31/08/2025
A heavy silence hangs over Toroso Primary School and the wider Mt. Elgon community following the fall of the iconic Mukuyu (Fig) Tree. The once-majestic tree, which lost its largest branch, had to be brought down in line with Sabaot tradition , a moment both painful and inevitable.
For more than a century, the Mukuyu stood tall and unshaken. It was more than a tree: it was a classroom roof for children learning beneath its shade, a meeting place for the community, and a sacred symbol deeply woven into the spiritual fabric of Sabaot culture. To many, it embodied memory, identity, and belonging.
Earlier this year, elders had cautioned that the tree’s time was drawing to a close and urged that it be felled with dignity. Yet, the younger generation resisted, unwilling to part with a monument that anchored their heritage.
But nature has now spoken. The Mukuyu has fallen. And with it, a chapter of Mt. Elgon’s soul closes.
Elders are expected to guide the community on what this loss means, but one truth is already clear: this was not merely the fall of a tree , it was the end of an era.
Still, the spirit of the Mukuyu will endure in stories retold, in culture preserved, and in the hearts of all who once found shade and strength beneath its branches.
