Ethnicity and Empire in Kenya
Ethnicity and Empire in Kenya

Author: Myles Osborne

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2014-08-29

Total Pages: 291

ISBN-13: 1316061639

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This book is about the creation and development of ethnic identity among the Kamba. Comprising approximately one-eighth of Kenya's population, the British considered the Kamba East Africa's premier 'martial race' by the mid-twentieth century: a people with an apparent aptitude for soldiering. The reputation, indeed, was one that Kamba leaders used to leverage financial rewards from the colonial state. However, beneath this simplistic exterior was a maelstrom of argument and debate. Men and women, young and old, Christians and non-Christians, and the elite and poor fought over the virtues they considered worthy of honor in their communities, and which of their visions should constitute 'Kamba' identity. Based on extensive archival research and more than 150 interviews, Ethnicity and Empire is one of the first books to analyze the complex process of building and shaping 'tribe' over more than two centuries. It reveals new ways to think about themes crucial to the history of colonialism: soldiering, 'loyalty', martial race, and indeed the nature of empire itself.

Kenya
Kenya

Author: Maurice Odhiambo Makoloo

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 48

ISBN-13:

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Minorities and indigenous peoples in Kenya feel excluded from the economic and political life of the state. They are poorer than the rest of Kenya's population, their rights are not respected and they are rarely included in development of other participatory planning processes. This report discusses the abuse of ethnicity in Kenyan policies, arguing that ethnicity is a card all too often used by Kenyan politicians to favour certain communities over others in the share of the nation's wealth. Kenya: Minorities, Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Diversity exposes these concerns in detail via the analysis of budgetary expenditure in the poor Turkana region, which is dominated by the minority Turkana people, and in the richer Nyeri region, home of Kenya's current President. The author, Maurice Odhiambo Makoloo, calls for immediate action to address the inequalities and marginalization of communities, as a way of ensuring that Kenya remains free of major conflict. It calls for disaggregated data - by ethnicity and gender - and a new Constitution to devolve power away from the centre, so that minority and indigenous peoples stand to benefit from current and new development programmes.The report argues that Kenya's diversity should be its strength and need not be a threat to national unity. Suppressing and denying ethnic diversity is the quickest route to inter-ethnic conflict and claims of succession. The report calls for urgent action.

Ethnicity and Democracy
Ethnicity and Democracy

Author: Douglas Lucas Kivoi

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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When Plato observed that “only the dead have seen the end of war,” the Greek philosopher seemed to have seen modern Africa from a distance. Conflicts have become so regular in Africa that they almost constitute a pattern. The roots of African conflicts are many and diverse but very few are as strong as ethnicity. It is a very powerful force that has been harnessed negatively by lords of impunity to deform Africa. Max Weber defined an ethnic group as those human beings or groups that entertain a subjective belief in their common descent because of migration or colonization in such a way that this belief is important for the continuance of non-kinship communal relationship. The politics of identity and ethnicity will remain a fundamental characteristic of the Kenyan democracy. In this paper, I intend to address why ethnicity represents a political problem in Kenya, how the problem manifests itself, and which institutional models offer ways of ameliorating the challenges that ethnicity poses to democratic nation-building. In Kenya there is a relationship between ethnic fractionalization, lower levels of democracy and bad governance. This study seeks to separate out the association between negative ethnicity and poor government performance by disentangling the relationship between ethnicity and democracy. I argue that, the quality of democracy and good governance has been affected by negative ethnicity. Specifically, higher levels of ethnic voting in Kenya reinforce the exclusive democratic practices which undermines democracy and quality leadership hence quality of life. This in turn has bred a cycle of violence after every election that saw the International Criminal Court (ICC) move in to try and end this menace.

Making Ethnic Ways
Making Ethnic Ways

Author: Bill Bravman

Publisher: Heinemann Educational Books

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780325001050

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Based on extensive archival research and substantial fieldwork in Kenya, Braveman's book is an important addition to scholarship on East African history.