Kenya History

The definition of 'Technology' that excludes African tradition and indigenous knowledge is colonial. Defining technology plays into the centuries-long negative evaluation of Africa and undermines development. We are at pains to emphasize STEM subjects while ignoring other subjects and African technological history. Academia tends to define 'technology' exclusive of indigenous knowledge and non-mechanized, non-digitized methodologies. We need to bring African technologies into focus as foundational, precedent-setting coequals with other technologies. Using design methodology and paradigms, we critically examine the historical exclusion of African indigenous knowledge and the conflicts that this exclusion has created in Kenyan education from early childhood to postgraduate work. The authors propose a new Three Rs: Range, Repertoire and Resilience.

This seminar is a global examination of the automobile, and its deep associations with freedom, modernity, gender, status, and human welfare. Historian Paul Gilroy has called the automobile modernity’s “ur commodity,” and as such it has encapsulated – and helped to drive – many of our world’s most consequential changes over the past 135 years. Automobiles have stood at the center of struggles between freedom and regulation, capital and labor, and environmentalism and development, and have sharpened class, gender, racial, and colonial relations across the world. Readings and class discussions explore the radical changes to mobility, landscapes, and social relationships automobiles have brought – unevenly – to nearly every corner of the world.

It’s our turn to eat is much more than the story of John Githongo, a portly upper-class man in his mid-40s which dreamed of changing a country’s history of sleaze, state-capturing and ethnic identification. Githongo’s story is the personification of a change of mentality in a new generation of Kenyans which want to modernize its institutions and forget the times when your luck and wealth depended on if you shared ethnicity with the president.

Despite its inaccessibility (it remains untranslated and copies are hard to obtain), Vinigi Grottanelli’s Pescatori dell’Oceano indiano (1955) is generally agreed to be one of the best studies of a rural Swahili-speaking community. It’s our principal ethnographic source on the Bajuni (aka Gunya, aka Tikuu), whose traditional territory comprised a long string of coastal settlements and islands between Kismayu (Somalia) in the north and the Lamu archipelago (Kenya) in the south. And the political turmoil of recent decades in Somalia has turned it into a valuable historical document, a record of a way of life that for thousands of Bajuni has been shattered by persecution and conflict.

The paper aims to explore and analyse the impact of land-related conflicts/issues in Africa and its effects on the environment. Africans have been blessed with the abundance of land, though the situation has changed drastically over the decades due to land issues. This paper aims to examine the impacts of land-related conflicts in Kenya. The paper will be focusing specifically on urban, peri-urban and rural land conflicts in Kenya; it also analyses the effects of land conflicts on society and the environment.

I've just finished The Wrath of Koma, Maurice Kambishera Mumba's entertaining tale about tradition and tragedy among the Kauma, published by Heinemann Kenya in 1987. The back-cover blurb of the paperback introduces the story: "Old Chembe, a Kauma man from the Am[i]dzichenda people of the Kenya coast, is gravely worried about his son, Dundu, who appears to be going mad. He travels across many ridges to see Mokoli Mwiru, the famous medicineman, for a diagnosis of his son's problem. Mokoli Mwiru gives his diagnosis: Dundu, born after intercession to the ancestral sprits, is under the wrathful attack of the spirits who resent the ingratitude of Chembe's family. Mokoli Mwiru prescribes a ceremony of appeasement. Old Chembe, weak and irresolute, botches the ceremony... What tragic fate awaits him, his son and his larger family as the unappeased spirits seeks their revenge?"

