Environment Cabinet Secretary (CS) Keriako Tobiko, on Saturday, gifted 12 Kikuyu Elders 100 Acres in Mt Kenya Forest to set up a shrine.
Tobiko warned the elders and community leaders against politicising the matter and cautioned that acquisition of the shrine was not gaining ownership of the forestry ecosystem.
He also told the elders not to put up a permanent structure in the shrine, graze animals or do any form of farming.
According to the highpriests, they finally acquired the shrine after 56 years of struggle, intense lobbying and frustrations by successive governments.
“During the country’s independence, Mau Mau fighters told God that if he enables them to eject the British colonial administration, they would set up a community’s traditional holy prayer centre.
"The country got the internal rule but we were unable to deliver on our pledge to God,” one of the high priests, Mathenge wa Iregi stated.
The shrine is located in Narumoru at the protected Mount Kenya National Park ecosystem, where the traditional spiritual leaders used to communicate with God (Ngai wa Kirinyaga) while facing Mt Kenya and offered their sacrifices on behalf of the community.
The priests’ coordinator, Wambugu Nyamu, explained that the holy shrine has a sacred altar, whose access is restricted to the high priests only, but the other part of the shrine is accessible to both Christians and traditionalists.
“The high priests are traditionalists, but also Christians, and they do not fight Christianity. The shrine is open to all people who believe in God, but the altar is for the high priests only. We have agreed with the government that we will not put up permanent structures,” Nyamu explained further.
The elders also committed to the government that they would strictly plant traditional Kikuyu trees, shrubs and medicinal plants at the shrine.
