OATH-TAKING BY KIKUYU

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29250, 7 July 1960, Page 19

OATH-TAKING BY KIKUYU

Some Misgivings In Kenya (HZ. Pn»t Association—CdpvrlpM) NAIROBI, July 5. Oath-taking on Mau Mau lines has begun again among Kenya’s largest tribe, the 1.500,000 Kikuyu, according to official sources in Nairobi. At first the oaths being taken were at the simple "sou” type traditional among Kikuyu. Recently, however, there had been evidence that oaths incorporating the bestial practices used by hard-core Mau Mau were being administered. In these the phallic organs had been used as part of the ceremonies and sexual intercourse had taken place. Intimidation against chiefs and headmen who are Government servants and were usually loyalists during the emergency, had also risen sharply of late, officials said. Coffee and pineapple crops of headmen had been destroyed, and in several cases their houses had been burned down. There was no evidence so far of the use of the “killing oath” such as marked the real beginning of Mau Mau, when pledges to kill Europeans and others were introduced into the night ceremonies. Nor was there any sign of a central organisation as Mau Mau had. But secret societies had been formed at village and provincial level with their own “chiefs and headmen.” In spite of the strong tone adopted in recent warnings by Administration officials, the Government does not appear convinced that it is faced with a serious outbreak of terrorism.