MWAU MWAU...
Mwau mwau nivukishe mto. Nivukishe mto mwau.
5Nov2017
Mwau mwau njoo mwau. Mwau njoo … njooo nivukishe mto. Nivukishe mto mwau…..
The cries of women and children across the river, beckoning the trunk hewn canoe to cross the river to assist them on the other side to sell their wares or go to school or go to the market.
A mwau is a trunk hewn canoe. Anyone & everyone is allowed to and can row it. Its parked on any side of the river. It belongs to no individual. It belongs to the community. A man on the side where the mwau is parked is obliged to cross over with it to assist whoever calls out for - at no cost.
The river is the mighty Tana - teeming with crocodiles and hippo -- and the people are the Malakote.
We are on the edge of North Eastern Kenya. For long, a neglected expanse of land. Dry. Very dry. Regularly battered by droughts. Ignored by repeated regimes since independence ….. Wajir and Mandera got the their first tarmac roads in 2016! More than 50 years after independence. And home to some of the hardiest people on earth - the Somali, the Malakote, the Orma etc.
For the Malakote people crossing the Tana is not only a short cut to their villages, markets and schools – but also the cheaper option across (its free) - considering a matatu ride would cost no less than 50 bob and a boda boda would be anything over 100 bob.
The Malakote are a predominantly Muslim tribe of people living in Tana River County from Garissa all the way down to Hola and Garsen. They are closely related to the Orma and are part of the larger Bantu race similar to the Kamba or Embu or Mbeere.
Aren't they afraid of the crocodiles?
No. The saying goes that they talk to the crocodiles.
6Nov2017
So my first visit to Garissa in 2013 took me right to the edge of the North Eastern Province - Garissa.
Years ago - just after independence this area was a no-go zone termed as NFD (Northern Frontier District) - teeming with shifta - the ever-present bandits aptly named thus due to their constant movement - always shifting - thus shifta.
Those days Kenya used to end at Ukasi - the last bastion of the kambas - beyond that it was the somali people and of course the dreaded shifta.
Only the daring braved travel thro these bad lands.
But the Somali had to travel them out of necessity - it was their route home.
So how did the shifta affect me …..?
They are long gone now replaced by other threats predominantly in actual Somalia but with uncomfortably regular occurrences in Kenya as well.
Yes but how did the shifta affect me … good question.
Young Muslim Association. Orphan children. Orphaned by shifta in the 60s and 70s.
Somehow the Secretary General of YMA - one Mr Bhauddin - head hunted me to become a member of YMA … and thats how I came to Garissa.
I’ve never regretted it - well once or twice I have … but I’m now convinced that this is my calling.
Work for the orphaned children.
Directly and indirectly.
So what do I do. Largely help maintain the buildings. Oversee repair works. Advise and on what needs to be done, prioritise, follow up on the fundis and the management. I enjoy it.
So Garissa was an eye-opener.
I’d been there once with Haji Madhobe. To see a very rural mosque. We’d spent the night at Nomads - then the only hotel of repute. I must say it was quite nice and comfy.
5th May2021
Several years later I still travel to Garissa. I have since then designed and constructed a house for a very dear friend - the late Senator Mohamed Yusuf Haji. This was in 2019 and more recently I am involved in Wajir and by road one has to go through Garissa.
The attraction of North Eastern Kenya for me is largely sociological. By this I mean lifestyle in this part of the country is still largely different from the rest of Kenya ..... its is still very strongly Islamic and the geography is stark- dry scrub land become more arid as one goes North.
Bars and twilight women are still largely restricted and in Garissa itself one only gets these on the Tana River County Side of the town. This place has its own name - Madogo -and has its own cess collection points and its own security apparatus different totally from those just across Tana River within Garissa County. Its a diabolical situation.
The two main tribes in this area are the Somali and the Kamba. Whilst just across the river in Tana River County one encounters a rich mix of Pokomo, Wardey, Watta, Orma, Malakote and other minor tribes endemic to Tana County. Due to the environment and the restricted available building materials - the traditional houses (huts) of all the tribes here are similar - rounded manyatta type huts made from Acacia twigs and covered with leafy green vegetation and in towns they cover these with plastic sheets. The floor is made of rammed earth and since it rarely rains most activities are carried out outdoor.
More to follow .......... Insha ALLAH
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