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CONTINUITY AND CHANGE IN THE INDIGENOUS THERAPEUTIC

SYSTEMS AMONG THE ABAGUSII OF NYAMIRA COUNTY, KENYA, 1880-2010

JOHNSTONE NYAMBOGA MWALIMU

C50/CE/20792/2012

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

OF KENYATTA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF

MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE

MARCH, 2019 DECLARATION

This thesis is my original work and has not been presented for a degree in any other

University or institution of higher learning

Sign………………………………………………………..Date……………………………..

Johnstone Nyamboga Mwalimu

Admission No C50/CE/20792/2012

Department of History, Archaeology and Political Studies

SUPERVISORS

This work has been presented with our approval as University supervisors.

Signature………………………………………………..Date…………………

Dr. Edwin Gimode

Department of History, Archaeology, and Political studies

Signature ……………………………………………… Date…………………

Dr. Pius Kakai

Department of History, Archaeology and Political Studies

DEDICATION

Dedicated to my late father, Patroba Mwalimu Mogoi. Dad, you took me to school to acquire knowledge. Bravo Dad.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My foremost acknowledgement goes to my supervisors, Dr. Edwin Gimode and Dr. Pius

Kakai Wanyonyi of the Department of History, Archaeology and Political studies of Kenyatta

University for their professional guidance and criticism of my thesis. Special thanks also goes to my course work lecturers like Dr Kisiangani, Dr Susan, Dr. Wafula, Dr. Kayi, Dr. Ndiiri

Washington, Professor Omwoyo and Professor Mwanzi for their tireless efforts in shaping me into a critical and knowledgeable student.

I also acknowledge my fellow classmates, Mr. Banda Godfrey, Mr Karani, Miss Fridah

Andaje, Mr Alex Amisi, Mr Javan Mokembo and Mr Ali Mwarora for their good company and sharing of experiences during our studies at Kenyatta University. Special acknowledgement also goes to my informants for their rich history and knowledge on indigenous medicine and Gusii therapeutic systems. Special mention goes to Nyakundi Robert of Konate village and Jane

Okangi who have practiced herbal therapies for many years and were able to give me some invaluable information on my topic.

I acknowledge the librarians of both Kenyatta University Post Modern Library and Kenya

National Archives for assisting me when I was collecting data. The two institutions are good resource centres.

If it were not for my family‟s patience and understanding during my long absence from home, I would not have succeeded. They positively supported and encouraged me during my study. I particularly thank my beloved wife, Ebisiba Nyakerario Nyamboga for her understanding of the situation.

I cannot forget to acknowledge the guidance and advice I got from my late father, Patroba

Mwalimu Mogoi, during my youthful years. He took me to school, counselled me and

iii disciplined me through many words of wisdom and for not sparing the rod whenever I erred. In equal measure, I‟m greatly indebted to Madam Mary Ariemo of Bonyunyu secondary School for sacrificing her time by typesetting my manuscript, editing and producing the final copy.

Very importantly, I greatly and with alot of humility, acknowledge Kenyatta University for awarding me a Masters of Arts Degree.This is important because it is a stepping stone for the next level of education.

Last but not least, my son Victor Nyabero Nyamboga, much appreciation for your words of encouragement, motivation and financial support. By extension, I thank my daughters Janet,

Lydia, Mary, Vanice and Diana for your words of encouragement. Above all I thank the almighty God for giving me good health, knowledge, wisdom and understanding as I carried out my studies, collected data and wrote my thesis.

Table of Contents DECLARATION ...... i DEDICATION ...... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ...... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS………………………………………………………………..…v

LIST OF FIGURES ...... viii LIST OF TABLES ...... ix LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS……………………...………………..x

DEFINITION OF TERMS ...... xi GLOSSARY………………………………………………………………………………xii ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………..xiv

1.0 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...... 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem ...... 7 1.3 Research Questions ...... 7 1.4 Research Objectives ...... 8 1.5. Research Premises ...... 8 1.6. Justification and Significance of the Study ...... 8 1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study ...... 9 1.8.0 Literature Review...... 10 1.8.1 Summary……………….…………………………………………………………..19

1.8.2 Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………………….20 1.9 Research Methodology ...... 27 1.9.1 Research Design……………………………………………………………………27 1.9.2 Research Locale……………………………………………………………………27 1.9.3 Research Validity and Reliability………………………………………………….31 1.9.4 Research Instruments………………………………………………………………31 1.9.5 Target Population………………………………………………………………….32 1.9.6 Sampling Procedures and Sample Size……………………………………………32 1.9.7 Pilot Study…………………………………………………………………………32 1.9.8 Data Collection Procedures………………………………………………………..33

1.9.9 Data Analysis and Presentation Processes…………………………………………34 1.9.10 Ethical Considerations……………………………………………………………35 1.9.11 Summary………………………………………………………………………….35 CHAPTER TWO…………………….…………………………………….…………….37

2.0 FEATURES OF INDIGENOUS MEDICINE AMONG THE ABAGUSII ON THE EVE OF BRITISH COLONIALISM, 1880-1900 ...... 37 2.1 Introduction ...... 37 2.2 Traditions of Origins, Migrations and Settlement of the Gusii, 1600-1900 ...... 37 2.3 The Gusii Therapeutic Systems to 1900 ...... 44 2.4 Conceptualizing Indigenous Medicine among the Gusii ...... 45 2.5. Indigenous Medicine Practitioners among the Gusii...... 49 2.6. Disease Treated Using Indigenous Medicine ...... 54 2.7. Witchcraft: A science or Indigenous Medicine………………………………..…...58

2.8 Procurement, Processing, Storage, Administration and Remuneration in indigenous medicine ...... 62 2.9 Therapeutic Techniques and the Efficacy of Indigenous Medicine ...... 70 2.9.1. Summary ...... 73 CHAPTER THREE ...... 75 3.0 ENCOUNTER BETWEEN INDIGENOUS GUSII MEDICAL PRACTICE AND WESTERN MEDICINE 1900 – 1963 ...... 75 3.1. Introduction ...... 75 3.2 The General Perception of Africans in Western Discourse...... 76 3.3 Missionaries entry into Gusiiland ...... 80 3.4 Condemnation of African Culture and its Impact on Indigenous Therapies ...... 90 3.5. Modern medicine ...... 96 3.6. Summary ...... 98 CHAPTER FOUR ...... 101 4.0. THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE CONTEMPORARY LIFESTYLES OF THE ABAGUSII AND INDIGENOUS MEDICINE, 1963- 2010 ...... 101 4.1 Introduction ...... 101

4.2 Factors Affecting Healthcare Behaviour among the Gusii of Nyamira Sub- County ...... 101 4.3 Perceived Efficacy of Indigenous Medicine ...... 109 4.4 Government Support for Indigenous Healing Processes ...... 110 4.5 Challenges of Standardisation, Regulation and Integration of Indigenous Medicine ...... 113 4.6 Attitude of Educated Elites and Christians to Indigenous Therapies, 1963-2010 ...... 116 4.7 Summary……………………………………………………………………………………………………..……….127

CHAPTER FIVE ...... 129 5.1 Summary ...... 129 5.2 Conclusion ...... 135 5.3 Recommendations ...... 139 REFERENCES ...... 141 APPENDICES ...... 159 Appendix 1: Interview Schedule ...... 159 Appendix 2: List of Oral Informants ...... 162 Appendix 3: Research Permit ...... 163 Appendix 4: Research Authorisation by NACOSTI ...... 165 Appendix 5: Approval of Research Proposal by the Graduate School ...... 166 Appendix 6: Research authorization by the County Commissioner‟s office ...... 167 Appendix 7: Letter of introduction to the Director General, NACOSTI by the University ...... 168 Appendix 8: Practitioners with cars mounted with loud speakers selling indigenous medicine ...... 169 Appendix 9: Contemporary indigenous medicine practitioner ...... 170

vii

LIST OF FIGURES

Fig 1. Map of Kenya showing the position of Nyamira County…………………………...... 29

Fig. 2. Map of Nyamira County showing the position of the Study Area...... …………………30

viii

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. Medicinal plants and diseases they treat………………………………………………..64

Table 2:Total number of the sick admissions, 1922...... 84

Table 3: Total deaths during the Year, 1922...... 84

Table 4: Common diseases that are normally treated in hospital or by indigenous therapy…...106

Table 5: Attitude of educated elite towards indigenous therapy……………………………...... 118

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

CMR: Church Missionary Report

DC: District Commissioner

EALB: East African Literature Bureau

EAEP: East African Educational Publishers.

HIV/AIDS: Human Immune Virus/ Aids-Immune-Deficiency Syndrome.

I.M : Indigenous Medicine.

I/CAM: Indigenous/Complimentary or Alternative Medicine.

KEMRI: Kenya Medical Research Institute.

KDAR: Kisii District Annual Reports.

KNA: Kenya National Archives

MOH: Medical Officer of Health.

NAMH: National Association of Medical Herbalists.

NCAPD: National Council for Population and Development.

NIMH: National Institute of Medical Herbalists.

P C: Provincial Commissioner.

SKDAR: South Kavirondo District Annual Reports.

SNDAR: South Nyanza District Annual Reports.

WHA: World Health Action.

WHO: World Health Organisation.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Complementary medicine: Refers to alternative medicine other than conventional medicine.

Craniotom: Opening up the brain case for bloodletting and relief pressure in the brain.

District: An administrative area under a district/county commissioner, also called Sub-

County.

Emesi: Forced vomiting.

Enemata: Process of colon cleansing.

Enema: Injecting medicine through the rectum to cleanse the colon

Gusii, Kisii, Abagusii: All the three names are synonyms referring to ethnic Bantu community

under study in Western Kenya.

Paraphernalia: Equipment, apparatus or assets belonging to a person such as a medicine man.

Pharmacopoeia: An official list of medical drugs.

Province: An area equivalent to one of the eight administrative units in Kenya.

Suppositories: Inserting local drug into the rectum where it is absorbed into the bloodstream.

Tin-culture: Fermentation of herbal medicine in metal tins.

Glossary

Abagusii: An ethnic Bantu community in Western Kenya Ababari:. Gusii surgeons. They did head repining. Abanyamosira: Witchdoctors or sorcerers. Abasari: Gusii circumcisers. They cut the foreskin of the penis. Abanyibi embura: Rainmakers. They can cause rain to fall or bring severe dry weather conditions Abanyanabi: Gusii sorcerers. They used magic to harm other human beings. Abarabi: Traditional birth attendants, they assist women to deliver. Abaragori: Gusii diviners. They identified health problems and prescribed solutions facing the sick in the families or society. Amaino amakubu False teeth or milk teeth. Amasangia: Wife infidelity. Sharing a married woman is a taboo among the gusii. Amatunda: Fruits like bitter leomon, oranges, passion fruits and apples. Chinkenene: Strawberries. Chinkongoria: Poor vision, unable to see clearly Ebasweti: Python snake Ebibiriria: Evil eye. A magical spell applied by both men and women against children and even adults with afew to hurt them Ebirecha: Evil spirits. Ekeera or egekuba egeeku: Asthma disease Endwari ya inda: Splenomegally, a disease of the spleen. Enyamosononi: Sexually transmitted diseases like syphilis. Enyani: Liver cirriosis also called oedema, liver enlargement and swelling of legs. Esosera: Malaria disease. Endurume: Epilepsy. A diseases characterised with convulsions. Enguranguria: A medicinal herb, also called cyssus quadrnguralis linn.

xii

Enyancha / Ritibo: Stomach pains among infants. It can also mean a large body of water

like a lake.

Gusii: A Bantu ethnic group in western Kenya. It can also refer to a region

occupied by the Abagusii people.

Kisii: Similar to Gusii or Abagusii.

Misiri: Original homeland of Abagusii, area north of Mount Elgon

Moteitimo: Heliotropium. A medicinal herb.

Moteokebaki: Bird plant, a medicinal herb.

Obobarimo: Madness, mental problems

Obogomba: Infertility or impotency, unable to sire children

Obwarainse: Herbal medicine also called thymus valgaris

Okobara: Surgery

Okwora enda: Performing autopsy

Omoebia: Love medicine giver

Omokireki: One who stops rain or misfortune,

Omonyamete: Herbalist

Omuati: One who does autopsy

Orosao ruabana: Infantile diarrhoea

Osaosao: An area in Gusii where the Gusii fought with the Kipsigis in 1896

Orogio: A piece of a broken pot for carrying medicine

xiii

ABSTRACT

This study is an historical exposition and analysis of the developments of indigenous therapeutic systems among the Abagusii of Nyamira County, Kenya, between 1880 and 2010. Abagusii belong to the Bantu communities of western Kenya, including the Luhyia, Kuria and Suba. The study traces continuity and change in indigenous medical practice among the Abagusii. The study has examined the status of Gusii herbal medicine on the eve of British colonialism; the encounter between Gusii indigenous medicine and western medicine, education and Christianity; and manifestations of the interface between contemporary lifestyles of the Gusii and indigenous medicine. These three issues formed the objectives of this study. The study examines practitioners of herbal medicine; the diseases treated using indigenous therapy; the herbal medicines used; witchcraft as a science or indigenous medicine; the process of procurement; administration of the medicine; processing; storage; sales and packaging. The study shows how the introduction of western education, Christianity and conventional medicine interfered with the traditional Gusii herbal therapies, which nonetheless proved resilient and continued side by side with western medicine. Over this long period, the study found that indigenous medicine was not annihilated. By using the rational action theory, the study found that even during the colonial and post-colonial era, the Gusii, being rational human beings, had the opportunity to seek and choose alternative medicine to diagnose, treat and prevent illnesses by even attending conventional medical centres. Modern health centres were set up in various places and the use of conventional medicine increased during the colonial and post colonial period. The study applied the resilience and rational choice theoretical frameworks to analyse continuity and change in the use of herbal medicine among the Gusii. The study established that there has been continuous use of indigenous medicine even in the presence of modern medicine. At the same time, indigenous medicine has been commercialised, with new packaging, practices and sales methods adopted. The study used both primary and secondary sources to analyse continuity and change of Gusii indigenous medicine. Primary sources were obtained from oral informants and the Kenya National Archives. Purposeful sampling techniques were used in identifying informants with vast knowledge in herbal medicine. A pilot study was carried out to determine validity and reliability as well as clarity of the question guidelines. Data was then collected using interview guidelines and more than 244 informants of both genders were interviewed. Collected data was analysed, processed and presented in descriptive design format. The study, in conclusion found that indigenous therapeutic system among the Gusii was a firmly established and comprehensive system of healthcare delivery in the pre-colonial era. Rather than declining, the system increased and diversified in the colonial and post-independence period inspite of the presence of western medicine. The study recommends for government support to indigenous medicine practitioners in an effort to boost the country‟s health sector and also preserve the country‟s natural forests which are the source of indigenous medicine.

xiv

1.0 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the Study

Indigenous medicine has been defined in various ways depending on the community and its practices, beliefs and norms. In China, traditional Chinese medicine is defined as “a medical system that has been used for thousands of years to diagnose, treat and prevent disease. It includes: acupuncture, diet, herbal therapy, meditation, physical exercise and massage” (Lister,

ChoonNam, and Halliwell (eds.) 2004: 38). The Indian indigenous medicine, also called

“ayurveda” dates back to 5000 years ago. It emphasizes on the balance between the humans and the environment. Diseases result when there is disharmony between the environment and the person, and each case of disease is a manifestation of a unique state in a unique individual, therefore requiring a unique cure. Therapies in the ayurveda system include good diet, herbal, color, massage, meditation, among others (Mosby‟s medical Dictionary, 9th edition 2009,

Elsevier).

From the point of view of the World Health Organisation (WHO), indigenous medicine is defined as the “health practices, knowledge, approaches and beliefs, incorporating plant, animal and mineral based medicine, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises applied either singularly or in combinations to treat and prevent illness or maintain well-being” (quoted in Akama and Maxon, (eds) 1995: 280). Some scholars call it herbal medicine. However, according to Steven (2013), herbal medicine is not necessarily similar to traditional medicine.

The former is the exclusive use of plants for medicinal purposes. It covers the use of leaves, stems, roots, flowers, among others. The latter is the sum total of all herbs, minerals and animal products as well as spiritual therapies, massaging and exercises (Mpono, 2007: 26). However, for

1 purposes of this research, the terms herbal medicine, and indigenous medicine have been used interchangeably.

Away from definitions, indigenous medicine has continued to elicit scholarly concerns in theory and practice over time globally. Questions have been raised over the nature and practice of indigenous medicine. These questions focus on treatments, practitioners, procurement, processing, marketing, administration and passing down of medical knowledge. These are issues of contemporary scholarly focus. Additionally, the impact of colonialism on indigenous medicine; efficacy of contemporary treatments using indigenous medicine and such issues as continuity and change in the use of indigenous medicine are among many issues that draws the scholars‟ attention.

In East Asia, the Chinese, whose indigenous medicine has been defined, have used indigenous medicine for many centuries. The Chinese use a combination of herbs, minerals and animal extracts in the form of teas, and tin-cultures (Young, Phelan and Link, 2008). Massage and exercise are part of treatment. According to Holliday (2003) and Chan (2008), some of the

South and East Asian countries have attempted to integrate indigenous medicine systems into modern medical healthcare systems for many decades. In China, for instance, both indigenous medicine and conventional medicine have existed side by side since 1949. More than 40% of the

Chinese rely on indigenous medicine. No wonder, many Chinese herbal drugs are found in many medical chemists in many countries all over the globe.

Native Americans also used indigenous medicine to treat diseases long before the introduction of conventional medicine. They used such herbs as skunk cabbage for treating asthma and arnica roots for treating back pain. The Dakota and Winnebago communities of

Central America use quinine, obtained from the cinchona tree and other herbs to treat a range of

2 diseases (Davanesen, 2000, and Renald 2003: 13). Other scholars like Lester, ChoonNam and

Halliweli (2004), have carried a detailed analysis on indigenous medicine in the United States of

America (USA). According to them, herbal medicine is widely used in the USA and more than

90% of USA medical schools provide some form of alternative medicine in their school conventional curriculum. They cite the high cost of scientific medicine and the practice of referring patients from one specialist to another as the main reason for switching to alternative medicine. They expound that increased demand in herbal healthcare has led to proliferation of companies dealing with herbal medicine and practice. These are clear changes that are taking place globally.

According to the National Council for Complimentary or Alternative Medicine in Britain

(NCCAM, 2012), European citizens have been using indigenous medicine for many years. The pharmacopoeias of folk practitioners and professional medical health care providers contain thousands of medicines made from leaves, herbs, barks, animal and mineral substances. For instance, skunk cabbage has been used for the treatment of bronchitis and whooping cough over time (Barnes, Linda and David, 1996: 438). Though studies by NCCAM have not focused on continuity and changes within the indigenous therapeutic systems in Europe, the average dependence on indigenous medicine stands at 40% in France. Africa has the highest dependence on indigenous medicine, at 80%. Chile is 71% dependence, while USA is 42% (Humes, Jones and Ramirez, 2011).

Writing about ancient Egyptian medical practices, Mazrui observes that Egyptians used herbs, animal and mineral products. These products were administered through oral, topical, enemas and suppositories. Even in contemporary Egypt, broken legs and sprained ankles are treated much faster among traditional healers than in modern hospitals (Mazrui, ed. 1993: 638).

The Egyptians also consulted their gods for answers to their illnesses (Mazrui, ed. 1993: 639).

The first surgery in human history is said to have taken place in Egypt as early as 2750 BC

(https://en.m.wikipedia.org). The practice was so advanced, including non-invasive surgery, setting of bones, dentistry, and an extensive set of pharmacopoeia.

The Yoruba of south-western Nigeria understood the concept of worms (micro- organisms) and insects in dealing with diseases which afflicted human beings. They knew that some insects were good because they fought diseases and sought to protect the health equilibrium of the body (Mazrui, 1993: 638). The use of herbal or traditional medicine has been supported by other scholars who have done detailed studies on alternative medicine and other practices aimed at restoring ill-health. Campbell, for instance, explains that, not only did

Africans use herbal medicine in treating ill-health; they also used fetishes to deal with health challenges (Campbell, 1922: 239).

The Southern African peoples also did practice and use traditional medicine. The healers were referred to as sangomas. They administered medicine to their patients depending on the patient‟s sickness. Some medicine was taken orally, some by steaming (ukufutha), enemas

(ukucima), regurgitating (ukugabha) and bathing (ukuhlamba) (Mpono, 2007: 71). During the colonial period, under the apartheid regime, indigenous medicine and witchcraft were discouraged and outlawed in S. Africa (Marlise, Richter, 2003). Laws were passed that banned the use of indigenous medicine. The witchcraft suppression Act of 1957 and the witchcraft suppression Amendment Act of 1970 declared indigenous medicine unconstitutional thereby disallowing the practitioners from doing their business in South Africa (Hassim et al: http;//www.alp.org.za). This blanket condemnation by colonialists was guided by Eurocentric perceptions which disregarded all African medical practices and customs without examining

4 their true value. Despite the condemnation, indigenous medicine continued to grow and flourish to greater degrees in South Africa. The Sangomas were the equivalent of the Dibia of Nigeria and the abanyamete among the Gusii (Hewson, 1998: 1029-1034; Sindiga, 1995: 279).

The Maasai indigenous medical practices have been studied by many scholars, among them Sankan, (1971). The Maasai community reportedly rely mainly in traditional medicine.

According to Sankan (1971: 59), there are trees, barks, shrubs, roots and herbs which are boiled in soup and drunk to keep the stomach and blood in good condition and there are those which are drunk when one is ill. He maintains that there are drugs derived from trees and shrubs for the cure of diseases such as gonorrhoea, stomache-ache and infections connected with the throat, teeth, ribs, colds, coughs, swollen legs and painful joints (Sankan 1971: 60). Many Maasai youth are found in villages and urban areas selling indigenous medicine. This is unlike in the past where medicine was a preserve of aged people and payment was in kind. Indeed this medical practice is widespread in Africa and not just among the Maasai alone.

The Abagusii people, who are our focus in this study, are part of the Bantu speakers of

South Western Kenya, and relate to the Luhya, Suba and Kuria who are also Bantus. They occupy the larger region of Gusiiland, an area estimated to be 2,196 km square, covering the counties of Nyamira and Kisii (refer to Fig 1 and Fig 2 on pages 29 and 30 for the maps of

Nyamira County and Nyamira Sub-County respectively). Among the Abagusii, herbal medicine is invaluable. Its usage has withstood the onslaught of western influence and modernization. It is estimated that 90% of the total population seek some form of non-licensed and non- institutionalized traditional medicine, which the Abagusii knew as the only medical remedy in the pre-colonial era (Sindiga, 1995: 279). This is especially prevalent in areas that are marginalized and therefore do not have easy access to modern hospitals and health centres. Their

5 only option therefore is traditional medicine. The Abagusii had traditional herbalists

(abanyamete), the diviners (abaragori), the surgeons (ababari), circumcisers (abasari), the dealers in love medicine (abaebia) and healers who they believed were capable of treating their illnesses. Various traditional practitioners were consulted in different situations. The most advanced medical practitioners were, however, the surgeons (ababari) who could perform special surgeries called craniotomy, which is the opening of the skull to relieve pressure-causing headache. The practitioners of indigenous medicine used plants, minerals, medical paraphernalia, and herbs to deal with health challenges afflicting people. The part they played was very significant so much so that in appreciating the role played by indigenous medicine in healthcare, the Kenya Development Plan (1989-1993: 34) recognized indigenous medicine practitioners.

