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World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Kenya : Hunter-gatherers

Updated July 2008

Ethnicity: Several hunter-gather groups have been grouped together under derogatory term Dorobo (meaning 'primitive' in the 1989 Kenya Population Census) amounting to an estimated 24,363 (0.11%). However, dorobo comprise of the Ogiek, the Sengwer and the Yaaku. A MRG report in 2003, estimated that there were 20,000 Ogiek. Other communities include the Boni-Sanye 10,891 (0.05%); Elmolo 3,600 (0.02), (Kenya Population Census, 1989)

Ogiek comprise about two dozen ethno-linguistic groups, totalling about 40,000 people, living in or near the highland forests of central Kenya. Traditionally hunter-gatherers and still dependent on forest resources, most are primarily involved in agriculture and/or pastoralism. Many Ogiek have land rights on the fringes of forests, but government policies of converting communal land to individual ownership led to much of it being sold off to others, jeopardizing the long-term position of Ogiek.

Aweer (Dahalo) are traditional hunter-gatherers, numbering about 3,500, living in the Lamu district of eastern Kenya and largely dependent on shifting agriculture which is more destructive of wildlife and forest resources than the hunting which has been banned by the government in the name of conservation. Poor rainfall has resulted in chronic nutritional shortages; insecurity in this border region has grown even greater following the wars in Somalia, rendering government services almost nonexistent. Most men have left the region in search of work.

From the beginning of the colonial era, hunter-gatherers were routinely dispossessed of their highland savvanahs, which were teeming with wildlife and often deemed uninhabited by people. Colonial administrators in Kenya encouraged the assimilation of hunter-gatherers into larger tribes, a policy that continued after independence. Today the Kenyan government recognizes 42 tribes in Kenya, but categorizes hunter-gatherers as 'other', or simply lumps them together with neighbouring peoples. For example, the 1989 and 1999 censuses counted Ogiek as either Maasai or Kalenjin. Indeed hunter-gatherers in Kenya became so marginalized that many adopted the pejorative labels others used for them to refer to themselves. Until a recent trend toward re-adopting their proper names, many hunter-gatherers accepted the Maasai term 'Dorobo' or the Somali term 'Boni', both of which mean 'people who have nothing', or primitive.

Indigenous peoples have lost forest land to logging and clearing for agriculture, while in recent years also facing prohibitions on hunting, in the name of wildlife preservation. In 2005, Kenyan police burned down some Ogiek settlements in the Mau forest, and the government has failed to provide hunter-gatherers with even rudimentary services, such as access to healthcare. Hunter-gatherer peoples have almost no political representation in Kenya. In 2005, a draft constitution proposed by the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission after three years of exhaustive consultations included the recognition of hunter-gatherers and other marginalized Kenyans, as well as a bill of rights and the devolution of power. Hunter-gather peoples strongly supported the draft, but the Kenyan parliament gutted all such provisions from the draft that was eventually rejected by voters in a referendum.

When the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, visited Kenya in December 2006, the government attempted to continue its policy of non-recognition of indigenous peoples by claiming that all Kenyans are indigenous. In early 2007, however, the government entered into an agreement with the World Bank on funding for a project to rehabilitate the forests of the Sengwer and Ogiek. The potential benefits stemming from the project remain to be seen, but the agreement represented a milestone in government recognition for these peoples.

Throughout 2007, the Ogiek found themselves caught up in the conflict around Mount Elgon in Western Kenya, as rival Sabaot sub-clans fought for control of the land in the area. The shadowy SLDF miltia reportedly attacked the Ogiek living around Mount Elgon. Ogiek activists reported that about 20 had been killed. Attacks accelerated after the disputed 2007 elections, when violence gripped the country, with militias taking advantage of the disorder to grab land and resources. Ogiek took refuge in the forests of Chepkitale, and found it hard to venture out, suffering food shortages. Ogiek families were displaced and 11 houses were destroyed in the hills close to Lake Nakuru. Ogiek homeless were given shelter by their extended family members – Ogiek cultural traditions mean that they help each other out in times of hardship. But unlike Kenyans, who fled to IDP camps, they have not received any official help – leaving many facing months of hardship.

Hunter-gatherer groups were disappointed when the new power-sharing government also failed in their demand to be nominated to a 'special interest' seat. In the run-up to the 2007 vote, the Hunter-Gatherer Forum which represents the Ogiek, the Yaaku, the Sengwer, the El Molo and the Awer, wrote letters to the officials at the main political parties, telling them of the need for nominated MPs. However, when the reserved seats where allocated, none went to the hunter-gatherer communities. The Ogiek have, however, been encouraged by the new attempts to get the 'settler' communities – which they claim have stolen their traditional territory – expelled from the Mau forest. The destruction of this precious woodland, cleared by loggers and small-scale farmers, has led to serious depletion of a vital water catchment area. The ODM wing of the power-sharing government – led by prime-minister Raila Odinga – is championing the renewed efforts to protect the forest.

In among the election turmoil and the political drama being played out in Nairobi, the desperate plight of the Boni community would have gone unnoticed – until the Kenyan national daily Standard newspaper and the KTN television channel ran a special feature. Deprived of their ancestral lands, this hunter-gatherer community living close to Lamu on the North-Eastern coast, has been ravaged by famine. The drought hitting the area had been blamed – but the marginalized position of this small community meant that no official had paid the slightest bit of attention to their starvation, and they had not received any state assistance.

Topics: Expropriation of property, Security situation, Pastoralists, Linguistic minorities, Ethnic minorities, Indigenous persons,