Witchcraft and Colonial Rule in Kenya, 1900–1955 Focusing on colonial Kenya, this book shows how conflicts between state authorities and Africans over witchcraft-related crimes provided an important space in which the meanings of justice, law, and order in the empire were debated. Katherine Luongo discusses the emergence of imperial networks of knowledge about witchcraft. She then dem- onstrates how colonial concerns about witchcraft produced an elabo- rate body of jurisprudence about capital crimes. The book analyzes the legal wrangling that produced the Witchcraft Ordinances in the 1910s, the birth of an anthro-administrative complex surrounding witchcraft in the 1920s, the hotly contested Wakamba Witch Trials of the 1930s, the explosive growth of legal opinion on witch-murder in the 1940s, and the unprecedented state-sponsored cleansings of witches and Mau Mau adherents during the 1950s. A work of anthropological history, this book develops an ethnography of Kamba witchcraft or uoi. Katherine Luongo received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. In 2003–2004, she held a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship to con- duct archival and ethnographic research in Kenya and was a research associate at the Institut Français de Recherche en Afrique in Nairobi. Currently, she is an assistant professor of history at Northeastern University in Boston. Luongo’s articles have appeared in History in Africa, African Affairs, the Journal of Eastern African Studies, and the Cahiers d’études africaines. Her research and teaching interests include the occult, legal systems, and anthropological history. AFRICAN STUDIES The African Studies series, founded in 1968, is a prestigious series of monographs, general surveys, and textbooks on Africa covering history, political science, anthropol- ogy, economics, and ecological and environmental issues. The series seeks to publish work by senior scholars as well as the best new research. EDITORIAL BOARD David Anderson, University of Oxford Catherine Boone, University of Texas at Austin Carolyn Brown, Rutgers University Christopher Clapham, University of Cambridge Michael Gomez, New York University Nancy J. Jacobs, Brown University Richard Roberts, Stanford University David Robinson, Michigan State University Leonardo A. Villalón, University of Florida A list of books in this series will be found at the end of this volume. Witchcraft and Colonial Rule in Kenya, 1900–1955 KAThERINE LUONgO Northeastern University cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City Cambridge University Press 32 Avenue of the Americas, New York, ny 10013-2473, usa www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9781107012189 © Katherine Luongo 2011 This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. First published 2011 Printed in the United States of America A catalog record for this publication is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data Luongo, Katherine, 1975– Witchcraft and colonial rule in Kenya, 1900–1955 / Katherine Luongo. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 978-1-107-01218-9 (hardback) 1. Witchcraft – Kenya – History – 20th century. 2. Witchcraft – Political aspects – Kenya – History – 20th century. 3. Kamba (African people) – History – 20th century. 4. British – Kenya – History – 20th century. 5. Colonial administrators – Kenya – History – 20th century. 6. Trials (Witchcraft) – Kenya – History – 20th century. 7. Witchcraft – Law and legislation – Kenya – History – 20th century. 8. Kenya – Colonial influence. 9. Kenya – Politics and government – To 1963. 10. Kenya – Social life and customs – 20th century. I. Title. bf1584.k4l86 2012 133.4′30967620904–dc22 2011015310 isbn 978-1-107-01218-9 Hardback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party Internet Web sites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Web sites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. For My Parents Contents List of Photographs page x Acknowledgments xi 1. Introduction 1 2. Clans and Councils, Caravans and Conquest, Cosmology and Colonialism: Ukambani in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries 29 3. Understanding Uoi, Uwe, and Kithitu in Ukambani 45 4. The “Cosmology” of the Colonial State 71 5. The Wakamba Witch Trials: A Witch-Murder in 1930s Kenya 98 6. Witchcraft, Murder, and Death Sentences after Rex v. Kumwaka 129 7. The World of Oathing and Witchcraft in Mau Mau–era Machakos 158 8. Cleansing Ukambani Witches 183 9. Epilogue 207 Glossary 219 Bibliography 221 Index 237 ix