Centuries old Swahili cultural fete steeped in controversy

Swahili elders perform rituals on food leftovers at the Kigunza festival in Mombasa. (Photo: Gideon Maundu/Standard)

There was great excitement at Mombasa’s Allidina Visram High School when the Swahili community gathered to mark Kigunza, an annual ceremony steeped in centuries of rich but controversial Swahili cultural traditions handed down through generations.

Traditional songs, dance and merry-making were the hallmark of the ceremony as men, women and children celebrated the good health, love and happiness they enjoyed the previous last year.