The ethnic geography of Kenya on the eve of independence: the 1962 census

Abstract

The 1962 census of Kenya recorded the numbers belonging to 36 different African 'tribes' within 510 geographical units. Whereas the general distribution of such tribes was familiar, it was possible for the first time to calculate the degree of ethnic homogeneity among local populations and to construct a map showing their distribution within precise boundaries and in quantifiable terms. Its timing, on the eve of independence, makes this evidence particularly valuable. Problems of the definition of tribes are acknowledged but the results are so striking as to require explanation. Of the Kenya African population, 85% were living in rural areas where, on average, 95% of their neighbours were of the same tribe. Only three small tribes did not have a recognisable 'homeland' where they numbered 50% or more of the population. Most such homelands can be broadly related to a physiographic or ecological setting. The only significant areas of ethnic mixing were in the small proportion of the population in towns or in the 'Highlands' alienated to European settlers where different tribes had entered to gain employment. The census showed the situation in the penultimate year of the colonial administration, which lasted from 1895 to 1963. A sovereign, independent state had been created from the separate ethnic groups enumerated but the communities which had been enclosed within its borders remained strongly localised, a source of contemporary and subsequent problems to its peoples. This was confirmed by the 1989 census and continued inter-tribal land disputes with associated violence and displacement of population.