African cultural norms were uniquely established, like the Biblical Mosaic laws, by our forefathers and mothers to inculcate the society with a sense of virtue, well-thought-out virtues about the sacredness of marriage and family, and the respectability that accompanies a human being.
But thanks to the allure of Western civilization, we have deemed them retrogressive and abandoned them.
We even feel ashamed of conversing in our native languages, which are just languages, like the colonial languages we associate with.
Consequently, the current generation is paying the heaviest price for giving these well-intentioned traditional practices a wide berth.
We are guilty of crimes of omission and commission against our ancestors because we have affectionately adopted the practices of their rival European and American ancestors.
Whether it’s the heart-wrenching news about philandering fathers impregnating their biological daughters or couples who just walked down the aisle falling apart before death, one thing is certain- an element of African traditional practice was snubbed.
In Kenya, hardly a week passes without an abomination happening.
People are left jaw-dropped by crimes whose root cause they are well aware of but choose to give a deaf ear because the world has changed.
Uncles are having sexual relationships with their nieces, grown-up men engaging in bestiality arguing it’s due to sexual lust.
Machete-wielding men fiercely killing their parents as a shortcut to quick and easy inheritance.
In other cases, suspects are left off the hook because of the ambiguousness of the law.
Our ancestors, in their wisdom, knew too well the insurmountable human temptation to go against the grain, hence the norms and practices.
Such vices invited repercussions to offenders' families and were unheard of in the traditional African society, a society that was strictly founded on strong virtues and ethical bonds.
This was a society where cultural offenders were banished from the community and left to their own devices to suffer.
In the traditional African society, it wasn’t a cakewalk bribing the Council of Elders like today where runway corruption has infiltrated the corridors of Justice.
This is not to champion the wearing of hides and skins in the 21st century but as we gladly join the global village that the world has become in partaking of the benefits of scientific development and technological advancement, we should not lose sight of why our culture was constituted.
No one ever derives pride in lawlessness induced by the “culture ni ushamba” mentality.
Let us transform into a formative society where the sanctity of life is respected, one where the proverbial red lines cannot be crossed unless one has made a conscious decision to go to the grave.
Freelance journalist and writer
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
