THE SILENT WITNESS
The dead who are living in the spiritual world are also capable of giving blessings , if their bodies are treated well after death and the customs well followed .
Being that the African way of life is communal as opposed to the western way of life which is more individualistic , death of an individual is a communal event and an individual is deemed not capable of deciding what happens to his body after death . This decision is left to the community .
The earliest known evidence of the middle stone age Africa burying their dead was unearthed in Kenya at a place called Panga ya Saidi cave in Kilifi county . It was a body of a child estimated to be two to three years of age and archaeologists estimated that it was buried about 78,000 years ago .
In Kenya , among the Gikuyus , traditions did not allow them to touch the bodies of the deceased and a person who was dying was taken to the forest or to a hillside and left there to die . The body was then scavenged on by wild animals .
There was however a variation , depending on the social status , with the above-mentioned procedure being a preserve of the low status individuals . The persons enjoying high status in society were however subjected to elaborate funeral rites whereby there was burial , beer and a ceremonial sexual intercourse between the widows and hired men . Livestock was also slaughtered as part of the rites .
Among the Luos , there are several rituals that were and , in some places , continue being observed once a person dies . These were dependant on the age , race and the marital status of the deceased . They included announcement of the death , vigil , grave digging , the actual burial , accompanying the spirit of the dead to the actual battle ground , shaving , departure of mourners to their homes and serving meals to the deceased and its family by married women .
There was also a ceremony in which the deceased was remembered ( rapar ) which was hosted a year or years later and then the dividing of the properties of the deceased . The burial ground also depends on the age , sex and marital status . By going through all these rituals , it was believed that you will keep peace with the spirits of the departed .
These two are examples of the rituals practiced following death in Africa and Kenya in particular . They vary but largely share many similarities .
When we were medical students , we had an abundance of human remains which we were using to learn the anatomy of the human body . We used to wonder where these human remains came from . On enquiring we were told that members of the Masaai community used to throw away bodies of their departed ones in forests . Our Human Anatomy
“ Rituals have to be performed on the dead persons according to well laid out customs in existence with variations amongst different people . Failure to follow these customs may lead to the dead , who are believed to have supernatural powers , to confer curses to the responsible persons .”
Professors at Chiromo Campus ( RIP Prof . Mungai and Prof . Kimani ) would go around the country , especially in Maasailand collecting these abandoned human remains for the purpose of the medical students ( me included ) learning about human anatomy , with an intention of making great future doctors .
The members of the Kalenjin community dreaded any contact with dead bodies to such an extent that there was hardly any mortuary in Kalenjin land ! There is a joke which goes like if you are at war with a Kalenjin man and he is about to kill you , pretend that you are dead . He will take off because you would have turned into a spirit .
Of note is that following colonisation , there was a drastic change in the way many African cultures responded to death , with many rites being shelved and many foreign customs being adopted . Changes also came due to contact between different tribes .
The conversation about cremation has gained a lot of impetus within Africa . One of the reasons for this increased interest in cremation is due to an explosion in population and the attendant scarcity of land used for the same purpose . Some have also argued about its convenience and the fact that it ’ s cheaper than burial .
However , this method of body disposal is largely still being viewed as being un-African due to the heavy cultural and religious dispensation in which Africans live . With cremation , it means that the above-mentioned procedures that have been followed in order to appease the spirit of the dead stop being actualized . So , it is expected and feared in many cultures that calamities will follow .
In Kenya , we have seen many prominent Kenyans being cremated in the recent past , a practice that was largely a preserve of the Hindu . Many of those who have opted for cremation have always expressed it either verbally or in writing ( in their wills ). In many of these cases , the process has been seamless . In others there has been resistance due to clash between the practice and their respective cultures .
These events have also generated a lot of debates among Kenyans with some people supporting the practice while others are opposed to it . In Luo culture , cremation is a subject that is still being met with a lot of criticism , with scholars believing that the prolonged mourning and ultimate ritualistic burying of the dead among Luos has a beneficial effect to the community at large in coming to terms with death . This is due to the finality that defines death .
When Bob Collymore died on the morning of 1st July 2019 , he was cremated at Kariokor cemeteries , following his wishes . Other prominent Kenyans who have been cremated include the late Hon . Kenneth Matiba , the late Jeremiah Kiereini , the late Prof . Wangari Maathai , The late Hon . Ken Okoth and recently the late Sir . Charles Njonjo .
We know that there are many cultures which are slowly being abandoned by many communities . Gikuyus for
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