57

~ Wrongdoers among the Akamba were banished from the community if they refused to
compensate for the wrong did.
~ There existed no institutional age sets among the Akamba though boys and girls were
circumcised before reaching puberty. The initiates were then taught community secrets
after two years from circumcision (at 14 years)
~ At puberty, both men and women were allowed to marry and bear children with the
father of a young family automatically becoming a junior elder until his children were
ready to be circumcised.
~ He then moved to the next grade only after paying a bullock and several goats.
~ The top two grades formed the administrative council of the community mainly
dealing with the ritual ceremonies.
~ The Akamba believed in the existence of a creator called Ngai or Mulungu whom they
prayed to through ancestral spirits.
~ The Akamba had ritual experts who included medicine people that guided them in
their rituals.
~ Shrines also existed where offerings and sacrifices were made by the elders called
Atumia ma ithembo. (Mostly found at a place with two large fig trees.)
~ The Akamba had many social ceremonies which were accompanied with festivity
dance and music. For example, during harvest, weddings, deaths and birth.
Political organization
~ The smallest political unit among the Akamba was the homestead, (Musyi)
comprising three to four generations of extended family with a stockade round the home
of each married man. Outside the entrance of the homestead, there was an open space
(thome), where men would sit and discuss political and other important matters.
~ Several related families formed a wider territorial grouping or clan with its own
recreational ground, elder’s council (made of all the male elders), war leader and palace
for worship
~ The clan was the main political unit for the Akamba.
~ There was also a larger territorial grouping above the clan called Kivalo that
constituted a fighting unit. There was however no single central authority that united the
Akamba the Kivalo was always disbanded after war.
~ Age grades and age sets were common to all in the community and acted as a unifying
factor.
~ The elders in the community were ranked according to seniority.
~ Junior elders defended their community. Medium elders (Nthele) assisted in the
administration of the community. The full elders (Atumia ma Kivalo) participated in
delivering judgements. The senior most elders (Atumia ma Ithembo) were involved in
religious activities.