The Kikuyus are deeply spiritual people with great reverence for God. They had prophets and priests with similar roles as those in the Bible. It is said that one of the prophets by the name of Mugo Wa Kibiru prophesied of the coming of the Europeans long before they arrived in the coast of Kenya. It was said that there would come people from a different land having the color of the “frog of the banana plantation” something close to the color of the Caucasians. He also predicted the arrivals of airplanes which would be “like butterflies in the sky”.

They believed in blood sacrifice for atonement of sin and for thanksgiving. They prayed facing Mount Kenya because they believed God lived on the mountain. Men approached God not for personal needs but only on behalf of a social group. The whole tribe did this to avert a drought or an epidemic. The family would call on God on the four crises in human life; birth, initiation, marriage and death and only as a group affected by these events. The form of prayers used by elders at public gatherings beseeched God for wisdom, health, tranquility and the increase of the fields and flocks. 

In his book, “Facing Mt Kenya”, Jomo Kenyatta, the 1st president of Kenya, a Kikuyu by tribe, writes concerning the worship of God by a sect of Kikuyus witnessed in the early 1900’s,

“Their prayers are a mixture of Gikuyu religion and Christian; in these they add something entirely new to both religions. They perform their religious duties standing in a picturesque manner. In their prayer to Mwene-Nyaga (God) they hold up their arms to the sky facing Mount Kenya; and in this position they recite their prayers, and in doing so they imitate the cries of wild beasts of prey, such as lion and leopard, and at the same time they tremble violently. The trembling, they say, is the sign of the Holy Ghost, (Roho Motheru) entering in them. While thus possessed with the spirits, they are transformed from ordinary beings and are in communion with, Mwene-Nyaga (God)”.

a Kikuyu traditional prayer beseeching God to deliver them from evil brought about by foreign gods.

Colonization eroded many traditional practices and values of the Kikuyus, but the language survived and continues to evolve. Many have moved from their traditional homes to the cities and other countries in search of opportunities. Those living in rural areas tend to continue practicing farming although they now also grow cash crops (export crops) like Coffee and Tea.

The Kikuyus have an insatiable desire for knowledge and believe that all children should receive a full education. They were the first ones to embrace the colonialist education in Kenya and were also the first ones to rise up against them in the fight for independence and for their land. They have a terrific reputation of money management and a deep entrepreneur spirit and today many are rich business owners even outside Kenya.

They are sometimes accused of being ethnocentric due to their strong adherence to certain cultural practices and common usage of their ethnic language.  They are referred to as the “Jews” of Kenya due to similarity in traits. They are also accused of loving money; in fact there is a joke in Kenya that if you want to know whether a Kikuyu is truly dead, throw down a coin, if he does not wake up then he truly is dead.

The Kikuyus are also endowed with strong leadership skills which has at times put them at loggerheads with other tribes because they are accused of behaving as if they have an entitlement to leadership. The founding father and first president of Kenya was a Kikuyu and the current and third president is a Kikuyu. Today about 80 % practice the Christian faith with the same reverence and depth of worship as they traditionally did.