection in
Rural Uganda’in AIDS Care 13 (3).
Kenyatta, Jomo (1938), Facing Mt. Kenya, Nairobi: East African Educational
Publishers.
Kessler, S.J., D.J. Ashenden, R.W.Connell and G.W. Dowsett (1982), Ockers and
Disco-Maniacs. Sydney; Inner City education centre.
233
Khanakwa, Pamela (2011), ‘Masculinity and Nation: Struggles in the practice of Male
Circumcision among the Bagisu of Eastern Uganda 1900s-1960s’. Illinois;
PhD Dissertation, North Western University.
Kibebe, Leonard Wekesa and Mutiso, Moses Mutua, ‘The Emerging Trends in Luhya
Circumcision Ceremony among the Bukusu Community in Bungoma North
District, Bungoma County, Kenya: A Socio-Economic Perspective’
September 16, 2012. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2158448
Kitching, Gavin (1980), Class and Economic Change in Kenya: The making of an
African Petite-Bourgeoisie. London: Yale University Press.
Kimmel, Michael S., Jeff Hearn and R.W. Connell, (eds), (2005), Handbook of Studies
on Men and Masculinities. U.S.A: Thousand Oaks, C.A. Sage.
Kimmel, Michael S. (1987), Introduction: Towards Men Studies in, American
Behavioral Scientist, Vol. 29 No. 5.
________________. (1994), “Masculinity as   Homophobia: Fear, Shame and Silence
in the Construction of Gender Identity”, in, Harry Brod and Michael
Kaufman (eds), Theorizing masculinities. U.S.A: Sage Publications Inc.
Kinyua, Joseph, (1970), A History of the Njuri in Meru 1910-1963. Nairobi: B.A.
Dissertation. History, University of Nairobi.
Kiprono, William (2007; February 15) ‘Twenty boys sent away from school because
they are not circumcised’ Daily Nation. P 37.
Kisiang’ani, Edward (2004), “Decolonizing Gender Studies in Africa,” in African
Gender Scholarship Concepts, Methodologies and Paradigms. Gender Series
Vol.1. Dakar: CODESRIA.
Ki-Zerbo, J (eds), (1989), UNESCO General History of Africa 1: Methodology and
African Pre-History. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Klein, M. (1928), ‘Early Stages of Oedipus Conflict’, in International Journal of
Psycho-Analysis, 9, 167-180.
Kohlberg, Lawrence (1966), ‘A Cognitive Developmental Analysis of Children’s Sex-
Role Concept and Attitudes”, in, Eleanor E. Maccoby (editor), The
Development of Sex Differences.  Stanford: Stanford University press.
Kombo, D.K., and Tromp D. L.A. (2006), Proposal and Thesis Writing, an
Introduction. Nairobi: Pauline Publications.
Kulet, Ole H.R. (1972), To Become a Man. Nairobi: Longhorn Publishers.
Lambert, H.E (1950), History of the Tribal Occupation of the Land. Part 1, the systems
of Land Tenure in the Kikuyu land Unit. School of African Studies No.22.
Capetown University: Cape Town.
(1947), ‘The use of Indigenous Authorities, studies in the Meru in Kenya
Colony’, School of African Studies No. 16: Cape Town.
(1956), Kikuyu Social and Political Institutions. Oxford University Press:
London.
Leo, C. (1984), Land and Class in Kenya. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
234
Lisa, L., and Stephan F. M., (editors), (2003), New Men and Masculinities in Modern
Africa. Social History of Africa. U.S.A: Heinemann.
Lombard, A. (2003), Making Manhood: Growing up Male in Colonial New England.
U.S.A: University of Chicago.
Mac, Ann Ghail M. (1994), The Making of Men, Masculinities, Sexualities and
Schooling. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Makokha’s Memo, (February 17; 2007), “Does the Foreskin Hinder the Learning of
Mathematics?” Saturday Nation. P 9.
Mama, Amina (2007), ‘Gender, Militarism, Conflict, and Peace Building’. A report on
a meeting held 2nd to 4th October, Cape Town, Unpublished.
____________, (1995), Beyond the Masks: Race, Gender and Subjectivity. London:
Route ledge.