Similarly the Patent Law of 1999 gave protection to indigenous medicines. However, both the

Development Plan and the Patent Law did not interrogate the dynamics and changes within the therapeutic systems among the Kenyan communities. In addition, Sindiga who studied Gusii indigenous medicine during the pre- colonial era has observed that a critical section of Gusii population relied on indigenous medicine. Although this present study makes great contribution in understanding Gusii indigenous medicine, little scholarly focus has been directed on continuity and change of Gusii indigenous medicine up-to 2010.

Historically, the use of indigenous medicine has been combined with the African socio- spiritual beliefs. Sickness was attributed to guilt by a person, family or village for a sin or moral infringement. The illness would stem from the displeasure by the gods, due to infraction of the universal moral law (Onuwanibe, 1979: 25-28). The remedy was provided by consulting the diviners and seers. These practitioners pointed to areas of concern and referred them to the herbal practitioners who upon explanations prescribed and administered the herbal remedies necessary.

According to Kigen (2013) and Miller (1990: 1-15), the use of indigenous medicine is finding more relevance in contemporary times globally. Dependency on indigenous medicine is relatively high, although most repositories of indigenous knowledge are disappearing fast

(Lindsay and Hepper, 1978: 79). Equipped with this knowledge, a study on the Gusii indigenous medicine, especially on continuity and change becomes imperative.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In contemporary Africa, the use and practice of indigenous medicine remains relatively high despite several centuries of influence from western medical practice. This study seeks to give a historical analysis of the various changes and continuity that have characterised the

African medicine over time. By taking the Gusii community of Western Kenya as a case study, the research attempts to demonstrate that indigenous medicine practices are still alive. It describes the nature and practice of indigenous medicine, identifies the practitioners and their qualifications and delves into the processing and administration of the medicine. Above all, the study looks at the different historical phases in the development and practice of the Gusii indigenous medicine over time.

1.3 Research Questions

The study was guided by the following research questions

i) What were the salient features of Gusii indigenous medicine before European colonialism (1880-1900)?

ii) How did Western colonial institutions impact on the nature and practice of Gusii

indigenous medicine between 1900 -1963?

iii) How has the interface between modern lifestyle of Abagusii and Gusii indigenous

medicine manifested itself in the period, 1963 - 2010?

1.4 Research Objectives

This study aimed at achieving the following objectives.

i) To provide a synopsis of the status of Gusii indigenous medicine and its usage on the eve

of British colonialism, 1880-1900.

ii) To examine the impact of the encounter between the colonial institutions and the nature

and practice of Gusii indigenous medicine.

iii) To describe the interface and resultant features of the contemporary lifestyles of Abagusii

and indigenous Gusii medicine between 1963 and 2010

1.5. Research Premises

This study was guided by the following premises:

i) Pre-colonial Gusii indigenous medicine was a firmly established and comprehensive

system of healthcare delivery.

ii) The British colonial institutions, including western medicine did not displace the

indigenous Gusii medical practices but rather existed side by side with it.

iii) The interface between the modern lifestyle of the Abagusii and indigenous Gusii

medicine has resulted in hybrid manifestations of medicare.

1.6 Justification and Significance of the Study

This study was carried out among the Abagusii of Nyamira County. The choice of

Abagusii community was based on the fact that existing work on indigenous medicine among the

Abagusii has not delved into continuity and changes in indigenous medicine and therapeutic systems. Nor, has this been done among the other Kenyan communities. Moreover, many studies on African history are concentrated on the rise of states and kingdoms, histories of scramble and conquest, and other political, socio-economic and anthropological developments and issues on

8 both colonial and post-colonial periods. The study on continuity and change of indigenous medicine in Gusii was envisaged as unique and a forgotten area of study and therefore fertile, rich in information and productive as an area of study. The period 1880 and 2010 is a long enough era to interrogate developments in indigenous Gusii medicine in a historical perspective.

Also 1880s was an era that saw the beginning of an end of the monopoly of indigenous medicine by the Gusii as then the colonialists and missionaries introduced a more potent medicine.

This study will be useful in guiding policy formulation by the Ministry of Health. It will also produce some insights that will guide the regulations regarding the practice of indigenous medicine. The study further gives a rational evaluation of indigenous medicine and healthcare and its impact on the quality of life. The study may provide information that can be used in redesigning and improving modern medicine and medical research. The findings of the study will highlight the significance of indigenous medicine and its place in contemporary healthcare.

Furthermore, little or no study has been done in the way we are doing it: namely, looking at continuity and changes in historical perspective.

1.7 Scope and Limitations of the Study

This study focuses on continuity and changes in the indigenous medicine among the

Abagusii community of Nyamira South Sub-County. Nyamira South borders Nyamira North to the East, Kitutu Masaba, and Kitutu Chache to the West and Borabu to the South.The area of study is a cartographical figure shown as figure 1 and 2 in pages 29 and 30 respectively. Its population stands at 178,284 people (National Census, 2009). Nyamira Sub-county covers 179 square kilometres with a population density of 996 per square kilometre. The majority of the people here are largely Abagusii, and“90% of the population use indigenous medicine” (Sindiga,

1995:279). This study found the percentage to be 79.28%, which is still high.

The study discusses the effectiveness and efficacy of indigenous medicine, procurement, processing, packaging, marketing, administration and the pharmacopoeia of the Abagusii‟s therapeutic systems. The study further establishes the status of Gusii indigenous medicine on the eve of colonialism and interrogates its transformation during the colonial and post- colonial period. The research covered the period 1880 to 2010 since this span of time was adequate to interrogate the transformation of indigenous medicine in Gusii appropriately. Also, an alien people (Europeans) had started coming in complete with a new culture, including western medicine. This was likely to pose competition to the monopoly held by the Gusii in healthcare.

Another reason for picking 1880s as the starting point is because by this time, the Gusii had already settled in their homeland in South Western Kenya. Their geographical, socio-cultural and political frontiers were distinguishable from their Kipsigis, Luo, and Maasai neighbours. The study limited itself to the therapy of human diseases only. Being part and parcel of human beings, livestock keeping and their health have been left out and recommended to other scholars as areas for carrying out further research. The researcher encountered various limitations that included the unwillingness of respondents to share their medical skill as well as the conflicting theories on traditions, customs and practices of the Gusii as propagated by various groups and individual informants. However, the problem was overcome by explaining that the study was for academic purposes only. We also used probing questions on the informants to get reliable, authentic and consistent data.

1.8.0 Literature Review

There is a lot of literature on indigenous medicine that has been written. Lester,

ChoonNam and Halliweli (2004) carried a detailed analysis on indigenous medicine in the

United States of America. According to them, herbal medicine in the U.S.A is widely used and

10 there is increased demand for indigenous medicine in the region. Due to this, more than 90% of

U.S.A medical schools provide some form of indigenous medicine content in their school conventional curriculum. The reasons given for increased demand for indigenous medicine in the

U.S.A include the high cost of scientific medicine and the practice of referring patients from one specialist to another. These scholars exude confidence that increased demand in herbal healthcare has led to proliferation of companies dealing with herbal medicine and practice.

Although their studies play a significant role in understanding the role of indigenous medicine in society, they are not clear on the efficacy, change and continuity of these drugs in the American society. However, their insight into this topic demonstrates its scholarly discourse and significance. At the local level, similar studies on indigenous medicine exist (Nyamwaya, 1995;

Sindiga, 1995). However, they fail to examine the transformation of indigenous medicine over time. None of these studies explains about continuity and change in indigenous medicine. The

U.S.A experience is different from experiences by the Gusii in terms of culture and colonisation.

Lester, ChoonNam and Halliweli (2004) have not done any studies on the use of indigenous medicine by the native Americans whom we believe are the original inhabitants of America. Nor was their study on the impact of the European immigrants in the USA on the local indigenous therapies. The focus of this study is specifically on the Abagusii and their practices on indigenous therapies, particularly the salient features of indigenous medicine on the eve of

British colonialism and the encounter between western culture and indigenous Gusii medicine.

This gives us the lacuna to be studied.

According to Holliday (2003) and Chan (2008), indigenous medicine is widely used in

Asian countries. Some of these countries have attempted to integrate indigenous medicine systems into modern medical healthcare systems for decades. In China, for instance, both

11 indigenous medicine and conventional medicine have existed side by side since 1949. More than

40% of Chinese rely on indigenous medicine. Chinese medicine is sold all over the world. Many companies globally have turned this medicine into a lucrative business. However, studies by

Holliday and Chan have not touched on continuity and change on indigenous medicine in China.

Nor has continuity and change been studied at the local level. While these scholars‟ work is significant and appreciative to this study, there is need for a study at the local level on continuity and change.

In Europe, indigenous medicine is as old as Europe itself. It was used to protect people from infections by the twelfth century (NIMH, 2011). In Wales, for instance, the Welsh physicians based their own philosophy on good diet, a moderate lifestyle and simple herbal remedies to cure maladies. Later, the British imported the knowledge on the use of quinine obtained from the cinchona tree from the Peruvians of Central America (Renaldo, 2003). In

1864, the National Association of Medical Herbalists was established in Britain. In 1945 the association was renamed the National Institude of Medical Herbalists (NIMH). However, the

NIMH did not show the changing trends in herbal medicine, save for change of name from

NAMH to NIMH. The focus of this study is to delineate continuity and change of indigenous medicine among the Gusii. Many European countries were also not colonized to enable the study establish the impact of colonialism on indigenous medicine. This opens a gap in relation to the

Gusii who were colonised.

The World Health Organization Report (WHO, 2014), estimate that on average 80% of the people worldwide rely on herbal medicines for some part of their primary health care. In

Germany, about 600-700 plant based medicines are available and are prescribed by 70% of

German physicians. However, it should be noted that various reports by WHO lack important

12 data that can be used to view the trend of indigenous medicine practice in Africa. This has left

African policy makers with mere guesswork and that has a negative implication on the development of indigenous medicine. Reports by WHO do not specifically focus on the Gusii or any specific community in relation to the study‟s objectives. Therefore, this creates a lacuna to be investigated.

Kokwaro and Kimanani (1990), observe that the Egyptian civilization had made advances in indigenous medicine by 1500 BC. The Egyptians used garlic (Allium sativum), juniper

(Juniperuscommunis) and myrrh (Commiphoramolmol) for medicinal purposes. Their study reveals that indigenous medicine has a long history that goes as far back as ancient Egypt. While their work is useful and relevant to this study, the focus of this research is on change and continuity of traditional medicine in Gusii along the span of the study. Our study also focuses on the manifestations of the interface between the contemporary lifestyles of the Gusii and indigenous Gusii medicine. However, Kokwaro and Kimanani‟s studies are significant for they indicate the place of indigenous medicine in society.

According to Mazrui, (1993), Africans had a method of treating their animals. It was based on the belief that bits of an animal prepared with herbs of known therapeutic value could pass on their characteristics to heal a person suffering from lack of those characteristics for which the animal was best known. He gives examples of pastoralists such as the Fulbe, Maasai and Somali as having acquired extensive knowledge of their animals and their biological needs.

The Yoruba for instance, knew the value of worms fighting some diseases by providing a state of equilibrium of the body. This demonstrates the vast corpus of indigenous African medicine.

However, Mazrui‟s work is useful to this study on continuity and change on indigenous African medicine. It highlights the lenth and bread of indigenous medicine, touching on animals as well

13 as human beings. His study is important since it justifies and signifies the role of indigenous medicine in the health care beheviour of the Africans. This provides the basis for this study.

Lovejoy (1986), in her writings about the history of salt production and trade in Central

Sudan, asserted that salt was used to treat eye disorders and minor skin irritations. The indigenous doctors, medical dispensers, barbers, bonesetters, midwives and Muslim clerics used salt as part of treatment depending on the medical condition handled. The Hausa medicine men and women used herbs to treat common cold, headaches, digestive disorders and general complaints. The medical dispensers acted as pharmacists than as doctors (Lovejoy, 1986).

Lovejoy‟s work is vital inasmuch as it shows the role of herbal medicine in Africa on the eve of colonialism. Her work relates to this study, though this research centres on continuity and change of indigenous medicine in Gisii. This is the lacuna identified.

Flint, (1976) examines the impact of missionary influence on medicine in Africa. He describes how the catholic missionaries set up hospitals and dispensaries in many places, particularly in Malagasy by 1864. Flint, in his analysis, discredits indigenous medicine in preference to conventional medicine. The current study gives examples to demonstrate that western cultures‟ view of indigenous medicine are based on a fallacy. Because of bias and ethnocentrism in his work, there is need to locate the place of indigenous medicine in contemporary society alongside conventional healthcare.

Buyera (2002), identifies a number of medicinal plants namely, aloe Vera, carrots, red pepper, marijuana, garlic, and others. Having given that, this study looked at how these plants were used as herbal medicine after processing and the transformative stages of herbal treatment over time. His work has gaps to be filled such as a detailed study of features of herbal medicine before colonialism and the interface between the contemporary lifestyles of Abagusii and

14 indigenous medicine. However, we appreciate his outline of the herbal medicines used by

Africans, not only in Uganda, but by extension, Africa in general.

Helwig (2010) observes that indigenous knowledge in Africa was considered by the western world as primitive and indigenous medicine was condemned. It can be argued that the

Europeans condemned indigenous medicine based on Eurocentric biases and without the benefit of a credible yardstick. The study on the Gusii attempts to reconstruct the place of indigenous medicine in African societies.

Onwuanibe (1979) describes a situation where indigenous medicine practitioners attempt to determine the root causes underlying ill health by attributing it to lack of balance between the patient‟s social environment and the spiritual world. Although these assertions by

Onwuanibe are helpful in understanding or diagnosing of ill health, Onwuanibe doubts the

African ability to diagnose diseases. An issue of continuity and change are key factors to this study and is the lacuna in Onwuanibe‟s work that the study wants to fill.

Sankan (1971) highlights how trees, barks, shrubs, roots and herbs were boiled in soup and drunk to restore good health to the patient. He also identifies drugs derived from trees and shrubs for the cure of various diseases such as gonorrhoea, stomach troubles and infections connected with the throat, teeth, ribs, colds, coughs, swollen legs and painful joints. Sankan has done well in identifying the drugs used by the Maasai. The transformation that has taken place in terms of quality improvement and discovery of more indigenous medicine are very vital in our study. Challenges faced by the indigenous medical practice among the Maasai with the introduction and use of conventional medicine have not been given prominence in Sankan‟s study. Our study attempts to address these. Our focus is on change, continuity and manifestations

15 resulting from contemporary lifestyles of Africans and indigenous medicine. This study dealt with this lacuna.

Fratkin (1996) has studied Samburu medical practices and usage. He observed that the

Samburu used different herbs to treat various diseases. He also observed that massages, purgatives, herbal teas prepared from pepper and calcium carbonate were used to treat old blood, chest pain, headache and liver pain. He mentions the presence of hospitals and health centres in major towns but again admits that rarely do the Samburu visit these facilities due to distances and cost factors. He observes that the Samburu “seeking health care remains pluralistic, where health providers were selected based on availability, location, cost and belief in the effectiveness of treatments (Fratkin 1996)”. This work has insights that we try to identify in Gusii indigenous medicine.

Liyong (1972), Mwaniki (1974) and Wafula (2011), observe that in Kenya, indigenous medicine usage was constantly growing throughout the pre-colonial era. Among the Bukusu, healers and prophets acquired great status because of their knowledge in community tradition and medicine. The typical medicineman or woman‟s place of practice was equipped like any modern day pharmacy to treat a wide range of medical conditions. In return, the villagers paid back in form of food and animals. In this, (Mokaila 1970; Ochieng‟1974; and Mwanzi 1977) support them. Liyong, has dealt alot on the Banyore, a Luhyia sub-ethnic group, while Mwaniki has dealt with the the Embu. While their works are related to this study, their scope and span is limited to the pre-colonial period. This study extends to the post-colonial period.

Mbondo (2006), has discussed witchcraft beliefs and practices among the Akamba

Christians of Machakos County. According to him, whether Christian or non-christian, belief in the power of witchcraft or magical ppowers anong the Akamba is very strong. So much so that

16 people have to walk with talismans in their clothes or pockets for protection against evil deeds of human beings against others. Mbondo observes that not much has changed as far as social beliefs and practices are concerned. He dicusses witchcraft, how it is acquired, methods of bewitching, punishment for witches, and persistence of witchcraft among the Akamba, alongside other issues. In that discourse, whether witchcraft is associated withindigenous medicine or not, is not mentioned. Since indigenous therapeutic medical practice is the main focus of this study, there is a lacuna in this analysis by Mbondo. This was what the study sought to fill.

Sindiga (in Akama and Maxon, (Eds) 1995) has written much about the indigenous medicine among the Abagusii. He observes that before colonialism and the advent of modern medicine, the Abagusii had no distinction between diseases, illnesses and misfortune. He explains that, although diseases were caused in a number of ways, the Abagusii tended to tag an induced cause like witchcraft. He observes that witchcraft was responsible for certain medical- social problems. This included mental disturbance (ebarimo), infertility (obogomba), developing a chronic wound (rikwege), epilepsy (endurume), and evil eye (ebibiriria).

Sindiga further propounds that with colonization, indigenous medicine usage is said to have declined from the nineteeth century when missionaries set up mission hospitals and initiated Christianity in Gusiiland. Thus, Abagusii‟s medical practices changed. Sindiga‟s work dwelt on disease causation than reflecting on changes and dynamics that took place on indigenous therapeutic systems. His work is clearly useful. Sindiga further observes that indigenous medicine among the Abagusii has declined contrary to assertions by WHO that documented that indigenous medical practices were on the increase. There is thus a lacuna to be filled.

Studies by Kanunah, Nyaigoti, and Sindiga (1995) reveal that, human diseases like infertility, diabetes, hypertension, nose bleeding, asthma, gonorrhoea, were all treated using herbal medicine. Women who bore girls only could be treated to conceive boys using herbs.

Infertility was treated using the roots of moteoitimo (the spear plant or heliotropium); asthma with the leaves of moteokebaki (the bird plant), and malaria with 22 different herbs. This study borrows from these works but goes on to focus on the impact of colonialism on indigenous medicine or how the interface between Gusii indigenous medicine and generational usage of these medicines has manifested itself. Majorly, the study focuses on continuity and change in indigenous medicine.

Omwoyo, (1990) has written extensively on indigenous medicine among the Gusii. He has a brief stint in the herbs used to treat human beings. He mentions the spider vegetables

(chinsaga) as used by women who have given birth or newly circumcised boys. To the Gusii, this herb adds more blood to the affected people. Omwoyo has dealt on diseases affecting animals than those on human diseases. The focus of this study is on the transformative aspect of herbal medicine in historical perspectives on human beings.

According to Akama and Maxon (1995), indigenous medicine is still used by the

Abagusii in rural areas due to lack of proper accessibility to medical healthcare from modern hospitals. They further observe that some of the Abagusii who have access to modern hospitals, however, still use indigenous medicine to treat measles (omokururo or ekanyamoguku) in children, „evil eye‟ (ebibiriria) and infantile diarrhoea (orosao rwa abana), which they believe to be because of abnormal development of milk teeth. The subject of evil eye has also been dealt with by Liyong among the Banyore of western Kenya. They are called obusula or ebikhokho.

Treatment is done by rubbing oil on the belly, head and legs of the affected child and what

18 comes out is sand, hairs and ashes (Liyong, 1972). This study has focussed on continuity and change in Gusii indigenous medicine in terms of quality improvement, historical perspectives, packaging of drugs and training of personnel. Additionally, the study explored the influence of colonialism and post-independence trends on the Abagusii indigenous medicine. However, according to Liyong, the practice has continued to this day. Manifestations have been clearly demonstrated as far as the interface between indigenous medicine and modern lifestyles of the people is concerned.

Ochieng (1974) wrote extensively about the pre-colonial and colonial history of the

Abagusii. He traces the migrations of the Gusii people from“Misiri” to their subsequent settlements. He gives a detailed analysis of the impact of the entire colonial institutions on the

Gusii socio-economic and political spheres. In assessing the impact of white Catholic and

Seventh Day Adventist missionaries on the locals, he does not mention indigenous medical practice and their role in healthcare among the Gusii. Little attention was also given on the impact of colonialism on Gusii indigenous medicine. He recommends that research be carried out in these areas (Ochieng‟ 1974). This study in fact responds to this recommendation.

1.8.1 Summary In summary, the use and application of indigenous medicine is universal. Man has used indigenous medicine from time immemorial. A review of relevant literature has been done starting from the global arena-America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Kenya and finally literature on indigenous medicine among the Gusii of Western Kenya. A number of scholars agree that the pre-industrial revolution societies relied on indigenous therapeutic systems to solve their health challenges. Communities just went into the bush or nearby forests picked herbs, leaves, roots, barks, stems, flowers and buds, dried them under the sun or fire or ground them into a paste and

19 created medicine. These herbs included Aloe Vera, pepper, garlic, strawberry, ginger, heliotropism, among others. Indigenous medicine dealt with skin diseases, itching, stomachache, body pains, whooping cough, backache and poor vision. In all these cases, people believed in herbal remedies, exercise, massaging, diet regulations and spiritual healing. Those scholars like Sindiga (1995), Liyong (1972), Buruchara and Okiomeri (1994), who have written much about Gusii indigenous medicine agree that among many Africans, disease, misfortune and illness were interwoven. Dead had an induced cause like witchcraft. The coming of colonialism changed all this. The authors of most works have mentioned about types of medicines used, various healers in many communities, methods of procuring medicine, among other issues.

However, none of these works have dealt with continuity and change of indigenous medicine in any global ethnic groups. And here-in is the lacuna that this study chose to research on. It is a fertile gap, rich in information and a forgotten area of study.

1.8.2 Theoretical Framework

A theory is a set of conjectures delineating some interrelationships between various sets of research variables.This hypothesis leads the researcher to develop a conceptual framework in the cognitive (Willis 2007:64). According to Gimode (2003: 54), a theory is supposed to provide a middle level ground to a study in the storm of being thrown here and there by the huge data and facts. Frohock (1967:7 in Gimode, (1993:11) also asserts that theories do not make truthful claims about the world, but are guidelines which make the world meaningful to us. However, no one discipline has enough of these theories in its research work. Most academic disciplines borrow a lot from other study areas. These calls for an interdisciplinary approach, borrowing theoretical insights from other disciplines in the process of research studies (Gimode, 1993: 11,

Alembi 2003: 32). A theoretical paradigm can be weaved to suit any disciplinary study. The role

20 of theory in any scientific work is to explain the relevant phenomenon. Health systems research

(HSR) may incorporate a number of different theories and models to help explain the dynamism and changing trends and patterns of the use of health-services by society. This study opted to integrate both the resilience and rational choice theoretical models to explain continuity and change within the therapeutic systems of the Gusii.

The resilience theory is a multifaceted field of study that takes into account the work of social workers, psychologists, sociologists, educators and many others. It refers to the skills, abilities, knowledge and insights that accumulate over time as people struggle to surmount adversity and meet challenges (Garmezy, 1994: http://startribune.com/norman-garmazy-re). It addresses the strengths that people and systems demonstrate that enable them to rise above adversity. The word resilience is a Latin word meaning “springing back” or “jumping back-up”.

