Politics and nationalism in colonial Kenya: the case of the babukusu of Bungoma district, C.1894-1963

This study focuses on politics and nationalism in Kenya with special reference to
Babukusu of Bungoma District in the period between 1894 and 1963. It examines the
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place of Babukusu in Kenya's politics of decolonisation by demonstrating their
contribution to the emergence and development of nationalism. Using an integrated
approach, the study examines the growth of political consciousness among the Babukusu
in the light of the changes in their material conditions posed by the colonial political
economy.
It has been deduced herein that since the inception of colonialism, Babukusu like
other Kenyans elsewpere, offered a concerted political challenge to its existence. This
challenge, as we have shown, can only be adequately explained by taking into account
the fundamental social, economic and political changes, which were introduced during
the colonial period. It was out of their sense of self-realization that a political
consciousness grew, which in essence was a reaction to the unfavourable structures of the
colonial political economy. This political consciousness created a new necessity, namely,
decolonisation that finally led to the liquidation (?f colonial~sm in 1963.
For a clear insight into the theme of politics and nationalism, aspects of the
Bukusu pre-colonial history that are important for understanding their participation in
Kenya's nationalist politics during the colonial period are discussed. It has been
' demonstrated that the people's social, political and economic structures on the eve of the
colonial rule laid an important basis for understanding the phenomenon of colonial
politics and the nationalist struggle.