Marck, Jeff (1997), ‘Aspects of Male Circumcision in Sub-equatorial African Culture
History; in Health Transition Review, Supplement to Vol 7. Australia: Health
Transition Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health.
Mbiti, J.S. (1992), Introduction to African Religion. Nairobi: East African Educational
Publishers.
McKittrick, M (2003), ‘Forsaking their Fathers? Colonialism Christianity and the
Coming of Age in Ovamboland, Northern Namibia’ in Lisa and Stephan
(editors), Men and Masculinities in Modern Africa. Ports mouth; Heinemann.
Meritt, John Hilton (1976), A Study of Change of Circumcision rituals among the
Abaluhyia of Bungoma and Kakamega Districts of Western Kenya since 1900
A.D. PhD Thesis: University of Nairobi.
Messner, Michael (1993), ‘Changing Men and Feminist politics in USA,’   in, Theory
and Society, Vol. 22 No. 5,   available at< http// www. Jstor. org.
_____________, (2003), ‘Modernized Masculinities, Continuities, Challenges and
Changes in Men’s Lives’, in, S. Ervo and T. Johannson, (eds), Among Men:
Molding Masculinities. U.K:  Ashgate.
Mies, Maria (1986), Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the
International Division of Labour. London; Zed Books.
Middleton, John and Kershaw Greet (1972), The Central Tribes of the North Eastern
Bantu (Kikuyu, Embu, Meru, Mbeere Chuka Mwimbe Tharaka and Kamba
of Kenya). London; International African Institute.
Middleton, John (1979), The Central Tribes of North Eastern Bantu. New York; AMS
Press.
Miller, Norman (1984) Kenya: The Quest for prosperity. Evolution of the
entrepreneurial and aggressive way of life in modern Kenya. Westview.
M’Inoti, Filipo (1930), Asili Za Meru na Desturi Zao (Traditions of the Meru and their
Customs. North Imenti; United Methodist Archive, Hand written manuscript.
Mies, Maria (1988), Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale: Women in the
International Division of Labour. London: Zed Books.
235
Mischel, Walter (1970), ‘A social Learning View of Sex Differences in Behavior’, in,
Eleanor E. Maccoby, (Ed), The Development of Sex Differences. Stanford:
Stanford University Press.
Mollerr, Michael (2007), ‘Exploiting patterns.  A Critique of Hegemonic Masculinity’,
in, Journal of Gender Studies Vol.16 No 3.
Morell, Robert (1998), ‘Of Boys   and Men. Masculinity and Gender in Southern
Africa Studies’, in, Journal of Southern African studies Vol. 24 No 4.
________, (ed), (2001), Changing Men in Southern Africa. South Africa: University of
Natal press.
Murithi, Mbura S (2008), Vulnerability and Capability in Kenya: Towards an African
Women’s Public Theology. Natal; PhD Thesis, University of Kwazulu.
Murunga, Godwin (2010), In conversation with Jane Bennet, on, ‘African Feminisms
and Ideas on Masculinities and Gender Based Violence’, Feminist Africa,
Issue 14, December 2010.
Murray, J.M. (1974), The Kikuyu Female circumcision Controversy, with special
reference to Church Missionary Society’s Sphere of influence. P.H.D
Dissertation, University of California: Los Angeles.
Muriuki, G. (1974) A History of the Kikuyu, 1500-1900. London: Oxford University
Press.
Mutunga, Willy. (2009), ‘Feminist Masculinity. Advocacy for Gender Equality and
Equity’, in, Makau Mutua, (ed), Human Rights NGOS in East Africa.
Political and Normative Tensions.  Kampala: Fountian Publishers.
Mwaniki, H.S. Kabeca (1982), A Pre-colonial History of the Mt. Kenya, (1400-1908),
PHD Thesis, Dalhouse University: Canada.
___________________, (2004), Chuka Historical Texts. Kijabe: Kijabe Printing Press.
___________________, (1974), Embu Historical Texts. Nairobi: East African
Literature Bureau.
Nairobi, Times  (6th September, 1982) pp1 Available at K4 Health Website
www.popline.org/node/134257
Ncayiyama, Daniel (2003), ‘Astonishing Indifference to Deaths due to Botched Ritual
Circumcision’ in South African Medical Journal, Vol 93,No 8.