Leven House, as it exists in the 21st century in Mombasa city of Kenya, remains one of the most historic buildings in eastern Africa. In our focus on both the birth of the Christian Empire in East Africa (that stretches from the Kenyan Coast to the Democratic Republic of Congo), and the Digo Mission that began in 1904, Leven House becomes a critical issue. As the Anglican Diocese of Mombasa commemorated 114 years of the Digo Mission (1904–2018) in December 2018, serious issues emerged regarding the birth of Protestant Christianity in the region. One of the issues is the nature of English missions during the 19th and 20th centuries in Africa, where the Christian symbol of the flag was preceded by the British flag. The second issue is the nature of Arabic civilisation on the East African coast, which went hand-in-hand with the spread of Islam. Third is the conflict among the three ruling Omani dynasties (Yorubi, Busaidi, and Mazrui) as one major factor that ironically favoured Christian missions in eastern Africa. Fourth is the role of Mazrui-Omani Arabs, a Muslim society, in midwifing Christianity in East Africa. Was Christianity in East Africa mid-wifed by Mazrui-Omani Arabs via their provision of Leven House to the British soldiers in 1824? Was the feuding of the three Arab Omani clans a blessing in disguise that aided the establishment of the British Empire and the Christian missions that went hand-in-hand? In its methodology, the article historicises the issues at hand in order to retrace the events that paved ways for the establishment of the Christian Empire and the Digo Mission in particular. In a nutshell, the problem statement is: What is the role of Leven House in the establishment of the Digo Mission in particular, and Christian Empire in general?

QORMADA 1waad 
“Dowladaha adduunkow, maxaad nugu dilaysaan?
Ma diinteen Islaamkaa, waxaad nugu dilaysaan?
Barwaaqada dalkaan taal miyaad nugu dilaysaan?
Ma degaanka isteraatiiji ayaad nugu dilaysaan?
Ma dadkeenna firfircoon ayaad nugu dilaysaan?”
                        (Abwaan Soomaaliyeed, Somalitalk.com, 22/12/08)
“Kenya iyo Itoobiya waa inay jarjaraan Soomaaliya ka dibna labadooda midba jeex qaataa. Mid waliba waxay qayb u heli doontaa 300,000 sq kilomitir oo ay dhulkeeda ku ballaadhsato iyo ilaa shan million oo qof oo raaciye cusub u noqda. Marka labdayada ciidan qabsadaa dhulka Soomaaliya, ee aanu ku dhawaaqno inuu ka mid yahay dhulkayaga, xulafadayada Reer Galbeedku way nugu taageeri doonaan, iyagoo u arki doona arrin iska dhammaatay … Jiboutina Sooma fara galin karto qorshaha lagu gunaanadayo aayaha Soomaalida.”

World over, leaders have left a legacy. Among the Tugen of Kenya Daniel Arap Moi remains an icon of reference to date. The main objective of this study was to establish how the Moi government attempted to involve women in the economic development of Baringo County. It utilized the qualitative research design. This design collected, verified, and synthesized evidence from the past to establish facts that defended the premise. Interviews were used to achieve systematic collection of data. Snowball and purposive sampling techniques were used in selecting the respondents. Through the "snowballing" and purposive sampling method the researcher was able to identify individuals who were knowledgeable in a given field. This study offers significant historical interpretation that can be useful to those women and men struggling to attain gender equity in the economy. The historical inquiry proceeded in three phases. There was a study of secondary materials in libraries, primary data through archival research and the collection of oral evidence through fieldwork. The information obtained was validated by using both internal and external criticism of the data analysis. The study established that shortly after he became president in 1978, Daniel Arap Moi announced a new government Education policy which led to some improvement in the lives of women in Kenya the Tugen community included. During Moi's tenure there was a general recognition in Kenya that in an economy that was still basically rural-based and labour intensive, women comprised the largest source of that labor by virtue of their being the majority amongst the rural dwelling population. Apart from education and supply of water to households; Tugen women were an eager audience for information that would help them to care for themselves and their children with greater ease and success. Most of the women groups were revived during the Moi era which later led to the establishment of women organizations which women used as vehicles for attaining economic space in the new democratic dispensation in the country; Moi also brought to their attention the consequences of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), thus, making the adult women, to begin questioning the desirability of this form of initiation for their daughters. This paper therefore highlights the participation of Tugen women in the economic development during the reign of the second president of Kenya H.E. Daniel Arap Moi citing his contribution to their development.

Ever since ancient times, marvellous yarns have been told about the existence of diminutive peoples in faraway lands. Despite their modern identification with short statured hunter-gatherers in the rainforests of Africa, the telling of similar tales has not entirely abated. Anthropologist Martin Walsh recalls his encounter with a former arrow poison trader who recounted his capture and imprisonment underground by a group of Wabilikimo, the fabled Pygmies of the East African interior. Was this just another tall story about short people, or a mangled memory of real events?

