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Among the Agĩkũyũ, the Gīcandi instrument was a small elongated guard about 1.5 to 2 feet high and about 4 to 5 inches at its widest diameter. The Gicandi was prepared carefully having its sides engraved with symbolical signs that represented various themes of the Gīcandi epic, and adorned with cowrie shells (ngugutu) some of these being fixed to the guard itself and others strung to a glassbead, leather or copper wire (Mūnyoori or Kīrengereri). The inside contained seeds and/or pebbles (Mwethia) which on shaking the guard would strike against thorns, (mīigua) struck through the sides producing a characteristic sound. Traditionally the instrument would be prepared and blessed by a medicine-man, also an expert in the Gīcandi epic against payment of a ram. It was religiously kept in a leather bag (Gataki) specially made for the storage and carrying of the precious instrument. Today, an authentic one can be prepared and blessed by a Gicandi singer.

The Gicandi epic is an an ancient Gikuyu composition of enigmatic poetry presented in public by two poets in a dialogue of back and forth battle of wits. Composed of over 150 stanzas, the singer of the Gicandi had to subject himself to an accurate preparation and learn by heart the high number of stanzas containing as many enigmas. These initiated singers made their appearance in the various market places passing from one village to another.
The presentation of the dialogic challenge was made formally by “spreading it” (Kwara Gīcandi) in an arena in front of an audience. One of the contestants would propose an enigma first, and the other would explain it and propose the next in turn. The competition would go on until one of the two failed to give the interpretation and so lost the game. The losing party handed over his musical instrument to the winner.

The drawings on the Gīcandi are directly related to the text of the poem and help the singer to navigate his way through the complex maze of enigmatic poems. The Gicandi is a long journey.

The drawings on the Gicandi are as enigmatic as the words and constitute a mnemonic-pictorial system similar to the Lukasa memory board of the BaLuba and reminds one of the Mdw Ntr of Kmt. This kind of memory device uses a pictorial symbolism which proceeds by simplified pictures, tracing only part of an object or a conventional image. A small number of pictures is sufficient to record a happening, suggest to a medicine-man the formula for magical practices and to a singer the object and verses of his song. Kimani Njogu, a modern student of the Gicandi writes that “The performer considers the inscribed text an integral part of his performance and thus would make constant reference to the pictograms in the poem. In most Gicandi performances, the inscribed text and the Gicandi guard itself (with the seeds therein) and the poet’s composition dialogically merge indistinguishably.”