Ndungo, M. Catherine (2006) “The Image of Women in African Oral Literature. A
Case study of the Gikuyu Oral Literature”, In Mesfin Adinew and Abiye
Daniel (eds), Gender Issues Research Report Series No.23, OSSREA.
Ethiopia: Addis Ababa.
Ngugi wa Thiong’o (1965), The River Between. Nairobi: East African Educational
Publishers Ltd.
Njau, Rebeka and Gideon Mulaki (1984), Kenya Women Heros and their Mystical
Power. Nairobi.; Risk Publications
Njoya, Timothy (2008), The Crisis of Explosive Masculinity. Nairobi: MEW.
Noble, Rob (2006), ‘Questions and answers on Adult Male Circumcision Trials in
Kenya and Uganda’. NAID, AVERT HIV <html document.
236
Nyaga, Daniel (1997), Customs and Traditions of the Ameru. Nairobi: East African
Educational Publishers.
Nye, Robert (2005), “Locating masculinity, Some Recent Work on Men”, in, Journal of
Women in Culture and Society, Vol. 30 No 3. U.S.A: University of Chicago.
Obonyo, Oscar (3rd August; 2014), ‘It’s Time to Face the Knife as the Luhya Celebrate
the Boys Becoming Total Men’, in Sunday Standard; pp6.
Odhiambo, Tom (2009), ‘Emasculated Manhood in a Context of Conflicting Moral
Economies”, in,  Murunga, G.R. (ed), Gender  Roundtable Bulletin No’s
1&2, Kenyatta University: Staff Seminar, Dept of History, Archaeology and
Political Studies.
Onselen, Charles Van (1992), ‘The Social and Economic Under Pinning of Paternalism
and Violence on the Maize Farms of South-Western Transvaal 1900-1950’,
in, Journal of Historical Sociology Vol. 5 No 2.
Olson, David and John Defrain, (2000), Marriage and the Family Diversity and
Strengths. U.S.A: Mayfield, Co.
Orde, Browne (1913), Circumcision ceremonies among the Amwimbe: Man 13 No 79;
137-40.
(1916), Mount Kenya, and Its people. Some notes on Chuka Tribe;
Journal of African Society 15; 225-253.
(1915), The Circumcision ceremony in Chuka: Man 15 No.5, Article 39.
(1925), Vanishing Tribes of Kenya, London: Seely and Company Ltd.
Oxford, (2013), 3600 Atlas for Secondary Schools. Nairobi;  Oxford University Press.
Oyewumi, Oyeronke (1997), The Invention of Women: Making an African Sense of
Western Gender Discourses. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.
Parsons, Talcot (1961), Theories of Society Foundations of Modern Sociological
Theory. New York: Free Press.
Philipose, Liz (2007), ‘The Politics of Pain and the end of the Empire’ in, International
Feminist Journal of Politics 19:1, 60-81.
Pype, Ketrien (2007), ‘Fighting Boys, Strong Men and Gorillas: Notes on the
Imagination of Masculinities in Kinshasa’, in, Africa Vol.77 No 2.
Ratele, Kaparo (2008), ‘Studying Men in Africa Critically’, in, Egodi Uchendu, (ed),
Masculinities in Contemporary Africa, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Reid, G. and Walker L., (eds), (2004), Men Behaving Differently: South African Men
Since 1994. Cape Town: Double Storey.
Rice, Phillip (1999), Intimate Relationships, Marriages and Families. U.S.A: Mayfield
Co.
Rizvi, S.A (1999), Religious Circumcision: A Muslim View. BJU International 83;
(Supplement 1)
Roberson, James E., and Nobue Suzuki, (eds) (2003), Men and Masculinities in
Contemporary Japan. Dislocating the Salary Man Doxa. London: Rout
ledge.
237
Robertson, Claire (1997), Trouble Showed the Way: Women, Men and Trade in the
Nairobi Area 1890-1990. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Robinson, Kerry H. (2005). ‘Reinforcing Hegemonic Masculinities through Sexual
Harassment.  Issues of Identity, Power and Popularity in Secondary Schools’,
in, Gender and Education Vol. 17, No.1
Roy, Rahul (2003), Exploring masculinities A Travelling Seminar. Unpublished
Manuscript.
