LAWS OF COMPENSATION FOR MURDER
It is a matter of great importance, from an administrative point of
view, that these should be properly understood, as a murder is
otherwise likely to create a hereditary feud between the two families,
which will eventually lead to fresh crimes.
Kikuyu.—In Kikuyu, for instance, until the ceremonial has all been
properly carried out, no member of the family of the murdered man can
eat food out of the same dish or drink beer with any member of the
family of the murderer. In Ukamba it is believed that unless the matter
is properly adjusted according to the law (their law) the members of
the family of the murderer will continually be involved in quarrels
which are likely to end by one of them killing his neighbour, and
conversely the members of the family of the murdered man become
involved in quarrels and are liable to be killed in the same way as
their relation. If one tries to look at the matter from their point of
view it appears to be this: there is a bad spirit or muimu about,
belonging to an ancestor; it enters into a man and the result is that
the next time he quarrels with a neighbour he kills him. This spirit
may continue to possess that person, or it may go on to another member
of that family with the same result. In the same way the muimu of the
deceased, the murdered man, influences the aiimu in the bodies of all
the members of his family and makes them afraid. They know that this
death-dealing spirit is abroad, and the members of the family are more
liable to be killed if they become entangled in a broil. Thus both
families are anxious that this state of affairs should cease and that
the troublesome spirit be appeased and laid to rest.
The explanation just given may or may not be the final interpretation,
but the fact remains that it is considered a vital necessity that the
ceremonies necessary to close the trouble caused in a tribe by a murder
should be carried out according to the law of the tribe, and only by
the observance of the proper ritual can the avenging spirit be
appeased.
In South Kikuyu there are only two persons qualified to perform these
ceremonies: Gachii wa Kihara and Juguna wa Kihara, both sons of a great
elder and chief named Kihara, of the Anjiru clan, upon whom those
duties devolved. The office is apparently hereditary.
The ceremonies are called Kugira uhio wa kuria mundu, which means “To
carry the man who was killed,” and the word mugiro, derived from
ku-gira, is also used in this connection. Of course, the payment of
compensation has now been abrogated by Government, and the death
penalty imposed in its place according to our law, so that the
functions of the elders mentioned have of late years been confined to
the supervision of the ceremonies which have magical or religious
significance. The description of the affair, however, which was
obtained from Gachii himself, takes no cognisance of the amendment
caused by the substitution of the “lex talionis” for the old principle
of “wergild” or compensation. The procedure runs as follows: soon after
the murder had occurred the father of the murderer summoned Gachii or
Juguna to his village, and whichever of these elders attended took with
him eight athuri ya ukuu (elders of appeal), and the first object of
their mission was to stop any fighting between the young men of the two
parties.
They remained at the village, and the father of the murderer then
collected seventy goats and sent them to the father of the murdered
man, and a bullock and a male sheep to the mother of the deceased. This
bullock is important; it is called ndegwa muhiriga or njiga migwe, that
is the “ox for the clan” or the “ox of the arrows,” which represents a
peace offering to the clan, and prevents the clan of the deceased
taking out their arrows to avenge their brother. Two days later thirty
goats were collected and sent to the father of the deceased. The
compensation of a hundred sheep or goats can be paid either in goats or
sheep or cattle, but, whatever is paid, the count is always kept in
sheep or goats. For instance, a thenge, or big male goat, may count as
two or three goats, according to size, and in the same way an ox has
its stated rate of exchange and is counted as so many goats; in
pre-European days the ox counted as three goats, and a heifer or cow
counted as ten in paying compensation or in marriage fees for a wife.
The next payment is nine male sheep to the athuri ya ukuu, nine more
sheep being given to the father of the deceased, and nine ewes,
nyarume, to the maternal uncle of the deceased, or mamawe, as he is
called. The father of the murderer and the father of the deceased then
each bring a male sheep, and the trunk of a banana plant is procured,
placed on the ground, and the murderer and his relations seat
themselves on one side of it, and the relatives of the other party on
the opposite side; four of the athuri ya ukuu also sit on each side.
The two sheep are then killed, and the two parties exchange pieces of
cooked meat and eat them; they then exchange pieces of sugar cane and
sweet potatoes smeared with tatha (the contents of the stomach of the
sheep), which are given to the women and children of the two families.