Luther (1995) defines resilience as “positive adaptation despite adversity”. Still other researchers see it as normal development under difficult conditions. According to the founder of this theory, who is also regarded as the grandfather of the theory, Norman Garmazy, when society is faced with mental stress due to war, poverty, famine, among other adversities, it develops resilience and moves on (flourishes) as others languish and even perish (www.norman- garmezy-re). Ledogar and Fleming (2008: 46) have also observed that community or societal resilience is the capacity of a distinct community or cultural system to absorb disturbances, reorganize while undergoing change, retain key elements of structure and identify that which preserves its distinctness.

This paradigm was useful in guiding the drift from illness to health, from vulnerability to strength and ill health to thriving and positive thoughts, from deficit (inadequate services and drugs) to protection using locally available medicine and beyond. At this point, peoples‟

21 resilience becomes their strength (Howley and DeHaan, 1996: 283). For instance, when the health providers go on strike demanding for higher pay, the research established that the sick and those seeking for health services do not surrender to fate in Nyamira County – but soldiers on by seeking for alternative medicine particularly in the case of infantile diseases (Akama and Maxon,

1995: 279). The decision to move on and use indigenous medicine is determined by socio- cultural factors. Those factors also play an important role in the organization and utilization of modern healthcare. The success of preventive and promotion action programs largely depends upon the people‟s acceptability of the health providers‟ services available and that is related to cultural norms and values.

The model assumes that people‟s beliefs and attitudes are critical determinants of their health related action. Since the people of Nyamira (the Gusii) have had indigenous medicine as part of their cultural practice and belief, regardless of whether modern medicine are available in public facilities, they seem to always go for traditional therapies. Even in times of shortages of drugs in health facilities, the Gusii comfortably walk to traditional therapists for medicine since they have faith in its effectiveness and efficacy (Esther Monyoncho, O.I., 2016).

This theory was first used in reference to children who adopted to unfavorable life conditions in their earlier years. The people of Nyamira, the research found, have built strength, faith, hope and reliance in their indigenous therapeutic systems. Their thoughts and actions and their propensity to use indigenous therapies is resiliently based on long term experiences and associations with it and the fact that it is readily available and affordable. The providers were amiable and amicable compared to stone faced health providers in public facilities (Oriku, O.I.,

2016).

According to Becker and Mainman (1974: 21-22) the health decisions of the people are explained using the following variables:-The individual‟s readiness to take action in particular to a health condition was determined by both the person‟s perceived susceptibility or vulnerability to the condition and his perceptions of the severity of the consequence of being in that health condition.The individual‟s estimates of the actions potential benefits in reducing actual or perceived susceptibility/severity weighed against his perception and barrier or cost of proposed action. Some internal or external stimuli must occur to trigger the appropriate health decision.

That includes the state of the body‟s health, mass media, personal knowledge, or someone affected by the condition or interpersonal interaction. The theory thus uses motivational resilience as a necessary condition for action. The action taken by the people could ameliorate the severity of the health problem. That of course varies from person to person. A person could worry of his physical or health consequences such as death, mental ill health or disability and thus take action or make a decision.

This theory has some limitations because there is a danger that could arise with the resilience theory in that the idea can be turned into a kind of rigid, brittle, “don‟t look back”,

“Teflon coated resilience”, which render the individual or system hard and vulnerable to stress

(Scwartz, 1997, www.vanbreda.resilience). However, people need resilience that is compassionate, flexible and in touch with reality. We have observed elsewhere that 90% of

Abagusii use indigenous medicine. The research actually found out that for Abagusii, it is not resilience resulting from the “don‟t look back” dogma, but, because drugs were expensive, inaccessible or the health providers were on strike. It was also the choice of the community based on long-term experiences and beliefs. Other factors included age, religion, education and income levels (Ronald Arika, O. I. 2016). According to Arika, old people and the less educated

23 tend to prefer indigenous medicine much more than staunch Christians and those with high levels of education and income. And, this leads the study to the rational action theory which has been used as a supplement in approaching this study.

The rational choice theory (also called the rational action theory) was founded by John

Von Neumann (1903-1957). It is an economic paradigm but can apply to any discipline where there are competing forces. The proponents of this theory argued that individual behaviour aggregates to produce societal behaviour. The theory could be used to explain decisions and actions taken by individuals and society as a whole in various facets of life. It assumes that individuals make the most efficient and economic action that minimizes cost and maximizes on benefits. According to this theory, humankind is a rational being and makes rational choices and actions. In rational choice theory, individuals are driven by goals, needs and wants that express themselves through preferences. The model was used in trade-offs between alternatives. In relation to this study, the model is used to analyze the health seeking behaviours and alternative care practices that the Gusii engaged in. It emanated from the fact that the people of Nyamira

County thought and knew themselves and their environment. Their perception, beliefs and thoughts were assumed to be standardized, repetitive and conventional. They were also assumed to be shared by all mature persons in the Gusii society. The theory identifies two elements in the

Gusii society that lead to the making of choices between alternative medicines/healthcare. First, one has to perceive himself or herself- what he does, feel, wants, desires and what one is. Two, one has to be able to understand the environment in which he lives. Such questions, as what is where? What leads to what? What things are satisfying? Or are painful or consequential or important, or beneficial, always come into play when it comes to decision-making. That also includes values, beliefs and attitudes. The interaction/interface of those two factors makes the

24 society come into reality. This reality leads to rational decision-making initiatives. Since decision-making involves a selection of one among a set of alternatives, it necessarily entails forsaking the attractive and accepting the negative or less attractive choice. In that case, the Gusii of Nyamira must make a rational choice between indigenous medicine and modern medicine.

Indigenous medicine in this case seems relatively less attractive. The theory provides abroad perspective of what the people of Nyamira South thought and knew about themselves, including beliefs, values or attitudes which necessitates those who are disillusioned with western medicine to go to traditional medical practitioners not only as a form of protest but also as a rational decision-making initiative.

In the most developed societies of Western Europe and USA, the medical system is highly developed and society well informed on health providers, quality of these providers, cost on the provision of medical care and distances to nearest medical facilities are shorter compared to the developing world. For instance, only ten percent of patients seriously considered an alternative to their local hospital in the U.S.A (Schwartz, 2005; Victoor et al., 2012). The same applies to the European countries. The opposite is the case with communities in developing countries, Gusii included. Other factors that determine decision-making according to that paradigm are socio-cultural factors, socio-economic factors, level of education, and the escalating cost of modern medical care. According to Van Luijk (1971), social and cultural factors have an impact upon the pattern of health and disease in the community and they play an important role in the organization and utilization of modern and traditional medical care. For instance, language difficulties may be a big snag for patients wanting to visit a modern healthcare facility, not only in Africa, but also in the western world. In this, the patient has to make a choice (Victor et al. 2012: 9). These socio-cultural factors cut across boundaries.

However, it must be reiterated that scientific or allopathic medical services, particularly in Africa were not introduced in a vacuum. Communities had their own healthcare systems but of course with limited choices. These systems were used to solve health challenges facing the society

(Omare 2007:29).

The rational choice theory, however, like the resilience theory has limitations. One, it does not recognize individual decision-making. It looks at society as a whole. Two, in many countries like Nigeria and South Africa, indigenous medicine therapies have been integrated into the mainstream healthcare systems. In that case, there are no healthcare alternatives as in

Nyamira County and Kenya in general. Among the educated elites, there is stigmatization and stereotyping. They are not open in making rational decisions and choices. With the emergence of chronic and incurable diseases like cancer, diabetes, hypertension and HIV/AIDs, there may not be two choices or healthcare alternatives. Some diseases could be best managed effectively with allopathic or scientific medicine. To a large extent, in our view, this paradigm is very relevant and appropriate within which to perceive our study. It projects some dynamism in an otherwise quiet, gradual, if not a static indigenous medicine system as seen during the eve of British colonialism. It demonstrates change and continuity in the Abagusii‟s therapeutic systems and portrays the Gusii as rational human beings with the ability to adapt change and absorp adverse health circumstances and move on.

Consequently, each theoretical framework was used depending on the issue at hand and at whatever stage in the development of the study. As has been seen already, both theories are relevant to this study and can be applied in the discourse of therapeutic systems, change, continuity, impact of colonial intrusion in Gusii healthcare systems and the manifestations of the

26 interface between Gusii therapeutic systems and contemporary lifestyles of the Abagusii of

Nyamira county up-to 2010.

1.9 Research Methodology

In historical studies, the methodology most suited is qualitative methods. This is because it involves explanations and descriptions. Quantitative methods are rarely used. However, in this study, though, it has applied the former; the latter has also been used in analysing some specific data for the sake of our readers.

1.9.1 Research Design

In conducting this study, descriptive research design was used because it sought to answer questions surrounding the dynamics, changes and continuity that have taken place in

Gusii‟s therapeutic system. It involves explanations, descriptions and demonstrations of the changes explicit or implicit within the therapeutic system of the Gusii people. Descriptive research describes possible behaviour, attitudes, values and characteristics of the population under study (Mugenda, and Mugenda 2004). The various methods of traditional therapy among the Abagusii, types of medicines used, practitioners of indigenous medicine, among others, were described by various respondents who were interviewed during the field study. The researcher traversed many areas in and outside Nyamira South sub-County collecting data. After data had been collected, and processed, a narrative format was adopted as is the norm in historical discourse.

1.9.2 Research Locale

The study was based on the Gusii of Western Kenya. This is a Bantu community which inhabits an area which was formerly part of South Nyanza District (Mayer, 1949: 1; and Levine

1977: 1). Between the Gusii and Lake Victoria is the Nilotic Luo. To the East and South East are

27 the Kipsigisi and Maasai (Ochieng‟ 1974: 1). To the South are the Abakuria. Presently, Gusii occupy two counties namely, Nyamira and Kisii.

Gusiiland is essentially a highland area with an altitude ranging from 1600 meters to

2450 meters above sea level. It is higher in the west and lower in the East (Bogonko 1977: 29).

The climate is very favourable. The area is well watered with an average rainfall of between

1500-2000 mm a year (Morgan 1973: 133). Temperatures are moderate. A number of rivers and streams descend the plateaus, escarpments and rounded hills and empty their waters into Lake

Victoria. Rivers Gucha, Echarachani and Eaka are but a few examples. The soils are volcanic in character, suitable for animal and crop production. With the favorable geographic and climatic conditions, Gusii has a high population density of over 853 people per square Kilometre

(National Census, 2009).

The study was undertaken in Nyamira South sub-county (West Mugirango constituency) which consists of Nyamira and Nyamaiya Divisions. It is bordered by Nyamira North sub-

County to the North-East, Masaba North sub-county to the South-West, Manga sub-County to the South and Borabu sub-County to the South-East (see figure 1. map of Kenya showing

Nyamira County on page 29 and figure 2 showing the position of Nyamira sub-County on page

30). The study featured some prominent market places like Miruka, Nyabite, Nyamaiya,

Kebirigo and Mosobeti where indigenous medicine practitioners met to market their wares.

Fig 1: Map of Kenya showing the location of Nyamira County.Source: (District development plan 2005 – 2009).

Fig 2: Map of Nyamira County showing the location of the study area. Source: (County Government of Nyamira, 2013)

1.9.3 Research Validity and Reliability

According to Mugenda, O. and Mugenda, A. (2004), research validity is the degree to which research instruments measure what they were intended to measure effectively. After carrying out a pilot study in the research area using six interviewees and the interview guide as the research tool, this was found to be the case. All the six interviewees gave similar responses.

These were three men and three women chosen purposively to test the instruments and clarity of the questionnaire.

On the other hand, research reliability, according to the two scholars referred above is the extent to which the tests produce consistent results when repeated severally. This was carried out using the six respondents. The results of the research instruments were found to be consistent after a three-day repeat.

1.9.4 Research Instruments

A couple of research instruments were used in collecting relevant data. These included interview schedules, question guidelines, and note books. The researcher used question guidelines to ask particular questions to particular groups depending on the literacy levels of the respondents. In that way, the researcher obtained some information that was then recorded for analysis later. Some interviewees were illiterate and thus would not write or speak well in

English. Data collected was later correlated, analysed and compared and conclusions drawn. The question and answer session was the best in getting information, particularly in cases of old interviewees where the local dialect was used. Other research instruments included the camera, pens, laptop and boots. The interviewees included traditional healers, traditional birth attendants

(TBA) or midwives, diviners, grown-up adults, and even children. Each group had a role to play in Gusii indigenous medicine practice.

1.9.5 Target Population

The target population of this study included male and female adults and occasionally mature children of over ten years who were used by healers to pick herbs from the forests.

Majority of these resided in Nyamira South Sub-County. The area has a population of 178,213 people, occupying 179 square kilometers (KNBS, 2010). Majority of the people interviewed were knowledgeable of Gusii indigenous medicine. We also interviewed civil servants, teachers, businessmen, and religious leaders, on certain aspects of Gusii indigenous medicine

1.9.6 Sampling Procedures and Sample Size

Purposeful sampling technique was employed in this study to identify individuals from villages, wards, markets, offices and churches to ensure adequate representation of the target population. This sampling technique was used in selecting people to be interviewed. Purposeful sampling was appropriate because not every individual was aware of indigenous medical practice among the Abagusii. However, many adults among the Gusii knew one or two types of indigenous medicine dealing with certain aspects of ill health.

We were able to interview 144 respondents, particularly having knowledge regarding indigenous medicine and diseases that affect children and pregnant mothers in Nyamira south sub-County. Even so, some scholars have observed that qualitative research does not aim to be statistically representative as in quantitative methods. The former case depends on the depth and richness of your encounters rather than the number of people who participate in the study (Limb and Dwyer, 2001).

1.9.7 Pilot Study

A small pilot study was carried out on a small sample of the target population to determine clarity of the questionnaires, detect the weaknesses of the instruments and enable the

32 researcher to amend the questions to achieve the objectives of the study. It comprised of six herbal practitioners of indigenous medicine. The result showed consistency of the interviewees and the validity of the instruments.

1.9.8 Data Collection Procedures

The study collected both primary and secondary data. Much of pre-colonial data was with the informants and this was a major primary source of data. Primary information was collected by use of interviews, question guidelines and observations. As many as 144 respondents were contacted in certain aspects of indigenous medicine. These were found in the churches, market day places, social gatherings, offices, schools and villages. The Kenya National

Archives was found to be a good source of primary data since most of the government reports, records, letters and diaries and memos of government officials for both colonial and post- independence periods were kept there. Secondary data, which was relevant, was also used as it was available in books, journals, dissertations, thesis, papers, and on-line literature. Kenyatta

University Post-Modern Library was very useful as it provided most of the books, journals, dissertations and theses.

The researcher‟s itinerary comprised of identifying elders with the knowledge of indigenous medicine and visitng them for interview. Many were excited with the sessions because of the rare opportunity accorded them for, answering questions, snap-shoots and being recorded. Some wise ones even requested for a copy of the research work once completed.

Though the study‟s sampling technique was purposive, in many instances, nobody who was willing to talk to us was denied the opportunity. Even children as young as ten years, particularly children of the practitioners of indigenous medicine, were interviewed. To the surprise of the study, many of these children provided a lot of data because they are the ones who harvest the

33 herbs for their parents. We also visited the office of chief Obiero of Bonyamatuta Chache

Location for more information and direction. This was on one of the Fridays, a day when he holds his weekly “baraza” (chief‟s forum) to deliver government policy. For us, it was an opportunity because it was here where we were able to get as many people as possible and to be directed to where such experts on indigenous medicine could be found. Our entourage

(researcher, village elder and the assistant researcher) did not stop here. We also visited the

Assitant County Commissioner for Nyamira South, church elders, pastor Nyakundi of Nyamira

Seventh Day Adventist conference, the business people in Nyamira town and private chemists in both Nyamira and Kebirigo towns. In all these places, information was collected. A lot of our questions were open ended and we used probing as a strategy to elicit more information. These sources of data were subjected to contextual criticism to test the relevance and accuracy of the information. The language of communications was English, Kiswahili and Ekegusii.

1.9.9 Data Analysis and Presentation Processes.

From the onset, the study sought to generate data that was not only critical but also analytical, rather than just narrative. After collection, the data was processed, subjected to criticism, analyzed, and arranged homogeniously and sometimes quantitatively. Editing of collected data was very important in determining errors and omissions that were made while in the field. This involved careful scrutiny of completed questionnaires and interview schedules.

Editing was also done to ensure that collected data was accurate, consistent with other facts gathered and uniformly recorded. Classification of collected data was done during data analysis.

Due to large volumes of data that was collected, it became necessary to categorize it into homogeneous groups to get meaningful relations. This was done based on common characteristics or attributes of the collected data. To this extent, it became imperative for the oral

34 data collected to be cross-examined with archival and other documentary sources from KNA.

The analyzed data was then presented in a narrative form. However, where necessary, quantitative analysis and presentation was used, though to a limited extent.

1.9.10 Ethical Considerations

A lot of care in terms of ethical considerations was observed. This was to ensure that information given by respondents was not compromised and was treated as confidential. Respect and honour were given to the respondents at all stages of the fieldwork. Thus integrity, confidentiality and privacy of the respondents were upheld. Permission to carry research was sought from the Graduate School of Kenyatta University and the National Commission for

Science, Technology and Innovation. Permission was also sought from other relevant offices like

Nyamira County Commissioner‟s office, the Teachers Service Commission County Director and the County Education Director‟s offices.

1.9.11 Summary

This chapter serves as an introduction to the thesis. It addresses the background to the study, statement of the problem, research questions, research objectives, research premises, justification and significance, scope and limitation, literature review, theoretical framework and research methodology. Under the introduction sub-section, we introduced the subject in focus and outlined the objectives that guided this study. These objectives generated three chapters as discussed below. Under the literature review, a comprehensive summary of other studies done before and were similar to our study were reviewed. More importantly, we illustrated how these studies differed with our work, thus creating a lacuna that our research attempted to fill. We also highlighted two models, namely the resilience theory, and the rational choice theory that were very instrumental in the development of this study. In this section, we also discussed the

35 methodology that was used during collection, analysis and presentation of data. Emphasis was put on the qualitative research design, sampling procedures, research instruments, sources of data and ethical considerations.

In the next chapter, the research focuses on the main objective of reconstructing the salient features of indigenous medicine among the Gusii on the eve of colonialism, 1880 to 1900.

The research uses the resilience theory and supplements it with the rational choice theory in its explanations.

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 FEATURES OF INDIGENOUS MEDICINE AMONG THE ABAGUSII ON THE

EVE OF BRITISH COLONIALISM, 1880-1900

2.1 Introduction

This chapter covers the traditions, migrations and settlement of the Gusii people. It examines the features of the Gusii therapeutic systems on the eve of colonialism, conceptualization of indigenous medicine, practitioners of indigenous medicine among the Gusii, diseases treated using indigenous medicine, witchcraft mysteries, procurement, processing, storage, administration and remuneration of the practitioners of indigenous medicine. In addition, the efficacy and healing techniques of indigenous medicine among the Gusii are discussed. The resilience theory backed by the rational action theory have been used to show the determination of the Gusii to protect themselves, move on and make decisions affecting them as a distinct group in the face of adversaries and vulnerabilities.

2.2 Traditions of Origins, Migrations and Settlement of the Gusii, 1600-1900

Several theories have been used to trace the origins, not only of the Gusii, but the Bantu linguistic speakers in Central, Easthern and Southern Africa. The evidence of the early Bantu history is fragmented and conflicting. The primary source of data is the linguistic one, although archaeology and ethnobotany have greatly contributed to the scanty information that is available.

Based on the evidence of language, Bantu speakers must have moved and spread faster to

Eastern and Southern Africa from some dispersal point. Linguists, historians and archaeologists appear not to agree on where the first batches of Bantu speakers came from, nor have they agreed on the whole dynamic process of expansion of the Bantu people throughout the ages. Besides the disagreements, controversy also rages as to the reasons for their rapid movement and expansion

37 to occupy two thirds of the region south of the Sahara. Scholars like Rowland Oliver (1966),

Basil Davidson (1964) and C. C. Wrigley (1966) see the “conquest motive” in the expansion.

This can still be speculation since no evidence is available.

The origin of the Bantu is a topic, which has interested many scholars. Since this study is short, we cannot examine or even enumerate all theories so far advanced on this topic. Afew will suffice. One is the Sir Harry Johnson Theory that argues that based on language the Bantu must have originated from an area between Western Uganda and Lake Chad. He postulates that communities in the region speak a similar dialect with those in the Eastern side of Mount Elgon, who he calls the Baluyia (Johnson, 1928). However, many scholars have dimissed this theory as being too general.

The Niger-Congo theory is another paradigm based on language and culture, particularly iron workings and tools of iron found in Easthern and Southern Africa (Bascom, 1959: 15-28).

Languages spoken by people in the Niger–Cameroon region like the Tiv, Batu, Ndoro, Bitare and Mambilia look similar to those used by the Bantus of Eastern and Southern Africa. Using iron tools, the Bantu moved in an easterly and southerly direction, clearing the forests for cultivation and penetration until they reached in Eastern and Southern Africa (Ochieng, 1974:

18). Was this the origins of all Bantus of Eastern Africa, the Gusii included?

Many Gusii traditions and mythologies point to an area to the north called “Misiri” as the cradle of the Gusii people. Many scholars who have studied the history of the Gusii people argue that at one point the Gusii were together with the ancestors of the Kuria, Logoli, Meru,

Embu, and Kamba. From Misiri, they migrated southwards to the area around Mount Elgon where the final dispersal took place (Ochieng, 1974:36). Traditions of the Logoli, Kuria, Embu,

Meru, Kamba, Bukusu and Bamasaba support this theory. They say that from the north, they

38 were together. At Mount Elgon, they separated due to over-crowding, epidemics and drought. In all these communities tradition has it that, even the Baganda, Basoga and fellow Baluhyia sub- ethnic communities were together (Were, 1967: 68). According to Ogot, well-known Baluhyia clans like the Abakhayo, Abakhekke, Abarama, Abatsotso, Abakabrasi, Abanyole, Abatirichi and Logoli had already started their migrations to their present homelands between 1552 and

1679 (Ogot, 1967: 135-142). The Logoli for instance say that they lived together with the Arabs in Misiri before moving South to Mount Elgon and settling in their present day territory after the Mount Elgon dispersal (Ochieng 1974:37).

Other researchers who support the Misiri theory for the origins of the Western Kenya

Bantu, including the Gusii, are Osogo (1966) and Wagner (1948). Osogo for instance opined that several clans composing the present day Samia, Tsotso, Khekka and Tachoni communities of

Luhyia originally came from Misiri (Osogo, 1966:30). The Haya is another ethnic community that claims that they parted company with the Luhyia in Uganda. Osogo described their language: “just as far and no more removed from Luhyia as the Gusii language is” (Osogo,

1966: 21-27). Some of the Haya clans who claim to have come from Misiri include the Bagara,

Bahinda, Basingo, Basindi, Banyongo, Bagwe, Baganda, Bakombe and Batenaita (Hans Cory

1945).

