Language Information

The Kikuyu (sometimes spelled Gikuyu) are the largest tribal group in Kenya, numbering about 6 million people. They inhabit the fertile land around the slopes of Mount Kenya to the north of Nairobi. The Kikuyu language is of the Bantu family.

Family: Niger- Congo
Subgroup: Benue-Congo
Branch: Bantu

Writing Sample

Translation

The Gikuyu believe in God
the creator of heaven and earth,
the giver of all things.

God has no beginning nor end,
He has no father nor mother,
He takes no advice and works singlehandedly.

He lives in heaven
but has another home in Gikuyuland,
where He rests when He visits earth;
this home is on Mount Kenya.

He blesses and curses individual
and society, and
He gives and withholds His gifts
according to the actions of His children.

The Gikuyu praise their God always
Because of His genuine generosity,
In giving them fertile country
Which lacks no meat, food, or water.

—MAINA KAGOMBE, The Gikuyu Concept of God