From modest beginnings as the speech of a small group of mixed farmers, Swahili has become the lingua franca of millions of people in Eastern Africa and beyond (Lewis et al. 2015). How did this extraordinary transformation begin? This chapter outlines what is known (and not known) about the origins and initial development of the Swahili language and its dialects, and what this tells us in turn about the history of its speakers. It is based largely on research in historical and comparative linguistics undertaken since the 1970s and continuing through to the present. The potential contribution of research of this kind to understandings of the African past is well established (Nurse 1997; Blench 2006), and the Swahili-speaking world has already been the subject of important studies (including Nurse and Spear 1985; Nurse and Hinnebusch 1993). Needless to say, this work is neither exhaustive nor unproblematic. As we shall see, many gaps in our knowledge remain, while current research suggests that major revisions might be made to existing reconstructions of Swahili linguistic and cultural history.

‘I want theatre in Kenya to be truly professional. You, as an actor, can be a brand. And make money…The quality of the shows has really gone high because the professionalism of the performers.’ – David Opondoe, Managing Director of Phoenix Theatre, speaking at the Kenya Cultural Centre in August, 2013

This unparalleled analysis of Kenyan theatrical activity and the lessons we can learn from other theatre communities, like Broadway, is invaluable for thespians, art critics, theatre students and  other stakeholders.

Accounting for the development of athletics in a tumultuous decade for the British in the 1950s Kenya is the central question addressed in this chapter. The evidence points to a narrative on the development of athletics that is not related to notions of order but of leisure, enthusiasm and fun, reflecting the characters of key individuals within the colonial setup. These ‘men on the spot’ took it upon themselves to encourage, promote and develop athletics with much of their motivation and actions shaped by their upbringing and sporting backgrounds. Crucial was the formation in 1951 of a national governing body for athletics, the Kenyan Amateur Athletics Association (KAAA), marking the beginning of a decade of development which contributed to Kenya’s success at the Olympic Games (1964/1968) and medals at the Commonwealth Games (1962/1966). Further apparent is the extent to which local agency played a significant role in the development of athletics which speaks to the fluidity of the structures inherent within the Kenyan colonial state itself.

This paper examines the role that laibons (diviners and ritual healers) played and continue to play in warfare among Samburu pastoralists through their use of divination and sorcery to defeat external enemies. The paper focuses on the 1931 death of Theodore Powys, a white ranch manager in northern Kenya whose death was, in time, attributed to murder by five Samburu warriors. The event and trial occurred as conflicts between Samburu, white settlers of Laikipia District, and the Kenya colonial administration heightened, intensified by a string of killings on white estates and competing claims about grazing rights on the Leroki Plateau expressed during the Kenya Land Commission hearings of 1932-33. Although the warriors were acquitted of murdering Powys, their laibon Ngaldaiya Leaduma was arrested under the Witchcraft Ordinance and deported for presumably intimidating witnesses and interfering with the investigation. The larger Samburu community faced harsh fines and disarmament by a brutal levy force, and Samburu County was incorporated into the settler dominated Rift Valley Province separate from the Northern Frontier District. This paper focuses on three themes – conflicts over grazing land, colonial responses to local ritual leaders as the laibon, and finally Samburu conceptualizations and use of spiritual and political power. This paper demonstrates that ethnographic approaches and methodology can complement historiographical methods of archival research to present a multivocal account of a period of conflict and disruption.

The struggle for socialism in Kenya has been deleted from official history and from public consciousness by the ruling class, backed by Britain and USA.  They ensured that capitalism was imposed on people at independence and that the voice of socialism was suppressed. It is therefore necessary to recall the stolen history of socialism.  This article looks at the record of the Kenya People's Union which stood for socialism.

This is a selection from a forthcoming book, ‘Two Paths Ahead: The Ideological Struggle between Capitalism and Socialism in Kenya, 1960-1970’. Vita Books (Nairobi).

THIS IS A PAPER SUBMITTED TO THE PRESBYTERY AND MEMBERSHIP OF THE ALASKA MINISTRY NETWORK ANNUAL CONFERENCE AT THE ONE-HUNDRETH CELEBRATION OF PENTECOSTAL MINISTRY IN ALASKA. The paper looks at the phenomenal growth of Pentecostalism around the world, the reasons for the growth, and asks what should be the model for missions in the future.