Some of the elders interviewed pointed to a legendary man called Mogusii as the founder of Gusii and the man after whom the Gusii are named. They said that Mogusii‟s father was called

Osogo, son of Moluguhia, son of Kigoma, son of Ribiaka who was son of Kintu (also called

Mundu or Muntu, according to Ochieng (1974). Kintu is the man who led Abagusii from Misiri to the Mount Elgon region. The informant, Gesora (O.I: 2016), also narrates that Moluhyia, the grandfather of Mogusii had many sons who founded the various Baluhyia clans. Among these

39 sons were Osogo and Mogikoyo. Osogo‟s descendants sired Gusii, Logoli and Tende. These offspring of Mogikoyo became the Gikuyu, Meru, Embu and Kamba communities (Ochieng,

1974: 41).What is apparent with some curiosity is that the Gusii like all other Western Kenya

Bantu might have come from an area around Mount Elgon and dispersed into Western Kenya.

No theory on their migrations has been universally accepted by historians. Debate on these continues.

Gusii migration from Mount Elgon region began around 1600 A.D. They moved accompanied by their close cousins – the Suba, Kuria and Logoli. They moved to Goye in

Yimbo-Kadimo and settled here for two generations (Ochieng 1974: 41). Their settlement extended to Got Ramogi. After several decades of settlement, the Gusii and Logoli decided to move from here (Nyauma Mosicho, 0.1: 2016); Gesora Masaki, (0.I: 2016). This followed the

Luo migration –the Joka jok group. There was also overcrowding in the area. Note that other people like the Abalusere, Abakholo and Abange clans who had moved from the Lake Victoria islands like Magenta, Homa, Lolwe, Sito and Sagiti, were already settled in the area (Osogo,

1966: 28-34).

Upon the arrival of the Joka-jok Luo masses, most Bantu clans fled to Samia and

Bunyala. Others migrated southwards into Sakwa, Asembo and Seme before moving into the cooler areas of present day Buluhyia. According to Ochieng (1974: 43), those who moved southwards were the Gusii clans as well as the Suba such as the Zanaki, Ugu, Ngoreme and

Shanzi, now found scattered not only in Migori and Homa Bay counties, but also along the rolling plains of the Kenya-Tanzania borders. They resiliently resolved to move on and to live as distinct communities.

The Gusii are said to have crossed river Yala into Alego next to Lake Gangu where the marauding Luo warriors who raided them for cattle soon invaded them again. Due to constant raids by the Luo, the Gusii decided to move eastwards and eventually settled in an area called

Kisumo, along the shores of Lake Victoria. Their close relatives, the Logoli, accompanied them.

“Nyakomogendi”, the mother of Mogusii is said to have died at Kisumo. Mogusii also died here because the leaders who led the Gusii to Kano plains this time were different. They are mentioned as Oibabe, Mochorwa, Mobasi and Mogusero (Ochieng, 1974: 45).

The Gusii movement from Kisumo to Kano plains was caused by many factors, which included famine, drought and diseases (Ochieng, 1974: 45). Separation between the Logoli and

Gusii took place here. The famine is said to have been so severe leading to the death of many people and animals. According to Gesora (0.1: 2016), there was neither food nor crops. Water was also in short supply. Many of the informants like Nyauma Mosicho and Nyabanga Auma

(O.I: 2016) say that the food shortage was so severe to the extent that individuals or small groups just woke-up and moved with whatever they were be able to carry, a clear sign of resilience and rationality in decision-making. People knew that if they did not make the decision to vacate the region, they would all die to a man. Moreover, the marauding Luo could still come and drive them out when they had been weakened. This would have been a disaster for them. Kisumo location, as is known in contemporary times, is an area, which is famine-prone almost all the year round. People depend on charity or the grains supplied by the neighboring Gusii, Luhyia and Kalenjin communities. The name Kisumo is derived from the Luo word “Jokisumu” which when translated literally means “people who depend on charity” (Ochieng 1974: 46).

From the Kisumo settlements, the Logoli are said to have moved in a northerly direction to Maseno and eventually into present Buluhyia country. However, according to Were (1967) the

Luhyia are said to have come direct from Misri-moved south along the River Nile into the

Katanga Region of Zaire. After some time, they moved eastwards into Uganda and eventually settled along the shores of Lake Victoria. From here, they used boats to cross Lake Victoria into their present land in western Kenya (Ochieng 1974: 48). The Gusii tradition differ sharply with

Were‟s assertion that the Logoli used boats to cross the lake. According to Gusii traditions, the

Logoli and Gusii were together from Misri through Mt. Elgon, Goye in Yimbo-Kadimo, Alego, crossed Sakwa, Asembo, Seme and finally Kisumo where they built a huge settlement that stretched as far as Fort Tennan (Ochieng 1974: 49). As already discussed earlier, the separation point became Kisumo due to “terrible-famine” and not in Lake Victoria, around Rusinga Island due to a storm, as recorded and asserted by Were (1967). The Gusii tradition is supported by

Osogo who says that the Gusii travelled together with the Logoli from Yimbo-Kadimo to

Kisumu.

The Gusii lived in the Kano plains extending to the Kipsigis hills in the North, Nyakach in the West and Kabondo areas in the East. Their stay at Kano lasted about 150 years (1600-

1750, Akama & Maxon 1995: 28). The Gusii were mixed farmers who grew crops like millet, sorghum, finger millet, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and kept livestock. They had a symbiotic relationship with their Luo neighbours with whom they exchanged their wares for iron tools, pots, mats and fish. It is at the Kano plains that the distinct Gusii sub-tribes as we know them today emerged. This had resulted from the way they migrated from the Kisumo settlement as families or small groups under different leaders. Hither to the Kisumo settlement, the Gusii had travelled together as a huge family or clan under a common leader. But as each family or group left Kisumo under recognized leaders and hurried forth by pangs of hunger, the small units began to look to themselves as the people of Mobasi, the people of Mosweta, the people of Mochorwa,

42 the people of Omugusero, among others (Ochieng 1974: 46). Thus the following were the clans that emerged at the Kano plains: Abasweta, Ababasi, Abagirango, Abamachoge, Abanchari and

Abagisero.

From the Kano plains, the Gusii moved eastwards and southwards into the Manga Hills as well as the Kabianga region of the present Kericho County. Their movements into these areas was caused by the depletion of resources, competition with the Luo clans, attacks by the Luo and

Maasai for Gusii cattle and the need for self-preservation of the Gusii culture (Akama & Maxon,

1995: 32). Life at the Kano plains where the Gusii‟s five to seven generations stayed was luxuriously awash with plenty of food, fish, wildlife, cattle, yams and cereals. The Gusii preferred plains to upland areas. At the Kabianga region where some Gusii moved to, life was not comfortable. The area was cooler than the Kano plains. Both animals and human beings were attacked by diseases such as pneumonia, and respiratory complications. Many people died here.

Even their livestock died. Crops could not do well either. The word “Kabianga” is a Kisii name meaning/ or literally translated to mean, “Things have refused”. Because of all these challenges and attacks by the Maasai and Kipsigis who stole their cattle and sheep, the Gusii decided to move in a south-easterly direction. The only rational thing in the face of adversity and vulnerability was to move out of the risk area. They moved through Sotik, Ngelegele and as far as the Ngorongoro areas bordering the Maasai. The Gusii settled at Nyaigarora, present Trans-

Mara subcounty. Due to ferocious Maasai raids, the Gusii moved northwards to Manga-Nyagoe-

Isecha-Rangenyo triangle (Akama and Maxon, 1995: 36).

There were those who moved to Gusii Highlands through Nyakach by crossing River

Miriu (sondu) and entered North Mugirango. These became the Abagirango of North Mugirango.

Some clans also remained at the Kano plains as well as at Kabianga areas and were absorbed by

43 the Luo and Kipsigis respectively. There were also those who missed track and settled in South

Nyanza as the Kuria (Akama and Maxon, (1995: 33).

Once in the highlands, the Gusii consolidated themselves and got more united than ever before. They got ready to defend themselves against their enemies – the Kipsigis and Maasai.

This they did in 1896 when the Osaosao battle took place and where all the Kipsigisi warriors were vanquished (Ochieng, 1974: 131). The Gusii warriors followed the remnants of the Kipsigis warriors to the borders of Belgut and Sotik-Kabianga areas. It became a defining moment for the

Gusii as a community. After the Gusii had defeated the enemy, the Gusii people began a systematic movement and settlement in frontier territories in north and west Mugirango, approaching the Sondu-Sotik region (Akama and Maxon, 1995: 40). It can thus be said that by

1900, Gusiiland had been settled by its present inhabitants. This was due to the determination of the people and the resolve to be independent, dignified and resilient as a community.

In this section, we have seen the migratory route, movements and settlement of the Gusii people. We have seen that the Gusii moved together with their kinsmen, the Logoli & Kuria till their separation at Kisumo. We have also seen how the Gusii settled in the highlands and the wars they resiliently fought with their foes – the Maasai and Kipsigis. Disease is one of the factors that kept the Gusii moving out of the settlements. And in many instances, they found the rationale to relocate. In the next section we shall see how the Gusii people dealt with the diseases, the herbs and medicines they used, how they procured the medicine and the general therapeutic systems of the Gusii people.

2.3 The Gusii Therapeutic Systems to 1900

Indigenous medicine is part of a rich culture of the Gusii people. This practice has withstood the onslaught of western medicine and modernization. It is common knowledge that in

44 many parts of rural Kenya, health facilities are inadequate and even non-existent. According to

Sindiga (1995):

Some 57% of the households in Kenya must travel more than 4 km to the nearest health facility. The ratio of health centers to population is low, varying from 1:200,000 to 1:5,000. Even where health facilities exist, medical services are not always available. Many facilities suffer from inadequate personnel, shortage of drugs, transport problems, lack of water, delays in repairs and lack of stationery.

The implication of this statement is that in place of western medicine, indigenous medicine must have been people‟s alternative. Despite the onslaught of western medicine, indigenous medicine did exist side by side. In some instances, some people preferred indigenous medicine to modern medicine (Banchiri Orango, O.I., 2016) – like in the case of evil eye (ebibiriria).

2.4 Conceptualizing Indigenous Medicine among the Gusii

According to Ampoto and Johnson-Ramauld (1978), Gusii‟s indigenous medicine could be defined as “totality of all knowledge and practices whether explicit or implicit used in diagnosing, preventing or eliminating a physical, mental or social disequilibrium and which rely exclusively on past experience and observation handed down from generation to generation verbally or in writing (Sindiga, 1995 in Akama and Maxon (1995: 280). Our informant, “Doctor”

Nyakundi ( O.I., 2016) of Konate village, who is also the chairman of the Kenya Herbalist

Association, observed that indigenous medicine were the drugs obtained from plants, roots, leaves, minerals and animal products and which were mixed sometimes with water or boiled and administered to a patient depending on the recipient‟s complaints or sickness. It included sacrifices of hens, goats, sheep or cows and of which must have been of a given colour. White and brown were the most preferred colours and indicated purity and cleanliness. The sacrifice of such an animal was meant to cleanse and purify the patient. Herbal therapy also involved the

45 confinement of a patient in a room where passersby could not see him or her. This was part of indigenous medicine practice.

Before colonialism (and even in contemporary times), Abagusii believed that diseases and illness were interwoven. They also believed that when a member of a family or society was sick, the whole family was affected and must do something in the way of remedies for the patient. Neighbours, close family members and elders sought for a solution. Thus what was formerly perceived as an individual or family problem became a society or clan‟s plight. The physical manifestations transformed into broad social and cultural issues affecting a multiplicity of social groupings extending to broader, spatial and temporal locations (Sindiga, 1995). One needs to perceive therefore the social significance of disease and illness for one to understand the various aspects of Gusii indigenous medicine. This view is supported by Weisner (1976: 82) who observed that:

In the broader African context, disease is not merely something resulting from malti-functioning in this or that organ or a lesion therein… but essentially of a rupture of life‟s harmony, to be imputed either to a material cause instinct with some intangible force or direct force itself. It is necessary in indigenous medical practice to confront the symptomatology and axiology of diseases not only in the material but also in the immaterial world (Ampoto and Johnston, 1978).

Therefore the Gusii in the pre-colonial times pereceived disease, misfortune and illness as one and the same. When a person fell sick or died, the Gusii tagged a human induced cause, especially witchcraft or some supernatural cause. According to Okangi (0.I., 2016), diseases were caused by natural as well as super natural causes and people sought the services of traditional healers who were dotted all over the village. Accordingly, Mbiti succinctly observes: traditional healers are the friends, pastors and psychiatrists of the African village and community (Mbiti, 1969).

Apart from the supernatural or natural causes, ancestral spirits (ebirecha biechisokoro) also caused diseases. This implied that both the living and the dead had to live in harmony. The ancestral spirits could cause madness (obobarimo), infertility or impotence (obogomba), poverty

(obotaka), ill health and or even death. This happened, for instance if a father was not given a decent burial, which usually involved the slaughter of a chicken (etwoni), goat, sheep (ram) or even cattle. After two to three months after burial, another he-goat (egoree) or ram (emingichi) was slaughtered to cleanse the home. There were a number of other causes of ebirecha (evil spirits). This included spotting a python (Ebasweti), killing a person, killing Omogere (a Luo) among others. For a Luo, a black sheep was given as a sacrifice to appease/chase away the evil spirit. For others, the diviner (Omoragori) was consulted for a remedy.

The Gusii also believed that witchcraft could cause some socio-medical problems such as mental disturbance (Obobarimo), infertility (Obogomba), chronic wound (rikwege), epilepsy

(endurume) and evil eye (ebibiriria). Quite well known among the Gusii were witches (Abarogi) and witchcraft. Abanyamosira (sorcerers/witchdoctors) were also common (Akama and Maxon

1995: 287). Witches could cause sickness in a person out of jealous (Levine and Levine 1966).

Sometimes sorcerers could counter the actions of witches by using their paraphernalia. Even so witches and sorcerers were greatly feared among the Gusii society. Cases of suspected witches, wizards and sorcerers being lynched in Gusii are common. Other communities in Kenya have different ways of punishing witches and their associates. For instance, the Kamba of Machakos have three major ways of punishment: They can lynch the suspect; circumcise a female witch for the second round which is painful, shameful and one may bleed to dead; or, for wizards, if the council of elders proves beyond any reasonable doubt that one is indeed a wizard, then fire is prepared, four men tie the legs and hands of the suspect and he is scorched on fire. If he repents,

47 the council gives stern warning and sets him free (Mbondo 2006: 81). This is meant to curb witchcraft. Among the Gusii, some diseases were said to be inherited and could only be treated using indigenous medicines. This included Enyaini (Liver cirrhosis whereby the liver enlarges and causes one‟s legs to swell-also called oedema in modern medical circles). At this stage, a person was likely to die.

Breaching taboos could also cause ill health or even death. This included taking perjured oaths, adultery, burning another person‟s house, among others. Adultery was punished by

“amasangia” (translated to mean sharing a wife). Amasangia is thus a supernatural punishment against the infidelity of a wife. The illicit sharing of a married woman‟s sex attentions (infidelity) caused irreparable damage to the family (Omare 1999: 61). Amasangia could cause death to the sick husband of the adulterer woman or her sick child could also die. The remedy to this was administering an oral paste of mole soil or waste (eura) from the intestines of a sheep. Men‟s extra-marital relations with married women were also held in check by amasangia (Levine and

Levine 1966). The Gusii believed that natural diseases picked from the environment could also affect them. They include asthma (ekeeera or egekuba egeku), splenomegaly (endwari ya Inda),

Malaria (esosera) and diarrhoea (orosao).

In all the foregoing, two explanations stand out to describe the predicaments of disease or ill health among the Gusii people. One, disease or ill health was seen as punishment for sexual infidelity, aggression and ritual offences. Two, the unwarrant malevolence of other people against others (Levine and Levine, 1966). However, the Gusii were pragmatic people – running and doing anything that promised help. They visited soothsayers, diviners, herbalists, giving sacrifices to appease the ancestral spirits among other practicalities and possibilities to deal with disease and ill health. They believed that a person who deviated from the social norms cherished

48 by the community would bring punishment on himself or his family (Akama and Maxon 1995:

280).

2.5. Indigenous Medicine Practitioners among the Gusii.

According to Ampofo and John-Ramould (1978), an indigenous medicine practitioner is

“a person recognized by the community in which he lives as competent to provide health care by using vegetable, animal and mineral substances and certain other methods based on the knowledge, attitude and believes that are prevalent in the community regarding physical, mental and social well being and the causation of disease and disability”.There were several such practitioners of indigenous medicine among the Gusii. The basic person in this arena was

Omonyamete (herbal dispenser). This practitioner had a collection of herbs, plants, roots, barks, leaves and tree-trunks – some ground into powder, others mixed with water and others to be chewed. The herbs were collected from the bushes and forests around the homesteads or nearby forests. In his search for herbs, he was sometimes accompanied by his son, or grandson to whom he would eventuary bequet the art of healing to during old age. Omonyamete was seen as the representative of a supernatural power on earth, not just an ordinary being. Omonyamete also communicated with gods and ancestral spirits who showed him the treatment to be given to the sick. He also provided talisman to patients to protect them against their enemies, particularly witches and wizards. There were also those who dealt with love charms (Omoebia). Omoebia gave out medicine to a man or woman who wanted to win a soul-mate or increase love in the home (between a wife and husband). Love charms were of two types. Genuine love charms made the couple increase their intimacy. Fake love charms made men imbeciles or caused ill-health or even made them disappear under the beds whenever visitors came knocking. Some even became mad. In Kenya, herbal dispensers and love charm givers were found almost in every community.

Among the Embu and Mbeere, they were called “Ago” (healer). The “Wamugo” did the dispensing of medicine, presided over sacrifices and acted as the diviner, seer, doctor and fortune teller (Mwaniki 1974: 65). Both plant and animal products were used as medicine. If one was believed to have excess blood in the body, he or she was incised on a particular side of the head and blood siphoned out using the “Nvivi” (Mwaniki 1974: 65). Nvivi was a small hollow horn.

The diviner (Omoragori) was a very important person(s) among the Gusii. Divination is the process of explaining space-time events regarding causes and effects on human beings. It is an attempt to discover events and why they have happened. A diviner is like a medical coctor in modern medicine. Just like a clinical officer or doctor examines, diagnoses, carries out laboratory tests to be able to prescribe a cure, a diviner in herbal medical practice unraveled the cause of a certain condition – especially one emanating from a supernatural or a human induced cause. He also prescribed the course of action to take to alleviate the problem or misfortune. The diviner gave the direction and bearing to be taken by patients to solve their health conditions. He offered solutions to such occurrences as going on a long journey, what to do before planting cereals, death occurrences, rocky marriages, impotence or infertility among a raft of other problems.

Consultation with a diviner was done secretly due to stigma and stereotyping associated with such practices, which according to chrsistians is backwardness and superstition. Diviners among other communities performed similar chores. Among the Kamba of Machakos, diviners ascertained why events happened the way they did and also offered remedies (Mbondo 2006:

65). According to Mbiti (1975: 156), diviners try to be mysterious and out of the ordinary by wearing a serious look and their dusty bags containing mysterious items make them extra- ordinary from other people (in Mbondo 2006: 65). When their divination fails, they begin to blame their clients for not observing taboos (Horton 1969: 167; Ekechukwu 1982: 159). Diviners

50 have special rooms where they meet their clients. The consulter enters in as other people wait outside. According to Mbondo, this is called the principle of “relative privacy” (Mbondo 2006:

66). This raises the issues of credibility, uncertainty, suspicion and conflict. Of course this principle is also applicable in conventional medicine, the difference being in areas of consistency and credibility. A diviner may force a client to say his/her problems by use of probing questions.

In many cases, a client visits diviners who are several kilometers away (Whyte 1990: 43).

Adiviner living closer to the client already knows what is hailing him/her and thus, the need to go far. Diviners prescribed remedies but did not give medicine to their clients. The medical therapy was the work of the herbal dispenser (Omonyamete). These diviners were different from seers, prophets, or fortune-tellers (ababani). The latter predicted events in the future. One such famous prophet among the Gusii was Sakawa of Nyakoe. He foretold the advent of “white strangers”. Such prophets were also found among the Kikuyu and Luo in the names of Cege wa

Kabiru and the Jobilo (diviners) of Luo Nyanza, respectively (Ochieng, 1974: 226). Traditional birth attendants (Abarabi) also existed among the Gusii just as they were among the Keiyo and

Marakwet communities (Kipkorir, and Ssennyonga 1978: 71). Once a woman conceived, she was attached to a midwife who advised her on what to eat, the kind of work to do, how to walk and how to sleep. Among the Keiyo and Marakwet, they were called Cheplakwa and Kokoptum respectively (Kipkorir and Ssennyonga 1978: 72). They were many among the Gusii. Failure to get a child in Gusii was believed to be a curse resulting from perjury oath, punishment, breaking a taboo or custom or the displeasure of the ancestral spirits resulting from failure to appease them.

The most important of all the Gusii indigenous medical practitioners were the surgeons

(Ababari). They opened the brain case to relieve pressure that caused headaches in brain tumours

(Thairu, 1975). This procedure was called craniotomy or head repining. These specialists are found among other Kenyan communities such as the Meru, Kuria and Marakwet. Among the

Marakwet, they are called Muswokintopmet. He uses an instrument called “Wesek” to determine whether a fracture exists below the scalp or not. The head is shaved using another instrument called notwo.Then linear incisions are made to form a cross-shaped wound. The broken bones of the scalp are scrapped away using a curved knife. The herbal concoction is applied to the wound to stop sepsis. The Marakwet surgeons stitch the wound using animal fiber and local needles

(Kipkorir 1978:70). Ababari (surgeons) were not very common like abanyamete (herbal medicine dispensers) among the Gusii. This was a highly skilled and specialized undertaking and required men or women who were brave, keen, intelligent, disciplined and well informed about the human anatomy. The art was also in many cases inherited from father to son or mother to daughter. In the two divisions where the study was carried out, there were only two family lineages associated with surgery, particularly head surgery. These were Gechure Achoki and Isoe

Nyamitago. Nyamitago was well known for head surgery. His father, Ongeri Nyamitago, was also a head surgeon. Born in 1890, Isoe Nyamitago lived till 1982 and did many head surgeries.

To do head repining, Nyamitago used curved knives, herbal concoctions, spirit or homemade beer (changaa) and long feathers of a cockerel. These were the tools of trade for anybody practicing craniotomy (Mauga Giriama O. I., 2016).

Circumcisers (Abasari) also existed among the Gusii. Women circumcisers did female circumcision, often called cliteridectomy, while men cut the foreskin of the penis of the young boys. Abaromeki who cut a certain part of the body to remove bad blood and relieve pain were also there. They used scalpel and a horn to suck blood from one‟s cheek. These brought relieve to body pains. Other specialists included Abanyanabi (sorcerers) who could be used as healers by

52 countering the work of witches in removing their (witches) paraphernalia, though they could not smell the witches themselves (Levine and Levine 1966). Sorcerers, though helpful, were highly feared in the community. They could kill or save life using their paraphernalia. Abanyibi embura

(rainmakers), omokireki (one who uses medicine to stop diseases and misfortunes) and abati

(those who could perform autopsy) were other specialists among the Gusii.

