Religious fanatics near brush with death in the name of God

Kenya: Sergeant Duncan Newton Karinga, said they have not experienced any serious accident like Gurd Judmaier’s case, but cited the December 1979 incident of the Meru zealot Ephraim M’Ikiara, who had gone up the mountain to pray.

“We were going up to rescue the Zealot after reports that a man who was not properly dressed – he wore a pair of shorts and a great-coat, was lying on his back on Nelion reading the Bible and singing songs of praise to God. He saw me and started taking another direction to get away from us. He disappeared in the fog and a pilot in the air lost sight of him. He was literary climbing the rocks like a hyrax. We lost him. It was late afternoon.”

Karinga saw M’Ikiara who was about 25 feet away on the Lewis Glacier between Nelion and Lenana Peaks. The Zealot was coming down around 16,600 feet range. He did not know who the man was…..“the man has grey hair and carrying a handbag. He also has a rope and is just jumping like a rock-hyrax or a Klipspringer on the rocks,” Karinga reported to the base.

M’Ikiara in an interview later said: “I saw them. They were climbing up and I was on my way down. One asked me: ‘Ndugu..jambo…Tunje tukuonyeshe njia (How are you brother, can we show you the way)?” And he replied rudely as he veered off their course to avoid arrest. “I was halfway down Nelion peak (15,880). The only alternative was to go round the peak,” he said.

M’Ikiara made his last climb on Christmas Day 1986. He ran out of food before starting ascent of Nelion on the seventh day. It took him seven days to walk through the forest and three, to climb the peaks. His spirit urged him to go on and talk to his God.

After reaching the peak, descending became a problem after the weather drastically changed. The wind blew strongly and it continued to snow, his hands and feet froze and having finished his food earlier, he cut a piece of ice which he melted on the stove he carried and drunk the water.

He survived that way for days until two climbers Zorer and Wildmann found him weak and frail. They gave him hot tea and some food. KWS Rescue team helped him down taking seven hours to reach their station.

Warden Bill Woodley said in 1987, out of 75,000 people who had climbed the mountain the past five years, 80 of them had to be rescued after they faced difficulties

He termed M’Ikiara’s rescue incredible.

Woodley noted that the mountain gets a number of “holy men” going up to pray, but most do not take any risks of scaling the peaks.

One religious fanatic surprised the Naromoru Parks guards when she emerged from the mountain carrying a plaque that marked graves of three British army personnel who died and were buried up Darwin Glacier. The woman, Wanjiru a member of “Thai” sect then aged 21, went up the mountain in 1971. She dismantled the plaque and came down with it, but it was confiscated by rangers after she reached their base. 

The plaque bore names of Lt C C Cornish, Corporal N W Kirkham and Trooper B L Bunn, all of the 14th /20th King’s Hussars Royal Armoured Corps. Wanjiru said later she felt the metallic instrument was desecrating a holy place.

In 1977, another man, who identified himself as Josphat from Meru, was found at the Teleki Rangers’ Station at 14,500 feet. He said he had been told by God to go to the mountain. He carried a Bible, some ugali and boiled green maize cobs.

An old Kikuyu woman was found sitting down at an altitude of 13,000 feet. She had wrapped her cellophane on the feet and said she was on a mission to pray.