Death is something that usually brings sadness to the community. Families go through a lot whenever they lose their members. The death of a family member means that either the breadwinner of the family or a very important member of the family will be gone forever. As much as it is sad to lose someone, most African communities believe that death is the final rite of passage, some believe there is life as death, and that’s why some people think they can contact the dead and have special burial ceremonies for the departed.
There was this time we had a funeral in our village, you don’t know what happens in these funerals right? Okay, you know but you don’t know the version I’m trying to bring out. Well, you see a friend of mine loved attending these ceremonies, from Disco Matanga to the last day when the priest would say “Ash to ash, dust to dust.” The guy made sure he left no stone unturned.
In my community, the Disco Matanga was very important, once news broke that someone had died, there would be unending requests from the village DJs who would love to run a show at your compound. Armed with their phones with the Cross DJ app and the hired sound systems, they’d make the whole village go crazy with their fire mixes. The usually polite people would turn into party animals at night. People shouting and owning the funeral as if they were the ones who had died and the burial ceremonies are a tribute to their being.
The Disco Matanga usually started very many relationships.
“Mlipatana wapi?”
“Kwa Matanga ya Nafula.”
It was that time when young people would really fight over girls. You get news that John lost his teeth while fighting over a girl. Well, that was never my point anyway.
Burial Ceremonies Are Uniquely Special
There was this man who had died, I don’t remember the cause, the main point is that he had died. Take it from there. Well, as usual, we had this Disco Matanga thing, the norm we usually have during burial ceremonies. My village people really celebrate the dead than they do when someone is alive. You’re usually showered with love whenever you die. The only things you get while still alive are backbiting and yes, some even threaten to bewitch you so you can live a miserable life then they be there confessing how they “loved you but God…let’s say god loved you first.”
The day of the funeral was when I experienced drama unfold, a drama I have never seen. You see, I don’t attend funerals, this one was just next door, I just watched through the fence. I was like, what the hell is happening? Why are people running up and down like headless cockroaches? They were demolishing a part of the house where the Mwendazake was laid ready for burial.
After like 10 mins of the kasmall demolition, a coffin was then passed through that small opening. I was like, “Brother eeeeew, eeeew brotheeeer what’s thaaat? What’s that brotheeer?” But the door was just big and could allow the coffin to pass? Why are they wasting their time and energy like that? Like, who does that? There was this old man who was passing around, I don’t know how he saw my confused face. He decided to volunteer and clear my doubts. I’m not gonna post the whole conversation but we gonna do a summary of it. I swear it was the longest conversation I have ever had with someone, a whole 5 mins talking to someone.
Well, they were a sub-tribe of the Luhya community, I’m not good at remembering some crucial things, you can help me in the comments. The husband who had died wasn’t the first husband. You, see, though they’re usually rare occasions. Whenever a woman gets married, she usually has her first husband. The first husband who is the original father of the house usually has the rights to the homestead. Well, whenever he dies, his body is usually passed through the front door. There is usually this tradition of inheriting a widow, the woman can or may decide to become a widow or bring in a father figure to the family.
Well, it happens that unfortunately, the inheritor dies leaving the inherited widowed twice. The guy who has died wasn’t the original father of the family. It is usually a taboo to pass the body through the front door. It is usually advisable to pass them through the backdoor or the window. Now, most houses in the communities during those days had no windows or back doors. Only front windows and it wasn’t allowed to see them pass through the front. For that special case, they had to create an opening to pass the corpse through that opening.
Niliachwa nikiwa paralysed. At least I got to learn some new things about burial ceremonies.
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