Syokimau was a

Kamba Kamba may refer to: *Kamba African Rainforest Experiences, a collection of eco-luxury lodges in the Republic of Congo *Kamba people of Kenya *Bena-Kamba, a community in the Democratic Republic of the Congo *Khampa, also spelled Kamba, Tibetan peop ...

medicine woman A medicine man (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwinini'') or medicine woman (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name in ...

and

prophetess In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the ...

who lived in the 1800s long before

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

became a colony. She was born and lived in Iveti Hills near the today's

Machakos Machakos, also called Masaku, is a town in Machakos County, Kenya. Serving as the capital of the county, its urban population was 63,767 as of 2019. History Machakos was established in 1887 by Sakshi Shah, ten years before Nairobi. Machakos ...

town. It is claimed that Syokimau could predict impeding attacks from other communities such as the

Maasai Maasai may refer to: *Maasai people *Maasai language *Maasai mythology * MAASAI (band) See also * Masai (disambiguation) Masai may refer to: *Masai, Johor, a town in Malaysia * Masai Plateau, a plateau in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India *Maasai peopl ...

and Gikuyu giving Kamba warriors ample time to prepare for the defense.

Overview

Syokimau is credited as the greatest prophetess among the Kamba people because she foretold the coming of the white men and the construction of the railway line. In her vision, she saw a long snake belching fire and smoke as it moved from waters to another waters. In it there were people with skin like meat who spoke unintelligibly like birds and carried fire in their pockets. Her prophecy came to pass in the 20th century after the completion of the Kenya-

Uganda Railway The Uganda Railway was a metre-gauge railway system and former British state-owned railway company. The line linked the interiors of Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya. After a series of mergers and splits, the lin ...

that ran from

Mombasa Mombasa ( ; ) is a coastal city in southeastern Kenya along the Indian Ocean. It was the first capital of British East Africa, before Nairobi was elevated to capital status in 1907. It now serves as the capital of Mombasa County. The town is ...

Kisumu Kisumu ( ) is the third-largest city in Kenya located in the Lake Victoria area in the former Nyanza Province. It is the second-largest city after Kampala in the Lake Victoria Basin. The city has a population of slightly over 600,000. The ...

, the lakeside city then known as Port Florence. The people she saw were white people who spoke English and carried matchboxes in their pockets.

Legacy

Syokimau Syokimau is a residential area in the west of Machakos County, Kenya, just south of Nairobi and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The place is named after the legendary Akamba medicine woman Prophetess Syokimau. Syokimau Prophesied the comi ...

, a fast-growing residential area in

Machakos County Machakos County is one of the 47 counties of Kenya, which came into being as part of the devolved system of governance occasioned by the 2010 constitution of Kenya. The county's administrative headquarters are in Machakos Town, which is the l ...

that is close to

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is an international airport serving Nairobi, the capital and largest city of Kenya. The other three important international airports in Kenya include Kisumu International Airport, Moi International Airport a ...

and where Syokimau Railway Station and the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway

Nairobi Terminus Nairobi Terminus is a railway station on the Mombasa–Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) located in Syokimau, just south of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Three passenger trains leave the station every day, an inter-county train that stops at ...

are located, is named after her. Some sources claim that Syonguu wa Kathukya, a later prophetess from around

Athi River Athi River is a town outside Nairobi, Kenya in Machakos County. The town is named after the Athi-Galana-Sabaki River, Athi River, which passes through. It is also known as Mavoko. Athi River hosts the Mavoko Municipal Council and is the headq ...

renamed her territory after Syokimau because she was impressed by her work. That is how the popular residential area came to bear the name of the prophetess.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Syokimau, Prophetess Kamba people Prophets Culture of Kenya 19th-century Kenyan people 19th-century Kenyan women Kenyan religious leaders Traditional African medicine Year of birth missing Year of death missing