Thousands of Maasai men gather for once-in-a-decade ceremony in Kajiado

By Reuters | 3yrs ago | 2 min read

Maasai men of Matapato attend the Olng'esherr (meat-eating) passage ceremony [Photo: Thomas Mukoya]

Thousands of Maasai men clad in red and purple shawls and with their heads coated in red ochre gathered this week for a ceremony that transforms them from Moran (warriors) to Mzee (elders).

Around 15,000 men from all over Kenya and neighbouring Tanzania congregated in Maparasha Hills in Kajiado County, 128 km from Nairobi, to feast on an estimated 3,000 bulls and 30,000 goats and sheep.

Maasai youth roast meat [Photo: Thomas Mukoya]

The ceremony occurs once every decade at the site, which is surrounded by hills and dotted with acacia trees. On Wednesday, the men roasted the meat on beds of coal from acacia trees, holding staffs and swords.

“I used to be a Moran, But after this ceremony, I now graduate to be a Mzee (elder),” Stephen Seriamu Sarbabi, a 34-year-old livestock trader, told Reuters.

Maasai men of Matapato jostle to parade [Photo: Thomas Mukoya]

“I will now be having a lot of responsibilities in the community. I will be chairing some different meetings, I will be consulted,” he added. The arrival of the novel coronavirus in March forced a postponement of the ceremony, which was meant to have been held earlier in the year.

A Maasai elder blesses the celebrants [Photo: Thomas Mukoya]

“My role here in this ceremony is to come and bless my boys to graduate, to another stage of being wazees (elders), and to give them their privileges,” Moses Lepunyo ole Purkei, a farmer, community health volunteer and elder, told Reuters.

During the ceremony, the men were accompanied by their wives, who also wore colourful shawls and beads around their necks and sang songs praising and encouraging the incoming group of elders. There are about 1.2 million Maasai living in Kenya, according to the government statistics office.