Ruth Hubbard and Marian Lowe, (1978) (eds) Genes and Gender Vol 1. New York
:Gordian Press.
Sangree, Walter (1966), Age, Prayer and Politics in Tiriki Kenya. London: London
University Press.
Seidler, Victor (1991), Recreating Sexual Politics: Men, Feminism and Politics,
London:Rout ledge.
Sinclair, Webb Emma (2000), ‘Our Bullet is now a Commando’, Military Service and
Manhood in Turkey”, Mai Ghoussoub and Emma Sinclair Webb,
(eds), Imagined Masculinities, Male Identity and Culture in Middle
East London: Saqi.
Snodgrass, J. (1977), For Men against Sexism: A Book of Readings; Albon C.A; Times
Chang Press.
Stets, Jan E. and Peter Burke, (1996), Gender Control and Interaction.” Social
Psychology Quarterly. Vol. 59.
Stichter, Sharon (1982), Migrant Labor in Kenya. Capitalism and African Response
1895-1975. London: Longman.
Strobel, Margaret (1979), European Women and the Second British Empire. London:
Oxford University Press.
Survey of Kenya, (2003), National Atlas of Kenya, 5th edition Nairobi; Kenya
Governmet Printers.
The Global Coalition for Africa, (1992) ‘African Social Development Trends’. Annual
report
Thomas, Lanqueur and Catherine Gallagher (1987) (eds) The Making of the Modern
Body; Sexuality and Society in the 19th C. Berkeley: University of California
Thomas, L.M (1996), ‘Ngaitana (I will circumcise myself)’, The Gender and
Generational Politics of the 1956 Ban on Clitoridectomy in Meru,
Kenya in Gender and History 8 (3).
(2003), Politics of the Womb: Women Reproduction and the State in
Kenya. Los Angeles ; University of California Press.
Thomas, Samuel P. (1992), Old Age in Meru, Kenya: Adaptive Reciprocity in a
Changing Rural Community. PhD Dissertation. Florida; University of
Florida.
Tolson, A.(ed) (1977), TheLlimits of Masculinities. London; Tavistock.
Uchendu, Egodi (Ed), (2008), Masculinities in Contemporary Africa. Dakar:
CODESRIA.
238
United Nations, (1992), Economic Recovery 6 (3)
Van, Zwanenberg (1975), Colonial Capitalism and Labour in Kenya 1919-1939.
Kampala: East African Literature Bureau.
Wagner, Gunter (1949), The Bantu of Western Kenya Vol. 1. London: Oxford
University Press.
Wanyonyi, P. Kakai (1992), Social Concepts in the Initiation Rituals of the Abatachoni.
A Historical study. M.A. Thesis; Nairobi; Kenyatta University
Wasserman, Gary (2008), Politics of Decolonization: Kenya, Europeans and the Land
Issue 1960-1965. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
White, Luise. (1990), ‘Separating the Men from Boys. Constructions of Gender,
Sexuality and Terrorism in Central Kenya 1939–1959’, in,
International Journal of African Historical Studies. Vol. 23 No.1.
___________ (2003), ‘Matrimony and Rebellion: Masculinity in Mau Mau’, in, Lisa
L.,
and Stephan F. M., (eds), New Men and Masculinities in Modern
Africa: Social History of Africa, U.S.A: Heinemann.
Worthington, R.W, (1920), United Methodist Mission Report in Laughton papers,
School of Oriental studies. London; University of London.
239
APPENDICES
APPENDIX 1
MAP OF KENYA
Source; Oxford (2013:16) 3600 Atlas
240
APPENDIX 2
MAP SHOWING THE LOCATION OF THARAKA-NITHI COUNTY
Source; Oxford (2013:21) 3600 Atlas
241
APPENDIX 3
MAP SHOWING THARAKA NITHI COUNTY
Source; Government Printers (2011), Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Maps.
242
APPENDIX 4:
RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS
PART A;
QUESTIONNAIRE GUIDE
TRANSMITTAL LETTER
Dear respondent,
I am a Master of Arts student, (Department of History, Archaeology and Political
Studies) of Kenyatta University, carrying out a research on THE SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTION OF MASCULINITY AMONG THE CHUKA THROUGH
CIRCUMCISION, 1906 – 2000.