In all these cases, one can clearly envisage a situation where the sick needed the services of one or two specialists for his/her treatment to be complete. A diviner (omoragori) prescribed the remedy to the sick‟s ailment, as the herbalist (Omonyamete) did the dispensing of medicine to the patient. A surgeon did the work of head repining and administered medicine to his patient immediately after the operation. He was thus, a practitioner of herbal medicine. The healer, herbalist and medicineman or medicinewoman were all one and the same. From these explanations, you may not assert with finality that these practitioners were real specialists in the way we know it in conventional medical practice. Even love medicine providers (Omoebia) dealt with herbal medicine. Therefore, one was forced to draw the conclusion that apart from witchdoctors and witches whose workings are not known (since they work in darkness), the

Gusii indigenous medicine practitioners were not specialists. They only had division of labour, each dealing with what he/she knew best and leaving the rest to others. The difference was in gender roles. There were specific roles played by women and those done by men in indigenous medicine practice. For instance, Gusii women did massaging to remove evil eye (okongura ebibiriria), treated false teeth (omaino amakubu), oral thrush (amantaaye), stomach pains

(enyancha), infantile diarrhoea (orosaoo ruaabana), scurvy (entori) and women infertility

(obogomba or abakungu bateneine). Men specialiszed in surgery, particularly head repining

(okobara), autopsy (okwora enda), dispensing herbal medicine (okogwenia ne emete), treating

53 chronic wound (korwaaria rikwege), treating impotency (obogomba) and sexually transmitted infections (enyamosononi). However, some herbal practitioners acted in both roles, especially in the dispensing of medicine. The role of acting as traditional birth attendant was specifically for women. During labour pain or child delivery, men kept a distance.

2.6. Disease Treated Using Indigenous Medicine

In the pre-colonial times many people in Kenya had no option other than the use of indigenous medicine to treat a wide range of health problems. Even as recent as 1980, the World

Bank had observed that the use of modern health centres diminished sharply beyond a radius of three to five kilometers since most people travel long distances in cases of very serious health problems. The Gusii treated the following diseases very efficiently using herbal therapies: oral thrush (omonwa oye) which affected young children of less than three years, evil eye (ebibiriria) which affected both the young and the adults of all ages, enyamorero (wasting disease), which also affected both the children and adults, ebisara (false teeth) which affected young infants and measles (omobere oye) which affected children as well as teens. Other diseases included stomach ailments and backache. To treat and prevent oral thrush, various herbs were taken orally, either independently or as a mixture. Common herbs used as medicine included: obwara inse (thymus valgaris), chinkenene (strawberry), enguranguri (bone setter or cissus quadranguralis Linn), moteitimo (Heliotropium), and ekebundi (sensitive plant or biophytum sensitivum). (See others in table 1, page 64).

Evil eye (ebibiriria) was a very dangerous “disease”. According to Gusii, “infants were particularly susceptible to evil eye not because they were young but because their skin was still light brown, tender and therefore delicate” (Okangi O.I., 2016). According to Banchiri, (O.I.,

2016), a woman herbalist from Konate village in Nyamira sub-County, this “disease” was

54 brought about when a person who had “ebibiriria” looked at a child. In most cases, women were believed to be carriers of this “disease”. However, on rare occasions, men could also be carriers.

When a person with evil eye looked at a child, any small objects near the child, such as soil, sand, grass, sticks, hair and finger millet entered the body, causing the child to start crying violently and persistently. As a result, “the temperature of the body rises, stomach swells and turns brown, the skin touch becomes painful and breathing difficult” (Banchiri, O.I., 2016). It was believed that when the child suffering from ebibiriria was massaged (Okongura) early enough using oil, the objects would come out of the body. If Okongura was not done early enough or in good time, severe conditions of evil eye killed the child. The scientific authentist of this “disease” is not ease to prove. It is a mysterious condition with no proven scientific explanation. However, its practicality is really because it kills if not attended to earlrier. It can also cause severe rashes or itching all over the body. An evil eye person is a subject of natural force, born with a body capable of producing extraordinary electromagnetic charges capable of causing negative radiation to certain human skin. People with such natural force can be grouped under witches or witchdoctors because their activities fall under witchcraft. Evil eye is thus witchcraft and not really a disease. One can also call it a condition brought by people with mystical powers, which is equally witchcraft (Onkangi, O.I: 2016). Treatment is by massaging using liquid jelly and tobacco leaves. A person doing the massaging can feel those things in her balm and they can be seen practically (Moraa, O.I., 2016). Perhaps a scientific research is needed on this to prove this theory. This is one health problem that is never referred to hospital even in contemporary times because the Gusii believe that if the child is given an injection, he or she dies. Most women used a charm stick on the clothes of the child to prevent suffering from the evil eye (Omare, 1999: 54). However, evil eye is a condition that is easily transmitted from one

55 person to another. The reason why majority of people spreading this condition are women is, one, women are found in groups in market places, at rivers fetching water, in the farms picking vegetables or digging together and at homes where they smear houses together. At the river where women go to fetch water, if one person has ebibiriria, she can spread it to the other by stepping on the other person‟s toes when she is being assisted to put the bucket of water on-to her head. Two, women also braid their hair together or in groups. It is during this time when exchanging vegetables or money or grains or braiding hair that the person having this disease can spread it to others (Erica Nyamagera, O.I., 2016). It cannot be proven scientifically but Abagusii had a way of detecting and dealing with it. A person having it and admits to it is taken to a waterfall accompanied by relatives and a village elder as witnesses. The expert (evil eye remover) then uses his/her paraphernalia, slaughters a black sheep whose meat is thrown into the waterfall and utters certain words that such terrible evil goes and be carried downstream to the great lake (enyancha or ritibo). The person is bathed and the meat from the sheep is not eaten.

Once this is done, a person becomes free of evil eye. He/she is instructed not to eat sheep meat again for if she/he does, the condition recurs. The issue whether evil eye is witchcraft, a science, or a condition has been dicussed over the years with no scholarly conclusions arrived at anywhere. There are those who lean so much on scientific explanation to prove evil eye is witchcraft as well as a science and not a condition. They give instances like that of a mole trapper who uses a string, stick and grass (herb) to catch moles. Is this science or witchcraft? The technique is simple but “very scientific”. A trader wants to take his goat to the market for sale.

The animal refuses, jumps up and down wildly. The owner plucks some hair out of the animal, pricks his beard, goes into the bush and harvests some herbs which he mixes with the beard and hair and gives the animal to chew. There after, the animal cooperates and walks comfortably to

56 the market. Is this magic or pure science? Other instances are when a woman looks at somebody‟s garden of vegetables and the vegetales dry up, or a woman looks at raw pots of another woman and they all develop cracks; or a rainmaker uses herbs and small stones and disperses hailstones or makes them fall in somebody‟s farm and not other farms around; or a person looks at somebody‟s daily animals and they die within two days. Is all these witchcraft or science? According to Nyakundi (O.I., 2016), “the human body is a living machine with various natural electromagnetic charges. Some of these charges are dangerous because they radiate certain strong rays that destroy whatever they come across. That is why children who are victims of evil eye die unless the problem is diagnosed earlier enough”. Therefore witchcraft is a science as far as Nyakundi is concerned. However, this is pure witchcraft with no scientific explanation.

The concept of witchcraft has been dealt with in the next subtopic.

There were other diseases that the Gusii dealt with. Scurvy (entori) was treated using ekebungabaiseke (balm) and omogaka (aloe vera). The herbs were ground into a paste and then used to wash the child through massaging – or rubbing all over the body. The aloe vera juice can also be drunk. A small stick (egete) of balm herb was also inserted in some part of a child‟s clothe to prevent scurvy (Gesare O.I., 2016).

Stomachache (enda embe) was treated using dry banana leaves (rigoma). The herb was dried on fire, ground into powder and then drunk using water (Okangi, O.I., 2016). There were diseases which needed a combination of herbs to treat. For instance, to treat malaria (omwaga), scurvy (entori), fever (rikuba) and poor vision (chinkonkoria), a combination of herbs, namely, rigeri (artchoke plant, also called cynara scolymus), ekerobo (cypress), omoringamu

(eucalyptus), ribera (quava leaves) and eabakado (avocado) were assembled, put in a pot and boiled. The sick then were made to sit around the pot. They were covered by a blanket so that

57 they could inhale the moisture from the pot for a few minutes. This was done repeatedly for a few days and the sick got healed (Okangi, O.I., 2016).

According to Nyakundi R, “indigenous medicine was effective, efficacious and had no side effects, as has been observed with modern medicine”. Such diseases as enyamorero

(wasting disease), entori (scurvy), stomach-ache (enda-embe), itching (Okoromwa), orosao rwaabana (infantile diarrhoea) among other diseases were all treated using herbs (Barake, O.I,

2016). As we shall see in chapter four, even in contemporary times, there are many diseases which are better treated using indigenous therapeutic systems than using allopathic medicine

2.7 Witchcraft: A Science or Indigenous Medicine

Whichcraft is the art of using mystical powers to cause evil (Mbondo 2006: 118). It can also be called sorcery, which is the belief in magical spells that harness occult forces or evil spirits to produce unnatural effects in the world (Advanced Learners Dictionary –Online source).

Those who practice witchcraft are called witches, wizards and sorcerers. They all use supernatural powers to harm fellow human beings. According to Mbiti, (1969: 194) nobody in an African set up has not experienced witchcraft. He says:

Every African who has grown-up in the traditional environment will no doubt,

know something about this mystical powers which often is experienced or manifest

itself in form of magic, divination, witchcraft and mysterious phenomena that seem

to defy even immediate scientific explanation.

Belief and practice of witchcraft is universal. No human race has not gone through supernatural forces or explained events using either divine forces or man made forces. When the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, the power of a supreme being is envisioned. People will say God has power to control the sun to produce light and darkness. However, when a woman fails to

58 give birth to increase and expand the family, the same people will attribute this to the work of a wizard or a witch. The African saw this as witches at work using mystical forces to make the woman barren.

But there could be a scientific explanation by the conventional medicine practitioners to barrenness such as a poorly formed ovary, low sperm count from the husband or naturally closed fallopian tube. And this would require laboratory examination, testing, diagnosis, prescription and treatment to correct the condition. Involved here is the use of allophatic medicine. It is testable, repetitive, consistent and verifiable. This is how science goes. Indigenous medicine can also be used to normalize the condition. Genuine practitioners of scientific or indigenous medicine can be seen, the process of treatment and diagnosis can be identified and if repeated, the result will be valid and consistent. Witchcraft is different from all these. It is neither science nor indigenous medicine. Witchcraft has certain elements that are associated with it. One, it is intangible. You can not handle or touch it (Idowu 1962). Two, it is a projection from the mind, it is psychic. Three, witchcraft enjoins sorcery. Four, persons practicing witchcraft avoid beng caught, dress in palm leaves or change into some animal or bird when going for “active service”- to bewitch or running at night ( Mbondo 2006: 61). The movement of witches is also a mystery, questionable and not a reality. How can one explain the theory that witches can fly to America and come back the same night? That they can change into a frog or cat and get into the enemy‟s house without the latter knowing or seeing the unfolding events? How witches cause ill-health to other people is also a mystery.

According to Frazer (1967), wiches and wizards use contagious magic to harm people.

Here clothes, hair, nails, food, water, soap, utensils and seeds among household items are picked by a witch or sorcerer and used to harm the owner through mystical powers. A witch can also

59 pick one‟s footprint and mix it with some conconction to plant thorns on his foot hence harming him or her. Parts of one‟s body which regenerate like nails, saliva and hair are major targets of witchcraft. The witch obtains a sample of one‟s saliva, mixes it with parts of a cameleon or frog or faeces of a hyena or lizard (depending on what he/she wants the victim to be) and goes secretly at night and buries it at the entrance (door) of the victim or where the victim frequents.

The witch can use a friend of the victim to do it on her behalf. The more the victim passes through the door, the more his or her sickness increases leading to even dead, unless a diviner is consulted earlier and medicine prescribed or the charms removed by a medicineman.

Medicinemen and diviners are the manufacturers, dealers and distributors of charms, amulets and other objects meant to counter the work of witchcraft. Witchcraft is associated with mystical powers acquired by witches and sorcerers through spirits. There are two types of mystical power: positive and negative mystical powers. Positive mystical power is curative, productive and preventive. Negative mystical power eats away one‟s health and souls of victims, attack people and cause misfortune. Practioners of the latter are the witches, wizards, sorcerers, evil magicians or people with evil eye employing their power for antisocial and harmful acidities. Good mystical power is accepted and esteemed and is used mainly by specialists such as medicinemen, diviners or rainmakers. Examples of good magic power are the treatment of diseases, counteracting misfortune and neutralizing or destroying evil power or witchcraft. Many communities like the Gusii and Akamba believe that a person can not die without any cause.

Somebody must bewitch him or her to die. The Akamba believe that there is some force in the universe which can be manipulated by specialists to cause problems to human beings. Such specialists are suspected of working maliciously against their relatives and neighbours through the use of sorcery (Mbithi 1969: 13). According to Mbiti (1969: 201), sorcery involves the use of

60 poisonous ingredients in the food and drink of the intended victim. He adds that sorcerers can send flies, lions, snakes or other animals to attack enemies or send diseases against them. Van

Wyk (2004: 1211) in Nyabwari and Kagema (2014: 11) observes that sorcerers practice their evil by the day, are mostly men and kill for a specific purpose. However, witches and sorcerers perform natural magic or thaumaturgy. In the African societies the distinction between witchcraft, sorcery, evil eye, and evil magic is thin and academic. In a more popular sense, witchcraft is a term used to designate the harmful employment of mystical powers in all its manifestations (Mbiti 1969: 202). Witchcraft associated with witches and sorcerers display loathsome behavior and acts such as handling excrement, urine, vomit, moving around naked, engaging in sexual intercourse with spirits or animals and killing and eating flesh of human beings. It is terrible, heineous and immoral. According to Kenyatta (1965: 288-289); Mbiti

(1969: 201) and Magesa (1997: 172) such evil doers were severely punished by stoning to death, shoting them with poisoned arrows, beating them to death, strangling them, burning them alive or banishment.

Abagusii attributed dead to anumber of factors. Top in the list was witchcraft. They believed that a person can only die of natural or supernatural forces or bewitching. Death by breaching a taboo or infidelity (amasangia) with someone‟s spouse, or death by ancestral spirits was just by the way. Witchcraft, according to Gusii beliefs brought strange diseases, sudden dead, lack of promotion in the work place, failure in examinations or in business, disappointments in love making, or even crop failure. Literates and illiterates, the high and low, the mighty and feeble in the Gusii community, all believed in the power of witchcraft. Witchcraft caused fear, despondency, suspicion and confusion. It led to laziness, poverty, redarded progress and caused unnecessary death. The common denominator in many causes of dead and suffering

61 therefore was witchcraft. It is an art handed down from mother to daughter through some elaborate ritual done at night or deep in the forest. Many daughters are given witchcraft during initiation rites, when it is believed they are mature enough not to disclose the activities to other people. It is done in such a manner that the daughter thinks it is some funny game she has never seen because both strip naked before the ritual starts. Wichcraft is not a science nor is it consistent with scientific procedures. Neither is it a medical practice in the allophatic or herbal medicine sense, but an art or procedure which is primitive, backward, superstitious and harmful to human life.

2.8 Procurement, Processing, Storage, Administration and Remuneration in indigenous medicine

The Gusii healers collected the herbs themselves from the bush. Sometimes they sent their children or grandchildren who they had taught and shown the herbs for various diseases and who always watched as the herbalist treated patients, to go and get the medicine from the bush.

The herbs were in the form of leaves, barks, roots, flowers, stems and grafted parts. Sometimes the herbs were found in the compound or in the forests far away from the homesteads.

The combination was dried using either fire or the sun. The ones dried by the sun were of higher quality than the one dried by fire. The dried materials were then ground using mortar and pestle to produce powder. Sometimes the combined herbs were smashed and mixed with cold water to produce a paste. The paste would be used immediately or it could be left to ferment for a day before being used. Equally, a mishmash of herbs could be boiled (as seen in the photo below, page 63) and after cooling, the resultant medicine was given to the patient in small doses at given intervals. At times, the powder was mixed with porridge, milk or tea and swallowed or sipped by the patient (see table 1 on page 64 showing some of the herbs used by the Gusii).

Esther Magabi boiling a mixture of herbs collected from the bush down at the river, 200 metres from her house. The mixture would cool, filtered and given to the patient. Source: Direct shooting at Esther‟s kitchen. Shooting was done with permission.

Table 1: Medicinal plants and diseases they treat

SN PLANT (HERB) DISEASES TREATED 1 Red eyebright Conjunctivitis, eye tearing, sleepy eyes & Keratitis, 2 Orange (rotunda rioororo) -Infectious disease or fever, anemia, Rickets -Insomnia-provides Milk sedation, making it easy to fall asleep. -Menstrual pain reliever. 3 Spider (Gynandropsis gynandra) herb -Anemia, stomach upsets, scurvy and (Chinsaga) -Increase milk output in lactating women 4. Wild plum root (Riranda) Purifies blood and expels worms. 5 Milk Thistle Silimarine obtained from milk thistle is used to treat; acuteviral hepatitis, Poisoning with hepatotoxic substances, Migraines. 6. Rosemary, False acacia, calendula Stomach ulcers. 7. Coriander - Promotes digestion - Eliminates gas 8 Tinneventlly Sienna (Omobeno) Clogged stomach - Stimulates action of large intestine. - Increases the emission of soft faeces. 9 Balm (ekebungabaiseke) Treats scurvy and measles. 10 Fleebane (Omosune) Excellent for Cholera and dysentry. 11 Holy thistle (Rigeri) Treats the liver, kidney, lungs and helps blood purification and circulation. 12 Mother worth (Risibi) Used in suppressed menstruation and other women troubles. 13 Catnip (egesancha) Effective in insanity, fever, expelling worms from children, and fats. 14 Marsh Lallow (Omokubinyongo) Good for sore, inflammable parts, lung troubles, diarrhea, dysentery etc. 15 Mistletoe (Egetekienyoni) Excellent for cholera, effective in epilepsy, 16 Nectle (Risa) Good for kidney trouble, kills worms, stops bleeding nose, cures backache and cleans urinary tract 17 Poke root (Omooko) Not eaten, treats sores 18 Moteitimo (heliotropium) Treats ulcers and sores. Source: collections from Safeliz books by Dr. George Pamplona-Roger (see reference pages) and field study experiences.

The researcher in a black coat and herbalist in a cap selling indigenous medicine on a market day at Nyamaiya market in Nyamaiya Division of Nyamira South sub-County. Source: Direct shooting at Nyamaiya market, with permission from Mr. Maina

The herbalist, standing with the researcher above, explained how he obtained his medicine from forests in Tanzania, Luo Nyanza, Trans Mara and forests in Nyamira County.

“Dactari” Maina, as he was popularly known, visited other markets like Miruka and Karota on market days to sell his medicine. The medicines shown in the picture are both for human beings and animals. They are carried in plastic containers and manila bags. Maina, who hails from

Bokiambori in Nyamaiya Division, had many clients who came from as far as Kegogi, Miruka and Kebirigo. Each of those containers had a different type of medicine dealing with different

65 diseases. Some were ground herbal powder, mineral dust and elephant dung used to prevent women with evil eyes from harming exotic milking cows. It was alleged that the dung could also be used to increase farm produce. This was not ascertained because the researcher did not stay long enough as to confirm the hypothesis. Neither was that the objective of the research.

In practice, only women who had reached the menopause stage were allowed to treat the sick. No breast feeding mother administered medicine to a patient (Okangi, O.I., 2016). This confirms Akama and Maxon‟s assertion that only herbalists who were fifty years and above practiced herbal medicine. The age factor was explained on the fact that after menopause, the women were considered to be clean and free from blood flow. Both men and women were considered to be mature, trustiful and held in high regard in the society. In many instances, indigenous medicine practice was hereditary (handed down from mother or father to son or daughter). Not every person or family member practiced indigenous medicine. Those who tried to force their way into the practice were never successful. They never received clients and were seen as going against societal norms and practices. For you to practice, you had to be handed down the practice together with the paraphernalia in a ceremony witnessed by siblings and uncles. One should have been also an intern to the practitioner for many years and therefore gained knowledge and experience through the hands on work. Findings from the study indicated that children as young as fiteen years knew something concerning herbal medicine. However, they were not allowed to practice till they were mature and proper handing over was done ceremoniously. Medicine was stored in broken pots (Orogio), percolated tree trunks and the calabash or gourds. Tins or plastic bottles like those in appendix 9, page 170 were also used.

As discussed above, knowledge on indigenous medicine was passed down from father to son or mother to daughter in many ways. Sometimes, it was “automatic”. That was to say that it

66 was through passion, observation, practice and experience. According to Gesare (O.I., 2016), she learned about herbal medicine out of some unfortunate circumstances. She said her children were dying till one day a lady from Bomondo in Nyamira Division saved the rest. She lost four children. They were dying from amantaye (oral thrush) followed by enyamorero (wasting disease) and finally ensingamonwa (severe mouth disease – where the mouth turns red). It is this lady who showed her the herbs used to treat these diseases and out of passion, she became a herbalist (Gesare O.I., 2016). According to Eunuke Obiero (O.I., 2016), her knowledge on indigenous medicine was given to her by her mother in-law who put her under internship. She was always sent to the forest to harvest the herbs and through hands-on-experience, she became a healer. For Okangi, she got her knowledge from her mother who was also a healer (Okangi O.I.,

2016).

According to Nyakundi R (O.I., 2016), sometimes the handing over of the practice to the son (or intern) was through a simple ceremony. The son brought a he-goat (egoree) to the father

(herbalist). The goat was slaughtered and some parts of the meat from the slaughtered animal were selected. These parts, together with the father‟s paraphernalia, were placed in the hands of the son and the father spat on this mixture and uttered certain words to the effect that the son does a good job as aherbalist to be. The most important of these pieces of meat was the lumen.

Since the lumen is like a store of all foods eaten by the animals, all herbal medicines were there.

Therefore, this was like handing over this herbal medicine to the intern. The ceremony was done in the presence of other sons, brothers of the herbalist and a village elder. From here, the son started work as aherbalist. Payment for the herbalist‟s work was in kind. They were given food, live animals and sometimes a daughter for marriage (Oroko, O.I., 2016). Oroko had seven wives, three of them obtained through services as an indigenous medicine provider.

Aloe Vera for Treating Typhoid and Skin Diseases

Source: Some cuttings in Nyakundi‟s compound.

Natural Aloe Vera used as herbal medicine.

Source: download from internet.

