Matthew Muriuki Karangi

Revisiting the Roots of an African Shrine: the Sacred Mugumo Tree: an Investigation of the Religion and Politics of the Gikuyu People in Kenya Matthew Muriuki Karangi

The Kenyan history is weaved with the interplay of quintessential religio-political factors. In the past, some of the most important agents were the imperialist, missionaries, scholars and the adherents of African religions and philosophy. The history of central Kenya underlines that the Colonial government, the Missionaries, the African scholars and the G?k?y? elders collaborated in the forging and invention of the G?k?y? identity as we know it today. In the construction of the history, the sacred M?gumo was shrouded with religio-political power and used by the elders for social and religio-political control of the group. It was this religio-political symbiosis which was celebrated and ritualised around this traditional African shrine. Moreover, the sacred M?gumo prepared the ground for the evangelisation in the G?k?y? land and the political hegemony based on power-knowledge and control. Revisiting an African shrine through the sacred M?gumo tree will help the readers understand the G?k?y? cosmology as well as current religio-political conflicts in Kenya and look for solutions which will help the G?k?y? people co-exist harmoniously with other ethnics groups in Kenya.