Prime
What would Okot p’Bitek tell Museveni about ‘gemo’? (Part II)
What you need to know:
Belief. While banging pots and pans has been singled out as the only thing that is done during ryemo gemo, in reality the practice is based on a long held belief system among the Acholi and the Luo generally.
This subject and my take on it kicked up a media storm, promoting this sequel. I was glad to see the chairperson of the Acholi Parliamentary Group explain the belief system and practice on the floor of Parliament. Ryemo gemo is thus not a mark of desperation or surrender. While banging pots and pans has been singled out as the only thing that is done during ryemo gemo, in reality the practice is based on a long held belief system among the Acholi and the Luo generally. Therefore, while it would be irresponsible to assert that ryemo gemo per se is a vaccine against pandemics, its protocols confer some benefits on the participants.
Quoting from the earlier source, we note that once an illness is identified as gemo, a protocol for its prevention and control is implemented that is quite different from the treatment and control of other illnesses. When an illness has been identified and categorised as a killer epidemic (gemo), the family is advised to do the following:
1) Quarantine or isolate the patient in a house at least 100m from all other houses, with no visitors allowed. 2) A survivor of the epidemic should feed and care for the patient. If no survivors are available, an elderly woman or man should be the caregiver. 3) Houses with ill patients should be identified with two long poles of elephant grass, one on each side of the door. 4) Villages and households with ill patients should place two long poles with a pole across them to notify those approaching. 5) Everyone should limit their movements, that is, stay within their household and not move between villages.
6) No food from outsiders should be eaten. 7) Pregnant women and children should be especially careful to avoid patients. 8) Harmony should be increased within the household, that is, there should be no harsh words or conflicts within the family. 9) Sexual relations are to be avoided. 10) Dancing is not allowed. 11) Rotten or smoked meat may not be eaten, only eat fresh cattle meat. 12) Once the patient no longer has symptoms, he or she should remain in isolation for one full lunar cycle before moving freely in the village. 13) If the person dies, a person who has survived gemo or has taken care of several sick persons and not become ill, should bury the persons; the burial should take place at the edge of the village.
Several other rituals exist to try to control gemo, including driving it away (westwards) to the Nile by noisemaking (ryemo gemo). During ryemo gemo the participants bang any object that can bring out a loud sound and chant wang ceng ote ci ote (may the rising sun set with this epidemic). That is the reason why the practice is carried out before daybreak.
The shallowness with which the critics of ryemo gemo have responded to the practice reminds me of Okot p’Bitek’s Song of Lawino and the character of Ocol, who embodies the neo-colonial mentality of the culturally alienated African petty bourgeoisie - the intellectuals and political leaders of Africa.
Lawino on the other hand is an authentic spokesperson, an uneducated woman who has become highly conscious of the necessity for her race to preserve its own culture and identity. While critical of those who have swallowed wholly the coloniser’s culture, she does not overtly claim that African culture is superior to European culture. Let the critics of Ryemo Gemo listen to Lawino:
Listen Ocol, my old friend,
The ways of your ancestors
Are good,
Their customs are solid
And not hollow
They are not thin, not easily breakable
They cannot be blown away
By the winds
Because their roots reach deep into the soil.
I do not understand
The ways of foreigners
But I do not despise their customs.
Why should you despise yours?
I do not understand
The way of foreigners
But I do not despise their customs.
Why should you despise yours?
Listen, my husband,
You are the son of a chief.
The Pumpkin in the Old homestead
Must not be uprooted!
