Mepoho: The Tale of the Magical Giriama Woman

Mepoho was a Giriama woman who lived in the 13th century. The Giriama are a subgroup of the Mijikenda, or 9 villages, who largely reside along the the Kenyan Coast. Legend has it that, some women who had gone to get water one chilly morning found Baby Mepoho beside a pond near Kaloleni.

They were astounded to see a baby girl covered in a Hando ra Musimbiji, a blue garment worn by female diviners in the Mijikenda tradition.

The night before, there had been a lot of rain and wind. Not exactly the kind of weather that would inspire someone to leave a newborn infant to her fate.

There was no such lady to be located despite searches being made for someone whose pregnancy could have reached term in the days prior.

Even the women who discovered the infant resisted providing any details about the precise circumstances surrounding their find, which added to the intrigue. Eventually, one of them took her in.

Mepoho developed into a powerful diviner as an adult, with the ability to predict disasters like floods, starvation, and drought. When possessed by a spirit, diviners would dance ferociously and start to prophecy in ancient days.

In Kaloleni, there is still a revered shrine that was formerly Mepoho’s. She may or may not have lived to a ripe old age, but there is a persistent story of her harrowing demise. She had something extremely significant to communicate to her people, so one day she requested that Ngoma za Pepo do a unique spiritual dance for her.

Mepoho got possessed as she looked from her three-legged stool and started to tell her prophecy: “Strangers with hair as white as sisal will come to the region.”

They would enjoyably inhale strange plants. Fantastic vehicles would be visible to the public on land, in the air, and on the sea. Young females would have babies before they were ready. Mepoho forewarned her people that when these things occurred, their land would be stolen from them and their civilization would be obliterated.

She finished her prophecy and said to everyone there that she herself was worn out and didn’t want to be there when these horrifying things happened. It was time for her to go. Mepoho was swallowed whole by the soil when it ruptured underneath her stool, the ground split open, snatching Mepoho whole.

The Kaloleni Shopping Centre, which is near to the Mombasa Bus Terminus, is the current location of this famous event.

Mepoho’s prophecy was fulfilled. Will the predictions made by modern climate scientists come to pass? Will the polar ice melt, the number of droughts and floods rise, and the sea level rise? Can we anticipate climate change? Planting drought-resistant crops, maintaining clean storm drains and ditches, preserving mangrove forests, and learning science are all effective ways to get ready today.

Watch the Mepoho Poem below in Giriama