The Dynamics in the Practice of Bukusu Circumcision Ritual Inkenya; Impact of the Inter-Christian Fellowships Evangelical Mission, 1988-2012
- January 5, 2022
- Posted by: rsispostadmin
- Categories: IJRISS, Social Science
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume V, Issue XII, December 2021 | ISSN 2454–6186
Godfrey Banda Mayende
Ph.D. Student, Department of Public Affairs and Environmental Studies of Laikipia University, Kenya
Abstract: This paper is an extract from a Master of Arts Degree Thesis that was presented to Graduate School of Kenyatta University-Kenya in April 2017. The study interrogated the Impact of the Inter-Christian Fellowship Evangelical Mission (IcFEM) on circumcision rituals among the Bukusu community of Kimilili constituency, Bungoma County in the former province of Western Kenya. In this paper however, our contention is to examine one of the objectives addressed in the above mentioned study; the Impact of the Inter-Christian Fellowships Evangelical Mission on circumcision rituals among the Bukusu community of Kimilili Sub-county. Significant to the our findings is the fact that Bukusu circumcision ritual played a wide spectrum of infinite socio-political and economic role in the society and as such, our contention was to demonstrate how status quo was altered upon the inception of new concepts that were not familiar with the traditional setup of the Babukusu.It should be observed that the corroboration of both primary and secondary data was very significant in conducting the field research whose findings were fruitful for the development of this paper. It is indeed true that the target population in the research that preceded this paper was selected using purposive sampling and majority of this population was from the local community within Kimilili Constituency comprising the Bukusu people. Oral Interview (abbreviated as O.I in the entire text) was a key research instrument that was successfully administered to generate substantive findings (Refer to the list of the informants provided in the references section). That aside, significant information was also gathered from the Kenya National Archives (abbreviated as KNA) to enrich the findings of this research.
Key words; Traditional circumcision, Inter-Christian Fellowships Evangelical Mission, Bukusu circumcision, hospital circumcision
I. INTRODUCTION
According to Makila (1978: 28), the Babukusu are one of the seventeen sub-nations that comprise the Baluhya cluster of the inter-lacustrine Bantu nations of East Africa. Other Luhya sub-groups include; Baragoli, Bamarama, Babedakho, Batiriki, Basamia, Bawanga, Batsotso, Babekisa, Babesukha, Banyore, Batiriki, Batachoni, Bakhayo, Bashisha, Batura and Bakabalas (KNA, DC/NN/3/1: 1902-1916). Today, the Bukusu community largely occupy the present day Bungoma and Trans-Nzoia Counties with a few of them settled in some pockets of Kakamega and Busia Counties. However, some of them have relocated to major towns within
