Eastern Region
The Gishu
The Gisu tribe is a Uganda tribe from Eastern Uganda living in the districts of Sironko, Manafwa, Bulambuli and Mbale and also referred to the Masaba people living on the slopes of Mount Elgon. The word Gisu or Bagisu is derived from the Bamasaba ancestor called Maswaraba who migrated from Ethiopian mountains via Lake Turkana and settled in Bududa, while in Bududa he feel in love with a masai girl called Nabarwa and wanted to marry her, but the masai parents of the girl refused him to take their girl unless he was circumcised first, Maswaraba accepted to get circumcised and the entire community of men adopted it.
Maswaraba and Nabarwa the masai girl gave birth to a son who was called Mwambu and was nicked named Nkisu by the uncles meaning bull in the Masai language, but the Maswaraba the father failed to pronounce the name and instead called him Mugisu and hence the tribe Bagisu.
The Imbalu Ceremony
Circumcision is a ceremony practiced by the Bagisu from way back adopted from their in-laws the Masai people. Bagisu men undergo the ceremony of circumcision called imbalu and takes place every after two even years in the month of August.
The history of circumcision also differs according different people, some people have it that the first person to be circumcised had a complication sexually and circumcision was carried out as a way of operation, and others say one man was found of loving other people’s wives and they decided to punish him by circumcising him, after he got healed he resumed the past behaviors and was excellent in it and out competed all the men, so all the men decided to get circumcised which is referred to as imbalu in Bamasaba language.
The Imbalu ceremony is done by first apply some medical herbs on the big toe of the candidate to be circumcised which helps them to be in the moods of circumcision, the candidates are first taken around the village smeared with cassava mixed with malwa yeast paste on their heads and face for three days helped by their relatives with drumming and singing.
The circumciser cuts off the outer skin of the penis of the candidate and the candidates are advised to be strong because when they cry they are not considered to be men, they are made to sit on the stool and wrapped with cloth they after they are taken to their father’s houses where they have to move around it before they enter. The candidate is not allowed to eat with hands, they are just fed for three days then the circumciser comes and washes their hands and they are allowed to eat with them and declared a man.
After the Iremba ceremony is carried out where all the candidates are invited and all the people who want to attend including government officials because it is always an important ceremony that congratulates the candidates upon being brave and declaring them as men. This is normally done to boys who clock the age of 18 and anybody who ran away who was 18 years and above was to be hunted and circumcised.
The Sabiny/Sebei
The Sabiny or Sebei is an ethnic group from Uganda in the districts of Kapchorwa, Kween and Bukwa in Eastern Uganda residing on some parts of Mount Elgon. Their land borders Kenya with over the largest number of the Kalenjin where the sebei belong. The sebei are estimated to be 250000 people around 0.6% of Uganda’s population. The sebei people speak kupsabiny with other small groups of the Kalenjin around the hills of Mount Elgon.
The sabiny are believed to have migrated from Israel and also been soldiers in Egypt before they migrated to come to Uganda
The Sabiny or Sebei people is not a common tribe to the people but is well known for Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) among the girls above 14 years and women who have not gone through the exercise. Circumcision is widely practiced in the sebei region but especially for men because in 2010 the government passed a law against Female Genital Mutilation but some still practice it secretly. Just like the Bagisu in Mbale, circumcision in sabiny also takes place every two years. However in 2016 circumcision did not take place because the big tree called Nuguk on Mount Elgon was flowering and circumcision was done in 2018.
The sebei culture carries out circumcision due to different reasons including, boys rise from being boys to real men, it is also considered to be for health and cleanliness issues, then for respect. It is said that a man and woman who is not circumcised is not respected in the community and not allowed to go either for functions or any gathering, circumcision is also done to maintain the culture of the sebei people because it has been their practice since way back.
The circumcision exercise starts with boys who are 14 years and above, when they make 20 years when not circumcised they are considered cowards and they are circumcised by force.
Unless in the Bagisu culture, the sebei circumcision is done in the morning with some rules to follow for example when boys are lined up for cutting, the age of the parents is considered meaning the candidate with the oldest parent goes first for circumcision, then when cutting candidates from the same family, make sure you put another one from another family in between to avoid bad luck according to the sebei people. The exercise takes up to 6 months to be completed.
Although Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has been banned in Uganda but it still persists in the regions of the sebei for spiritual reasons.S ome men say it is a way of reducing prostitution from women especially when their men are away because when they are circumcised they lose sexual desires and also for financial purposes because the mutilators are paid 20,000 to 50,000 per individual which they cannot lose out.
The un mutilated women are considered as not real women in the community who even reach an extent of being left by their husbands, they are not allowed in the granaries to collect food and in the kraal to get cow dung for their houses.
