SUMBA AND NAKHABUKA

Sumba lived many years ago on the two islands of Sumba and Sigulu in Berkely Bay (Lake Victoria). The full story of his life is kept secret by those of his clan (Abakhabotsa), but he is believed to have performed many miracles, and when he died he was “canonized” and considered blessed in that through his name, miracles could still be performed. An annual religious festival in his honour was organized with dancing, boat racing, wrestling, sacrifices and feasting was established. This festival used to be held on Sumba Island, and people would come from long distances to attend.

Then some generations later a girl of Sumba’s family by the name Were-Siyanja got married to a young man called Ogumbe of the Abakhoone Clan from the house of Miini in Western Bunyala near Port Victoria. After some years of marriage, it is said that the spirit of Sumba (Musambwa) followed her and entered he mind. It told her that the Sumba Annual Festival should henceforth be organized by her offspring.

This is how the Sumba festival moved from the islands and from its original organizers the Abakhabotsa, to Western Bunyala among the Abakhoone, who were organizing it up to recent years when they mysteriously stopped.

The festival for Sumba was stopped because upon the death of Muyinda, his eldest son, Andrea was supposed to take over as the high priest of the Sumba oracles. However, his got influenced to take up Christian salvation and abandoned the ritual. This disrupted the organization of the festival until his younger brother, Charles Muyinda accepted to host the oracles of Sumba by building the house for the drums. That is when the ritual resumed. I talked to the chief drummer of the Sumba oracles, Mr. Olobo, and told that there are signs that the spirit of Sumba will be requesting for a festival this year.    

The festival used to be a great occasion with people coming from as far as Samia and Luo land to attend. There were many important restrictions during the Sumba festival. For example immorality of any kind and fighting with weapons was punishable by natural death unless purified by a special sacrifice (a lamb). Also very heavy fines were imposed.

The food and beer required at the festival was collected from all over Bunyala, as a matter of custom. No one could refuse to contribute and if he did it was believed that there would be no rain, hence nobody wanted to be blamed for a communal calamity. So about 2 months before the festival the organizers went round Bunyala beating their drum and collecting the grain and chickens for the festival.
Early Missionaries thought that the participating in Sumba and Nakhabuka was evil and forbade Christians from attending the festival or contributing to it. Later they found that there was nothing wrong, and a missionary (Father Biesset) "baptized" Saint Sumba as "Joseph" and " Saint Nakhabuka" as Mary, and allowed their adherents to attend the festivals.