Syonguu: The Mighthy Prophetess (Kamba community)

Syonguu wa Kathukya was born in Kamba land, near Athi River in the 1800s. Not much is known about her but the little that has been passed down through history is amazing. Like other foretellers of her time Syonguu could foretell the coming of good and bad things. She was respected for being able to ‘see’ and help her people prepare to receive or combat what is ahead of them. She fought the British invasion in Kamba land alongside other notable British resistance leaders such as the great prophetess and medicine woman, Syokimau.

The arrival of the British traders from around 1885 had a drastic and devastating effect on the Kamba people. The entire Kamba territory was declared a British protectorate. The Kamba lost their independence. This threatened to destabilize the prominence the Kamba enjoyed as middlemen during long distance trade. There was massive alienation of Kamba land to pave the way for white settlement. Many people, especially the Kamba warriors lost their lives during the confrontations with the British soldiers. The British occupied Kamba land and built a fort - the Masaku Fort.

The British subjected heavy taxation on the Kamba in order to raise revenue for the colonial administration. In addition, Kamba men were forcefully recruited into the King’s African Rifles to fight in World War I. Atrocities against the Kamba by the British continued and in 1890 they went as far as interfering with the Kamba culture by raping their women and cutting down a sacred Ithembo tree to use as a flagpole at the Masaku Fort.

Prophetess Syonguu could not take this! She ordered the Iveti Warriors to attack the Masaku Fort as a reaction to the cutting down of the sacred tree. At the same time another resistance leader, Nzibu Mweu, led the Akamba in boycotting the selling or buying of goods from the British company agents. The resistance army under the leadership of Syonguu was considerably weakened after the capture and surrender of Nzibu Mweu and his counterpart Mwana wa Muka.

Syonguu wa Kathukya, is remembered for her qualities as a seer and a woman resistance leader. She is also the one who named the place we call today Syokimau after the great Kamba prophetess Syokimau, whose prophetic powers only a few could rival in the whole of Kamba land.

Bonus Information
Kamba Land or Ukambani is divided into three administrative county regions namely, Machakos, Makueni and Kitui counties, stretching east of Nairobi along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway, over Athi River, towards Tsavo National park and North East to Embu. It is widely perceived as a region regularly haunted by long drought seasons. Far from this notion, there are green and fertile stretches which make up for a wonderful excursion. Machakos for example, which was actually Kenya’s second inland capital, after Voi, in 1908, is surrounded by green hills. The Makongo Valley, right behind the town, also offers a spectacular drive through scenic undulating hills covered by forests and terraces. No wonder Ukambani was a trade route over hundreds of years.