This is a film text which depicts the history of Kenya circa 1890's to 1957 which revolves around the biography of Field Marshal Dedan Kimathi and the Kenya Land Freedom Army. On October 20th 1952 the British Empire declared a State of Emergency in Kenya culminating in a dramatic guerrilla war fought on the fringes of Mt. Kenya and the Aberdares Ranges. The film text is a three year intensive research project undertaken at Kenyatta University Film Department which analyses Kenya's road to self independence and the demise of the British Empire.

Despite a long history of speculation about ancient Austronesian contacts on the East African coast and islands, the timing, location and character of these presumed premodern interactions remain subjects of scholarly controversy and debate. While different sources of evidence continue to reveal the extent of African impacts on the history of Madagascar and its people, comparatively little is reliably known about influences in the opposite direction. Linguistic research, for example, is providing us with a growing understanding of the historical role played by Swahili and Comorian in the development of Malagasy, but has yet to tell us much about the reverse of these processes, and whether the speakers of Austronesian languages had any significant impact at all on the speech of the peoples of the African mainland. In this presentation, I will examine the evidence for the presence of early Malay and Malagasy loanwords in Swahili, reviewing the small number of existing proposals already made by both Austronesianists and Bantuists, and adding to them with new suggestions based on my own etymological research. In conclusion, I will discuss the nature of this set of proposed borrowings and its significance for our knowledge of early contacts and settlement in and around the western Indian Ocean, considering it in conjunction with other available sources of evidence, both linguistic and non-linguistic. I will also discuss its implications for further research into the problem of historical relationships in this region, and the transoceanic movements that gave rise to them.

[This presentation was written up and is superseded by Walsh, Martin 2019. Cockatoos and crocodiles: searching for words of Austronesian origin in Swahili. Kenya Past and Present 46: 32-40.]

This paper examines the paradox of political dynasties and democracy in Africa. As this paper aims to demonstrate how historically legacy politics or legacy candidate has influenced the discourse of politics in Africa. Political dynasties play a crucial role in present-day democracies.
Political dynasties have been present in democracies for a very long time, despite the fact that democracy in principle is the contrary of dynastic rule, families with multiple in elective office continue to become common all around the world. The paper focuses on the two major families, who have been in Kenya's political arena even before independence the Kenyatta’s and the Odinga’s. Kenyatta came from the largest tribe, while Odinga came from the second-largest tribe in Kenya and they were both nationalists, very charismatic leaders and worked very hard and fearlessly to help empower their own people.

This paper examines the development of the German role in the anti-slavery movement in Eastern Africa by way of the nineteenth century pre-unification German-speaking missionaries and adventurers and the founding of the Rabai Mission. Particular attention is paid to these German speakers within the frame of European exploration and colonisation paralleled by the gradual fragmentation of the realm of the Sultanate of Zanzibar. The paper considers the late nineteenth century activity of post-unification Germans within the context of slavery, abolition and colonisation in the area, roughly equating to present-day Kenya, that lead to the establishment of the Witu Sultanate and short-lived Deutsch-Witu. The paper concludes by examining the changing German perspective on Africans and the institution of slavery through the nineteenth century and the development of an German imperial policy.

This article traces the evolution of an Islamist ideology in Kenya’s public discourse, putting Islamist ideas within a longer history of Muslim politics than most other studies. Specifically, it examines internal debates amongst the minority Muslim population of Kenya, and debates between Muslims and the state and Muslims and the wider Christian public, regarding how to improve the Muslim condition in a Christian-dominated country. The immediate background for the emergence of Islamist ideas is then discussed through an examination of trends since the 1990s, including increased contestations of religious and political authority, and responses to Muslim activism by the state and the wider Christian public. The article concludes that Islamist politics in Kenya, and elsewhere, are more often than not a result of local histories as much as they are part of a global Muslim ‘victimization’ narrative.

