Why men from the mountain are proudly mama's boys

A son huggin his mother. (Courtesy/iStockphoto)

My friends from other communities can't understand why we sons of Mumbi proudly wear our mothers' names like ribbons on our chests. They get baffled when a man whose father is alive refers to himself as son of Njeri or Njambi. Unknown to them, this is a strictly followed centuries old decree issued by our matriarch Mumbi herself. If you really want to make a Kikuyu man gel, refer to him as a son of his mother. It doesn't matter whether he is Baba Ngina or the average bloke in the street.

Among our people, men belong to their mothers. That's why our entire tribe refers to itself as the House of Mumbi. Our founding matriarch who started this tradition had it all figured out: your mother is your only true parent. That old geezer whom you call dad could probably be 'baba wa mkate' if you get the drift.