Dala or Diaspora? Obama and the Luo Community of Kenya

Carotenuto, Matthew; Luongo, Katherine

doi:10.1093/afraf/adp002

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…‘Big Man’ politics corresponded with an emphasis on parliamentarians and the president in the hearings, without reaching consensus on the appropriate power balance between the two. As might be expected, given the common association of the Luo population in Nyanza Province with political opposition (Carotenuto & Luongo 2009: 207), presenters tended to recommend reduced presidential power, often by law or through a parliamentary system. At one level, this can be seen to refer to the balance of power under Kenyatta.…”

Section: The Ckrc Public Hearings 2002mentioning

confidence: 69%

‘The Kenyas we don't want’: popular thought over constitutional review in Kenya, 2002

Diepeveen¹

2010

J. Mod. Afr. Stud.

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Evidence of political instability in Kenya emerged through the organised and spontaneous violence following the 2007 elections. Understanding the underlying reasons for popular contestations of power and involvement in violence depends on understanding Kenyans' perceptions of existing and desirable political institutions. By analysing recommendations made in the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission public hearings in each province in 2002, this article explores the viewpoints of those outside high politics in Kenya, teasing out the continuities and divergences in popular thought about political relations in Kenya at the end of the Moi years, and thus providing insights into how Kenyans understand their relationship with those in power, revealing that amidst diverse experiences, disillusionment pervades Kenyans' perceptions of political relations.

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Section: The Ckrc Public Hearings 2002mentioning

confidence: 69%

‘The Kenyas we don't want’: popular thought over constitutional review in Kenya, 2002

Diepeveen¹

2010

J. Mod. Afr. Stud.

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“…During the pre-colonial era, a system of chiefdoms existed, wherein the authority of chiefs was derived from cultural and spiritual frameworks. The Gem community was governed by the institution of Ruoth, to which they devoted complete loyalty (Carotenuto & Luongo, 2009).The community was under the leadership of Ruoth chieftaincy until they established their current territory in central Nyanza. In instances where the institution of the Chief was present in traditional societies, such as among the Luo people, Ochieng asserts that these leaders did not possess coercive or authoritarian authority to the same extent as they did during the colonial era.…”

Section: The Nature and Role Of Chiefs In Leadership And Governance I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The implementation of this method effectively mitigated the potential for bias in the Chief's decision-making process by subjecting his authority to scrutiny. Unfortunately, the presence of checks and balances was absent in the colonial context (Carotenuto & Luongo, 2009). This assertion is substantiated by Jagire's (2016) scholarly work on the Jopadhola Luo group, wherein he posits that a profound and intricate interplay between kinship and politics was evident.…”

Section: The Nature and Role Of Chiefs In Leadership And Governance I...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Chiefs as Agents of Change in Kenya: An Examination of Roles of Pioneer Colonial Chiefs in Gem Location, Siaya County, Kenya (1890-1963)