I hereby invite you to participate in this research by filling in the attached questionnaire.
Your views shall remain CONFIDENTIAL and will be used solely for this research.
As a show of gratitude for your participation in this research, the findings will be availed
to you on request using the address shown at the bottom of this page, once the study is
successfully completed.
Thank you in advance.
Yours Sincerely,
MURANGIRI RITA MURUGI
Email-murugirita@yahoo.com
Telephone: 0721227826
Address: P.O. Box 537-60400 Chuka.
Master of Arts-History, Archaeology, and Political Studies
Kenyatta University.
243
QUESTIONNAIRE GUIDE
BIO-DATA
Age …………………………………
Gender ……………………………..
Sub-location ………………………..
Division …………………………….
Status/position/occupation ………………….
1. Do you understand the meaning of circumcision rituals?
Yes …………. No…….. Not sur e
2. How would you describe this rite of passage, as guided below?  (Tick one).
Unnecessary …………………
Compulsory …………………
Voluntary ……………………
Others (specify)
i) ………………………..
ii) ………………………..
iii) ………………………..
3. At what age is the rite practiced on the boys?  (Tick one).
Before 2 years of age ………………….
Between 5-10 years of age ……………
Between 10-15 years of age……………
Above 15 years of age ………………..
244
Any other …………………………………………….
Give a reason for the choice of age in Q3 above.
After primary education ……
In order to join form one …….
In order to become a ‘man’…….
Others (specify)
i)……………………………………
ii)…………………………………..
iii)………………………………….
4. What influences boys to be circumcised at the chosen age bracket?
………………………………..
…………………………………
…………………………………
5. (a) Where is circumcision conducted in your sub-location (venue)?  Tick one
Hospital ………………………………..
Home …………………………………...
Others …………………………………..
5.(b) Where was it conducted before independence in 1963?
Hospital ………………………………..
Home…………………………………..
Others ………………………………….
6. Are there any uncircumcised mature men in your sub-location?
Yes ……… No
245
If yes , because of:
Fear ……………………….
Parental control ………………
Cultural reason (s) – (Specify) ……………………………………..
Lack of finances
Others
(i)…………………………………..
(ii)………………………………….
(iii)………………………………….
7. Who has the greatest influence on boys’ circumcision? Tick one.
Background e.g. other circumcised men……………………….
Grandparents …………………………………………………..
Self……………………………………………………………..
Friends …………………………………………………………
Parents …………………………………………………………
Others
(i)……………………………………………………………….
(ii)……………………………………………………………..
8. What are the preparations/requirements that one makes?
Pre-circumcision rituals
……………………………
……………………………
…………………………….
Actual operation
i)……………………………….
ii)……………………………….
iii)………………………………
Post-circumcision rituals.
……………………………
9. What are the benefits given to the circumcised men?
…………………………….
…………………………….
246
……………………………..
……………………………..
10. Name the qualities and expected attributes of a circumcised man in your sub-
location?
………………………………..
………………………………..
11. What are the advantages of being circumcised by a “mutani” the traditional way?
i)…………………………………
ii)………………………………...
12. Does circumcision cause the boys to be aggressive or violent?
Yes………… No
13. What are the benefits given to the circumcised men at the expense of the
uncircumcised men?
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
………………………………………
14. Suggest the effects of circumcision on the boy-child.
Positive effects
…………………………………………………….
………………………………………………………..
Negative effects
……………………………. …………………
…………………………… …………………..
15. “Circumcision creates real men in Chuka” comment on this statement.
……………………………… ………………….. ……………………..
Thank you.
247
PART B
INTERVIEW SCHEDULE
BIO-DATA
Age………………………………………….
Sub-Location……………………………….
Position/Occupation………………………….
Religion/Denomination ………………………
1. Is circumcision practiced in your sub-location?
2. If yes, when is it commonly carried out, what season?
3. Why is it carried out at the time in (2) above?
4. At what age are boys circumcised?
5. What preparations are made before, during and after the ritual?
6. Where is circumcision commonly carried out, in hospital or at home? Why?
7. Where was circumcision carried out in the traditional Chuka society? And by
whom?
8. What benefits were/are offered to the circumcised man?
9. Are there any mature male who are uncircumcised in your society?  Describe
their behavior and reasons for this failure to conform to societal expectations?
