By Tobias Chanji

A tribe in Kwale County whose members feel they are endangered with extinction have resorted to unique measures to protect their lineage.

The leaders of the tribe called Wasegeju have formed a movement called ‘Segeju Survival Movement’ to which all tribe members belong.

The tribe has also elected a ‘president’ who will be assisted by an executive board to lead the tribe to be distinct from the Digo community that has been assimilating them.

The tribe, which lives in Pongwe/Kidimu wards in Msambweni District, has elected Athman Said Kibadi Mwinyi Amani as the president. He was overwhelmingly picked by his tribe last year January together with an executive board that serves as the cabinet.

Village chairmen, a council of youth and women with a group of advisors make up socio-political setting of this community.

“We realised that we are marginalised especially when most of us were being swallowed by the Digo. From our records we are less than 8,000 so those who remained want to be identified as the survivors.

“We meet once a month but a major meeting is after every cereals harvest where we deliberate issues affecting us like culture and dictatorship from larger communities who from the onset viewed us as outsiders,” says Amani whose long name is even difficult to master.

But how come this tribe with distinct cultural beliefs like hunting came to be swallowed by a farming Digo community.

The president says that the tribe’s original homeland was in Shungwaya Tanzania just like other Eastern Bantus. He says they share ancestral home with the Watharaka who are found in Eastern Province of Kenya.

Bad disease

“Even the name Segeju was not known but people referred to us as Wadhaiso. We were only called Wasegeju by the Digos who saw us pulling our gowns up while crossing river Umba to Kenya, they said ‘wamesegeja juu’ then the ones that went up country were called Watharaka,

“The Segeju moved from Shungwaya because of the bad disease that was killing people. Many especially women and children died, some at the place and even during the exodus and in the group we only remained with one woman,” he says.

Wasegeju had two clans: Wakamadhi and Wakavyere and it was apparently difficult who could stay with the only woman as everybody wanted to marry her.

Solomonic wisdom was inevitable and in the end they killed the woman so that none of them could have her and  also for them to continue to living in peace.

“They had their king called Mwang’ombe Mkubwa from the Wakavyere clan while his assistant Mwang’ombe Mdogo from the Wakamadhi though the latter took over the mantle when they crossed to Kenya,” he adds.

The tribe because of its hunting background that no warriors in the  neighbouring community would match and as Amani says they even assisted the Wavumba community that was being bullied by the Washirazi who made it mandatory that for any Vumba girl to get married, her virginity had to be broken by them (Shirazi) before she could marry off to another community. He says that Wasegeju drove off the Shirazi under the Mazrui making them to be feared.

“It was not only the Shirazi who got the wrath but also Zimba from Zambia and Mozambique who were eating our people we kept at bay, but our population reduced and what remained  was to force ourselves to Digo women as we had none.

“The Digos started leaving in fear and because they were the ones who had welcomed us, they said we could marry their ladies even by force.

“There was no other war at the time the two communities continued to intermarry though mostly in favour  of  the  Segeju,” he states.

For a few years there was peace but as soon as the Segeju started farming a feat they learnt from their neighbours, land became scarce and a fierce war erupted and it is only king of Digo who was staying at Kubo who called for a ceasefire and a boarder was drawn ‘Mchanga mweupe’ that mainly boarders coastal line to be used by Segeju while ‘Mchanga Mwekundu ‘away from the coastline to be used by Digo.

Currently there is a tarmac road to Lungalunga that split the two.

“The two communities now started staying separately in areas of  Vanga, Jasini, Kinondo and Pongwe as their headquarters while others were in Tanzania and settled at Moa, Boma and Tanga though many have also been assimilated to Tanzanian Digos and Wasambaa.

Forge our names

“Amongst the Digo more cultural values have tied maternal uncles through mothers who are taken in high esteem therefore though we married from the Digo most of our children identified themselves with the maternal side and called themselves Digos,” he reiterates.

The President explains that after independence Kassim Mwamzandi, a Digo was elected to parliament and that is when the rain started beating.

“He was told that his tribe had suffered injustices from ours and therefore wanted to revenge.

No Segeju was allowed to have a National Identification card as he said we are Tanzanians while in Tanzania we were told we are Kenyans we therefore had to forge our names to suit the Digos so as to get the ID,” he says.

He further adds that because of such, many failed on distribution of economic resources and thus have been marginalised.

Plans to build a Cultural centre are in top gear through a sponsorship they got through an Organisation, Friends of Yale University where two of their descendants Hamisi Kinabo and Yunus Mohammed are doing their PhDs in Anthropology and Psychology respectively.

They want to fight for space and their rights through their president who is electable after five years as they also encourage their members to ‘multiply’.