Odhiambo Okoth,

Odhiambo Owak

2023

IJSSHR

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The positions and responsibilities of District officers (Dos), District Commissioners (DCs), and Provincial Commissioners (PCs) have been widely recognized as integral components of the administrative apparatus aimed at establishing colonial rule in various colonies. However, there has been an expectation for African colonial chiefs to exhibit distinct behavior, deviating from the norm. African Chiefs should have fully endorsed the aspirations of their relatives and community members, particularly in their pursuit of political autonomy and socioeconomic advancement. Due to their failure to adhere to this practice, some chiefs have been stigmatized as vociferous accomplices of the European colonial powers, as well as despots, opportunists, traditionalists, fraudsters, and oppressors of their own populace. However, it is important to note that chiefs had a more extensive role and impact than what has been mentioned thus far. During that period, it is evident that they played significant roles in shaping the political and socio-economic development of their own societies. The focus of this study pertains to the involvement and significance of chiefs within the context of colonial local government administration in Gem locality, Siaya County, Kenya, during the period spanning from 1900 to 1962. Insufficient research has been conducted on the role of local government chiefs in colonial local government administration within the context of Gem history. Consequently, there is a pressing need for rigorous scholarly investigation in this particular area. The Chiefs in the Gem location played a significant role in the establishment and expansion of colonial rule in central Nyanza. However, this study aimed to investigate the process of identifying and recruiting these chiefs, the nature of their responsibilities, the challenges they encountered, and the overall impact of their activities on the Luo community in Gem. The research employed a qualitative methodology for both data gathering and analysis. The research methodology employed a range of instruments, namely library resources, archive materials, and oral interviews. These instruments were selected with careful consideration of factors such as reliability, validity, and ethical considerations. The primary theoretical framework employed in this study was Lugard's theory of indirect rule, as proposed in 1922. The function of chiefs in Gem within the context of colonial local administration has been widely recognized as crucial. These leaders enjoyed considerable privileges and protection, although their authority was greatly limited because to the conflicting and ambiguous positions they held. Moreover, through engaging in collaborative endeavors, chiefs play a pivotal role in driving the systematic progress within central Nyanza and among the clans in Gem. This work holds significance as it adds to the current body of knowledge and expands the understanding of the history of central Nyanza, with a specific focus on the Gem community.

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“…Furthermore, the western Nyanza region has historically remained marginalized from political power, less economically developed, and unable to shirk stereotypes as cultural outsiders within Kenya (Carotenuto & Luongo, 2009; Smith, 2006). Within this broader framework of exclusion, the regional HIV epidemic has continued unabated (18.7% prevalence in Kisumu County) and enabled a drug market to emerge amidst the “hope and despair” of a new generation whose unfulfilled ambitions are numbed with injection.…”

Section: The Social Imagination Of Injection Drug Usementioning

confidence: 99%

An ethnographic exploration of drug markets in Kisumu, Kenya

Syvertsen

Ohaga

Agot

et al. 2016

International Journal of Drug Policy

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Background Illegal drug markets are shaped by multiple forces, including local actors and broader economic, political, social, and criminal justice systems that intertwine to impact health and social wellbeing. Ethnographic analyses that interrogate multiple dimensions of drug markets may offer both applied and theoretical insights into drug use, particularly in developing nations where new markets and local patterns of use traditionally have not been well understood. This paper explores the emergent drug market in Kisumu, western Kenya, where our research team recently documented evidence of injection drug use. Methods Our exploratory study of injection drug use was conducted in Kisumu from 2013-2014. We draw on 151 surveys, 29 in-depth interviews, and 8 months of ethnographic fieldwork to describe the drug market from the perspective of injectors, focusing on their perceptions of the market and reports of drug use therein. Results Injectors described a dynamic market in which the availability of drugs and proliferation of injection drug use have taken on growing importance in Kisumu. In addition to reports of white and brown forms of heroin and concerns about drug adulteration in the market, we unexpectedly documented widespread perceptions of cocaine availability and injection in Kisumu. Examining price data and socio-pharmacological experiences of cocaine injection left us with unconfirmed evidence of its existence, but opened further possibilities about how the chaos of new drug markets and diffusion of injection-related beliefs and practices may lend insight into the sociopolitical context of western Kenya. Conclusions We suggest a need for expanded drug surveillance, education and programming responsive to local conditions, and further ethnographic inquiry into the social meanings of emergent drug markets in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa.

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Dala or Diaspora? Obama and the Luo Community of Kenya

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

‘The Kenyas we don't want’: popular thought over constitutional review in Kenya, 2002

‘The Kenyas we don't want’: popular thought over constitutional review in Kenya, 2002

Chiefs as Agents of Change in Kenya: An Examination of Roles of Pioneer Colonial Chiefs in Gem Location, Siaya County, Kenya (1890-1963)

An ethnographic exploration of drug markets in Kisumu, Kenya

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