It's a ritual that happened in all Kamba clans.
If a man insisted on exiting the world without leaving a wife behind, he was buried naked and upside down.
“When an aged man died without a wife and children, he was not granted the same burial rights accorded ‘normal people; Such a man would be buried naked, turned upside down to prevent men of similar ilk sprouting in the clan. They were interred lying on their stomachs and smacked with white ash on the buttocks a couple of times,” says Mutua Makumi a Kamba elder.
Makumi added that the burial was conducted with elders uttering the words, “In this clan, may we never get another like him,” after which the offending fellow was immediately taken to the grave without much ceremony because his life was not worth emulating.”
He says the Akamba used ash because it has no value.
Kisilu Kieti, another elder, says single men who died past the age of marriage were wrapped in a gunny bags and their bodies thrown in a gully.
“Some were simply covered with gunny bags and thrown in a gully and their remains left for wild animals like hyenas to devour. Others were tied up with sisal fibers and buried beside a cattle shelter,” says Kieti adding that they call such men Kimba.
Martha Mbiti says a similar fate befell women who died before marriage.
Men who died before marriage suffered the same fate.
“Such a woman would be buried outside the compound of their parents’ home - if they were not married yet they were past marital age,” says Martha.
The elders, however, say these customs are rare today due to the influence of education and religion.
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