Some gruel is also exchanged; this is for the children of the two
families, and is eaten inside the villages of the two parties.
The presiding elder, Gachii or Juguna, does not sit with either party,
but a little way off, his function being to see that the proper ritual
is observed.
The elders then take the spear or sword with which the murder was
committed, and beat it until it is quite blunt. The spear head or sword
is taken away and thrown into a deep pool in the nearest river. They
say that if this were not done the weapon would continue to be the
cause of murder.
The final act is what is called ku-kukuriwa ithe na nyina (to purify
father and mother). The elders adorn themselves with necklets of a
grass called ngoka, which they wear for eight days, but if at the
expiration of this period no moon is visible they cannot take them off
till the moon reappears. When the day comes for dispensing with them
they cross a river and bury them on the far side, and return home
without looking back. In North Kikuyu, Mwaitume, it is said that they
throw the rings away in an old shamba, garden, dig up a sweet potato,
eat it, and then return home.
These ceremonies are the same for both grades of the Kikuyu, viz.:
those circumcised Kikuyu fashion, and those circumcised Masai fashion.
If they are properly carried out they wipe out all questions of blood
feud, and the members of both families can eat together.
If the mugiro ceremonies are not properly carried out, the spirit of
the murdered man will go back to his village, cry out in the night like
a child, and enter into one of the villagers, who will become as one
possessed. The people will call out to him, “Who are you?” and he will
reply, “I am So-and-so” (mentioning the deceased). “I have come because
I have been abandoned.” A near blood relative of the deceased must then
take a male goat or sheep, if the deceased was a man, or a young ewe,
mwati, if the victim was a woman, into the bush, where it is killed by
strangulation, and immediately it is dead its throat is pierced and the
blood allowed to run out on the ground. They then carve a piece of meat
from each limb and part of the animal, and place them in a heap, the
bones also being placed in another heap, and left there. Any meat that
remains is eaten by the elders; the person who was possessed of the
ngoma, or spirit, of the deceased then recovers.
The customs vary according to different cases, the compensation for the
murder of a woman being only thirty sheep or goats and three rams.
If a man murders his cousin on his mother’s side of the family, the
father of the murderer collects fifty sheep or goats, and pays them to
the head of the family of the deceased, and the recipients usually kill
an ox which is eaten by both parties; the elaborate ritual described
above is not observed because of the blood relationship which exists.
If a man kills his brother or sister by the same mother there is no
compensation—the case very rarely arises; the father would, however,
kill a sheep and make his children eat it together.
If a pregnant woman is struck and injured by a man, and miscarries in
consequence, the elders are called in to settle the matter. The culprit
has to bring two male sheep; first one is killed and eaten by the
villagers and the elders, but not by the woman. The second is eaten by
the woman and visitors, but not by the elders.
Some of the fat and meat of this second animal is cooked in a pot with
some bitter herbs, and the woman drinks the decoction, this being
evidently in the nature of a purification; it is called theria nda, to
purify the belly. The people present who are nearly related, either to
the offender or the woman, are then invested with rukwaru, or
wristlets, made of the skin of the sheep first mentioned.
This is not a matter for the athuri ya ukuu, but the ordinary
councillors, athuri ya kiama.
Ukamba.—In Ukamba there is a general similarity of ideas, but a
considerable difference in ceremonial.
The general compensation for the murder of a man is thirteen cows, two
bulls, and fifty goats; and for a woman six cows, two bulls, and one
goat.
In each case the actual blood money is twelve cows and five cows
respectively, the balance being for the ceremonies necessary to wipe
out the blood stains, and which bear the name of etumo.
The cow, the two bulls, and the goat are taken to the village of the
murdered man; the elders, athuri ya ukuu, assemble there, and the goat
is first killed at about five p.m. The murderer must not be present; if
he or any member of his clan appeared at the etumo ceremonies they
would probably be killed. Fourteen pieces of meat are cut from its
throat, an elder impales seven pieces on a wooden skewer, and puts them
into the mouth of the wife of the deceased, who eats them, and the
other seven are similarly given to the brother of the deceased. When
darkness comes on, the elders retire to a short distance from the
village, and the widow and her brother-in-law retire to a hut and have
connection; they then return and call the elders.