2.9 Therapeutic Techniques and the Efficacy of Indigenous Medicine

The Abagusii had many different techniques in the healing process. First, there was what was known as the pre-consultation stage. This meant that even before the sick reached the healer, the latter had a premonition that a sick person was coming. It was a healing technique to show the patient that he (healer) was not just an ordinary person but one with some extra-ordinary powers. The medicine practitioner just visualized and saw the impending treatment. At this phase, the sick and the healer developed a rapport, relations and familiarity. Sodi calls this the

“pre-consultation briefing”, Sodi (1998), in Mpono, (2007: 33). The diviner would only then use her/his diagnostic tools to confirm the problems. The second phase was the prescription and treatment stage where medicines were given and rituals prescribed. The prescription involved animal slaughter to cleanse the sick and create a harmonious relationship between the ancestors and the client; then followed the altered state of consciousness. In traditional therapies, spiritual healing was a known form of intervention in healing matters. Mankinde (1998) notes that, it incorporates a number of practices, principles and approaches considered important in many of those therapeutic traditions. He observes:

The sick person‟s mind is thrown into a state of consciousness, the mind is altered to differ from the ordinary consciousness and to facilitate therapeutic process. There is also a considerable use of visualization by the therapist and by the sick. Alteration of the sick person‟s state of unconscious through trance induction is often used. Then a spiritual or transpersonal model is used to explain illness and therapeutic recovery. These altered states of unconsciousness were deeper and more objective than just mere empathizing and were beneficial in the therapeutic process. The healing rhythms would help soothe and heal the mind, body and emotions. Drumming and movements are time-tested ways of clearing stress, anxiety and fears. They can incorporate prayers, enhance health and promote

70 healing and empowerment. Rhythmic drumming, expressive forms of music, movement, prayers or meditation that incorporate the use of subtle energy were among the most powerful therapeutic tools used by traditional Gusii therapists to heal and transform patients emotionally, mentally and physically. According to Nefale, Van Wyk (2000), Akombo (2003), and

Onyemachi (2005), exercises were part of healing for they cleared stress, reduced trauma, anxiety disorders and simple phobia. Sometimes the practitioner was forced to utter words unconceivable by the sick in order to alter his/her mind and create an environment conducive for treatment. In so doing, the practitioner was not seen as an ordinary medicine dispenser, but one with super-natural powers and one who was able to communicate with gods and ancestral spirits.

This therapeutic process was evidently corraborated by the Xhosa of South Africa‟s Natal

Province where the therapists used ritual dancing, singing, dreams and divination in their therapeutic processes. This gave the healer the power to diagnose and communicate with the ancestors. The songs were meant to communicate with the ancestors by sending a certain message. These songs were supposed to enable the clients experience some emotional release and start the healing process, Beuster (1991); Bodibe (1992); Sollod (1993); Onyemaechi (2001) and Akombo (2002) in Mpono (2007: 37)

One aspect in the Gusii therapeutic systems involved grief therapy where the family had to perform post-burial rituals when a member died (as failure to do so would bring bad luck).

According to Hammond-Tooke (1974) in Mpono (2007: 41) rituals for ancestor appeasement, often took the form of animal sacrifice. Among the Gusii, animals that were used for sacrifice were those that made noise during slaughter. These were goats, cattle and hens as their crying indicated the approval of the ancestors. In this, there is corraborative evidence from other

African communities like the Xhosa of South Africa as observed by Gumede (1990) in Mpono

(2007:41). Ill health was used as a signal by the ancestors to indicate their displeasure in regard to unharmonious earthly relationships or omission between people and ancestors.

History demonstrates that indigenous therapies date back to the time when man was a hunter and gatherer. Africans lived on hunting animals and gathering plants for both food and medication. As we saw early, some medicines were edible and thus taken orally, while others were used for steaming to force out emesis (vomit), enemata (enemas) and other forms. Well- known plants the Gusii used to communicate with ancestors were the African dream Root and

Frankincense. According to Nyakundi (O.I., 2016) the frankincense was burnt to facilitate ceremonial contact with the ancestors, especially by the interns, to cleanse the house and also to make the initiates (apprentices) to vomit so as to cleanse themselves before they made contact with the spiritual World. Also making the sick emotionally happy was a sure way of creating hope in him/her and assuring them (the sick) of recovery. In fact the Gusii healers involved the preparation of food, beer drinks, sprinkling of fresh blood and fermented beer made from yeast and millet on the sick. For Abagusii, traditional dancing and drumming during treatment was part of the therapeutic systems. All these meant the hastening of the healing process.

The healer‟s personality was equally vital in the healing process. Some personalities were attractive, charming and appealing while others were rebellious. There was a meaningful therapeutic relationship between the client and the healer. The sick believed in the expertise of the healer, his skills, knowledge, language, culture and approach. They (healers) were seen as mediators between the ancestors and the sick and thus, were accorded high veneration. This created hope and acceptance of healers. This cosmological relationship made the sick freely ventilate and disclose his or her core secrets to the therapist who he (the sick) believed had the answers to his/her predicament. The healers were believed to possess authority over health

72 conditions of the people. According to Mbaka (O.I., 2016), “the healers were perceived as occupying a position of extra-ordinary authority and were regarded with great awe because of their knowledge of the language, religion and philosophies of the culture and their uses to accurately describe and communicate the cosmological world as believed by the people”.

Another factor which contributed to positive expectation and healing by the clientele was the physical environment or setting for therapy. Indigenous Gusii healing believed in using shrines and sacred trees and mountains as well as forests. These healing places also contributed to the clientele‟s expectation since they were usually designed as sacred places and were perceived as symbolic. They symbolized the presence of some deity or Supreme Being more often referred as god or Nyasaye.

2.9. 1 Summary

The chapter has explored the traditions of origins of the Gusii, their migrations and settlements, their concept of disease and causation, the diseases and how they were treated and the various herbal remedies that were used. The chapter has given an overview of the character of Gusii indigenous therapeutic systems. We have also seen the various herbal practitioners and the healing techniques that they used to administer therapy to the sick, as well as the efficacy of indigenous medicine. We have made reference to other communities like the Keiyo, Marakwet,

Embu, and the Xhosa of Natal Province in South Africa as regards the traditional therapies and realised that in many instances, they were similar. A very important aspect we saw is the procurement, processing, administration, storage and remuneration of the whole concept of indigenous therapies among the Gusii. The resilience paradigm applied in these circumstances.

The Gusii and indeed many ethnic groups in Africa were resiliently determined to turn vulnerabilities and adversities into opportunities regardless of the circumstances prevailing. They

73 had no choice as western medicine had not been introduced. As we saw in this chapter, from

Kisumo to Kabianga through the Kano plains, the Gusii dealt with difficult situations of diseases, famine and drought but soldiered on. They braved and persevered in the many health and security challenges they faced. The resiliency theoretical strand therefore fits well in this analysis. Major features of pre-colonial Gusii indigenous medicine have been identified. In the next chapter, the study looks at the encounter between Gusii indigenous medical practice and western medicine between 1900 and 1963.

CHAPTER THREE

3.0 ENCOUNTER BETWEEN INDIGENOUS GUSII MEDICAL PRACTICE AND

WESTERN MEDICINE 1900 – 1963

3.1. Introduction

The previous chapter discussed the various aspects of Gusii indigenous medicine before the advent of Europeans. This chapter focuses on the coming of colonialism, Christianity, and the encounter between the western and African culture. It examines the general perception by the whites towards the Africans who they viewed as heathen and barbaric and gives the background of their belittling demeanor towards the Africans. The chapter narrows down to the

British colonial presence in Gusii country, and especially the coming of missionaries. It demonstrates the encounter between the Gusii medical beliefs and practices and that of western medicine. The chapter analyses the impact of the latter on the former and argues that Gusii medical practices were not annihilated by the western medicine. Rather, there was a process of resistance which in the end led to the adoption of some western medical practices which resulted in a new medical phenomenon that was neither purely Gusii nor purely western. The result was the creation of a hybrid system.

Colonial government reports, as well as Christian missionary reports, were utilized to demonstrate how different the two systems worked. Each is said to have grown differently and in competition. The study delineated this by way of examples of health centres and dispensaries built in the Gusii district then. Judicial reports have also been examined and demonstrate that the colonial government was determined to silence the indigenous therapeutic systems. It was the resilience of the indigenous system that made it survive and grow in the colonial era. The study also examined the view that the Gusii applied the rational action

75 approach in determining which health system was able to solve health challenges facing them.

Thus, the resilience and rational choice theories were applied in this analysis to explain the determination and resolve of the Gusii to survive through hard and perilous times posed by the usual diseases the Gusii were used to and those brought by the new arrivals ( Europeans).

3.2 The General Perception ofAfricans in Western Discourse.

The colonial era in Africa brought with it new ideas, attitudes and ways of doing things.

Its entry into the continent changed the way of life for Africans. It created mixed feelings among Africans that involved accepting, resisting or combining the two (Tidy and Lemming,

1981: 15). This kind of reaction among Africans, in part, depended on how the colonialists approached Africans. Persuasion and coercion were applied in different parts of Africa. Bell

(1986: 72) rightly points out that African political, economic and social structures changed profoundly during the process of colonial transformation. The transformation was not always welcome especially in the areas of culture and values. Africans resisted absorption and assimilation. Hoogvelt (1976: 109) observes that “no society can dominate and assimilate another without some degree of cultural diffusion”. True to this assertion, it is one reason modern medicine has adopted certain aspects of the indigenous therapeutic system. Both systems influenced each other in instances like packaging, bone setting and patient isolation.

Christian missionaries of the modern era came from Europe to Africa in the eighteenth and especially in the nineteenth centuries. Their aim was to spread Christianity, but with it, western culture. The Protestants were the first to arrive. For instance, the London Missionary

Society (L.M.S) arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa in 1798 (Mugo, 2005: 64).

With time, they penetrated the inland areas and built churches and schools. Names such as

Robert Moffat, David Livingstone and John Philiph were there in the spreading of the gospel in

South-Central Africa in the middle of the nineteeth century. Some of the Zulu and Xhosa embraced Christianity and trained as catechists who assisted the European missionaries. The missionaries built health centres and dispensaries to deal with health challenges facing them at the time (Mugo, 2005: 64).

In East Africa, the German missionaries under the Church Missionary Society (CMS) reached Zanzibar in 1844, Uganda in 1877 and the first Roman Catholics arrived in Uganda in

1879 (Mugo, 2005: 64). In what was to become Kenya in 1921, the Portuguese missionaries were the first in the sixteenth century. However, with the decline of Portuguese rule and subsequent departure, their impact and mark was negligible. The next was the C.M.S and the

Church of England, which sent Rev. Krapf and John Rebmann in 1844 and 1846 respectively.

In 1862, the United Methodist Mission (UMM) from England sent Thomas Wakefield to

Kenya. In 1892, the Church of Scotland Mission (CSM) sent David Clement, Rifflle Scort,

Barlow and J. W. Arthur. In 1892, the Holy Ghost Fathers, a Roman Catholic Mission arrived.

In 1895, the African Inland Mission came from the United States of America to evangelize in the Rift Valley and Central Kenya. In 1898, another American order, the Gospel Missionary

Society (GMS) led by Krigor and Mr. and Mrs. Knapp arrived and set up its headquarters among the Kikuyu.

In 1902, the American Friends of Africa Mission (AFAM) set up base among the

Abaluyia and Nandi. In 1904, the Mill Hill Fathers started work in North Nyanza, South

Nyanza and later in the Rift Valley Province. All these inter-denominations had the objective of evangelizing. They were against the cherished African cultural practices and beliefs such as cliteridectomy, polygamy, sacrifice, traditional medicinal therapies and such other activities like spontaneous expressions in form of dancing, drumming and singing during worship. In

Central Africa, the British Missionaries entered the Congo in 1870. The Roman Catholics on seeing the successes of the Protestants penetrated the mainland to and in the following places and time: Tanganyika in 1878, Senegal in 1843, Congo in 1866, South Africa in 1851 and

South West Africa in 1884. By 1900, there were 2 million Roman Catholics in these countries

(Mugo, 2005: 65).

The missionary approach to Africans and their customs was ill informed and extensively paternalistic. The European missionaries were in many cases ambivalent. They did not perceive what these customs meant to Africans. They wanted the African cultural practices changed as quickly as possible to make the African societies look similar to the European and

American societies. To the Europeans and Christian missionaries, Christianity meant to make an African be a better Englishman, or a better Frenchman rather than claim heavenly citizenship (Low and Smith. 1976: 386). They believed that western culture was “civilization” while African culture was “barbarism” and the more protestant they were, the more they tended to denigrate everything African. Tribal beliefs, songs and dances were not only wicked but of the devil (Low and Smith, 1976: 393).

To be a true Christian, the African had to give up his/her culture and embrace European culture. To enter their culture and acquire their techniques meant to worship their God (Low and Smith 1976: 394). The missionaries tended to persuade people to get treated in health centres instead of visiting diviners, which to them was primitive and inconsequential. The indigenous medicine practitioners were neither trained and educated nor knowledgeable as far as western education was concerned on matters of health and disease. The new African converts were shocked at the white missionaries‟s hypocrisy and pretense. They (Africans) saw open drunkenness and sexual promiscuity. “One white man got you on your knees as the other

78 stole your land” (Gesora, O.I., 2016). They fought to stop tribal wars but they started war themselves in 1914 – 18 and 1939-45. To the African, this was contradictory and bizarre to their preaching and gospel mission. Africans became skeptical and disillusioned, not only in religious matters, but also in other aspects and issues of life like health (Low and Smith 1976:

385).

In health and therapeutic matters, the missionaries opened hospitals in various places in

Africa. In 1897, the C.M.S hospital was opened in Mengo. In 1912, the first Government hospital was opened in Kampala, Uganda. In the same year, Mulago Hospital reported large numbers of cases of children who had been taken to a diviner as the first line of indigenous therapy when suffering from diarrhoea. To the Africans, this was a necessary therapeutic hypothesis in a society that believed in the efficacy of indigenous medicine (Low and Smith

1976: 386). One may argue and rightly, so, that had Christian missionaries offered to study traditional diviners and their medicines, the yielding therapeutic conclusions would have been of great importance. Instead of concentrating on expensive medical institutions, Christian missionaries would have made a new and exciting contribution in the field of medicine and of thought. This was not to be. There was a general view of the Christian missionaries working in the hinterland of Africa that the people they encountered occupied a low level of civilization.

The African was described as “degraded” “infantile” and adolescent”. Missionary magazines, diaries and letters were replete with stereotype pictures of African life full of such descriptive terms as: the “heathen”, “dreary”, “dark” and “desolate”, his clothes “dirty” and “hideous”.

These distastes extended to natural phenomena: “the African night was typical, “dark” and

“cruel” (Ward, 1976: 72). Everything and anything associated with Africans was therefore distasteful including indigenous medicine. They made comparison between western medicine,

79 culture and what they saw in Africa in terms of civilization and concluded that indeed the

African was backward in terms of progress.

3.3 Missionaries entry into Gusiiland

The British first entered Gusii land in 1907 (Ochieng, 1974: 233). Some came for trade, others for adventure and others like missionaries who followed them aimed at spreading the gospel. They came through South Nyanza. Their entry into Gusii was made with resistance.

Sakawa, one of the Gusii prophets had foreseen their coming and told people their land would be taken and occupied by white people. Between 1905 and 1908, there was strong resistance against British occupation of Gusiiland. Because of the superiority of British weapons and the poor organization of the Gusii warriors, the Gusii were defeated and their land occupied by

1912 (Ochieng, 1974: 242). In 1907, the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) opened a station at

Gendia in South Nyanza (Ochieng, 1974: 244). In 1911, the Mill-hill Fathers entered Kisii town. They opened a station at Nyabururu as they did at Asumbi (Ochieng, 1974: 244). The first Seventh Day Adventists in Gusii arrived in 1913 led by Pastor B. L. Morse. No sooner had the missionaries set up stations than they built dispensaries and schools next to the stations.

The reason for this was to be able to reach the people who came for treatment and talk to them about the gospel. Local therapists treated majority of people who were injured and maimed during the Gusii resistance. According to Abel Nyakundi (O.I., 2016) whose father, born in the

1880s, participated in the Gusii resistance, few people went to the dispensaries manned by the missionaries with limited facilities and personnel. Meaning therefore that western medicine was in short supply at this time and many people relied on traditional therapies. This assertion has been supported by Nyaumah Mosicho (O.I., 2016) who said that the only dispensary in

North Mugirango was built in 1939 in Nyamira district but more often than not there were drug

80 shortages. This was even worse during the second World War, 1939-1945 when medicine could not be supplied due to the war. Most people had to rely on indigenous medicine.

Had the introduction of western education incorporated the teaching and training of

Africans on issues of health and the use of herbs and roots to treat a wide range of diseases considering that the health sector was poorly developed, the situation would be different. For even in Europe and America, most of the medicine was obtained from plants and mineral soil.

For instance, the malaria drug, quinine, was made from the cinchona tree imported from South

America and processed in Europe. However, this was not to be. The missionaries of course began schools all over the colony. In Gusii, in 1914, the DC‟s report indicated that the Mill

Hill Fathers had 38 schools while the S.D.A Mission had 24 (KNA/DC/KSI/1/2.

In the annual report by the District Commissioner of South Nyanza District in 1917, the

Roman Catholics had 130 pupils in schools while the S.D.A had 288 pupils. Village or public schools during the same period had 900 Catholics and 830 S.D.A pupils bringing the total to

1730 pupils (KNA/DC/KS1/1/2). Eager to provide education, the colonial government encouraged more schools to be built. Kisii Government African School was built in 1935,

Nyabururu Girls in 1936 and Nyanchwa in 1934. In Nyabururu, the Government had two schools (KNA/ DC/KSI/1/4). The rest of the schools were mission chools. The number of teachers was 55 and 43 at Kavirondo locations and 12 in Kisii locations. The average age of scholars was between 10-25 years. The subjects taught were brick making and laying, religious teaching, reading, writing and arithmetic (KNA/ DC/KSI/1/4).

Herein lay the problem of policy and curriculum formulation and delivery in the schools. The health of the people was very crucial for any meaningful development in the colony. Nothing was mentioned about traditional medicine in these schools. However, there

81 was some semblance of mission and government concern with the health sector, though superficial. It is in these schools where health education would have been introduced so that children attending these schools could be taught health matters. The school curriculum as seen above did not include this.

According to the District Commissioner‟s medical report of 1913 (KNA/DC/KS1/1/2), cases of malaria were very prevalent, affecting both whites and Africans in the early years of colonialism. The number of patients treated at Kisii hospital was reported as follows: 3

Europeans, 137 Indians and “natives” (in-patients) and 1765 out-patient Indians and “natives” bringing the total to 1905 (KNA/DC/KS1/1/2). Diseases reported during the year included sleeping sickness, venereal diseases and syphilis. These diseases indeed affected people.

However, the number of patients was small compared to the population of Gusii as a region which also covered South Nyanza. Where were the rest of the people getting their medicines from? Definitely, the indigenous health sector must have played a greater role particularly during the first World War, 1914-1918. Indigenous healers came in handy to offer their medical services and to save lives threatened with diseases and ill-health.

A crucial sector of government, which would provide information on indigenous medicine, whether positive, or negative, was the judiciary. If there was something negative because of using indigenous medicine, the judiciary could be involved by applying the law.

The use of indigenous medicine could be positive if it saved lives from some outbreak of disease. Judicial reports provide no record of crime connected with indigenous medicine during the time. What was mentioned was cattle theft contrary to Cattle Theft Ordinances No. 8 of

1913; Murder contrary to section 352, witchcraft contrary to Witchcraft Ordinance No. 9 of

1909: breach of diseases of Animals Ordinance 1906, among others (KNA/ DC/KSI/ 1/2/). The

82 outbreak of chicken pox among prisoners was also reported. Principal diseases included respiratory infections, skin diseases, and septic sores. What the government did was to vaccinate people to check against these diseases (KNA/DC/KSI/1/2). However, a number of

Africans are said to have died.

According to Ochieng (1977: 58), colonization brought with it alien diseases such as smallpox, venereal diseases, influenza and cholera for people and rinderpest for cattle. Local therapeutic systems were virtually impotent in the face of this intensive onslaught of alien diseases. In fact in the first twenty years of colonization, it was a demographic disaster for

Kenya. From perhaps four million people in 1902, Kenya‟s population fell to three million in

1911 and less than two million five hundred thousand in 1921. It was not until 1935 when the population of Kenya reached its 1895 level in population size. That was observed by Ochieng

(1977). This would be described as negative change for the population went down as well as the repositories of knowledge. It is also imperative to say that the decrease in demographic numbers did not affect continuity in the usage of indigenous medicine. It should also be noted that the demographic decline resulted from the ecological disasters of disease, famine and drought that assailed East and Central Africa from 1880 to 1900, not necessarily the alien diseases.

In the 1933-1939 DC‟s annual report, health programs reported were the eradication of tsetse fly and plague control (KNA/DC/KSI/1/4). In the report of 1936, a maternity wing was put up at Kisii Hospital with 148 cases admitted with only two deaths. In the 1938 DC‟s

Annual Report, no mention was made of traditional medicine. The DC observed that Kisii

District lagged behind because of backward “tribes”, poor road network and isolation from the other areas. The main missions in this year were the SDA, Roman Catholic churches, the

Native Anglican Church led by an African Deacon, Rev. Ezekiel Apindi and the Salvation

Army that operated in Kisii Town and the surrounding areas.

The two tables below illustrates the types of diseases and admissions and deaths in

Kisii Government Hospital in the medical report by the medical officer in charge of Kisii in

1922, Dr. B.W. Baker

Table 2: Total Number of the sick Admissions, 1922

IN PATIENT OUT PATIENT TOTAL European Officials 4 - 4 Native Officials 7 5 12 European General Population 3 6 9 Native General Population 5624 3565 9189

Total 5638 61.19% 3576 38.81% 9214 100%

Source: (KNA/ DC/KSI/1/2/48). Medical Report of 31. 12. 1922, pages 47-48.

Table 3: Total Deaths during the Year, 1922

Disease Death

Tetanus 1

Bronchus Pneumonia 2

Black water Fever 1

Anthrax 1

Plaque 2

Syphilis 1

Sleeping Sickness 1

Source: (KNA/DC/KSI/1/2/48: Medical Report of 31/ 12/ 1922 pages 47-48.

The total number of vaccination performed was 6131. Those that were successful were only 8. This demonstrates that even conventional medicine was not as successful as indigenous medicine. It could as well be drug resistance or poor diagnosis of the problem. Or expired medicine considering the fact that medicine had to be shipped from Britain and this took time before arriving in East Africa. Table two shown above, indicates that the Africans were the most affected because 99.73% of the sick cases were Africans. The number of Europeans seeking for treatment was small (0.141 %). Diseases shown in table 3 were not as devastating as the diseases not mentioned and many people must have died at home without cases being reported. The death rate was also highest among Africans considering that 9189 admissions were Africans. Deadly diseases like malaria, cholera and dysentery were not listed in that medical report. By 1929 in-patient admissions to Kisii hospital was 885 in 1930, the figure was

883 and in 1931, the figure was 1189 against a bed capacity of 60 (KNA/DC/KSI/1/3. The number of outpatients was 5320 (1929), 9186 (1930) and 8861 (1931). The number of pregnant women examined was 7527 (1930) and 1539 (1931) (KNA/DC/KSI/1/3. Compared to the facilities available, these were overwhelming figures. Actually, we envisage a situation of competition between indigenous therapeutic systems and western medicine, each trying to out do the other but existing again side by side. Being rational human beings, the Gusii continued to apply what they knew better: indigenous medicine. Between 1900 and 1920 when there was the Gusii resistance against the British as well as the First World War, the only rational choice was switching to alternative medicine. Actually, the Gusii applied herbal medicine much more than western medicine that was hard to come by because of wars.