10. How is a circumcised man supposed to behave to prove he is a “real man”
11. Is circumcision in hospital considered of equal weight with circumcision the
traditional way?  Give reasons for your answer.
12. What are the qualifications of a traditional circumciser (Mutani)?
13. Suggest duties and responsibilities of a circumcised man in pre-colonial, colonial
and post- colonial period.
14. What benefits are denied to the uncircumcised mature men?
15. Give any other relevant information on how circumcision makes a man in your
sub-location, a real man.
16. How does failing to be circumcised prevent one from being a “real man” in your
sub-location?
17. Are there men who are more men than others?  If yes what makes them so?
18. Apart from through circumcision what other factors would make one to be
considered a ‘real man’
19. Are there circumcised men who are considered ‘boys’ even after undergoing the
‘cut’? If yes, what makes them so?
20. Justify the torture that ‘boys’ go through before they face the knife as they strive
to become men?
248
PART C
FIELD OBSERVATION GUIDELINES
Targeted areas frequented by men such as Chera market, Kibugua market, Chuka town
bus stage, Kanwa market and social joints in the area such as Baituru Baron, Godka and
Muringa restaurants. The research assistants looked out for; how men interacted with
each other, their general behavior, how they held conversations with themselves/other
people and their general reaction to various circumstances. Observations too were made
of the common attributes of masculinity displayed at these joints such as;
 Aggressiveness
 Forcefulness
 Domination
 Independence
 Ruggedness
 Virility
 Gestures
 Facial expressions
 Any other ……………………………………………………………..
NB:
 No intrusions were made with the men/or in their talk.
 Habitual routines of Masculine behavior were noted after observations
were done for not less than 25 hours at each joint, on various days of the
week.
 The observers were within a hearing distance from the men being
observed, (a few feet away).
 Any recording of the observation was done without the ones being
observed being noticing.
 The real names of the men being observed were concealed during the
reporting stage for the purpose of confidentiality.
249
OBSERVATION SCHEDULE
Place Date General Observation Frequency
Chera Market 10/8/11, 18/8/11, 7/10/11, 9/12/11
16/01/12, 15/04/12
Ruggedness
Domination
Forcefulness
name calling such as
'kabiu'
Independence
8
6
12
7
9
Kibugua Market 12/7/11, 18/12/11, 23/2/12, 4/6/12,
10/7/12
Ruggedness
Domination
Forcefulness
Independence
Agressiveness
Friendship among
peers
6
10
9
8
3
6
Chuka Town
Bus stop
12/7/11, 19/12/11, 25/2/12, 4/6/12,
10/7/12
15/7/12
Ruggedness
Independence
Domination
Agressiveness
Forcefulness
9
13
10
17
11
Kanwa Market 15/7/11, 23/12/11, 28/2/12, 10/6/12,
10/7/12
Ruggedness
Independence
Domination
Agressiveness
Forcefulness
8
12
6
5
7
Baituru Baron 17/7/11, 28/12/11, 3/3/12, 14/6/12,
19/7/12
Ruggedness
Independence
Domination
Agressiveness
Forcefulness
6
14
10
15
14
Godka
Restaurant
17/7/11, 28/12/11, 3/3/12, 14/6/12,
19/7/12
Friendship among
peers
Ruggedness
Independence
Domination
Agressiveness
Forcefulness
9
8
10
7
9
10
Muringa Inn 17/7/11, 28/12/11, 3/3/12, 14/6/12,
19/7/12
Friendship among
peers
Ruggedness
Independence
Domination
Agressiveness
Forcefulness
8
10
12
9
7
10
250
APPENDIX 5
LIST OF INFORMANTS
Names Age Dates of Interview
1 Agnes Kawira 40yrs 12/8/2011
2 Alex Mugambi 39 yrs 2/8/2011
