An election, a season and a song: The story behind enjaka khunywa makalama, the song of the 2022 Bukusu traditional circumcision season.
Every two years, to the Luhya of western Kenya, comes circumcision year. And every circumcision year, a new circumcision song emerges that serves to notate the times and is the soundtrack of the season. In 2020, the year when we circumcised and made men out of boys in spite of the pandemic, the circumcision song that we sung during khuminya, khulanga, changa style ndolekho and through out the festivities was “Fuma kimiolu” – literally, cover your nostrils, was a song that talked of the need wear a mask for any semblance of normalcy in our public lives; and then there was “One meter”, a song that talked of the need for social distancing during the initial years of the pandemic as a public health measure.
From these two examples, we can safely come to the conclusion that kimyenyakye sikhebo (Bukusu circumcision songs) are without fail the most authentic, unadulterated commentary on the prevailing social issues during circumcision years. As mukhebi Makarios Wakoko wrote in an illuminating article published here titled Tunes of life: Sikhebo songs before and after COVID-19, these songs serve as oral pieces that record history for onward transmission to future generations.
The language of music is the fairest and the most unifying of all. As with sikhebo songs, which even as they morph with the times, continue to relate social gossip, news and political commentary whose net effect is to bring us together in commemoration and celebration.
Omwami mukhebi Makarios Wakoko
This year’s circumcision season, 2022, fell right at the deciding period of Kenya’s political cycle. On Tuesday August 9th 2022, Kenyans went to the polls to vote in the whole suit of political leaders from President to their local representatives, Members of the County Assembly. Traditionally during even years, the Luhya community of Western Kenya holds its traditional circumcision season, where boys are made into men. In particular, during these years, August is the peak month.
An election, a season and a song: The story behind enjaka khunywa makalama
As Kenyan elections are hard fought and often disruptive events, the was concern among community members about how this year’s circumcision season would pan out. Concerns aside, in the way that the pandemic couldn’t stop the 2020 circumcision season, high octane politics could never.
Instead, the community embarrassed the moment and wrote it down in indelible ink in the best way we know – a brand new circumcision song: Enjaka khunywa makalama.
Meaning of enjaka khunywa makalama
The circumcision song Enjaka khunywa makalama engraves into history the most daring proposal ever by a candidate running for presidency in Kenya. In the 2022 polls, Roots Party of Kenya (RPK) candidate for presidency, Prof. George Wajakoyah, central election promise was to legalize trade in marijuana for industrial and medicinal. Prof. claimed enjaka (Lubukusu for weed) was the antidote to Kenya’s debt and unemployment problems. His wicked (pun intended) proposal captured the imagination of many. Wajakoyah’s version of the Kenyan dream crystalized in this song that was used during both khulanga and khuminya, “enjaka khunywa makalama”. In English, the song translates to ‘ we drink (take) the weed upside down/inside-out’.
Our sister blog dedicated to all things Bukusu breaks down the lyrics to enjaka khunywa makalama. Learn, build your Lubukusu vocabulary as you sing along
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