BURNING TOE NAILS AS A SIGN OF READINESS FOR THE IMBALU KNIFE READ BELOW 18 YEAR OLD STEPHEN MAFABIS STORY

By Richard Wetaya

An old Lugisu legend has it that, when a Dove bird

{Nankongo} hatches its eggs, Imbalu is set to begin all across Bugisu.

For Stephen Mafabi, an 18 year old senior two student at Oxford S.S, Mbale, the Nankongo bird egg hatching meant one thing; it was his time to face the Imbalu knife.
Whilst some uncircumcised Gisu boys eagerly look forward to their circumcision day, there are those who dread the prospect of being cut, given the age old recited Gisu narrative that the Imbalu knife is tough.
The degree of pain that the Imbalu knife causes is never underplayed; the most commonly used descriptive adjectives being fierce, bitter and terrifying.

As days quickly approached the official Imbalu inauguration on the 19thof august,

Mafabi knew he owed it to himself, his family and his clan to come out openly and declare his readiness, determination and courage to face the Imbalu knife.
“I want to make my family and clan mates happy by braving the knife. That timeless honour of being a real man has to be bestowed upon me. Right now, I am more than determined to face the knife. There are just no two ways about it. All my thoughts are focused on Imbalu. My next of kin have not known about my intentions, but I am going to let them know by all means this week. I owe it to them,” Mafabi said.

For most families in Bugisu with Imbalu candidates, the build up to any biennial Imbalu season sees lots of partying, Kadodi dancing, malwa brewing and visitations by intending Imbalu candidates to close family folk, not only in the neighboring villages but even far off.

For others, it is always excitement, at the Bumutoto Imbalu ceremonial grounds, a melting pot, for thousands, as the Imbalu {circumcision} season approaches.

This year 2014, the proverbial Nankongo bird (Dove) hatched its eggs fully on Tuesday 19th august, a day when Imbalu Candidates from the Bumutoto clan like Mafabi were to be circumcised.
Because Bamutoto are associated with the revival of imbalu in Masaba land after a slight lull, they are considered senior and therefore, they are always the first to circumcise their boys before any other clan.
Once the Bamutoto circumcise, Imbalu moves to other areas in Masaba land following the stipulated days on the Imbalu calendar and in strict order of clan precedence.

With resolve and grit, Mafabi told me he could even put a burning piece of charcoal on his toenail just to show his fierce courage and readiness to face the searing pain of the Imbalu knife.
Burning toenails was an ancient Gisu practice where intending Imbalu candidates showed and proved their courage under pain before they were judged to be ready to face the knife.
 “I’m ready to face the ultimate test of bravery come the 19thand I can go to any extremes to prove it, including burning my toe nail with a hot piece of charcoal. I am ready to validate my claim to status as a man. It is just a few days to that day and I have not told my clan elders, but I will let them know in two days. My uncles and brothers may try to dissuade me because I have delayed to tell them but I’m set,” Mafabi said.
 
Mafabi said he has already got his full Imbalu regalia, including  metal thigh strap bells(bishentse), long strap tails decorated with cowrie shells, supposed to hang down the candidate’s back and swirl as he dances and the requisite Imbalu head dress made from skin of the black and white Colobus Monkey, locally known as Lirubisi.

A candidate who procrastinates and delays to announce his intentions to go through the Imbalu ordeal to his kinfolk is usually thought of indecisive and not ready, local elder, Christopher Nakhokho said.

“At times when you delay to tell your relatives and family, they assume you are running scared. This being a circumcision year, Mafabi should have informed his kinfolk and elders months ago, even if he has been in school. I cannot however judge on that basis that he is not ready to face Imbalu. He sounds like one who is ready. The desire to undergo this ritual at times is thought of as spiritually inspired. At times the desire just comes from the heart. At times, it is just self determination. The strength to endure the operation must come from Mafabi himself. If his heart is not into it, no one will help him,” Nakhokho said.

Nakhokho said Imbalu is the most important of all Gisu ancestral powers.
“When it is a year of circumcision, the Kumusambwa Kwe’Imbalu or the ancestral power of Imbalu normally entrances uncircumcised boys. The upshot is that they become obsessed with thoughts of Imbalu only. Those brave enough normally have a lineage of brave brothers, uncles and grand fathers, who they want to emulate by standing brave whilst they are being cut. This Kumusambwa Kwe’Imbalu contrary to belief instills good virtues in our young men and is no evil entity as some people want to believe,” Nakhokho said.

Manigi Muyesa an elder in Bumboi, Mbale agreed “If a Mumasaba boy takes that bold decision in our culture, we carry the conviction that he has been possessed by the good spirit of imbalu, and that he is fully ready to face the knife. When a boy sees it as incumbent upon him, as our culture dictates, to face the knife, it is on his own accord. Nobody forces him,” Muyesa said.

Muyesa said in the days of old, when a boy took long to inform his relatives about his intentions for Imbalu, an elaborate process to find out if he was ready was instituted. “Holes were dug in the ground and a number of eggs placed in them. The eggs are covered with banana leaves. The intending Imbalu candidates had to jump up one by one with clear instructions to hit the eggs with their feet. If the eggs popped out of the holes or if they broke, the elders rationalised and believed that the intending Imbalu candidate would brave the knife. If the eggs did not break, it meant the intending Imbalu candidate was not ready,” Muyesa explained.

Mafabi said he knows what was at stake as the days got closer.
“I want to be recognised with the honorific gisu term of Umusani (man who is circumcised). I want to assume the status of equality with all men in my clan and in Bugisu. I know Imbalu gives one the all important right to marry, to inherit land and to enjoy other privileges of adult life in Bugisu but because I’m still in school, I will not really enjoy any of that. I want to carry on with school. I respect what the elders say and I am going to do what is required in these next few days,” Mafabi said.

Muyesa explained that after circumcision, Bamasaba boys become fully emancipated.
“After undergoing Imbalu successfully, the circumcised initiates come to terms with the fact that they now belong to a society of free and autonomous men, each required to be economically independent, with his own household and land. Such status and rights are only achieved after one goes through Imbalu,” Muyesa said.

In the event that a candidate announces his intention to face the knife, preparations are made by clan elders for his circumcision.
“Before that however, it is vital for the candidate to seek advice from respected elders. There are certain things an Imbalu candidate has to take thought of when he makes that decision to undergo the ritual. In our days, the elders often slaughtered a goat or chicken. The elders examined the feebleness or the hardness of the heart. If they found the heart frail, the candidate would be told to wait till the next even year. If they found the heart, hard and firm, it signified that the boy had no fear in his heart and was therefore ready to face the knife,” stated Makhafu Kuloba, an elder in Busoba, Mbale.
  

By the time I left Mutoto, Mafabi had embarked on his proclamation visits. When I went back to their home in Mutoto, he had left.

I was told he had gone to Bungokho to tell the other relatives that he was ready to be circumcised on the 19thof this month.
I eventually caught up with him in Bugema trading center and he excitedly informed me that the relatives had promised him gifts like money, cows, iron sheets, goats, bicycles and chicken. One relative even pledged a car if Mafabi bravely finishes his Imbalu.
 Mafabi was circumcised at the very spot where the first circumcision ceremony in Bugisu took place in Mutoto.
 

Read More