Kikamba love poem

Short love poem translated into Kikamba (Kamba, Mumoni, Kiikamba, Masaku, Kĩĩkamba, South Kitui, Akamba, Kekamba, North Kitui), the Bantu, Niger–Congo language of the Kambas (Akambas), in the east of Kenya and in Tanzania. The Akamba call their country Ukambani.

Poetry for all those of Kwale, Kitui, Machakos and Makueni. If the Kambas are just over 4 million, only 700,000 of them will be able to read and understand these 4 lines!

In Kenya Kamba is spoken in Machakos, Makueni, Mwingĩ and in the Kĩtui districts of the Eastern Province, as well as in Mwea, Ithanga, Kilifi, Taita-Taveta and Kwale.

We can distinguish at least five dialects for this language, which themselves include sub-dialects. These are the machakos (kĩmasaku, masaku), the northern (mwingĩ) central and western kĩtui, and the kĩlungu (mumoni) in the Makueni district. The first, kĩmasaku is the dialect used as the standard of kĩkamba; it is the one used for education, the one used by the media and for literature. Its speakers are called Amasaku, while those of the kĩkĩtui variants are Akltui.

This major language of Kenya continues to gain in importance every day.

The Akambas who are 10% of Kenyans are present in the region they occupy for a long time, at least 500 years.

The Kambas seem to come from a mixed race of peoples including Masais, Oromos and Kikuyus. The Kambas are farmers (sogho, corn, millet), they are also breeders and traders (especially wood). They are also artisans and artists; dances, music, sculptures are part of their rich cultural tradition.

They were divided into 25 dispersed patrilineal totemic clans, divided into territorial units, corresponding to an extended family. This one constituted the basic political unit, coupled with a system of age classes, the oldest had ritual and political functions.

The institution of chieftainship here was absent, and authority was assured by a council of elders. The religious conceptions of the Kambas were chiefly based on the ancestors worship; The ancestral spirits could be at the origin of possession phenomena with a feminine predominance.

Kenya is a sanctuary for wild animals. The Kenyan people have a great diversity of languages and tribes (especially in the countryside). Its demographic and urban growth rate is one of the highest in the world.