The academic interest in women’s roles in sports in Kenya reflects
the concern to level the playing field in a major social cultural
phenomenon such as sport and its overall significance to social
development. It is therefore not surprising that, in Kenya, women
were late in establishing themselves in the sporting world. Underrepresentation
of females in sport within the African set-up, Kenya
included, is attributed to the inappropriate western-oriented games,
the conflicting values of sexual beauty and sporting competence, and
the divorce between women and the warrior tradition of indigenous
Africa. However, as data on Kenya’s athletes to various international
events demonstrate, women have slowly but steadily emerged out
of the shadows of men. In some editions of the games, women have
not only been the majority, but also have won more medals than men.

The current internecine war in what external observers see as the world’s youngest ‘failed state’ is the product of structural developments. This chapter tries to question the particularities of one rather stable and prosperous region of South Sudan, Kapoeta East (EES), on possible structural reasons for the devastating and lethal crisis in others. It draws attention to the fact that destruction and disenfranchisement concentrate in zones of crucial importance for the power relations and resource flows of its minoritarian but privileged ‘modern sector’. It questions policies promoting and feeding the very institutions that under the conditions of the country sign responsible for a large part of its misery and shocking abuses of power against obligations, rights and human dignity. It raises the question if we should finally stop looking at societies through a particularly ‘modern’ matrix of institutional order and start taking ‘home-grown models’, as they have developed over centuries, serious. More than a century of insightful research as much as contemporary evidence suggest that there are, coexisting with internationally alimented ‘modern’ institutions producing crisis, alternative modes of social regulation that do, in absence of public attention, impressive jobs; that modernisation becomes an iconic remedy for ills produced by its own re-structuring patterns; that the idea of development and its interaction with social realities should be analysed as vigorously as the dialectics of enlightenment; that the modernisation narrative is a myth, protected by belief and force, that serves particular interests and produces harmful gaps between official terms and actual practices.

THE STRUGGLE for socialism in Kenya has been
rendered invisible from official history and from public
consciousness by the ruling class, backed by Britain and
USA. They imposed capitalism at independence in 1963 and
suppressed the voice of socialism. It is therefore necessary to
recall the stolen history of socialism in Kenya. This selection
from the forthcoming book Two Paths Ahead: The Ideological
Struggle between Capitalism and Socialism in Kenya, 1960-
19701 looks at some aspects of the hidden ideological struggles
in Kenya.

The modern US environmental movement was born in 1970. The year began with the National Environmental Policy Act on 1 January and closed with the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency on 2 December. Other milestones occurred in April, including the first observance of Earth Day — then the largest grassroots demonstration in history, drawing an estimated 20 million people globally — and the release of ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, a folksong by Joni Mitchell that quickly became the eco-anthem for the environmental movement. It was in this highly charged atmosphere that Theodor ‘Dr Seuss’ Geisel resolved to write an environmental book for children.

A key feature of the 2010 Constitution is its commitment to fundamental
change from the old authoritarian order to a new democratic, accountable,
participatory, and egalitarian order. This can be seen in Article 10 of the Constitution
which articulates the national values and principles of governance intended to
inform the application, and interpretation of the Constitution; the enactment,
application and interpretation of laws; and the making, and implementation of
policy decisions. These national values and principles are the Constitution’s
goals at their highest level of generality. The rest of the Constitution attempts to
elucidate the means by which these goals will be achieved. In order to accomplish
this objective, the Constitution created institutions rooted in these ideals including
an independent judiciary whose institutional transformation and performance is
the subject of this book chapter.

Ethnicity’ and disparate group-based socio-economic development
make governance in Africa problematic. This paper explores
them through a lens – objectively, subjectively or a combination
thereof – to understand governance patterns in Africa, with special
reference to Kenya and its Luo community. Whilst demonstrating
the argument that negative ‘ethnicity’ owes its existence largely to
colonialism, we contend that the phenomenon particularly thrives
under capitalist dispensations. We employ a historical narrative
to explain the marginalization of the Luo of Kenya. We argue that
politically constructed stereotypes and prejudices, associated
with the Luo, can be traced to the colonial era. We find that a new
form of authoritarianism is emerging in Kenya under the Jubilee
Administration that negates the new constitution and threatens
the fragile peace in the country. Accordingly, the paper concludes
that with the view to combat ethnic strife and violence, purposeful,
meaningful efforts should be made, to acknowledge the democratic
rights of the Luo, and other politically marginalized communities, in
all sectors of the Kenyan society.

