Kit-Mikayi in Kenya is a rock formation, a tor, around 120 meters high situated about 29 km west of the town of Kisumu in the Western Kenya, it is about 1 km from the Kisumu-Bondo road, the sign board is on the gate of Kit-Mikayi primary school and entrance is through the N’gop-Ngeso primary school. Kit-Mikayi means ‘’ the stone of the first woman’’ or the ‘’stone of the first wife’’ in Dholuo the Luo language. Legend has it that Kit Mikayi Shrine is associated with the good fortunes of the Seme people and other Luo ethnic communities who live around the shrine enclave.
Kit-Mikaya is a safari destination, thought in the East Seme ward, is the home to Barack Gumba, the professional Public Health Officer and the youth advocate.
The name ‘’ the stone of the first wife’ is that long time ago, there was an old man by the name Ngeso who was in great love with the stone, that is every day when he would wake up in the morning he could walk into the caves inside the stone and stay there the whole day, in that even he could force his wife to bring him breakfast and lunch everyday. Then the old man became passionate in love to the extent that whenever people asked his wife his whereabouts she would answer that has gone to the first wife (Mikayi) hence the stone of the first wife (Kit Mikayi).
Then the shape of the unique stone is the Kenya safari structure represents the Luo cultural polygamous family which had the first wife’s house (Mikayi) built further in between on the right hand side was the second wife’s house (Nyachira) while the third wife’s house (Reru) was built on the hand side of the homestead.
At the same time the rock is seen to have a nuclear family where the father (Ngeso) being the middle stone followed by the bulky Mikayi ( first wife) then Nyachira( second wife) followed by Reru ( third wife) and further in front they have the child which representing Simba ( which is the house for the first born boy in the homestead). From a long time, this stone has been a sacred safari place for the villagers to worship in times of trouble.
On a safari people usually access the Kit Mikayi for various reasons such as taking oaths, undertaking rituals, praying and among any other associated practices, and as well enjoying the natural beauty of Kit Mikayi, during the times of catastrophe like hunger and famine, the Luo elders would conduct rituals at the shrine and rain and bounty harvests would follow the elderly men and women of excellent social standing would guide the rituals then the men would partake in activities like slaughtering animals, women did singing, dancing and cooking of the foods accompanying the rituals.
Currently for the generations, the community has relied on the shrine as a sacred site, where on a Kenya safari the tourists visit and commune with the Deity, but though however the element is now threatened by the various factors like the decreased frequency of its enactment, ageing bearers and practitioners, and encroachment upon the surrounding cultural spaces.
Kit-Mikayi is a regional point of sightseeing interest especially among the neighboring Luo tribes, it also has become a popular local pilgrimage site for the followers of the Legio Maria sect who come to the rock to pray and fast for the several weeks at a time, again the locals living around the stones known as the Luo-Kakella clan, the site is associated with the sacrifice and many legends from Pre-Christian times especially stories explaining the meaning of the name.
