More than 2,000 boys from Maasai community will converge in Insamplin location of Transmara subcounty in Narok county on Thursday for a ceremony called Enkipaata O Laiyook.
The boys aged between 12 and 20 years will be marking their first right of passage in readiness for circumcision and later advance to adulthood and elderhood.
The rite of passage is a process in which it can easily be described as a passage into a new realm of living.
It’s common in most cultures that when the youth to transition, there are certain expectations and rules to be met before individuals ascend to adulthood.
The ceremony is slated to be held at Ildulisho manyatta in Keyian Ward and will be graced by Narok Governor Patrick ole Ntutu, Tourism PS John Ololtuaa among other guests.
The Uasingishu clan of the Maasai community is the one organising the ceremony.
Enkipaata, Eunoto and Olng’esherr are three interrelated male rites of passage of the Maasai community.
Enkipaata is the induction of boys leading to initiation; Eunoto is the shaving of the morans paving the way to adulthood; and Olng’esherr is the meat-eating ceremony that marks the end of moranism and the beginning of eldership.
The rites of passage are mainly practised by young men of the Maasai community aged between 12 and 30, but women also undertake certain tasks.
The rites serve to induct them first to moranhood, then as young elders, and finally as senior elders.
Elders from the Maasai community who spoke to the Star took the opportunity and called on other communities to revisit and conserve their cultures for their identity.
The Maasai are known for their proud identity and long-preserved culture in Kenya and globally.
Some communities have, however, shunned their traditions and embraced modern ways of life over time.
