A 13-year-old boy won the famous donkey race in this year’s Lamu Maulid Festival which ended on Friday.
The Maulid festival is marked annually by a section of Muslims in remembrance of the birth of Prophet Mohamed (S.A.W) in the holy city of Mecca in 570 AD.
Aziz Rashid was declared the winner of this year’s Maulid festival’s donkey race, which was in its 134th edition since inception in Lamu Old town.
Photo credit: Kalume Kazungu I Nation Media Group
During the tightly contested race that attracted hundreds of spectators, including locals, guests and tourists, courageous Rashid braced his way to victory, beating over 10 competitors who took part in the race.
Speaking to Nation.Africa shortly after he was declared the winner, excited Rashid said his secret to victory was the thorough practice that he undertook since the year began.
“I started riding donkeys last year. I participated in donkey races to mark other events that same year, but I didn’t win. Since then, I have been practicing hard with my donkey-‘Bullet.’ I am happy to have won this year’s Maulid donkey race,” said Rashid.
Other competitions that featured during this year’s Maulid Festival included swimming and dhow sailing.
Muslim faithful participating in Maulid festival at the Mkunguni Square in Lamu Town.
Photo credit: Kalume Kazungu I Nation Media Group
In the dhow race however, it was not all fun and laughter for the competing participants as the strong winds in the Indian Ocean saw many dhows capsize, leaving quite a few participants out at the initial stage of the race.
It also witnessed some participants overwhelmed by strong winds, forcing standby rescue boats to come for their aid.
At the Riyadha Mosque, which is the centre for the Lamu Maulid, locals, visitors and tourists were entertained with Twari La Ndhiya, a traditional dance with origin from Pate Island in Lamu East.
At the Lamu Town Seafront area, elders also performed the Goma La Lamu Dance which is usually accompanied with drum beating.
Aboud Siraj told journalists that most of the ancient Lamu dances are almost forgotten, especially amongst the new generation.
Mr Siraj said events such as the annual Maulid and Lamu Cultural Festivals have greatly helped in reviving and providing a platform for the elderly to educate the younger generation about their traditional music.
“We are worried these traditional dances with roots from Lamu might be extinct if something isn't done to revive them. We always use Maulid and other festivals in educating our youth to embrace them,” said Mr Siraj.
Another popular activity that featured in this year’s Lamu Maulid festival was Quran Kareem memorization at the Riyadha Mosque and Islamic Centre grounds.
On Friday afternoon, there was a big procession, songs, and dance along the Lamu town’s streets and seafront area.
The procession kicked off at a graveyard for the founders of Lamu Maulid within Lamu Town and ended with prayers at the famous Riyadha Mosque.
Faithful, including pilgrims from various parts of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Comoros Islands, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan, Morocco among others formed part of the crowd that lined up the streets as they played drums, sang, and danced to celebrate the birth of Prophet Mohamed.
Attendees also took time to enjoy traditional Swahili delicacies and grilled beef skewers commonly referred to as Mishkaki that were being sold along the seafront area.
The festival also gave an opportunity to more than 1000 residents and visitors to benefit from a free medical camp organized by the Riyadha Health and Welfare Service Group.
Elders taking part in Twari la Ndhiya, a traditional dance with origin fromPate Island. They were entertaining guests and tourists during this year's Lamu Maulid Festival at the Riyadha Mosque Grounds.
Photo credit: Kalume Kazungu I Nation Media Group
In the last four days, over 90 surgeries, including eye cataracts, general surgeries involving inguinal hernias, umbilical hernia, hypospadias, testicular torsion, prostate hypertrophy, landmine injuries, gynecological and pediatric surgical cases including circumcision were conducted.
Maulid Festival Organizers led by the Riyadha Mosque and Islamic Centre Secretary-General Abubakar Mohammed Badawy termed this year’s Maulid Festival as bountiful.
“We expected at least 6, 000 guests and tourists to attend this year’s Maulid festival, but we ended up getting more. We received between 7, 000 to 10,000 visitors and that’s a plus for us. We expect next year’s event to be even better. We hope Covid-19 will be over by that time so that Muslim pilgrims, tourists, and other guests can travel freely to attend Maulid festival,” said Mr Badawy.
Guest houses and hotels reported brisk business as boats ferried in faithful and rooms were almost fully booked throughout the Maulid Festival week.
“This year’s Maulid is one of the most successful festivals. Hoteliers, boat operators and other smaller traders reaped huge profits,” said Ghalib Alwy who owns the Lamu Bush Gardens Seafront Hotel.
