Legalizing Ngome: The Njuri Of The South

In subsequent years Lambert turned his attention to restoring the system of elders' councils among the three southern peoples of Mwimbi, Muthambi, and Cuka. Within these regions the problems were more complex, as the three highest councils of Ngome (Cuka) and Nkome (Muthambi and Mwimbi) had all been totally suppressed by a combination of aggressive district officers, zealous chiefs, and the imposition of administrative methods from Gikuyu.^[14]

Lambert's first decision was to group the three newcomers into a single administrative unit, together with Igoji and Miutini, which he christened the Nithi, or Southern, Division. The remaining peoples of Imenti, Tigania, Igembe, and Tharaka were similarly joined to make up a new Meru, or Northern, Division.

Lambert began the transformation, as always, with inquiries among respected elders in each of the three subtribes. Unfortunately, in this instance he spoke first to his personal translators, all of whom were from Imenti. These individuals told Lambert—correctly—that the concept of Njuri had begun in Tigania, thereafter spreading north into Igembe, then southward through Imenti and Igoji into Mwimbi, Muthambi, and perhaps Cuka. They then added—incorrectly—that peoples south of Igoji were not "true" Meru, thus had no real knowledge of Njuri. It

seemed logical, therefore, to require them to come north, to Imenti and Tigania, where they could "buy [be taught] Njuri" at its source, then take their rightful place as younger brothers in the tribe.

Lambert, impressed by the argument, presented it to the chiefs of Mwimbi and Muthambi, essentially as it had been suggested to him. He was totally unprepared for the wave of outrage that erupted from every corner of the crowd. The formal reply was delivered a day later by a Mwimbi chief, Mburunga Ng'entu. Outraged, Ng'entu led a delegation of equally indignant Mwimbi elders, striding at the head of what became an angry pilgrimage, to protest the relegation of southern Meru peoples to junior status in the tribe:

What kind of people would we be if Njuri had not always been among us. While it is true that the name of Njuri has changed among us, it is neither different nor below [inferior to] that of Tigania. . . . Nor will we let them declare it is so, we [Mwimbi] who have come from Mbwaa [i.e., have been Meru since its tribal beginnings].^[15]

With that, the delegation departed. Nor was their anger quick to heal. For a time neither the Mwimbi, Muthambi, nor Cuka would discuss the topic of Njuri.

By the beginning of Lambert's second term, the southern peoples' indignation had ebbed away. By 1939, however, the system of elders' councils in all three locations was near extinction. The Nkome gatherings within both Mwimbi and Muthambi had long since abandoned their traditional prerogatives, having evolved into little more than social circles where elders met to curse the present and talk about the past. The situation was worse in Cuka, where the council of Ngome existed only in the memories of former members, having been systematically suppressed by the vigor of British district officers sent out from Embu. Thereafter, Cuka had been ruled by a system adapted from the Gikuyu, in which appointed chiefs and tribal retainers had become too powerful to withstand. Faced with such conditions, elders forming the indigenous institutions had retreated into apathy, abandoning even the activities that had sustained the Njuri Nceke.

Formal restoration of the Nkome system began in 1940. To Lambert's surprise the first announcement of his intention evoked such enthusiasm that the district commissioner had to dampen his own fires. His first appeal for the former members of the Nkome to step forward and be greeted was answered by what Lambert subsequently described as "the entire male population of both regions."^[16] Eventually more patient inquiry yielded general agreement as to the appropriate spokes-

men for each district, and the Nkome councils of both Mwimbi and Muthambi began to function.

The Cuka reaction, however, was quite different. There, Lambert's initial appeal to restore the council of Ngome was greeted with universal indifference. Nor did his subsequent inquiries among Cuka elders elicit enthusiasm for the institution's return. Initially perplexed, Lambert resorted to ritual. Selecting two of the most respected senior chiefs, as well as several widely known elders, Lambert transported them with elaborate ceremony to a specially convened meeting of the Njuri ya Kiama in Imenti. There the delegates were courteously invited to "buy Njuri," making token payments of livestock for their initiation.

Having learned the institution's "secrets" (traditions), the delegation returned to Cuka. There, as "fathers" of the new form of elders' council, they began to "sell" (teach) its secrets to other elders, who responded with gifts of livestock in return. The system expanded intermittently, requiring occasional prodding from district officers. Nonetheless, by 1940 it did begin to have an increasingly public role in district administration.^[17] In so doing, however, it incurred the hostility of African members of the colonial service, the so-called little whites.