3 Benjamin M’baini 89yrs 7/10/2011, 12/6/2013
4 Catherine Mbuba 56yrs 6/12/2011
5 Christine     Mukwanyaga 60yrs 21/4/2011
6 Cianguo   Kabubu kiambutu 51yrs 21/4/2011
7 Daktari Mwambia 60yrs 11/6/2011
8 Doreen Kagendo 33yrs 24/4/2011
9 Dorothy Kaari Mbungu 55yrs 17/6/2011,18/12/2012
10 Erastus   Njoka 48yrs 30/8/2011
11 Esnus Warue 50yrs 12/8/2011
12 Felister  Ciekamba 76yrs 8/8/2011, 14/6/2013
13 Francis Kanga (alias Mutema) 80yrs 6/6/2011, 15/6/2013
14 Franklin Nkonge 53yrs 28/8/2011
15 James Nyangi 46 yrs 8/8/2011,10/8/2012,13/12/2013
16 Junius Mucioka 52yrs 22/4/2011
17 Kaari   Peter 50yrs 10/7/2011
18 Kaburu Lawrence 35yrs 13/8/2011
19 Kibungi  Robert Karitu 72yrs 10/8/11,10/6/13,24/11/12,24/12
20 Late Nkari Magiti (alias Nkanabo) 94yrs 21/4/2011
21 Lillian Njagi 40yrs 26/8/2011
22 Lytesia Karugo Mukembu 50yrs 28/8/2011
23 Marangu Kaunda 42yrs 3/9/2011
24 Mary Miriti 50yrs 12/8/2011
25 Morris Njagi 43yrs 4/9/2011
26 Njeru Mutunga 48yrs 3/9/2011
27 Njoka Saribatore 64yrs 8/8/2011
28 Olinzia Kagendo 41yrs 30/8/2011
29 Pamela Gakii Mutegi 42 yrs 12/8/2011
30 Paul Mutiso 40yrs 9/7/2011
31 Rev. Festus M.Alexander 69yrs 2/8/2011, 16/6/2013
32 Stella Kawira 35yrs 12/8/2011
33 Steve Alex Muchiri 30yrs 21/4/2011
34 Titus Muriera Mbae 55 yrs 10/8/2011,18/12/2012
251
APPENDIX 6
GLOSSARY
Acenci - Non-elites
Akui mboro - Porters of the circumcisers’ bag.
Aathi - Hunters of wild game for food.
Athomi - Elites; those who had attended school
Ciangoi - The ‘Eve’; mother of the Chuka
Gaaru - System of barracks for men based on the age sets.
Gaaru ya Ibici – Huts for the uncircumcised boys.
Gaaru ya Mukuru - Barracks for the elderly men.
Gaaru ya nthaka - Barracks for the circumcised men.
Gichiaro – Birth brother hood.
Gukura/ gutanwa – ‘to grow up’ which implies being circumcised to become
a ‘real man’.
Gutira – support/ sponsoring initiates/ candidates.
Gutua Miringa - a whipping ceremony to graduate small boys from their
mothers hut into the uncircumcised boys’ hut.
Iganda/ Kiagau - temporary shelter made using dry banana leaves used as
a ‘healing hut’
Igoro - plural for Guinea Fowl; one is a ‘kigoro’
Iria ria mboyani - The ocean at Mbwa which from the oral traditions of the
Chuka migration is their dispersal point.
Itiri /kigirini - an area near the warriors’ barracks reserved as an arena.
Kagauni - Shelter where final circumcision operation took place
among the Chuka.
Karinga kathige – Removal of the entire foreskin
Kibici - term used to refer to the boys who are physically mature
252
but uncircumcised.
Kigiri - closely knit circle of warriors to prevent any woman/
intruders in the ceremony.
Kirarire/ kirira - catechism for initiates during circumcision
Kiroge/ iroge - one /many who is/ are poisoned/ bewitched’, used to
refer to men circumcised under anesthesia
Kuuma Nyomba - getting out of the house for the initiates after healing
Kuuna gaaru - act of the candidates provoking the warriors into rage in
order to kick off the circumcision  rituals.
Kuuna miti – ‘breaking sticks’ from a Mugumo tree which was done
by initiates
Kwangua/ Kibata – parading nude would be   initiates round the villages in
thauthi dances to solicit for the circumcision rites’
requirements.
Magau - for dried banana leaves.
Maitha – hostile neighbors/ external raiders
Marika - age set or age group
Mbatha - stinging nettle
Mbogo - Buffalo.
Mburi ya gutura matu – ‘goat for piercing of the ears’ which was presented to the
maternal relatives by the would be initiates.
Mibariki - Castor tree.