In 1928, dispensaries were opened at Oyugis, Marindi and Asumbi. Of course, this was in Luo Nyanza. Though diseases like dysentery and leprosy had added to the list of diseases

85 giving authorities headache, hygiene was emphasized, mosquito breeding places were destroyed and hookworms and bubonic plague were dealt with (KNA/PC/NZA/3/27/11). It all indicates a concerted effort by the administration and missionaries to meet the health challenges facing the people at the time. However, these activities were being done in the towns, market places and schools as well as health centres. The village was the same-bushy and mosquito infested and unhealthy. Many people died despite the use of indigenous medicine. This happened because the Gusii were not familiar with the new diseases and it had to take time to adjust to the realities. However, there was change of attitude towards western medicine. Abagusii came to appreciate the the potency of indigenous medicine. This did not mean shunning of indigenous medicine. Many continued with the application and use of indigenous medicine. There was no collapse of herbal medicine. What with the rise of political temperatures, Africans trying to question colonial land alienation and forced labour! There was also discrimination even in the church leading to the beginning of African independent churches. With all these happenings, the Gusii had no better alternative than to continue with indigenous medicine. It was the only rational choice of action. The increased demand for western medicine was because of increase in population in the region and the fact that facilities were inadequate to cope with the demand. Many educated elite got their medicine from health centres but secretly visited diviners and indigenous medicine practitioners for consultation and treatment.

By 1939, North Mugirango had only one dispensary at Nyamira Town (Maxon, 1971:

291). It was provided and funded by the Local Native Council (L. N. C). By 1954, Gusiiland had six dispensaries (Maxon, 1971: 293). This was inadequate compared to the growing population and the need for specialized treatment among the Gusii (Maxon, 1971:293).

Beginning from 1955 to 1963, health centres with more facilities began to be built by the Local

Native Councils. The first health centre in Gusii was built at Nyamira in 1957 and by 1960 five such centres had been built (Maxon 1971: 320). At the Kisii hospital, improvements were made. An X-ray machine and a Tuberculosis ward were introduced in 1958. In 1959, the number of medical officers posted to the District was increased to four. But the hospital was still overcrowded. The daily average for the in-patients was 212 for 175 beds (Maxon, 1971:

320). By 1963, lack of finances held back the development of social amenities like hospitals

(Maxon 1971: 352).

This study demonstrates that the modern health sector associated with western medicine would not cope with the increased demand for health services. There was need, therefore, for the indigenous therapists to come in and inject their knowledge and skills to help the health sector from the overwhelming demands. It should be noted that this was during the declaration of the State of Emergency in Kenya following the outbreak of Mau Mau uprising in 1952.

Many of the fighters in the Central region of Kenya got their medicines from herbs in the bush.

They could not access government health facilities or mission hospitals. Non-MauMau fighters of course continued to apply indigenous medicine as well as conventional health facilities.

Therefore, traditional medicine continued to play a vital role in this regard.

In all the medical reports cited above, one omission stands out: there was no mention of traditional therapeutic systems. These were two systems running parallel to each other and in competition but serving the same people. Just like the missionaries condemned it, the colonial government did not bother to do research on the application and usage of the indigenous medicine. To the colonial government, its use was “primitive”, “backward”, heathen” and

“witchcraft”, as already noted in the preceding pages and which they had outlawed through the

Witchcraft Ordinance No. 9 of 1909 ( KNA/DC/KSI/1/2). These perceptions were emanating from western stereotypes that had developed in western historiography about the African culture. The image of “Dark Continent” ”which came into frequent use in describing the

African cultural past, had become an expression of geographical and historical ignorance as well as cultural arrogance (Gimode 1993: 33). In the mid nineteenth century, a cluster of ideologies associated with pseudo-scientific progress in Europe extended to Africa as racism took its toll on Africans. What with the scientific, industrial and demographic revolution in

Europe and the inherent benefits therein beginning from the eighteenth century! The African was simply “primitive, backward and his culture unredeemable” (Walker 1919: 623).

However, Africa and its people had not been without defenders. According to Montagu

(1974:1), no two human beings are equal….”for there is nothing as unequal as the equal treatment of the unequal”. His views have been supported by Brown, (1963: 2) who points out that: “if anyone was to offer men the choice of all customs in the world, they would examine the whole number and end up preferring their own”. Clark, (1970: 40) summarises the racism connotations and insinuations, thus….. “And without Africa there would not only be no civilization but also no mankind”.Therefore, the western stereotyped scholar was not honest and sincere in his view of the African culture.

But one fact also remains: that the Gusii came to realize the strength and effectiveness of the European medicine in dealing with diseases. They continued to use and embrace the indigenous therapeutic systems, getting drugs from herbs, minerals and roots, but also acknowledged the efficacy of the European medicine. Those who could not find admission in the hospital obviously and rationally turned to alternative medicine (indigenous medicine).

Table 2, page 84 indicates glaring gaps in the medical provision by the Government which

88 were bridged by the indigenous healers. Many people must have sought treatment among the many African healers who were readily available and were affordable in terms of cost.

According to Gesora (O.I., 2016) there was no space in the few dispensaries provided by government:

Drugs were not available either. Many sick people just went home, picked some herbs, roots of certain plants, made a paste and drank. Alternatively, they could visit a diviner for direction or to interpret one‟s sickness before seeking for treatment. In fact the diviner would as well offer treatment.

This assertion by Gesora is an indication of change of attitude towards western medicine by the

Gusii. European medicine was effective and faster in responding to treatment when compared to African indigenous medicine. The high demand for this was because of this change of attitude. However, healthy facilities were inadequate relative to the people seeking treatment in government and mission health centres. There was also the problem of socio-ideaological clash.

The colonialists did not see anything good in the African cultural practices and beliefs. Thus, they would not support African cultural practices. In the Kikuyu conference of 1913 where all

Christian missionary bishops congregated to find a common stand against alcoholic consumption and the customary practices by converts, Bishop Walker did not find “redeemable native customs and moreover such practices as dancing and drinking were immoral” (Walker,

1919: 623).

This was outrageous, ethnocentrism and obnoxious considering that Africans enjoyed what they believed and practiced; including the use of indigenous therapies. Norms, beliefs, traditions and attitudes towards African indigenous medicine were part of Gusii culture. The

Gusii had faith in the efficacy of indigenous medicine. Indeed, what acted as an alternative to conventional medicine was indigenous medicine. The local as well as the alien diseases could cause havoc to both the white and African populations in the colony. While the Europeans had

89 unlimited access to government health centres, the Africans had limited access hence the continued use of indigenous medicine. The situation was one characterized by continuity and change.

3.4 Condemnation of African Culture and its Impact on Indigenous Therapies

African culture was seen in bad taste by the Europeans. It was perceived as primitive and backward. In their different ways of trying to control African customs and punish the converts for their reluctance to shun African culture, Barlow, a Church of Scotland missionary adherent reported, thus:

While the C.M.S was content to enumerate offences against sexual immorality, drunkenness, lapses into heathen practices contrary to Christian Morality as offences for which discipline could be taken, the other missions –Africa Inland Mission (AIM).and Mill Hill Fathers-had an elaborate code of practice. For CSM, adultery, fornication, use of alcohol, male circumcision, female circumcision, marriage by native customs, marriage before half of the bride price was paid, lapse into polygamy, among others, were all punishable. In addition, the AIM had the following: Use of tobacco, gambling, consulting “witchdoctors”, taking part in sacrifices, dances or other heathen ceremonies or practices (Ward, 1976:98).

What is demonstrated is that the Christian churches worked against customary practices including the use of indigenous therapeutic systems which involved consultation with the ancestral spirits, sacrifices, dancing, drumming and indigenous healing. No missionaries would agree with the idea that any African customs were worth preserving or even adapting in their religious life. Armed with the Victorian view that African societies were morally degraded and lost and needed rescue from darkness and degradation, the missionaries set about establishing mission stations as centres for spreading the new teaching and way of life (Kipkorir, 1969:88).

Wills R. Hotchkiss (1901: 47), Archdeacon of Kavirondo, (in Ward, 1976: 75) wrote such degrading remarks about African religion and culture:

Judged by our standards, they seem little better than animals. Their conversation is confined to cattle, wives, food, narrow and materialistic things.

According to one African Inland Mission (AIM) missionary from Australia: “The old

Mother was just one of Africa‟s thousands of ethnic groups living in the primitive conditions far away in the bush, unknown and unthought-of by the outside world” (Bryson,1959: 21).

According to them their feelings and aspirations were to create an enlightened, clean, healthy and well informed African. Use of African indigenous medicine was considered primitive.

Never did they approve male or female circumcision done at the village. They hoped the reputation of mission medicine would win pagans as well as converts to hospital circumcision

(Ward, 1976: 134.). However, not all colonialists condemned African ways of life. According to Lambert (KNA/ DC/Meru/4/5/), “the church should not demonize local and community institutions which should be used as agents of government in the governance structure”. This was in reference to the missionary condemnation of Njuri Ncheke, the supreme body in a hierarchy of councils that were the medium of government in Meru which they argued was a secret society connected with witchcrafts, bribes and extortion. Divination and traditional healing like craniotomy as part of the indigenous therapies were viewed not only “primitive” and atavistic, but they were also morally wrong and anti-christian (Ward 1976: 71). Even in the initiation circles, Christian missionaries strongly criticized and condemned initiation rites among Africans and regarded them as inhuman, barbaric and “uncivilized” (Kakai 1993: 174).

Back in Gusii the condemnation by the missions were the same. Prior to 1909, there were people in Gusii and indeed in many communities who welded a lot of power and influence by virtue of being either prophets and prophetesses or rainmakers. These highly regarded personalities were common among different communities in Kenya. Among the

Luhyia, there was Nabongo Mumia of the Wanga Kingdom. Among the Gusii there were

Nyakundi Barare and Angwenyi Gichana. Sendeyo and Lenana existed among the Maasai;

Mwoca wa Mirano of Embu and Masaku of Ukambani were others in their communities. In

Kikuyu such names as Wangombe wa Ihura, Wangu wa Makeri and Waiyaki wa Hinga, existed. The Waswahili had Fumo Hiyongo and Mwana kupona. The Luo prided in Gor Mahia and Luanda Magere. Prophets and prophetesses included Mekatilili wa Menza of Giriama,

Moraa Ngiti and Sakawa Ngiti from Gusii; Koitalel Arap Samoei of Nandi who urged and gave direction to their people to resist colonialism. They were believed to have power to bring rain and sickness or healing to their people. They too had power to administer medicine as an ordeal. They gave a concoction of medicine to suspects and only the guilty suffered the evil effects. They also gave medicine to warriors against bullets by the enemy during wartime

(Bogonko, 1992: 97). This was how powerful and effective African indigenous medicine was considered.

The introduction of western medicine in Gusiiland had some negative impact on indigenous medicine practices and beliefs. This is what has been called “cultural-ideological crash”. Western medicine was more potent, effective and results took a short time to be realized than traditional health care. It stigmatized and undermined traditional health care systems. Genuine healers were seen as witches and sorcerers. Diviners or seers were considered as witchdoctors. The Europeans never took time to distinguish between a witch or witchdoctor and real diviners, seers or healers. However, in the Gusii community, diviners and herbal medicine dispnsers were well-known and respected individuals in the society. The sorcerers, also called witchdoctors, those who would harm other people were also known and respected in their own right. Their role was to counter the work of witches by identifying their paraphernalia and removing them. Witches/wizards were just suspects. They would only be

92 known after being nabbed, and there were many ways and methods of nabbing witches such as being spied and timed at night to find out if she/he came out at night (koigora egesieri kabere) to conduct witchcraft activities. Young men sent to spy on the suspect underwent magico- religious rituals. They also rubbed their bodies with oil ointments, which protected them from the witch‟s spells or power. They also avoided staying near fire or having sexual intercourse during the spying (Akama and Maxon, 1995: 326). Witches were feared in the society because they caused harm to other people. Once caught, a wizard or even a “witch-doctor”was killed or lynched in broad daylight without reguard to legal implications. These actions have happened severally in Gusii where old people are lynched for being suspects. Some suspects harm other people and openly say so without fear. Those are the ones who get lynched. Others team up with others and use magic to get victims of witches from their houses at night, walk with them till morning when they release them after feeding them with terrible things and leaving them dumb. If the victims are able to write names of the suspected wizards, the villagers then go for them and lynch them. That is how the Gusii seriously take witchcraft matters. It is thouroughly hated and aborred by the community just as the colonial institutions hated it.

During racial segregation in South Africa, the situation was similar.According to

Hassim, et al, (Chatt/www.alp.org.za):

….a century of colonialism, cultural imperialism and apartheid in South Africa had held back the development of African traditional health care in general and medicines in particular. During several centuries of conquest and invasion, European systems of medicine were introduced by colonizers. Pre-existing African customs were stigmatized and marginalized. Indigenous knowledge systems were denied the chance to systematize and develop.

The worst was outright banning of traditional medicine. In Kenya, the Witchcraft

Ordinance No 9 of 1909 outlawed the practice of witchcraft and associated beliefs

(KNA/PC/1/2). This applied to Luo Nyanza as well as Gusii. Under the ordinance No. 9/09

93 and 6/18 of March 31.1921, 13 persons were prosecuted, with eleven convictions. Such practices were banned (KNA/PC/KSI/1/2). In other words, the colonial government did not want anything to do with traditional beliefs and practices, which they termed as “heathenism and animism” (Low and Smith, 1976: 393). According to the colonial regime, disease and ill health in Africa was historically embedded in “witchcraft”. In western scholarly discourse, witchcraft reinforced “backwardness”, “superstition” and “dark continent”. Of course nowhere in human history has witchcraft been approved as part of good moral and health practices. It is an immoral, unacceptable and untolerable system. Scholars who have analysed witchcraft have come up with two types of witchcraft: clinical and methaphysical witchcraft. Clinical witchcraft is based on groups of herbs, which are poisonous. For many years, Africans have acquired extensive knowledge of botanical herbs as well as animal and mineral products, which can be used to harm or kill somebody. People who acquire such knowledge and use it pass for witches or witchdoctors. If you theorize on this, anybody who has studied modern medicine can pass for a witch because he or she can kill. All doctors are therefore witches or witchdoctors. The only difference is that the herbal medicine practitioners are biasely called witches or witchdoctors in the western scholarly discourse and the conventional doctors are not seen in that light. But, as argued above, all forms of African practices, including indigenous medicine were branded primitive and condemned as being part of heathenism, witchcraft and primitive practices. However, treatment by use of indigenous medicine involved the work of diviners and medicinemen. To the Europeans, these were witches and their activities were banned. The condemnation and subjugation of indigenous medicine in African countries did not stop even after independence. Concerted efforts were made to challenge the condemnation and stigmatization of traditional medicine in many African countries during and after

94 colonialism. In Nigeria, several protests were made beginning from 1922 (Erinosho, 1998,

2006). Nigerians wanted legal recognition of their indigenous medicine.

Among the Gusii, there was an urge to go back to traditional ways of practices, including the use of indigenous medicine by such sects as Mumboism and Zakawaism.

Mumboism began in 1913 in South Nyanza by a legendary man called Onyango Dunde and reached Gusii by 1920s (Wipper, 1977: 32). Adherents of Mumboism advocated for a return to the old ways, rejection of Christianity, daily offering of sacrifices and use of herbal remedies.

Sacrifices were meant to appease the gods and ancestral spirits who could bring illness or healing to the families. Ceremonies presided over by priests were meant to cure illness, control people and restore life. They urged their followers to use folklore medicine and rituals as a way of solving their health problems (Wipper: 1977: 50). These beliefs and practices made Levine to write about the Gusii in 1959 thus:

Although fairly progressive Agriculturalists, they are behind other Kenyan Bantu communities in Westernization, owing partly to isolation and partly to cultural conservatism. One of the major foci of conservatism is the initiations of boys and girls…. there has been no general trend against initiation in Gusiiland, no long term indication that its universality and cultural significance have been impaired (Wipper 1977: 53).

These Eurocentric biases were detrimental to the development of an indigenous therapeutic system for the benefit of the poor and discriminated Africans. Everything cultural was supposed to be impaired. However, this never happened during the colonial period despite a protracted attempt to annihilate it. With determination and resilience, it continued side by side with modern medicine.

3.5. Modern medicine

By 1963, Kenya had over one hundred rural health centres that had a special commendation by the World Health Organization (WHO), (Low and Alison 1976: 520).

Modern medicine of course involved diagnosis, testing or examination, prescription and treatment of a patient. Testing was done in the laboratories. But in the period covered in this chapter, facilities for testing were inadequate or non-existent. Power as a form of energy in health centres was also lacking. That was where modern medicine differed with indigenous medicine. The latter never involved record keeping, testing or even a measurable, universal standard dosage of medicine. Some of the healers interviewed did dispel this criticism as unfounded and a way of discouraging the populace from using herbal medicine. According to

Robert Nyakundi (O.I., 2016) of Konate village in Nyamira Division, a patient was told to take a certain quantity of medicine for a certain number of days or till the quantity given was over.

This was the prescription and dosage. Of course, the prescription was by word of mouth, not written. Also unlike in health facilities where samples of blood, urine or stool were taken for testing, an indigenous diviner subjected the patient(s) to a rigorous interview through question method in order to draw certain conclusions and make a prescription (Nyakundi, O.I., 2016)

However, it should be reiterated that during the period 1939 to 1963, the number of hospital beds in government facilities grew from 3,000 to 10,000. The reason for this was because people had come to accept the significance of western medicine. Allophatic medicine was more active and faster in dealing with diseases than indigenous medicine. Peripheral services, particularly on the training of medical assistants and orderlies who ran the comprehensive network of dispensaries and health centres was stepped up. In these facilities, about 2 million cases were treated (Low. and Alison, 1976: 519). At least medical attention

96 was available to a large proportion of the population. People had come to belief that prevention was better than cure. The young elite had replaced the early skepticism and now accepted the potency of European medicine. Thanks to western medicine, mortality rate had dropped and then stood at 20 per 1000. Life expectancy stood at forty years while the birth rate was 50 per

1000 by 1950s (Low and Alison, 1976: 520). These could be seen as the impact of western medicine on population trends. However, its impact on indigenous medicine was minimal. That was because a large number of the Gusii still relied on traditional medicine to deal with their health problems (see the quantification of this in chapter 4, page 118).The Gusii had the option to choose between indigenous medicine and western medicine. Quite a good number of people attended government health facilities as an alternative. Others visited mission health centres.

This demonstrates how rational the Gusii were in making rational choices as rational human beings. Remember the Gusii had come to accept the potency of European medicine. People had also come to believe that prevention is better than cure hence the change to embrace western medicine. The paradox in this scenario was that such diseases as evil eye, oral thrush, false teeth, wasting disease, among others, continued to be attended to by indigenous medicine practitioners. Others like infertility/impotency, measles, typhoid, cholera and head surgery practices were taken to conventional facilities. But one fact also remains. That the Gusii never rests till a cure for his/her illness has been found. He/she can attend public health facilities and if they can not find a cure, they turn to indigenous therapists. Some do not even wait for the conventional medicine to take effect. They use both and eventually they may not know which drugs works for them.

However, regardless of the above scenario, one can assert that colonialism and its institutions had a negative impact on indigenous therapeutic practices, beliefs and norms

97 among the people of Gusii and those of other communities, not only in Kenya but Africa in general. The colonial government did not support the use of indigenous therapy among the

Abagusii nor did they want to know the efficacy and effectiveness of indigenous medicine in handling, diagnosing and treating diseases. They outlawed indigenous practices in favour of western medicine and therapy. To them, indigenous medicine was witchcraft, heathen, backwardness, primitive practices and beliefs. Both the missionaries and government established health centres and dispensaries attached to mission stations and town centres. The rural areas were ignored for a long time till the 1950s and 1960s when dispensaries and health centres began to appear and funded by the Local Native Councils. The contribution of the colonial government and missionaries to the development of indigenous medicine in rural

Nyamira as elsewhere was little. Even so, the Africans continued to use traditional medicine even after independence in 1963 to treat oral thrush, false teeth, stomach pains (enyancha in children), infertility, scurvy and measles, among others.

3.6. Summary

This chapter has dealt with the encounter between the indigenous Gusii medical practices and western medicine. Christianity and western education completely ignored everything traditional among Africans – culture, norms, agriculture, medicine, to name but a few. To them the African was a backward and primitive human being who needed light, western education, commerce and Christianity. Indeed, many missionaries such as CMS and

LMS flocked to Africa. In Gusii land, the Seventh Day Adventists, Roman Catholic and

Salvation Army dominated. They built churches, schools and health centres. They admonished people to ignore traditional healing, which, accordingto them, was a backward practice.

However, those with education and the general populace did not shun traditional therapies absolutely. They resiliently continued to use traditional medicine for a whole range of diseases, such as measles, evil eye, oral thrush, malaria and gonorrhoea. True, the colonial government and Local Native Councils had over one hundred dispensaries by 1960s (Low and

Smith, 1976: 520). In these health facilities, modern health practices universally accepted in terms of standards were done. These included laboratory tests, diagnosis, prescription and treatment of such diseases as malaria, infertility, itching, cholera, typhoid and skin diseases.

Conventional medicine practices differed with traditional health practices where written records and testing in the laboratory were unavailable. The study demonstrated that indigenous herbal practitioners were rational human beings and had a method of obtaining and keeping their records. It also demonstrated how resilient and rational the Gusii were in their quest to survive through difficult health times. Both systems borrowed from each other in areas of patient isolation, particularly during the outbreak of small pox and scurvy; bone setting- a technique well established and where skilled Gusii “physiotherapists” performed very well in arranging and restoring broken bones; packaging, where both systems used bottles or paper in carrying medicine; the dressing code and attires; getting medicine from forests and administration of medicine through oral, topical, emesis methods and training of personnel. It should be noted that as government and missionsries trained their hospital orderlies at set up training centres, the practioners went on training their interns at home. This was continuity in indigenous medicine practices. Change has also been seen where the Gusii came to accept the potency of conventional medicine and embraced it. Both the resilience and rational choice paradigms assisted in the analysis of this study.

One can, therefore, conclude that though colonialism and its institutions had some impact on traditional medicine among the Gusii of Nyamira, the two systems continued to exist side by side. The Europeans were not bothered with indigenous medicine even though a concerted effort by the missionaries was made to discourage people from using it. In fact, indigenous medicine continued to grow and expand. The number of herbal medicines increased just like the number of healers in Gusii also increased. Traditional birth attendants continued to assist in deliveries by pregnant mothers, as surgery, circumcision and autopsy also continued.

In the next chapter we shall see how contemporary lifestyles of Abagusii and Gusii traditional medicine manifested itself in the period, 1963-2010.

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CHAPTER FOUR

4.0. THE INTERFACE BETWEEN THE CONTEMPORARY LIFESTYLES OF THE

ABAGUSII AND INDIGENOUS MEDICINE, 1963- 2010

4.1 Introduction

The foregoing chapter discussed the encounter, continuity and change of Gusii indigenous medical practices in the context of Christianity, western medicine and colonialism.

