Eric Ngeno take here...
FOR POLITICS OF THE FORESKIN, CIRCUMCISION IS NOT ENOUGH
Language is truly delicate. Very complex. Never, ever simple. It takes a truly educated mind to parse through subtleties of idiom and metaphor and avoid jumping into spectacularly disastrous conclusions.
In keeping with its obsessive voyeurism against William Ruto, the Star today splashed 'GIDEON MOI IS UNCIRCUMCISED, SAYS DP RUTO'. You just know by now that Standard and Star, owned by cousin surrogates of the Moi dynasty, are nothing more than a bully tag team.
Anyway, lets get back to the ideology of the foreskin. This subject seems to consume Gideon Moi inordinately. His maiden speech in Parliament has him declaring that he is a "total man" having undergone circumcision "the Nandi Way". Alfred Keter, who is a regular star turn at Moi's gatherings, routinely expounds at length on the rites of initiation. It does seem that the legacy of the knife -by no means unmemorable-haunts these gentlemen. No, it more than haunts them. It defines them. The ritual excision of their foreskins so long ago is the singular definitive event and achievement of their lives. Many congratulations. A prepuse long ago removed in fulfilment of tribal ritual refused to die, and returned as a massive intellectual canopy that has completely shrouded the younger KANU politicians, suffocating them in a pall of pettiness, immaturity and absurdity.
Back to language. In Nandi, the operative word is "Ng'etet". When it stands alone this way, "Ng'etet" is derogatory, calculated to underscore the callow infantility of its target. It meant a boy who is not ready for circumcision. It is calculated to make every boy yearn desperately for his date with the knife. It also denotes things like readiness for important roles: courage, nous, physical strength even. Stand-alone "ng'etet" has a clear, unambiguous meaning. "Ngetai" (you uninitiated fellow)when properly deployed can be devastating on someone's self-esteem. This is the simple, easy part. Please hang on a minute.
"Ng'etetab" in Nandi translates to "son of" just like "weritab". "Werit" is neutral, denoting only gender and filial relation. "Ng'etet" denotes both of those, and age. "Ng'etetab" is patriarchal and dynastic in essence. It speaks to the active consideration of the older man - father. It says that the son is being considered relative to the father in a certain context. It associates a father as a greater actor than the son for purposes of attributing credit or blame. "Ng'etetab kap So-ans-So" essentially means the scion of a certain family, clan, dynasty represented by So-and-So, invariably the patriarch. In Nandi, this can be rendered simply as "Ng'etetab So-and-So" without losing the essential reference to the patriarch (So-and-So), and therefore, the dynastic allusion.
"Ng'etab kam" is actually short form of "ng'etetab kam" which is short form of "ng'etetab kamet"(the son of his/her mother) which is Nandi for brother. Your brother is your "Nge'tab kam" or "ng'etetab komet". No derogatory insinuation arises from this description, despite the active use of "ng'etet". I mean, "ng'etet" is the lynchpin of the noun, without all the baggage of stand alone noun.
My rudimentary Kikuyu suggests somethjng like "kihii kia So-and So" being an acceptable description in certain context. "Komet" has the same connotational versatility, and therefore much rhetorical utility as "nyina". But I have never heard the term "kihii kia nyina wa....." as refering to brother. Then again, elementary school leaves a lot to be desired.
Anyway, the reference to Gideon Moi as "ng'etetab arap Moi" is absolutely correct and descriptive of Gideon's position as a political actor. He is to be seen, inevitably and through the active condonement of Moi senior and Gideon Moi, as a scion, protege, heir of Mzee. Indeed, according to tradition, Gideon should not be known as Moi. He is Gideon Kipsielei Toroitich. But the allure of Nyayo's name and fortune saw him depart from tradition -as so many sons of wealthy and powerful men have- and underscore his position as "Ng'etetab arap Moi", so that whichever way you regard the fellow, Nyayo is very much in the picture, both as putative father and patriarch. The only way Gideon would repudiate that reference is if he were in effect making a more serious denial. Henry Kosgei's sons are, according to tradition, to, go by surname Rono, because Senior Kosgei bears the Kiprono as his middle name.
It has been alleged that Gideon Moi's education in Tugen commenced in 2002, when he was over 40. I am sure that he still, has a bit to go in terms of appreciating dialectical subtleties and the mindboggling array of idiomatic possibilities presented by any African language. Even so, there is no excuse for anyone to immediately invoke the ideology of the foreskin when the context obviously did not even remotely contemplate it.
The byline is Matthews Ndanyi's. But surely, Charles Kerich, who seems to understand these things, could have stopped the immature insinuations before they escalated up the Star's editorial chain. The truth is that Gideon arap Toroitich, who holds himslef out as Gideon Moi, is accurately and legitimately "ng'etetab arap Moi". And it doesn't mean that he is uncircumcised, unless the Star knows something we don't.
Topic: did i hear that ruto wept again (Read 2554 times)