Kakamega is under new leadership, but the Euphoria is soon drifting away, and the ways of the old taking over. Luckluster performance, public service mentality, and “them” versus “u” mentality, with us being broke, poor, and disenfranchised and them being favoured, rich, and growing. Under the theme of “Prosperity and Strength-Kakamega Vision 2030”, this document serves as official programmatic and propaganda document, to lead to the laying of foundation, creation of, and achievement of new Kakamega. The article is divided into three parts: The first part is imagination, seeing Kakamega as a great county, laying out what it means to be great, and bringing it to light, seeking to change mindsets and set a lofty, clear future, almost utopic idea, Kakamega, A First World County. Secondly, the document lists the actions, programs, and activities that must be put in place to realise the new Kakamega. And third, the document outlines the two fold strategy, of propaganda, and partnerships, that will be needed to move the county to its destination of the imagined feature.

This study sought to determine the influence of M & E staff capacity on performance of projects linked to Faith based organizations in Meru North. In doing this the Theory of Change was applied as the guiding theory. A descriptive cross sectional survey research design was applied to collect data from 47 Faith Based Organizations in Meru North. From the target population of 347, a sample of 186 respondents comprising of steering committee, resource officers, team leaders and project committee members were selected for this study. Questionnaires were administered as the instrument for data collection. Data was analyzed using SPSS (version 25) and presented through descriptive and inferential statistics. The study found that technical experts are employed to run the respective areas in the projects, that project staff are trained in order to equip them with skills necessary to carry out M&E and that that the skills and competence of the staff helps them to participate effectively in Monitoring and evaluation. It was concluded that M&E staff capacity has a great influence on the performance of projects funded by Faith Based Organizations in Meru North, Meru County Kenya. The study recommends that the organizations should provide adequate training for field staff involved in monitoring and evaluation.

QUESTION:
Why and how did colonialism come to Kenya? What kinds of structures of power and authority did the colonial powers establish in Kenya during the colonial period? Who wielded and exercised power and authority in Kenya during the colonial period? What qualities did one need to exercise power and authority in Kenya during the period?


As a continent, Africa has had a tough past. The race for Europeans to colonize Africa began in the 1400’s. Many African ancestors were displaced from their own kingdoms by newly arrived Euro-centric imperialists. East Africa's Kenya was one such country to face this ordeal. Kenya as a country was dominated and overpowered quickly by the domineering Europeans, who were motivated by the urge for more territories, the demand for cheap labor and raw materials to support the industrial revolution in Europe and its strategic position in relation to India and the Far East. The Europeans, primarily British, that came to Kenya devastated its native resources and culture through colonization so severely it is still felt today.

Baptized as an Anglican Christian in the Church Missionary Society (CMS) in his childhood, Raila Odinga later became a Born-Again Christian and is a communicant member of All Saints' Cathedral in Nairobi.

On 10 Dec 2021, Mr. Odinga announced that he will be eyeing a fifth stab at the presidency, putting an end to months of suspense after his surprise truce with President Kenyatta. His announcement was made while launching the Azimio La Umoja Convention - which would be his vehicle to State House held at the Kasarani Stadium, Nairobi.

Last week saw a flurry of news stories about the mass emergence of 13-year periodical cicadas in Georgia and other southeastern states of the U.S. These cicadas all belong to Brood XIX, aka the Great Southern Brood, which last appeared in 1998, and is due now to return in 2024. There are three broods of 13-year cicadas and 12 broods of 17-year cicadas in the States, most of them mixtures of different Magicicada species, and each with its own breeding calendar. It is thought that their long life cycles, periodicity and synchronous emergence have evolved to protect these cicadas against predation. Stephen Jay Gould wrote engagingly about this strategy of 'predator satiation' in one of his monthly columns for Natural History Magazine, reprinted in his first collection of essays, Ever Since Darwin (1978: 97-102). 'Of bamboos, cicadas, and the economy of Adam Smith' linked the phenomenon of the periodical cicadas with the similarly periodic and synchronous flowering of bamboos, and it was this botanical example that struck a chord when I first read it, rather than the evolutionary explanation that led Gould to summon the ghost of Adam Smith and his "invisible hand".