The sacred mission God ‘assigned’ Akorino

JOSEPH KANYI | NATION: Akorino faithfuls entertain guests at St. Paul's High school-Kevote in Embu where President Kibaki had attended golden Jubilee celebrations. The President was accompanied by Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka among other ministers and members of parliament.

What you need to know:

Why Akorino supported new Constitution

  • Like other Christians who believe in the second coming of Christ to take them “home”, for the original Akorino the end of the world means the advent and restoration of the traditional values of the Kikuyu.
  • Akorinos hold services in open air assemblies where they form a colourful wave of humanity connecting with ritual. The service begins with a benediction of the members, followed by a reading the Bible, personal testimonies and finally a healing session led by the preacher.
  • Unlike today when members actively engage in politics, initially they kept away from politics, although they still maintained their non-violent philosophy.
  • The Akorino church was among those that supported the new Constitution. They believe in the avoidance of war and capital punishment and preach the pursuit of peace and seek the meaning of life through cultural values.

Family members say Mzee Joseph Karugia died smiling. He had just swallowed his last cup of tea; he was old and could barely eat solid food. His grandchildren never noticed him turn cold. They said Guka (grandfather) kept a permanent smile.

The 87-year-old’s last smile did not surprise members of his church who describe him as an extrovert who couldn’t resist a good joke, and a deeply religious man with a gift for moving the masses.

After the man who never visited a hospital died, family members moved his body to a secret location. They said their church’s rules forbid taking a body to a mortuary; instead, they would use traditional methods and ice to preserve his remains. He was buried in Kimende, Limuru.

Before the funeral, his eldest son Johana Gachie said only a few people would be allowed near Mzee Karugia’s body and they would be cleansed afterwards according to their church law.

Mzee Karugia was the last surviving founder of the Holy Ghost East Africa Church, commonly referred to as the Akorino church.

He was the last of the leaders who helped transform the 80-year-old church, whose members are recognised for wearing turbans, white robes and praying vigorously in open air markets, from an indigenous movement persecuted by the British colonial government to a recognised religious organisation.

Freedom fighter
Unlike other Akorino pioneers, Joseph Karugia was educated. Born in 1923, he attended Maringo Primary School and then joined St Joseph Githunguri Secondary School.

One of his teachers was Mbiyu Koinange, a leading activist in the Kikuyu independent schools movement and a freedom fighter.

Mr Karugia joined the Akorino movement on September 30, 1940 and was baptised on May 15, 1942.

He spearheaded the registration of the church in 1947 and henceforth became the custodian of the church’s list of members, customs, and values. His name and signature appears on every Akorino marriage certificate.

The journey for Akorino members was difficult because of harassment by the colonial government that opposed indigenous religious movements.
Karugia and other members spent a number of years under house arrest, then escaped to avoid persecution by the white man.

Members say some early Akorino adherents were burnt when colonial officials poured paraffin on their turbans and set them alight.

The Akorino movement began in the 1920s among the Kikuyu who rejected Western religion and customs.

By the late 1920s the colonial government began to consider its members as subversive and accused them of collaborating with the Kikuyu Central Association (KCA), a group that favoured schools independent from the colonial administration.

In the book Facing Mount Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta referred to Akorino members as watu wa Mungu (people of God) or arathi (prophets). Colonial administrative notices called them “false prophets.”

According to the church’s history, in 1934, God sent three men, Joseph Ng’ang’a, Mung’ara and Muinami, from Ng’ende in Kiambu to Gathumori area in Kimende, Limuru.

They were instructed to bless a poor village teenager, Simon Thuku wa Makumi and tell him to start a church.

On February 2, 1934, the three men were shot dead by British soldiers after going to the forest to pray. Lydia Njoroge, a researcher and archivist for the Akorino, said the men knew what fate had in store for them.

“God told them, ‘You have been given as a sacrifice to deliver Kenya from darkness to the light,’” she said.

There are a number of stories surrounding Simon Thuku wa Makumi aka Wa Makumi, who died in 1980. It is said he was told not to drink water from a flowing stream, and that God made him a well in Ng’arua area, Nyahururu. Today, it is known as the Akorino well.

The Akorino church has since split into several groups, each dressing and praying in its own way. But all the groups are still identified by a very emotional repentance of sin accompanied by loud prayers and weeping.

Members shake and jump as they pray. They baptise their followers through fire and the Holy Spirit and strongly believe in visions, dreams and auditions. They are also said to speak in tongues.

Mzee Karugia is survived by three sons and several grandchildren. His position will be filled after elections to be held within a year.
The story of the Akorino church is told through the many men and women who founded the movement.

Hezron Tumbo is regarded as the “owner” of the Akorino flag. He is said to have been instructed by God to make the flag and fly it high where all people could see it.

Mount Sinai
According to church history, the songs sung by members were first written down by Henry Maina after seven angels sang to him when he was at what members call Mount Sinai (Mount Kenya).

He was instructed not to marry, but his faith was tested by woman from Nyahururu. He married her, and God took away his gift of singing. Consequently, Maina’s name was plucked from the Akorino Bible’s Old Testament and replaced by Daudi Ikegu in the New Testament.

Although the 544 songs in the Akorino hymnal are said to have been written or composed by Daudi Ikegu, the popular and original ones were done by Henry Maina.

According to church history Wa Makumi, who was instructed by three of the founders to establish a church in Limuru, was also instructed to tell followers to wear the turban which is an Akorino symbol of peace.

The same Henry Maina and a woman named Lilian Njeru were among a group of seven people who went to the sacred mountain to receive the Akorino Covenant.

Ms Njeru was given the Akorino ring, a cloth veil won by married women together with their blouses instead of a wedding ring.

Daily life
Akorino members widely follow the teachings of Leviticus, the third book of Moses in the Bible that spells out the laws governing daily life. For example, they do not eat pork or industrially processed food.

They argue that the use of modern medicine betrays a lack of faith in the healing power of God through prayer; instead they use traditional herbal medicines together with faith healing.

When a member dies, his body is taken to a secluded room and preserved using traditional methods. Only those who volunteer to take care of the deceased are allowed to see the body.

These “death volunteers” are not allowed to pray or mix with the other members. The “death volunteers” dig the grave and bury the dead. Following the burial, an eight-day period ensues.

Then the church organises a “cleaning day” during which anything they came across when handling the dead and their household belongings is thoroughly cleaned.

In the early Akorino church, worshippers were not allowed to enter a church with money. Members believed God refused to give spiritual guidance to those who slept on imported foam mattresses, so many use mattresses made from grass or skin.

The Akorino moved to abolish payment of dowry and private ownership of land.

They have chosen not to take oaths, even in a court of law and do not join the disciplined forces, which explains why they refused to join the Mau Mau even as they opposed the colonial regime.