The name is absent

anthropology, ecology, and theology to understand the complexity of the oath in
Kenya.

Definition of Key Terms

This research has essentially been conducted to understand the definition
of oathing and argues that its complexity has been not been realized or has been
minimized in previous interpretations. Oathing is viewed here as a continuous
system. All systems are vibrant, continuous, and dynamic. Oathing is a system
and in some cases referred to as a ceremony layered with structure, meaning,
symbolism, and relationships at a minimum. Each oath experience is unique
because of the individual meaning, time, location, oathing statements, symbolic
artifacts, participants, and a host of other changing variables.

Kithitu oathing is an old oath that was formerly used by, and along with
elders, to determine the innocence or guilt of disputing participants. It was
essentially a judicial ritual that Kenyan elders invoked when necessary. This
particular oath, as described in the earlier accounts on contemporary oathing, is
also a continuous process that is often reconstituted to accommodate current
community needs. Presently and historically, it is often referred to as “beating the
kithitu” or “eating the Kithitu."²⁸ This form of oathing is based on ancient oathing
traditions of beating an object represented as a kithitu in order to invoke the
power of the oath. “Eating the Kithitu" represents the power associated with

²⁸Interviewees often described the oathing process as one in which the “Kithitu” was beaten or eaten; both
statements involved the invoking of the power of the oath and eating the oathing statements. Interview, K.
Mutunga, June 2009, Kitui, Kenya; Interview, K. Nthuva, June 2009, Kitui, Kenya. Interview, K. Kitavi,
June 2009, Kitui, Kenya. Also author Hitoshi Ueda in “Kithitu among the Kamba of Kenya, The Case
Study of Kilonzo’s Kithitu” (1977) describes this process as “kuya kithitu” (to eat the kithitu).

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