Upon their return the bull is killed and they receive half of its meat
and half of that of the goat, the remainder being consumed by the
family of the deceased. All the meat must be eaten during the night,
and none of the bones must be broken, and before morning the latter
must be carried out and deposited in the bush by the elders. The hides
of the two animals must not be allowed to remain in the village, but
are carried off by any elders who do not belong to the same mbai, or
clan, as the deceased. The cow remains in the village, and becomes the
personal property of the widow, who is not allowed to sell it.
The collection of the number of cattle payable as blood money generally
takes some time, and the members of a man’s clan often assist him to
pay. When they are all collected, an assembly of people and elders
takes place at the village of the deceased, comprising members of the
family and clan as well as strangers, and a bull is slaughtered from
the compensation cattle; there is a general feast, and each person
takes a strip of the hide away for tying up loads. The cattle are then
divided; the senior member of the deceased’s family receives one cow
and pays back one bull, the maternal grandfather of the deceased
receives a cow and pays back a bullock, and if there is a half-brother
of the deceased he receives a cow and pays back a bull, provided that
he does not live in the village of the deceased. If there is a village
of the same clan near by, the head of it receives a cow and pays back a
bull. None of these cows may be sold or given in exchange for a wife;
if this rule is broken the recipient has to pay back a cow to the
family. The bulls given in exchange provide feasts for the elders,
members of the family of the deceased, and members of the clan. The
remainder of the cattle are the property of the eldest brother of the
deceased, who divides them between the mother and wife or wives of the
deceased, who have the use of the milk. He cannot dispose of one of the
beasts without the permission of these women.
The payment of the cow, bull, and goat first mentioned is of ritual
importance, and is called etumo; they are necessary to protect both the
family of the murderer and the murdered one from the powers of the
unappeased death-dealing spirit which is abroad. Even if the killing
was accidental (mbanga) the etumo payments and ritual must be observed,
because it shows that there is a bad influence about or the accident
would never have occurred.
In former times, if a man of one clan killed another in some
inter-tribal fight, the custom was for a brother to waylay and kill a
man of the clan who had killed his brother. The two deaths cancelled
each other, and there was no further question of compensation, but it
was considered essential that the etumo fees should be paid and the
proper ceremonial observed.
One other point in connection with the weapon used in the murder should
be mentioned: in Kikuyu the spear is thrown away, but in Ukamba the
weapon is nearly always an arrow, which is carried away some distance
and placed on a path, the idea apparently being that it contains a
harmful essence which it is impossible to remove, and the evil is
believed to pass on to whoever picks it up. If this is not done the
evil is said to remain with the family of the deceased.
The Kingnoli Custom.—In the author’s “Ethnology of A-Kamba,” p. 95, an
account is given of the old form of judicial execution called kingnoli
which used to be customary throughout Ukamba. It is also referred to by
C. Dundas in the “History of Kitui,” p. 514.
It is not proposed to describe over again the details of the procedure,
but while considering the question of sacrifice, it may be interesting
to point out the similarity of this practice with the judicial slaying
which took place among the ancient Semites, e.g., among the Hebrews the
criminal was stoned.
Professor R. Smith ably shows how the idea of an execution of this kind
is not penal in one sense of the word: it is not done to punish the
offender, but to rid the community of an impious member—generally a man
who has shed the tribal blood.
It would appear that the repeated spilling of tribal blood is an act
which annoys the aiimu of the tribe to such an extent that an ordinary
sacrifice is insufficient to appease them, and a human sacrifice
becomes necessary either as an expiation or to re-establish good
relations: by not offering compensation for the crimes he has
committed, the brothers of the criminal formally surrender him to the
community and this acquits the community of any bloodstain.
The kingnoli custom is also known among the Kikuyu, who call it mwinge.
The Hon. C. Dundas states that the procedure in Kikuyu is practically
the same as that in Ukamba except that the near relative of the
accused, whose consent to the execution is essential, had to carry it
out by strangling the convicted person.
Another important point is that any person giving evidence against a
tribesman being tried under this law had to make his charges on the
kithito or kithathi which is one of the most potent oaths.