The Kalenjin community may not conduct traditional initiation ceremonies to their boys this year after the flowering of a weed known as ‘setyot’ in the local dialect.
According to an unidentified elder captured in a video doing rounds on Facebook, this year would have been a girl’s only initiation ceremony.
Almost all the Kalenjin sub-tribes practised the outlawed Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) in the past but have since abandoned the practice save for a few communities lie the Marakwets and the Pokots.
“This year there will be no initiation of boys, and there’s no castration of bulls,” the elder says in the video largely in the local dialect.
“If we still circumcised girls, then this would be their year,” he adds.
The elder also talks about a mysterious red star that can be seen at 10.00 am. He says that once the star ‘sets’ the ceremony can resume.
However, the elder is cautious about the next year. He says that it will be seen when the time comes, whether weed will be there or not.
As earlier reported by hivisasa.com, those who still believe in the traditions will adhere to it and avoid circumcision. It is believed that the boys who will be circumcised when the weed flowers will encounter challenges in their lives, including going mad.
As at present, boys who hoped to be initiated this year have their dreams on hold. It is a cherished rite of passage that boys eagerly wait and to postpone it another year means more waiting and taunts from already circumcised peers within the same age group.
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