Threat of mutilation haunts Kenya tribesmen

LIMURU, Kenya — When men with machetes and axes chased Paul Otieno from his home here, they wanted more than his belongings. They wanted to cut off his foreskin.

"They were shouting, 'If we don't kill you, we'll cut your private parts,' " Otieno, a 25-year-old mechanic, said of the attack on Sunday. In Kenya, circumcision is a rite of passage for males of most tribes. The Luos, however, do not practice it. In the recent tribal violence triggered by a disputed Dec. 27 election, circumcision checks have been used by roaming gangs of killers hunting for Luos. And the threat of forced circumcision has been used to terrify Luo men.

The number of such assaults so far appears small. The hospital here in Limuru, 30 miles west of Nairobi, confirmed that two cases of forced circumcision were admitted after Sunday's violence that saw members of the larger Kikuyu tribe evict hundreds of Luos from their homes. One case involved an adult, the other a 4-month-old.

But rumors of men being circumcised by gangs from rival tribes have cast a long shadow of fear over Luos, who feel their manhood and cultural practices are under threat.

Kenya's violence is on one level political, reflecting the rivalry for control between President Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, and the opposition candidate Raila Odinga, a Luo. In the election campaign, the fact Odinga was uncircumcised became an issue: He was seen by some Kikuyu as a "child" unfit to rule because he had not passed through circumcision and initiation.

As the postelection violence quickly focused on tribal animosities, there were sinister echoes of that debate. Witnesses have reported cases in which Kikuyus cut off the genitals of Luo men they had killed and paraded them as "trophies."

The attack on the 4-month-old baby in Limuru occurred as his 14-year-old cousin was carrying him on her back through the forest, according to a hospital spokeswoman. The teen was raped and the child circumcised. His wound later became infected.

Roy Ochiengwa, 17, was walking home from the grinding mill in Limuru on Sunday with his 6-year-old brother, Alex, when they were stopped by about 20 Kikuyus armed with machetes, axes and stones. The assailants were looking for Luos to attack, but Ochiengwa is from the Luhya tribe and is therefore circumcised.

"They unzipped my trousers to see if I was circumcised. I was just shaking and fearing for my life. I almost fainted. I just felt helpless," he said. "When they found I was circumcised they let me go. They said, 'Just go and don't look back.' "

Although he escaped, the encounter haunts him. He and other Luhyas have been evicted from their houses along with the Luos; they were waiting for buses Tuesday to take them out of predominantly Kikuyu territory around Limuru to western Kenya.

In the police station compound at the Tigoni district of Limuru, about 700 Luos and Luhyas on Tuesday prepared to leave the district. Many, terrified of violent attack, believed they would never come back. It is just one small part of the massive displacement across Kenya, where 250,000 people have fled their homes.