Monday, January 16, 2012

Teacher’s big leap to the Wanga throne



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Prince Maurice Rapando, son of Nabongo Japheth Wambani Rapando, undergoes succession rituals in Mumias District on January 14, 2012.
Photo/ISAAC WALE Prince Maurice Rapando, son of Nabongo Japheth Wambani Rapando, undergoes succession rituals in Mumias District on January 14, 2012.  
By JOHN SHILITSA jshilitsa@ke.nationmedia.com  
Posted  Sunday, January 15  2012 at  22:30
Prince Maurice Rapando, 54, will be the new king of the Wanga after a council of elders endorsed him shortly before the burial of his father, Japheth Wambani Rapando, on Saturday.
While ordinarily the eldest son would have taken over the reigns, the elders settled on the teacher and fourth born of Nabongo Wambani’s 11 sons.
And the burial ceremony was just as dramatic as the succession rituals.
Many were shocked when the elders refused to bury the king in a specially designed chair-like casket. It was thrown out of the hut and later burnt.
“We shall burn it because we are not supposed to bury the king in it and we cannot keep it here,” said Mr Dominic Omumia Sakwa, an elder.
According to the Wanga customs, kings are buried while seated, wrapped in animal skin with a stool, the symbol power, placed on their head.
The coffin had been designed to ensure conformity to the tradition. But the elders would hear none of this.
The decision to pick the former teacher as Nabongo Wambani’s successor is a closely-guarded secret.
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All the elders could offer was that they settled on him after two weeks of deliberations.
“It was not easy choosing among the sons who would fill the gap left by our beloved king but we managed to accomplish it in the best way we could,” said the elders’ interim chairman Johua Aura Lutomia.
Mr Lutomia explains that being a king comes with huge responsibilities that only a sober, shrewd and far-sighted person can handle. 
“We did not pick the prince without observing all the qualities required,” he says. Rapando’s endorsement ends days of speculation of who would become the next king.
The elders explained that he would officially become king after exhuming the bones of his father for reburial at Eshimuli shrine “where all our departed kings are interred”.
To seal the endorsement, prince Rapando was handed a spear to symbolise he was the chosen heir.
His brother Stanely Rapando, who accompanied him, was given a rope, meaning he would play second fiddle to the new Nabongo.
The new Nabongo maintained a firm grip on the spear as he was escorted, together with his brother Stanely, to Eshiembekho — the hut where their late father would be buried. 
Mr Omumia took the pair through the rigorous rituals. To enter the hut, the heir to the throne had to remove his shoes, belt and socks “because he is the heir apparent and must show respect when approaching the sacred place,” said Mr Omumia.
But before this, he had to spear a bull brought to the entrance of the hut. Stanley later joined the elders inside the hut to skin the animal beside the grave. He later emerged from the hut holding a blood stained rope and stood next to the new king. 
Moments later, four men emerged from the hut carrying chunks of meat and running towards a sugarcane plantation.
“Usually, those who skin the animal run away with the meat but people outside are expected to snatch the meat and whoever wins takes it,” explained Mr Omumia.
Grandsons are expected to scramble for the intestines. More bulls were lined up for slaughter. “We have 45 bulls already that need to be slaughtered,” said Mr Lutomia.
Two of the bulls were given out Prime Minister Raila Odinga donated two bulls while MPs Wycliffe Oparanya, Benjamin Washiali, Boni Khalwale and Cyrus Jirongo gave out one each.

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