Harrison Mumia, the President of the infamous Atheists In Kenya Society has parted ways with his first name.
In a statement on Tuesday, July 27, the atheist activist said his name will now be Nyende Mumia Nyende. He mentioned that he was named Nyende in honor of his late uncle whereas Mumia is his surname.
According to Nyende Mumia, the move to drop Harrison is his way of reclaiming his African identity and emancipating himself from mental slavery.
“Today, I chose to reclaim my African identity. I have dropped my English name, Harrison and my name will now be Nyende Mumia Nyende. This will be reflected in all my identification documents. As the great Bob Marley once said, we must emancipate ourselves from mental slavery and none but ourselves can free our minds
Mumia added: “It is unfortunate that white missionaries convinced Africans that African names were not good in Christianity. It’s so sad when I see Kenyans calling themselves John, Mary, Magdalene and James.”
Mumia further called on Kenyans to be proud of their ethnic indigenous names and challenged the govt to act accordingly.
“Kenyans must begin being proud of their ethnic, indigenous Kenyan names. The ministry of culture should encourage Kenyan parents to use indigenous names for their children,” he averred.
