Feature-The Ikhonga Murwe

Travel Feature

THE IKHONGA

MURWE-The Place Where Your Sins Are Forgiven and All Your Problems annulled BY AMUGASHA KALENGEKA

It is 6:30 in the morning at the

South of Kakamega town. We are

Murwe-the mysterious crying stone

of Ilesi.The signature tune of a reverberating Isikuti can be heard

cutting through the thick fog laced

with the glorious sing songs of the

sonorous birds of Kakamega.

At this point we are facing the

Isukha community’s most sacred of treasures. Standing tall is a

panoramic view of a mighty 40

meters high granitic tor that has

features resembling the human

anatomy with ‘eyes’ dripping with

‘tears’  simulating someone crying.

The tor is green and thick with

mosses plowing most of its surface signifying survival through tests of

time, braving agents of denudation.

Our guide,Mzee Umahala Okubasu, 73,draws our attention to a caravan of semi-naked individuals coming through the Shiminyiro – a cave at the foot of towering rock.

“These are people of Oluswa

victims or in some case products of

incest”, said Mzee Okubasu,”they

have come here to be cleanced,

these rocks here have a magical

powers to clear away all your

iniquities  and problems-you just

have to confess and all your problems will glide away with the

morning sun”.

Shiminyiro is Luhya for, the

sqeezer, it refers to the attribute of

the rock that is believes to squeeze

out all the transgression from its

visitors.

Over the years the Ikhonga Murwe

has been a permanent feature that underpins the culture of the Isukha

people of Western Kenya. Apart

from Kakamega Forest famed for

its diverse birds and insects, the

Ikhonga Murwe projects significantly

as one of the pillars that

Characterize the western province tourism circuit.

According to Ephantus Kinyua,the

Western Kenya tourism circuit

manager, it is estimated that  about

3000-5000foreignors pay visit to

the mystic rock annually, pumping in

over ksh.3 billion to the economy in

form of the much needed foreign exchange.

As we take a sightseeing tour

around the crying stone we meet

with a snaking pilgrimage of

worshippers who have come to pay

tribute to their gods.

“They are from Legio Maria

sect”, Mzee Okubasu tells us, “they

make annual pilgrimage to this place

to fulfill their religious requirements”.

An eloquent skilled orator,

Mzee Okubasu takes us through the

myths, epics and folklores that

surround this gods bit of artwork.

Among the narratives imbibed into

Mzee Okubasu head is the story of

Nandi warriors who in frustration of

the stone’s sorcerous power that

helped the Isukha win wars against

them, tried to pull it down. It is said  the hundreds of warriors in the

failed attempt were struck down in

the rock’s lethal vengeance.

Oriedo Chuma, an anthropologist at

the mines and geology department

in Kakamega confirms that the

Ikhonga Murwe was formed 6

million years ago, long before man

walked the surface of the earth.

He explains that the ‘tears’ trickling

down from the rocks is

indeed poisonous water comingled

with quartz, alkali, feldspar and mica.

But to the Isukha people living

around the Ikhonga Murwe, the

crying is something they look

forward to because is a precursor

for good things to come.

It is no wonder that when famine

strikes, the Isukha asks the gods of

the mighty Ikhonga Murwe for intercession.

From fires petering out in the

presence of the morning light our

guide explains to us that some

rituals had just been carried out in

the heart of the night when it is

believed that the malevolent spirits

are asleep.

The western tourism circuit however

suffers some extreme setbacks from

the almost immotorable roads in the region.

Mr.Ephantus notes with deep concern

that the poor states of the roads and inadequate five stars

accommodation facilities has robbed

the region of the numbers in

tourism tariff in comparison to

places like the coast where Kenya

highway authority has concentrated

its efforts.

We culminate our journey by a visit

to the Isukha river, where water

from the sacred stones of Ilesi spits

into it with a thunderous gush. As

the Isikhu meanders through the

woods and the great Ikhonga

Murwe cry its heart out, we trace

our path back awed at the creativity

of mother nature.