In this article we look at what our Agĩkũyũ ancestors had to say about being fair or just in the one’s life. The wisdom on fairness and justice is contained in the three proverbs:
| Gũtirĩ wa nda na wa mũgongo Gũtirĩ mwana na karũmwo nĩ nyenje Kĩhooto kĩgetũraga ũta mũgete |
The first proverb literally means that there is no child who is destined to be carried on the nda, (front) of the mother and another destined to be carried on the mũgongo (back). In the traditional society, mothers used to carry their babies either on the front or on back. If she had two, obviously one would be carried on the front and the other on the back. Now, the proverb tells us that she was not supposed to be carrying a particular baby on the front and the other one exclusively on the back. You see, the one carried on the front would have the advantage of suckling more often than the one carried on the back. This would be unfair to the one destined to be carried on the back!
The second proverb literally means that there is no child who is destined to be a karũmwo nĩnyenje meaning one that has been eaten by cockroaches. To be referred to as a karũmwo nĩnyenje was meant to portray one as weakling, but the proverb tells that you also merited equal treatment as one who was considered strong.
The third proverb literally means that Kĩhootomeaning reason or the act of being reasonable has the power to disarm ũta mũgete – a bow that is already drawn ready to shoot. It tells us that using reason or being reasonable in our dealings is more effective that using violence or force.
The three proverbs form the tenets of justice and fairness that informed the administration of justice in the Gĩkũyũ traditional society. The Agĩkũyũ ancestors had set up a very elaborate justice system that was anchored on fairness as elaborated in these three proverbs. The justice system was managed by the elders (Athuri) who worked through councils of elders, the ciama or kĩama in singular. Under the kĩama system, every Kikuyu man qualified to be a kĩama elder after getting married. He would become one by paying a fee, in form of a ram (ngoima) to the local kĩama. He would slaughter the ngoima in a kĩgongona – ceremony scheduled on an appointed day where his local village elders would invite even elders from neighboring villages to witness the occasion. After the slaughtering (in the Kikuyu style), which was (and still is) a technical exercise, the meat would be roasted and the candidate would be taken through a series of steps, including allotting some parts (maringa) to his witnesses and being sworn in as an elder of one sheep – mũthuri wa mbũri ĩmwe. This was the first stage eldership and one had to go through two more ceremonies like that to become a full council elder, an elder of three sheep – mũthuri wa mburi ithatũ.
On becoming mũthuri wa mbũri ithatũ elder, one qualified to take part in the councils’ deliberations including the administration of justice, the making of new laws and maintenance of internal peace. One was vested the instruments of power (mathaga) and especially the mũthĩgi, a special black staff, which was the badge of office. One also qualified to carry the special leaves of either a maturanguru(Vernonia holstii) or matathi (Clausena anisata) which were only carried by elders of the inner circle of the council. Although there was a higher level of elders – athuri a mbũri inya (elders of the four sheep) they were more on the spiritual realm as opposed to the justice system, so essentially the justice system was the responsibility of the kĩama kĩa maturanguru.
On becoming a third grade elder, one spent considerable time on the administration of justice, mainly trough hearing civil and criminal cases in one’s village or in the territory. The procedures in hearing and determining the cases were set and all the elders were expected to have learned them as they rose in the council ranks. The process would be started by a person considering that another person had wronged them, in which case they would open proceedings against the offender in the local council through a very well established procedure. The plaintiff would state their case against the other party after which the elders would select two amongst them to go interview the defendant. They would explain to the defendant the case that had been lodged against them, which he would either deny entirely or admitted to it. They would fix a day when the defendant would come and meet the plaintiff in the presence of the council so that the case is heard and a decision given by the council.
One the day of the proceedings, the plaintiff and defendant each came with their witnesses to the village kĩharro or assembly grounds. The elders would form a circle in the middle of which the plaintiff and the defendant would sit. Their witness would be sent to two different far off places, where they couldn’t hear what was going on in council, from where they would be called when required. The plaintiff would be given the chance to state his case to the defendant and when he finished, the defendant would be given a chance to answer to the charges. After he was done, the elders would be given a chance to cross-examine the two on any point that may not have been clear. After cross-examination, the council leader would pick a few third grade elders and they would withdraw to place away from the main circle and hold a ndundu – an inner circle secret deliberation. Neither the plaintiff nor the defendant would be called to this inner circle but the witnesses of each would be called in turns and cross-examined. When they were done with the cross-examinations, the elders would deliberate on their own as to the verdict, on the facts and then determine the fine that would be imposed. They would be sworn to secrecy and return to the main council where the leader would announce their finding to the larger group.
If the defendant lost, he would be informed on when some four or so elders would come to his home for the fine and the plaintiff would be informed when the fine would be brought to him. If the plaintiff lost, the case was dropped unless one of the parties would want to gũchokia cira riko – to appeal. If there was to be an appeal, the one who had lost would not be expected to pay the fine until the case had been retried.
While “On the Foothills” will cover the process of appeal in a later post, the pertinent point to remember is that the whole process was grounded on fairness, equity and reason as encapsulated in the three proverbs. The contrast to today’s justice system should be abundantly clear to the reader given the widely know status where corruption in our judiciary is legendary. Corruption is so rampant that we have heard the system being described in phrases such as “it is cheaper to buy a judge than hire a lawyer”. The system treats some of the parties who come before it as karũmwo nĩ nyenje or mwana wa mũgongo, while others are treated as mwana wa nda. I would want to imagine that the spirits of our ancestor must be turning in their graves!!
On the Foothills of Mt Kenya 