SOME OF MANAFWA’S BEST TOURIST SITES READ ON BELOW MY EXPERIENCE WHEN I VISITED

By Richard Wetaya
Variety they say is the spice of life.
Fresh off

the excitement and merriment of Imbalu, I figured a tour to some of Manafwa’s less known tourist sites would be a nice and interesting addition to my itinerary.

The sites I wanted to visit are places, I have often only visualised, on account of the legends and fables that my mother and grandmother narrated to me when I was young.
My wish to tour these famous places would have been fulfilled some time back, but money and time were always at issue.
With money and time on my hands this time, I decided i had to expand my travel horizons.
Manafwa is, on the whole, a picturesque place. It is akin to Bududa, replete with mountains.
As it seems however, it has hitherto been virgin territory in terms of visits to its tourist sites.

Locals in Ikaali and Bumbo, which were my planned destinations, were quick to play down talk that scenic areas such as the Namisindwa hills, and the Mystic Bukusu Mountain were frequented by sightseers.
“Save for the occasional visits of the Dini ya mushambwa faithful from Kenya and Uganda to Bukusu Mountain, tourists and sight seers in this area are hard to come by, notes Wasubile Peter, a resident of Ikaali, near the Bukusu Mountain.

The Dini ya Mushambwa (church of spirits) is a religious movement that was started in the 1800’s by a Bukusu freedom fighter, Elijah Masinde. He reportedly resisted and fought against the British in Western Kenya. He was and is still referred to endearingly as Umungosi or somebody with powers of prophecy. The Dini ya mushambwa faithful are ostensibly at odds with Christianity, because it is a white man’s religion. The faithful venerate dead ancestors and pray to Wele Khakaba or god the provider.

They pray by spitting towards the rising sun every morning and in the evening by spitting towards the setting sun. While they do this, they perform rituals wherein they invoke Wele Khabaka’s blessings.
Legend has it that Masinde at one time held talks with wele Khakaba on Bukusu Mountain. Followers of the faith say he spent some time in a cave on the mountain, praying and receiving messages from wele Khakaba. It is the reason why they revere the mountain.
That cave on the mountain as I shall explain later has a sacred water stream that followers say is sanctified and was blessed by wele Khakaba at the behest of Masinde.

The day I planned to tour the Mountain unfortunately, it had rained heavily but I stayed unrelenting in my resolve to go tour, barring the mistake I made not to carry sturdy shoes.
After alighting from a taxi in Bugobero, I had to seek shelter from the heavy rain. I joined a posse of young men, caught up in a heated debate about who is the best player between Ronald and Messi.
After I told them I was eager to tour the sacred Bukusu Mountain, they looked at me and gasped, keen to know why I would want to go and tour an eerie mountain unaccompanied and with no sacrifice for the gods who supposedly inhibit the mountain.

Going by their accounts, most locals dread going up the Mountain, apart from those who toe the line of the movement.
“Those who are acolytes of the movement are the ones who cultivate crops near the mountain. There are spirits up there and you can not just go there without any sacrifice. The Kenyan and local pilgrims and locals who go up there normally have cows and goats in tow. The cows and goats are for sacrifice to their gods, Khakaba, murumwa and mukhobe,” Khabuya tells me.

The rain had by now subsided.  Wasubile who reluctantly agreed to be my guide led the way, occasionally asking me if I really wanted to go tour without any sacrifice.
Wasubile told me his late dad had tried to indoctrinate him into the Dini ya Mushambwa movement but he took exception.

