Rastafari: Inside the faith traced to Jamaica

The acrid and distinct smell of marijuana rises and blends with the scent of raw unprocessed coffee that is brewing in Kevin Nduati’s home in Nairobi’s Utawala estate.

It is a few minutes past 9am and he has just woken up. “A Rasta must sleep till fill…,” he says, justifying why he slept late. He grabs a lighter, balances a stick of rolled up weed and places it at the corner of his lips. He lights it, sucks it in, and pushes out smoke that float upward and fill his single room.

“Is this what the Rastafarian movement is about? Smoking weed?” I ask.

He slants his head, smiles and says: “No. Rastafari is about Jah – Haile Selassie. A true Rastafari must smoke weed to cleanse the soul,” he says then takes a slow puff with eyes closed.

Decided to shift

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Nduati has been a Rastafari for the last seven years. His passion in the movement started when he developed an ear for reggae music while working at a barber shop in Dandora.

When he decided to shift from Christianity to Rastafarianism, his father called the village chief saying his son was turning into a follower of the Mungiki sect. Several times, he was made to cut his dreadlocks, but he was persistent.  “I would listen to Bob Marley, and other reggae musicians singing about how black people were oppressed. I am black and oppressed,” he says.

Peter Kamau, another follower of the Rastafari movement says what drove him to be a Rastafarian was the passion by which they conducted their activities. “I would watch reggae shows and see how Rastafarians were feeling the music and the messages in their songs. I started doing research and realized it is the right place for me to be in,” he says. 

Questions oppressors

He started by growing dreadlocks and learning how to smoke. “Before becoming a Rastafarian, I never smoked. Not even cigarettes, but being a Rastafarian, you must smoke,” he says.

He also changed his diet and eliminated meat. A true Rastafarian, one who is cleansed, he says, does not consume animals. 

George Otieno, a graduate from the University of Nairobi, and a follower of the movement says being a Rastafarian goes beyond smoking weed and growing dreadlocks.

He describes it as a way of life where one chooses purity, questions oppressors, and waits for the return of His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie. “You are born a Rastafarian. You do not choose it. It chooses you,” he says, explaining why he joined the movement. 

Over the years, the Rastafari movement has been growing in popularity.

The recent declaration by Education Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed that the Rastafari student who was being denied admission in school be allowed in shows the slow recognition they have been getting.

The addition of reggae music to the  United Nations’ list of global cultural treasures was celebrated by the Rastafarian community.  “We are making progress, but ‘policement’ here still think all Rastafarians are thieves. Anytime there is a police raid, a Rastafarian must be arrested. They should also allow us to smoke weed, it is part of being a Rastafarian,” Nduati says.

He adds that there while there is no organised place of meeting for all Rastafarians in Kenya, they have developed several social media platforms such as “Rastafari Movement in Kenya” Facebook page where they highlight issues affecting them, and discuss ways in which they can strengthen the movement.