A photo of a police officer sporting a turban has people in Kenya talking. It turns out, members of the Akurinu faith are part of the police force.
The pic making the rounds shows an officer in an Administration Police uniform, complete with a cream-colored turban that has the police seal on it. The other officers either have berets or nothing on their heads, so this guy definitely stands out.
The Akurinu are a Christian-based group that started with the Agikuyu community in the ’20s. They’re known for their white turbans and robes, how they pray, and singing hymns together. They got started during colonial times because of issues like land grabs and cultural suppression.
The leaders back then talked about getting messages from dreams and visions, which helped them get followers even though the colonial government wasn’t too happy about it.
A lot of Kenyans are surprised to see an Akurinu in uniform. One journalist, Abdikarim Hussein, said he’d never seen one in the police or military, even though he grew up near a military base.
A radio host, Mwende Macharia, said the same thing it’s not something you see every day. People online said they’d never seen an Akurinu officer before, though some knew members who were in the military.
This photo has brought attention to how diverse Kenya’s police force is and gotten people talking about how different cultures are represented in important organizations.
Even though we don’t know when the photo was taken, it’s letting Kenyans learn about the Akurinu faith and how they contribute to things like public service. It’s helping people understand a group that’s often seen as separate from regular jobs.