Bukusu Mountain, whose terrain elevation is 1582 metres, is to the northeast of Tororo and about 15 miles south east of Mbale.
It is 2km from Bugobero trading center. The mountain apparently has minerals such as magnetite phosphates and vermiculite in plenty.
As we ascended to the mountain, it was discernable that some of the residents we were leaving in our wake were looking daggers at us.
There was only clear route to the mountain and as it seems Wasubile did not know it so we decided to pass through gardens.
Within a short spell of time, we were within spitting distance of the mountain cave, where Wasubile tells me pilgrims go to draw their holy water from.
We stop for a while, caught in two minds about whether we should proceed or not.
Then out of nowhere emerged an old man, coming from the direction of the cave. Namanda Wabuna seemed petrified.
He dissuaded us against proceeding to the cave. We had to toe his line given the fright on his face and the uncanny tales he told us. There was a certain strange way I was feeling, standing near the mountain. It almost felt like there was some ghostly presence in our midst.
The cave, Wabuna told us had a long stream of sacred water that Masinde blessed after praying to wele Khakaba.  The cave apparently has spirits and a huge snake that only appears when pilgrims come to offer sacrifices.

It was fast approaching 4.30. We passed by Wabuna’s home as we descended. All the while I felt odd. Regardless I had to get back to Ikaali. I proceeded to Matuwa from Ikaali I was in Matuwa in half an hour.
My destination was the Kamabina ke Lukulu lwe Namisindwa or the caves of Namisindwa Mountain.
Namisindwa mountain is a huge mountain in itself, straddling almost half the land mass of Manafwa district.
It is a beautiful mountain with caves galore. My young guide, Sibi Kutosi tells me to get deeper into the cave, we needed a big torch.
To all appearances, the cave is huge. Inside, it feels almost like being in a maze. It is hard to see the other end without light, it is totally pitch black. We could proceed no further.

Just near the cave’s entrance is a water stream flowing gracefully into some hidden rocks.
Kutosi tells me at some point, two white tourists came along with powerful torches and explored the whole cave. The story spread through the village.
The white tourists apparently stumbled upon old artifacts, snakes, monkeys and human bones.
The ancient artifacts which reportedly included Imbalu head gear(kamalubisi), grinding stones, spears and old knives were taken by the white sight seers. The human bones apparently still remain in the cave.
The cave according to locals is also invariably used by newly initiated or circumcised young men for the ritual of Khukhuyalula (hatching) normally performed in February, before the Inemba ritual, where the initiates are commissioned into men amid dancing and lots of drumming.
This Khukhuyalula ritual involves burning of dry banana leaves on which the candidates slept on during isolation as they made their intentions to get circumcised known.
This ritual is meant to transition the new initiates into a new society.
Inside this cave, the new initiates sing songs repeatedly proclaiming how they have chased Businde (Boyhood).
Iam also told students come to the cave often to revise. From the cave, you can also see the highlands on the Kenyan side. The Kenyan border is actually very close.

After the Namisindwa caves, my first destination was Nabikano hill in Bumbo, a busy town that lies on the border with Kenya.
As we went up the slippery hill with my boda boda, I bore witness to a multitude of elbow greasing Donkey’s doing rounds carrying heavy bags of onions and cassava on their backs. The bags seemed pretty heavy but on the surface, the Donkeys were up to their task.
Fred Situma, my boda rider tells me the Donkeys are invariably used by farmers on Nabikano hill and the surrounding hills to ferry onions to Bumbo town and to neighboring Kenya.
“Bumbo is almost the only place where you will experience such a spectacle month in, month out. Farmers up the hills purchase the Donkeys from Kenya for purposes of ferrying their cash crops from the mountain tops. It is the only way to get the crops from up the mountain top. It is quite a sight watching the donkey’s go down the steep areas of Nabikano hill and Namisindwa Mountain. There are hundreds to thousands of them in Bumbo and its environs,” Situma says. 

HOW TO GET TO IKAALI AND BUMBO

To get to both these destinations, get a taxi from the taxi park in Mbale.
Board taxi’s plying the Bugobero-Magale-Bumbo route. When you alight from Bugobero trading centre, ask for directions to Bukusu Mountain.
To get to Bumbo, board taxis heading to Magale trading center.
From Magale, It is ten minutes drive to Bumbo.

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