Imbalu [Traditional male circumcision]: Testing the grit of young men in Masaabaland [Eastern Uganda]
Clan elders painstakingly examined the entrails of a slaughtered chicken for fortitude clues as the early morning rays of sunlight penetrated through the trees at Mutoto, Mbale, Eastern Uganda on 2th August.
The elders from the Bamutoto clan [the clan that traditionally has their imbalu candidates circumcised first in Masabaland before any other] were ostensibly examining the entrails to gauge the strength of purpose and fortitude levels of 16 year old Rashid Gidudu, 17 year old Edwin Watuwa and 17 year old Sadat Khabeli.
The three who work odds jobs around Mbale town[Eastern Uganda] had pronounced their intent to undergo the imbalu rite only a day earlier.
As the elders consulted the augurs and performed small incantations, Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli threshed millet in what is traditionally described as khukhupaka.
The millet was to be ground and its flour used to brew malwa [a local brew] that would be served to visitors, moral boosters and relatives starting Thursday 9th; the day, the elders had decided the three would start the three day Xusamba Imbalu rituals [dancing Imbalu].
Not far from Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli as they threshed the millet were their younger siblings and cousins cleaning what looked like long tails decorated with cowrie shells.
The long tails would hang down the backs of Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli as they danced Imbalu.
Having fulfilled a ritual called “Xuwetsa Imbalu” meaning casting about for Imbalu; weeks earlier, time had come for Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli to be taken through the three day elaborate Imbalu rituals known as “Xusamba Imbalu”.
On behalf of his collegues, Watuwa emphatically pronounced that they are ready to go through the ritual.
“We are more than ready,” he told Masaabachronicle on the crack of dawn on the 9th of August.
“Xuwetsa imbalu implies the gradual awakening of intent in a prospective imbalu candidate. At this stage, if a candidate has any misgivings or second thoughts about braving the pain of the Imbalu knife; he can reschedule his imbalu to another year,” Magombe Wakitonyi, an elder in Mutoto, Mbale, Eastern Uganda, says.
“Imbalu dancing, in many respects, shows one’s readiness to face the Imbalu knife.”
“When an Imbalu candidate or candidates eventually start the three day dancing rituals, it metaphorically means the ancestral power of Imbalu or what we call Kumusambwa kw’ imbalu has seized him with a desire to face imbalu. It is not possession in the sense of abnormal but it is seen as a desire coming from the heart. A desire to dance Imbalu and be like other clan members who showed fortitude during Imbalu. The vigour of a prospective Imbalu candidate’s dancing demonstrates his fortitude,” Richard Waneloba, an elder in Bushika, Bududa district, said.
The 9th of August marked the advent of the Xukoya Busera and the three day Xuakha Kamamela Imbalu rituals.
Both rituals are performed on the morning of the third day before the day of imbalu or the kumululilo.
The xukoya Busera ritual involves the brewing of the circumcision beer, known as Busera or Kamalule; whilst the Khuakha kamamela rite essentially means “smearing an initiate with thick millet yeast paste”.
Around 12:37 p.m, Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli were led away with pots on their heads, to a nearby stream [iluutsi] to fetch water that would be used in the Khukoya Busera rite.
Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli quickly drew water from the stream and were led back from the stream amidst appreciative elder loud chants of “uryo uryo” loosely meaning “it should be done like that”.
Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli were however not taken to their father’s homes. The Bamutoto clan from which they come from invariably agree to circumcise some of their candidates from the famed Mutoto Imbalu courtyard, where it is believed Masaba, the man from whom Bamasaba claim ancestry and who it is believed introduced Imbalu was circumcised.
Masaba, a son to the first Mumasaaba by the names of Mundu, was circumcised after he had agreed to a marriage proposal from a Kalenjin lady he was smitten with by the name of Nabarwa.
She insisted she would only marry him after he had gotten circumcised.
“I have to execute Masaba’s covenant by losing blood to the land he gave his sons and great grandchildren like me. At this moment, I feel a strong sense of occasion going through what my uncles, brothers and cousins went through,” Khabeli told Masaaba chronicle.
Young uncircumcised Bamasaba boys are always told at a young age that at one point they have to become men through the spirit of Masaba or traditionally known as Kumusambwa kw’ Masaba.
On reaching the Mutoto Imbalu courtyard, Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli were led to a small revered hut where they poured the water in a big pot called “Kumanje”. Outside the hut, the elders had erected a ritual pole called Lukangu.
According to imbalu folklore, it is around the aforementioned pole that basambwa or the ancestor’s assemble.
The pot was filled with roasted dough called tsimuma and powdered millet yeast. Tsimuma is what is used to make the local brew. An elder immediately added water and placed the pot under the pillar of the house for maturation as Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli waited.
Victor Turner, a British anthropologist, known for his works in rituals and rites of passage explained in his 1966 book-“The Ritual Process” that it is under the pillar where the water is placed that the Gisu diety murabula resides.
Since Imbalu is likened to a second birth in Bugisu, murabula must be appeased for an initiate to successfully undergo Imbalu.
After the Khukoya ritual, Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli sat briefly in a small hut awaiting the Khuaka Kamamela rite.
On the first day of the three day Khuaka Kamamela rite, Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli were smeared with maize flour and millet yeast. The yeast was smeared on their foreheads, legs, hands and heads.
Traditionally, it is through this rite that Gisu male traits are enforced.
As he performed the smearing rite, John Wamimbi, an elder from Mutoto performed admonitions seemingly invoking the ancestral diety Murabula to bless Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli.
Though their bodies seemed to be covered with goose pimples, Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli seemed pretty intent on getting circumcised. They emphatically jumped up on cue to the imbalu sounds of uri nja, uri nja hoo from their relatives and elders.
“Our resolve is high. We are only thinking about Imbalu. We are unfazed and we shall make our clan mates and our families happy by standing strong and firm,” Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli vowed.
The Khuakha rite was repeated on the penultimate day and the last day of the rituals-the 11th.
As Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli danced to Kadodi drums after the khuakha kamamela rite with metal thigh bells and strings of beads on their chests for three days, visiting relatives and cultural sites; they were reminded not to confuse the glamour of their costumes with imbalu.
They were reminded of the tough ordeal they face and exhorted with shouts of “samba imbalu ni Kamani”-meaning dance imbalu with strength and determination.
The 11th of august, which was also the opening day of the Imbalu season in Bugisu, marked the culmination of the three day Khushina Imbalu rituals with the Xukhwingila ritual or the circumcision of Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli.
The day is traditionally called Kumululilo.
As it clocked 3p.m, Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli were brought back to the Mutoto Imbalu courtyard for the final khuakha kamamela smearing rite.
Gidudu, Watuwa and Khabeli stood with firm gazes as the elder sermonising the khuakha kamamela [smearing rite] for the last time began his task.
They were smeared with thick millet yeast paste and chime from a sacrificial goat by Watuwa’s mother brother.
They were then led away in a warlike procession by a big crowd to a black mud swamp strongly associated with the ancestral diety of Imbalu or the Kumusambwa Kw’Imbalu.
On arrival at the specially prepared black mud swamp, they individually jumped into the mud pond and were smeared mud by Bamutoto clan elders.