Mibiro - walking sticks for the initiates obtained from the
‘murembu’ tree.
Migaa - Acacia trees.
Migumo - Fig tree,
Mirangini - Bamboo zone on Mt. Kenya slopes.
Miringa - Indigenous tree
253
Mituntu - Indigenous tree
Monyo or ciakimuri or Nondo–describing Red ochre applied on the candidates.
Mubanda Miraga - planter of Miraga thorns to clip initiates foreskin.
Mugambi – ‘gaaru’ spokesman
Mugo – traditional medicine man.
Mugongo/ kiama gia nkome - name for the council of elders in Chuka.
Mukona - Name for Banana trunk among the Chuka.
Muraga(s)/ Miraga(pl) – Thorny Acacia tree(s)
Murembu – Indegenous tree
Mutani - circumciser
Muthiori – piece of cloth that formed a rounded girdle wrapped up
on the initiate’s waist.
Mutiri - sponsor to the initiate / one who supports the initiate
during the entire seclusion.
Mwene Njeru - Chuka God.
Mwiji/Kibici - the uncircumcised.
Nciabu – ceremony for naming the initiate
Ncogoma - Stick, (‘fimbo’ in Kiswahili), used to discipline the new
initiates.
Ndatho/ kurathia - ceremony by initiates taking gifts to the maternal
relatives.
Ndigi - Leaving part of the foreskin folded and tucked on the
lower part o the penis
Nguru Ntune – ‘Red legs’-people of white origin who had colonized the
Chuka at Mbwa.
Njogu - Elephants
Njuri ya Munene - colonial British tax collectors
Ntane - new initiates
254
Nthaka – the circumcised men in Chuka
Nthaka cia maendeleo- warriors for development to refer to the Christian coverts
among the warriors.
Nthambo - ‘Washing’ or bathing /cleansing of boyhood in rivers.
Nthumbi - Colobus monkey head dress.
Ntwiga - Giraffe.
Nyorotha - lace made using berries, or goats dung tied around the
initiates head
Though - dances performed during the circumcision season.
Therenja – ‘one who moves by his buttocks’, describing initiates
who made movements during the circumcision operation
Thome – village
Ubici - behavior associated with the uncircumcised boys.
255
APPENDIX 7
PICTURES TAKEN DURING THE FIELD WORK
Picture App; 7.1 Mzee Muriira (right), hails from Kathigiririni, and Arnold Mugambi
(left), a research assistant   during a session on the impact of colonial rule on Chuka
masculinity. This informant laments of how he failed to become a ‘mbishi’ meaning a
cook and only rose to the rank of a ‘boy’ meaning a messenger in a Whiteman’s home in
Nyeri. Oral interview dated 10th August 2011.
256
Picture App; 7.2, Cianguo Kabubu (left), hails from Thuita, narrating the history of the
age sets and circumcision patterns in Chuka to Steve Muchiri (right), one of the research
assistants. She was very resourceful on the traditional circumcision in Chuka and some
of the ‘Thauthi’ dances. Oral Interview dated 21st April 2011.
257
Picture App; 7.3, Mzee Benjamin Nyange M’baini (left) born in 1922, hails from Itara in
Maara district reciting his story to the researcher. He served in wage employment at
Mombasa, Thika and Ruiru, where he was an expert in making ropes from the bark of
wattle trees to be used in the trains. He feels sorry that he failed to go to Europe during
the world War (ll), a dream that would have elevated his masculinity. Oral Interview
dated 7th October 2011.
258
Picture App; 7.4, Coins and a whistle displayed by Mzee Benjamin (above). He chose to
presereve these coins and whistle because they had helped him to subdue other Chuka
men during the colonial period. Money and other European goods such as the whistle
elevated a man’s masculinity in the colonial period and enabled him to wield indirect
control over his peers.
Inscriptions on the coins:
The two smallest coins on the left; front side , 1 cent, 2nd Queen Elizabeth, back side
East Africa 1959.
The one medium size coin in the upper side ring, 5 cent, GeorgiusV Rexet.Ind;Imp.,
back side East Africa 1933
The Big size coin in the ring, 10 cent, GeorgiusV Rexet.Ind;Imp., back side East Africa
1933. This coin has the Crown of the queen inscribed on it.