Do you claim Bukusu ancestry? Not only is it good for the heart to know your kinship, it could save you lots of troubles tommorow, particularly if you are younger and out on the look for a partner to marry. Join us as we trace the Bukusu family tree Get to know clans of the … Read more
Do you claim Marama ancestry? Not only is it good for the heart for one to know their kinship, knowing your roots could save you lots of troubles tomorrow, particularly if you are out on the look for a partner to marry. Join us as we trace the Marama family tree and get to know … Read more
As regular readers of mulembenation.co.ke know, our ‘What’s in a name’ series often is about places in Western Kenya and Lake region Uganda and how they got their name. Today, we take a little detour into the yummy. We do so by revealing how a popular and much loved traditional Luhya vegetable, lisebebe or seveve … Read more
A story from my childhood on my first ever meeting of yabunje the royal rat; and all Bukusu culture about this fabled rodent. True story. We had closed school. August it was, sometime in the early nineties. An August unlike this past one where children were in school as the pandemic disrupted the school calendar. … Read more
Drawn from across the 18 houses of mulembe, these are common Luhya words for darling. Come, let’s learn Luhya, the language of love. Common Luhya words for darling As we will be regularly updating this list, bookmark it for future reference. Egiswidi That’s sweetie in Kimaragoli. Kimeremende Peremende is sweet (the confectionary) in Swahili. Kimeremende … Read more
Mulembe is peace in Luhya language. However given that the Luhya language has a number of dialects, the pronunciation of mulembe varies with slight differences in intonation of sound: m-re-mbe and m-lembe are some of the common pronunciations of the word. Interestingly, peace in Luhya language does have a plural. This is because its Luhya … Read more
Growing up, we never knew that dentists were there to remove teeth. All our milk teeth were extracted at home by the erstwhile, experienced family dentist: dad. But the experience of tooth removal didn’t end at his hands. The whole community, was involved one way or the other. Tooth removal the Luhya way: Myths and … Read more
So this past week or so, Kenyan interwebs have been awash with accusations and counter accusations over the intimate goings-on of a certain boys club. From the fallout, it’s clear the Bro Code was broken. Everything painfully built between these men thrown into full disarray. As a result, lives and livelihoods have been destroyed. It … Read more
Some of you might have had a chance of a visit or a stay in western Kenya. If not, then you might have interacted with my people, the Luhya, anywhere in this country – because we are everywhere. As a result, you must have heard of the Luhya word omwami. Chances are you might have … Read more
In most Western Kenya food markets, dry cereals such as beans and maize are sold in gorogoros. When you buy a gorogoro of anything, it is taken that you have acquired two kilograms of the said commodity. But the importance of ekorokoro goes beyond trade. Gorogoro is life itself! What is gorogoro? Whenever I find … Read more
