01/04/2026
Mumbuni
Is a village in the slopes of the evergreen Iveti hills in Machakos. It is rich in history for various and similar reasons. It got its name from a shrine situated under a giant kyumbu/mumbu tree. The locals believed that the aimu ancestral spirits dwelt around the shrine and locals claim the area was replete with apparitions especially at night.
In the year 1896 the pioneer missionary Peter Cameron Scott planted a church near the shrine, and it came to be called Africa Inland Mission (AIM) Mumbuni. The reason for locating the church there was to desecrate the shrine and demonstrate the power of the Gospel.
The person who actually nurtured the church was an irish-american called Charles Johnstone (1871 – 1935). He arrived from America and took up pastoral duties in 1899 in the midst of the catastrophic yua ya ngali/ngomanisye where hundreds of thousands of Akamba died. He therefore committed himself to both the gospel and agriculture. It was his pursuits in the farm that earned him the name Nthanze after a type of grass that is cultivated to feed cattle. The name AIM Mumbuni became synonymous with Kwanthanze for then onwards. He also built a school so that Akamba could be literate to read the bible.
Johnstone strived for about 12 years without a single convert. The people were probably angry with the desecration of their shrine. With patience and hard work, he was able to garner some disciples. Many of the pioneer church members went on to have children who were high achievers. His most well-known convert was known as Ngei Masaku, a son of the famous seer Masaku Iluvya (after whom Machakos is named). Ngei Masaku is also the father of Paul Ngei, a freedom fighter and charismatic politician who had a strong following in Ukambani in the early years of independence.
Johnstone was described as “a man of God, held in esteem by all, a strong character with splendid ideas”. He left the mission and returned home where he passed on in 1935.
The Kyumbu tree fell afte completing its life cycle in the year 2006. After its debris was cleared, the church members noticed a kyumbu sapling taking root about two metres from the stump on the first tree. The sapling was allowed to continue growing.
the priceless pictures below show the church Nthanze put up in 1924. it still stand up to the present. you can see the old kyumbu tree in the foreground.
