The group of individuals who hoisted an LGBTQ flag on Mt Kenya, have vowed to return to replace it after it was removed by a council of elders. It was hoisted in 2019, and taken down on April 10, 2023.
The flag was taken down by Kikuyu elders upset about it. A man representing the LGBTQ says they will hoist it again. The man Juelz Loverl took to Twitter to speak of his intentions.
"In 2019 we (Alex and I) put the (LGBTQ) flag up on Mt. Kenya. All this nonsense of it being taken down, I've decided 2023 I am going back up Mt. Kenya to put up the flag!" he tweeted.
According to the Citizen Digital news, a couple of Kikuyu men claiming to represent Booi Wa Kirira Kia Mugikuyu, loosely translated to 'the gathering for Kikuyu culture', have in the last month been raising funds for them to scale the mountain and remove the flag alleged to represent the LGBTQ community.
Several of them scaled the mountain on Friday, April 7, and came back on Sunday, April 9, with the alleged flag that was set on fire at Naromoru, Kieni East Sub-county, Nyeri County. The event was followed up by cleansing rites by Kikuyu elders.
They said that ashes from the burnt flag would be thrown into the river that flows to the Indian Ocean.
The group termed hoisting the flag on top of the Mountain revered by the tribe as desecrating Kikuyu’s holiest shrine.
According to Kikuyu culture, Mt Kenya is the abode of Mwenenyaga, their deity. Kikuyu traditionalists pray when facing the mountain.
"It is an affront to Gikuyu spirituality, for members of this community to desecrate our Supreme Altar by raising their flag on Kīrīnyaga (Mt Kenya)," says Kimani Charagu, a founding member of Booi wa Kirira.
"We were determined to bring the flag down and thereafter perform cleansing rites by our sages."
Ngarau Njonjo, another member of the group, who was in the team that climbed the mountain, said that uprooting the said flag and the attendant cleansing ceremony is a stern message that the community will not be used as a doormat for 'all manner of alien practices.
Murugu Wa Kimari, who is the treasurer of Boi Wa Kirira, says theirs is a way of preserving the sanctity of Mt. Kenya as well Kikuyu culture.
"Our people should pause and ask themselves why all these bad things are occurring in the community, including unexplained killings almost on a daily basis," explained Murugu, who has also authored a book on Kikuyu culture.
"This is a clear indication that Mwenenyaga is not happy with us."
Daddy Owen has also reacted to threats to re-hoist it. He says the act of defiance doesn't sit well.
"The arrogance, smugness, and pomposity are what makes it hard for everyone to just accept your rights narrative. We shall protect our ethos and posterity from the perversion."
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