Bullfighting - a new Kenyan fad
2005-05-26 12:50
Khayega - In a football stadium tucked away in western Kenya, the contenders pace and snort under brilliant blue sky as gusts of wind carry the cheers of thousands and trainers fret in pre-bout rituals.
Oblivious to the noise and bets being placed, Iminyi and Ingwe prepare for battle, racing up and down the pitch as if possessed before the match begins with a sharp command. They charge in a cloud of dust and lock horns.
The fight is on.
This is bullfighting, Kenya-style; an altogether different version from the better-known and more controversial man versus toro Spanish bloodsport, that is drawing huge crowds to this town about 500 kilometres from Nairobi.
One weekend a month, members of the Idakho and Isukha communities of the Luhya tribe march their prized fighting bulls to Khayega for the matches some local leaders hope to turn into a draw for safari-going foreign tourists.
Between 5 000 and 7 000 spectators troop to the bullfights to see the spectacle and place small wagers on the fights, a Luhya tradition for time immemorial.
Bred for battle
The younger the bulls, the longer the fight, with a match between adolescents lasting as long as a half hour and a contest between older veterans usually over after four minutes, according to owners and trainers.
The beasts are bred for battle, fed with molasses-spiked grass and isolated from heifers at age three — when they are ready for the ring — to prevent them from mating and supposedly preserve their energy.
On the eve of a fight, they are psychologically prepared by dieting on remnants of a traditional brew and other special concoctions believed to increase their aggressiveness.
"We are usually very cautious, we guard our bull all night to keep opponents from bewitching it, otherwise it will be defeated in a very short time," said Joseph Ileswa, a 76-year-old fighter bull owner.
On this particular Saturday, Iminyi, which means "soaring bird" in Luhya, and Ingwe, which means "leopard", are through in five minutes as Ingwe breaks from Iminyi's grip and flees to roars from the stands.
Bird has beaten leopard, an irony not lost on Ingwe's Isukha fans who are disconsolate in defeat, having lost money and pride, while Iminyi's proud Idakho owner is hoisted aloft by jubilant supporters of the new champ.
Iminyi succeeds the infamously named bull "Osama bin Laden", who was retired several months ago, and the less notoriously named "Nelson Mandela", a ferocious fighter who died in 2003 of old age after eight years at the top.
Mixed opinions about 'tourist attraction'
Iminyi's owner, Bonny Khalwale, a local member of parliament and staunch supporter of the Luhya bullfighting culture known as "mayo", sees the matches as a potentially lucrative tourist draw and is seeking government funds to help promote it.
"We need a special arena, tarmac roads to the stadium and big hotels and lodgings so tourists can access the area with ease and have somewhere to sleep," he said.
Khalwale's efforts to obtain a one-million-shilling (about R85 000) grant from Nairobi, though, are currently stalled and not everyone shares his enthusiasm for the fights.
Jean Gilchrist, director of animal welfare at the Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, is particularly concerned at the rising popularity of the events.
"We are trying to get away from cruel animal sports and Kenya seems to be going in the opposite direction," she said, lamenting the increasing crowds at the Khayega stadium.
"It's one of those things that is hard to stop because they see it as tourist attraction."