ACHONYI BURIAL RITUALS: A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THEIR EFFECTS IN LIGHT OF PRACTICES ON CHRISTIAN WIDOWS OF CHASIMBA WARD, KILIFI COUNTY, KENYA.

Abstract

practices which are an important aspect of their African Traditional Religion and culture. It is believed that it is an integral part of giving the dead a befitting sendoff and connecting the world of the living and the dead so that the living can continue to live in peace. To ensure this, the sendoff ceremony is characterized by rituals and cultural practices where the widows are made to do so as to appease the gods and ancestors. This explorative-analytical study examined the effects of the Achonyi cultural burial rituals and practices on Christian widows of Chasimba. The study objectives were: To identify and explain the burial rites and cultural practices. To analyze the socio-economic and religious factors contributing to rites and cultural practices. To analyze the effects of the rites on Christian widows. To establish the measures the Church could adopt to mitigate the effects of Achonyi burial rituals on Christian widows. The study was guided by interpretation of cultures theory by Clifford Geertz (1973). The African women hermeneutical lens was used to interpret the Achonyi cultural burial practices to assess the relationship between the widowhood rituals and the poverty levels among the Achonyi Christian widows. The study employed qualitative approach method mainly books, journals, articles, newspapers, and both published and unpublished theses. The study was complemented with extensive primary data gathered through oral interviews, FGDs and Personal observation. Through snow ball sampling, 48 respondents of Achonyi community were selected to take part in the study. The study population sample comprised of Christian widows, non-Christian widows, clan elders, Achonyi council of elders, local administrators, and religious leaders. The data was analyzed in the themes following the objectives, thus forming the chapters of the study. The study found out that, widowhood rituals and cultural practices are social constructions that need to be reconstructed in order to protect Christian widows from the retrogressive cultural practices that contribute directly and indirectly to poverty among the Achonyi Christian widows. Culture is dynamic. But the Achonyi cultural burial rituals and practices have resisted cultural extinction and moved into a revolutionary dimension to transcend the various Christian historical periods. Based on findings there is need for the Christian church to come up with strong measures that can be used to address the plight of the Achonyi Christian widows in Chasimba ward. The outcome of this research helps in understanding the pervasiv