This chapter examines the interface of the contemporary lifestyles of the Abagusii and indigenous Gusii medicine. It discusses the general perception of the western “educated” elites on the one hand and the prevailing application of indigenous Gusii medicine by the majority of the Gusii people on the other. The chapter demonstrates that a big population of the Gusii rely on indigenous medicine, its stigmatisation in some quarters notwithstanding. The chapter articulates the following as some of the factors for this trend: high cost of western medicine, long distances between facilities and remoteness of many areas from such facilities. The chapter also demonstrates the rational choice theory where the Abagusii are such rational beings making rational choices of many alternative therapeutic systems available to them.

4.2 Factors Affecting Healthcare Behaviour among the Gusii of Nyamira Sub-County

For a long time in the past, many non-western societies, Gusii included firmly perceived illness as result of supernatural agents that controlled human life. Treatment was by way of the local therapeutic knowledge systems that availed several treatment alternatives. This was the case for the Gusii in pre-Christian times and long after conversion to Christianity and coming of western culture. These alternatives included home-made remedies, western pharmaceutical products bought across the counter on the open market, herbal therapies provided by indigenous healers and medical products obtained from health centres or hospitals. In many centres,

101 especially where western medicine was non-effective, people decided to seek any prophylactic interventions that were spiritual (Colson, 1971, Young, 1986 and Sultana 1992).

In the case of Nyamira County and Nyamira South Sub-County in particular, infrastructural and structural forces have influenced health care provision to a bigger extent over a long time. This research established that the sick had different alternatives available for them to choose from. People were also rational in the way they made their decisions concerning their health. Such alternatives have been Gusii‟s therapeutic systems. The two forms of therapeutics

(western and indigenous) have been applied concurrently by the Gusii. Those residing close to the roads would opt to visit the nearest public health facility to seek treatment. However, those in remote areas would decide to visit a diviner or healer or even buy drugs from the nearest shop or chemist (Nyamongo, 1998: 37). If a particular treatment choice failed, patients or the person responsible for the health made new choices. As time passed and if illness persisted, the patient could become desperate and receptive to available alternatives or therapy suggested by others.

This rational choice approach to health issues among Gusii is supported by Feierman‟s

(1981) research among the people of Northern Tanzania. He identified eleven sources of healthcare available to lay (common) people namely; full-time healers whose primary responsibilities was to provide care to the sick; part time practitioners, some of whom performed a set of inherited treatments (they provided their services upon request); specialists who lived outside the village and provided care to serious cases of spirits- induced illness; old women who served as village midwives; common herbal cures used at the village or family level; private shops that sold non-prescriptive medicine over the counter; out-patient clinics or mission hospitals; free government dispensaries; government hospitals or dispensary visits; and therapies provided by researchers in the area ( Nyamongo, 1998: 37).

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In Nyamira Sub-county, many interviewees readily confirmed the same practices among many families, villages and small towns and market centres. In many market places, one can see signboards written, thus, “Mganga Kutoka Pemba-Zanzibar”, or Tanga Tanzania, or Kitui,

Kenya”, or “Kwale, Kenya”. Some openly displayed their paraphernalia and medicines in the market stalls and open-air places. Some are fake practitioners who hoodwink clients to believe what they offer yet their drugs are ineffective, just dust, ash or water clandestine as medicine.

While this may reflect change in the practice and use of indigenous medicine among the

Abagusii, it does not augur well to see such fake practitioners in society. However, genuine and real practitioners are known by society and offer proper treatment using herbal therapies. The quack practitioner menance are equally found in conventional medical practices. The media in

Kenya is awash with news of that nature. It is a decandence of society that need to be dealt with.

Below is a signboard of herbal medicine practitioner from Kwale, Kenya but practicing at

Kebirigo market, Nyamira Sub-County.

At the family level, there were certain factors that affected the health care behaviour of the people. The choices were determined by socio-economic status of the households, the educational status of the family and decision of the family head; the type of household and the number of children therein; the strength of social network knowledge and personal experiences,

103 as well as the distance from the health facility to the patient‟s home; the presence of good access roads to these facilities; good transportation and cost of treatment where higher medical fees hampered a patient‟s health care alternatives. According to Banchiri and Okangi (O.I., 2016), many families spent between 2-5% of their income on medication. Considering the high poverty levels of many families, the best alternative therapy sought became indigenous medicine. The two also observed that Gusii people obtained treatment from different sources depending on circumstances. Illnesses, in their earlier stages were cured using the traditional therapy; treatment of a child below five years was cured by a traditional healer especially the case of evil eye, oral thrush and pains of false teeth.

There were specialists who treated evil eye through body massaging using leaves of tobacco and liquid night-rose. The process was so painful to the toddler but that was the only way of treating such sickness. As noted earlier in this study, such diseases as evil eye, oral thrush and false teeth were never taken to hospital. The best treatment was home-therapy.

Past experience in a public hospital or health facility would also dictate the behaviour and response of a patient. According to Ebisiba Nyakerario of Masosa village, if a patient was mistreated in her first visit to a public health facility, one became hesitant in her/his options

(Ebisiba O.I., 2016). This was so, especially on women on labour who visited public facilities for birth deliveries and were mistreated in their first visit. Ebisiba explained that such women preferred traditional birth attendants to hospital orderlies. She also alluded that women preferred such traditional birth attendants (TBA) because they were cheaper in terms of payment since one would not make an immediate payment. Payment could also be in the form of cereals or just a fowl.

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An affluent family on the other hand, including families with higher education and exposure, preferred visiting government facilities or private hospitals. They only came back after failing to secure healing in the government hospital. The reason for such decisions was stigma.

In case of a young child, such shaky decisions more often than not resulted in the child‟s fatality.

Educated people were indecisive as to which alternative therapy to choose. Ebisiba explains that even visiting a diviner for direction was like a taboo for an educated young man. However, the same educated people ended up being referred by the hospital orderlies to go back to the village to seek alternative therapy through herbal medicines particularly on the three ailments mentioned above and which affected mostly infants (Ebisiba O.I., 2016). The orderlies did this because, being part of the village where they come from, they share the same beliefs, norms, attitudes and practices of the larger Gusii community as far as treatment of certain diseases are concerned.

Women nurses in particular know that evil eye is never treated in the hospitals.

Another healer, Esther Magabi, from Gesore village explained how she ended up being a healer: She said she gave birth to three children at different times but all of them died. When she eventually visited a diviner, she was told that the children were dying of enyamorero (wasting disease). She was also told that the only remedy for such a disease was herbal medicine. She was referred to a healer (AliceMoraa) at Bomondo village who treated her (Esther) before conceiving her fourth child. She conceived, gave birth to a baby girl and immediately that healer (Moraa) took over as the personal physician of the young child. The child survived. She subsequently gave birth to three more children who were all alive. In the process of treating the young children and weaning them, Esther learned the different herbal remedies administered to her children.

They went to the forest together with Moraa and out of curiosity and magnanimity of Moraa in sharing her knowledge with Esther; the latter gained the know-how and eventually became a

105 healer. The factor of social networking in knowledge seeking behaviour and personal experiences thus becomes very important as a determinant in choice making as regards which therapy to seek when it comes to sickness. As a result, Esther became an expert in indigenous therapies- receiving health treatment seekers from far and wide, even from outside Nyamira

County. She treated not only enyamorero but also false teeth, evil eye, oral thrush, venereal diseases (enyamosoni) and skin infections (Esther, O.I., 2016).

Those nearer to good road networks were able to visit government health facilities as their first line of treatment, but these depended again on other factors that have been discussed above. The study was able to detect therefore that one‟s choice of a particular therapy depended on a raft of factors: cost of treatment; social networking and personal experiences, among others.

By social networking, Esther explained that the Gusii consulted relatives, friends and neighbours who had suffered similar ailments and how the problem was solved. Table 4 below demonstrates the direction and choices that people took when seeking for treatment options.

Table 4: Common Diseases Treated in Hospitals or by Indigenous Therapy.

Disease Local % Hospital % therapeuticTreatment Treatment Oral thrush 127 88.2 17 11.8 Evil eye 117 81.3 27 18.8 Enyamorero (wasting 81 56.3 63 43.8 disease) Stomach ailments 61 42.4 83 57.6 Backache 53 36.8 91 63.2 Measles 50 34.7 94 65.5 Ebisara (false teeth) 101 70.1 43 29.9 Infertility/impotency 23 16.0 121 84 Source: Oral interviews, 2016.

The study interviewed 144 men and women within Nyamira and Nyamaiya Divisions of

Nyamira South Sub-county. 64 were from Nyamaira and 80 from Nyamaiya Divisions. Of the

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144, seventy of the respondents were women and seventy-four were men. Table 4, above, is a summary in percentages of the study‟s findings. It indicates the frequency and percentage of either people attending indigenous or hospital facilities for different ailments or diseases. For oral thrush (omonwa oye), most respondents were more confident with indigenous therapy, at

88.2%, while those who preferred hospital treatment were only 11.8%. This disease, common among infants of five years and below was followed by the evil eye (81.3%) and ebisara (false teeth) at 71.1%, enyamorero (wasting disease (56.3%); stomach ailments, (42.4%), backache

(36.8%, and measles (34.7%) and finally, infertility or impotence (16.0%) in that order of decreasing importance.

On the other hand, some respondents indicated that they preferred government hospitals in the treatment of some ailments. They include: infertility/impotency at 84 %; measles at 65.5%; backache at 63.2%; stomach ailments at 57.6%; and so on, in that order.

The researcher then chose pregnancy as a medical condition that requires medical attention before delivery. The respondents interviewed clearly indicated that indigenous medicine played a significant role when it came to that condition. The medical condition of a pregnant woman was associated with such diseases as: persistent backache, 125 (86.8%), chronic fatigue 120 (83.3%) fainting spells 110 (76.38%) abdominal pain 99 (68.8%), loss of appetite 95

(66%), swelling of ankles 41 (28.5%), and morning sickness 24 (16.7%). Gusii therapeutic system dealt with these diseases in the following ways: use of herbs 25 (17.4%), visiting health facilities 60 (41.4%). About 54 (37.5%) of respondents observed that there was no cure till one delivered. These findings reinforced the rational choice theory that the Abagusii would explore all available therapies in the quest for solutions to health problems till they got a cure.

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The study further investigated the practices of the traditional birth attendants of

Nyamaiya Division in trying to understand if they received clients and how they helped them.

Besides the interview schedule used, a statement “that traditional birth attendants are preferred in rural areas over hospital trained midwives” was read to the respondents. The findings revealed that as many as 81 (56.2%) of the respondents agreed that women in rural areas prefer traditional birth attendants to hospital trained midwives. However, 39 (27.1%) of the respondents disagreed with the statement and 24 (16.75) of the respondents were uncertain. Traditional birth attendants gave herbal medicine to reduce labour pains, to accelerate the labour process, to expel a retained placenta (after birth) and to reduce post-partum abdominal pains, (an element they claimed was lacking in modern hospitals). Following this recognition, Nyamira Level 4 hospital had trained fifty (50) traditional birth attendants in hygienic and other safe practices that ensured the well-being of the mother and child (Frank Ombati, O.I., 2016). These were found in the two divisions of Nyamira sub-County, namely: Nyamira and Nyamaiya Divisions.

Some informants were asked whether indigenous medicine practices can be integrated with conventional medicine practices in the health facilities provided by mission, government or private hospitals. Out of 20 interviewees, 8 argued in favour of integration, 12 talked of the training, education levels, among other differences that existed between the two systems. The argument was that in western medicine, the workers have had formal schooling, training for as long as six to eight years; and testing, diagnosing, prescriptions and theater operations were all differently done compared to indigenous medicine. Moreover, modern medicine has a hierachal system where practitioners are put in different cadres and remuneration depends on the education, level of training and experience. However, the proponents of integration were arguing that integration will bring cost of medicine down and drug resistant diseases can be treated using

108 indigenous medicine. Be what it may, the study found this argument to be interesting indeed.

One thing the study found out is that, indigenous medicine practices at times uses trance and are also shrouded in mystery. They involve dancing, drumming and singing including sacrifices of animals. Though the sick get healed of their healthy ailments, the methodology used is questionable and does not conform to conventional standards that are scientifically proven, reliable and verifiable.

4.3 Perceived Efficacy of Indigenous Medicine

The efficacy of indigenous medicine among the Abagusii as among many other African people, has always derived from the firm perception that it works. This is well stated by Mbiti

(1975: 172):

Whether traditional medicine functions in every case or not does not matter very much, it is the belief in the efficacy of such medicine which inspires hope in the sick, confidence in the hunter and businessman, courage in the sufferer and traveller, and sense of security in the many who feel that they are surrounded by mystical and physical enemies. This implies that valuable benefits were gained from the belief in traditional medicines as

African people understood and applied it. According to many respondents interviewed, herbal medicine had greater advantage than conventional medicine (pharmaceutical drugs). They were cheaper and readily available, and since they were natural, they tended to be less toxic. They did not have the toxic preservatives, binder, and dyes that characterize most biomedicines. Herbal medicines were also wholesome, so that besides controlling or curing illness they provided the patient with nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, vitamins and hormones that were required in the time of sickness to speed up recovery. These herbs included onions, thistle (risa), plantains (bananas) and all types of fruits (amatunda).

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4.4 Government Support for Indigenous Healing Processes

The official use of traditional medicine could be traced back to 1977 when the Thirtieth

World Health Assembly (WHA) of the World Health Organization (WHO) passed a resolution promoting the development, training and research in traditional system of medicine. In the following year, the Alma-Ata conference held in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and organized by the WHO and UNICEF (United Nations Children Educational Fund

(UNICEF), supported the utilization of indigenous practitioners in government sponsored health care systems (WHO, 1978: Alma Ata Declaration, www.who.int>publications>almaa). Since that period, the focus all over the world has been on the exploration of ways by which traditional therapies could be used in official health care system. Many governments have been supporting the use of indigenous therapies. Traditional medicine, traditional healers and midwives who practiced the art were encouraged by such support.

For a long time, many Kenyan communities have considered traditional medicine to be efficacious for a wide range of illnesses. This was their own initiative based on accumulated historical experiences. However, following the official global acknowledgement of the efficacy and significance of this medicine in 1978, the government of Kenya gave it a new lease of life by supporting it. The government‟s recognition of the important role of indigenous medicine was articulated in its 1979/83 Development plan as follows:

Traditional medicine and health care are an important part of the people in the rural areas. However, more information is needed and will be collected during this plan period with regard to both its substantive aspects and its potential link with Government institutions. Furthermore, considerations will be given to the manpower aspects of the traditional sector practitioners, such as midwives, who might be encouraged to be involved in Government Health Institutions in the rural areas (Republic of Kenya, 1979:136).

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This was followed by the 1994/96 Development Plan which stated:

Over time, Kenyans have developed a store of empirical information concerning the therapeutic values of local plants, minerals and fauna. The plan further said that there was need for dialogue between hospital workers and the people, especially healers to identify various practices which may hinder or promote health development (KDP: 1994/96). These development plans sound robust, encouraging and achievable. The problem with most government policy statements is at the implementation stage. Health officials lack the courage to incorporate indigenous medicine and practitioners of this medicine in their health programmes.

Most of them cast doubts on the efficacy of indigenous therapy, particularly when it does not involve scientific procedures and standards in their processes and descriptions. Contrary to this believes, research delineates that traditional medicine was widely used in Kenya (Nyamwaya,

1995) though its use was largely informal and occurred outside the official health care system.

The Gusii was one such community who had used indigenous medicine over time.

At independence, the Abagusii people of present Nyamira and Kisii Counties, which formed the then greater Kisii District, had many health challenges. The modern health facilities were few. Those available lacked significant manpower as well as drugs. Consequently, there was overwhelmingly reliance on indigenous therapies (Omare, 1998: 13). Young babies in particular had to be protected from disease related illnesses. For example to prevent indigestion and stop diarrhoea, babies were given a paste made from herbs of chinkenene (strawberry or fragaria vesca linn). A paste of amato omongo (pumpkin or cucurbita maxima Duchesne) could also be used (Nyamwaya, 1992).

In the post-independence era, pregnant mothers have always visited Nyamira hospital for check-ups and treatment. At the same time, they visited the local midwives and indigenous medicine dispensers for herbs believed to give strength to the pregnant mother and healthy growth to the foetus (Okangi, O.I. 2016). Okangi averred that the number of elite women-

111 meaning teachers and government employees who had visited her home for Obosaro (a herbal powder) obtained from a combination of herbs dried and ground into powder-was enormous.

School-going girls who also became pregnant visited her home for the same treatment.

According to Nyakundi (O.I. 2016), those who had mental problems (obobarimo) were brought to his home for treatment. When the researcher visited Nyakundi‟s home for oral interview, indeed he found two patients suffering from mental problems. One patient was tied to his bed, while the second patient was talking endlessly but had improved compared to the time he was brought in. By the time the interviewing process was over, Nyakundi had received three more patients who had come in for consultation and treatment. That was an indication that people in

Nyamira valued and cherished the use of traditional therapies. By extension, Nyakundi‟s wife treated evil eye (ebibiriria). She also explained that many people visited her home when their children had been attacked by ebibiriria (Flora, O.I., 2016).

The County government of Nyamira‟s Health Department had come up with a policy of registering all traditional medicine practitioners and requiring them to have practicing licences.

In order to obtain the license, the traditional medicine practitioners had to register with the

Health Department in the Governor‟s office. The practitioners are required to take their medicines to Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) or the University of Nairobi for testing to determine efficacy, side effects and dosage before administering to patients (Frank Ombati,

County Executive member, O.I., 2016). In confirming the legality of traditional medicine, the practitioners like Nyakundi and Onyancha had operating licenses for their businesses and their drugs were neatly and hygienically packed and stored. They also kept records of their patients.

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4.5 Challenges of Standardisation, Regulation and Integration of Indigenous Medicine

The challenges confronting indigenous therapies are both real and imagined. Among the imagined is the biased western world view that things African are backward. Secondly, some people believe that indigenous medicine does not conform to scientific procedures as far as objectivity, measurements, codification and classification is concerned. Of course, the material ingredients of indigenous medicine could be scientifically studied and analyzed. However, what has been difficult to analyze is the spiritual realm assumed with these remedies (Oyelakini,

2009). Given the ethnocentric connotations in modern medicine, the question that begs is: who determines the efficacy and effectiveness of indigenous medicine given the inherent epidemiological and ideological characteristic differences of both medicines? Given these issues, suggestions from some scholars (Konadu, 2008, Oyelakin, 2009) were made to the effect that

“both indigenous and conventional medicine is allowed to operate, develop and flourish independent of one another”. Oyelakini (2009: 83) went further to argue: “after all, the western people did not develop their medicine in order to integrate it with anyone else. Theirs was to first treat themselves and later the rest of the World lives a healthy life”. Thus, for them, to integrate indigenous medicine would thus be suicidal to the integrity and identity of indigenous medicine in Africa and a justification to claims of “supremacy” and “superiority” of the cosmopolitan medicine.

In criss-crossing the sub-County to collect data, some people seemed to see indigenous medicine as a charade. This is because it had a high number of sham/fake healers. This is part of the characteristic of indigenous therapies in Africa as is repported by Ebomoyi (1982) and

Pretorius (1999: 253) in their studies in other parts of Africa. While many practitioners were found to be genuine, others were charlatans. Indeed, the researcher found it difficult to ascertain

113 and differentiate genuine healers from quacks, save for the purposeful techniques that were applied. The study also found out that some healers were as young as twenty years as opposed to the traditionally accepted age of fifty (50 ) years as is observed by Sindiga (1995), who expounds that only those herbalists who were 50 years and above did practice therapeutic healing and this is supported by Jane Obiero (O.I., 2016).

It was also found that the welcome given to western Christian beliefs and practices; western education, urbanization and globalization in the African continent, had some negative impact on indigenous medicine. The attitude among western European scholars and other professionals was negative towards African healing systems. There was also over “passionate ambivalence” which developed towards African medicine particularly among the African educated elite (Feierman (2002). All these phenomena had both positive and negative impact on the use of indigenous medicine. Kiringe (2005) observes that: “the introduction of western culture particularly into rural parts of Africa has had a tremendous negative impact on the role traditional medicine plays”. Thus African therapeutic systems have for a very long time suffered from this Eurocentric attitude that labels them as backward and evil. However, this did not stop the continuity on the use of indigenous medicine.

Competition among the healers or from self-acclaimed healers who were in actual fact either quacks or genuine making a living out of indigenous medicine is a serious issue in healthcare delivery. Many practitioners tried to out-do and castigate each other. This gave a negative picture of indigenous healing. On the basis of this, educated elites seized the opportunity to discredit the practice of indigenous medicine unfairly.

The study found out that under-dosing was also a serious problem. The question posed was how a healer determined the dosage for a given sickness? Though some respondents

114 explained by giving experiences in the past, the research concluded that because of lack of proper tests or examination and reference to scientific prescriptions, many patients were under- dosed. Though there were no side effects, the patient took long to heal and some herbs could be poisonous and therefore fatal. This assertion was supported by Nyakundi R (O.I., 2016) who was our informant and a traditional medicine practitioner.

The dwindling of forests due to competition for agricultural land for food production had also made it difficult for the healers to procure herbs. The natural forests were found to be disappearing in the last three decades. This had made some healers to grow some herbs and plants in their farms and compounds. This was the case with Nyakundi and Onyancha.

Stereotyping and stigmatization as well as discrimination by the western trained health- workers were other serious problems. Some people feared visiting the indigenous healers‟ residences and at times the healers were mistaken for witches. Educated elite found it difficult to seek for indigenous healing openly. Many of these elites either went very far to seek treatment or visited the healers at night. This was reliably explained to us by Nyakundi (O.I. 2016). In

Nyamira sub-County, just as in other sub-counties of Gusii, witches have been lynched on suspicious grounds of killing other villagers through magic (Moraa, O.I., 2016).

Challenges facing indigenous therapeutic systems in Nyamira did not end there.

Situations where healers submit their medicine to KEMRI for testing and analysis to ascertain their properties and effectiveness and takes long to get the results were cited. The question the study posed as regards how long it took to get results from KEMRI was vaguely answered. Some respondents said it took six months while others said it could take as long as a year. It was also expensive to test various herbal materials separately, yet the drugs were supposed to be affordable to the patients and readily available. As to how indigenous medicine practitioners

115 were paid, many of these healers observed that some herbs were procured from other countries, thus, they would not be paid in kind as the pre-colonial and colonial herbalists did. A lot of money was involved in procurement, processing, analysis, testing and packing of medicine. Thus clients had to pay for all these in cash. For the poor households, this posed serious problems.

Despite all these challenges, the study‟s findings and conclusion was that indigenous medicine was deeply entrenched among the Gusii of Nyamira County. As rational human beings, the Gusii resiliently made rational decisions and chose carefully between conventional and indigenous therapies. The research‟s finding was supported by Bamidele, et al (2009), who observed that“indigenous medicine was there to stay and would continue to hold sway in both rural and urban communities in Africa even when modern health care facilities were available to meet a wide range of health care needs”.

4.6 Attitude of Educated Elites and Christians to Indigenous Therapies, 1963-2010

One of the objectives of this study was to identify and discuss the manifestations of the interface between contemporary lifestyles of Abagusii and indigenous medicine. Indigenous medicine therapies in Gusii have weathered storms brought about by colonialism and its institutions namely schools, churches and western culture in general. Upon arrival in Gusii, the

Christian missionaries established schools along mission stations where the converts were taught, how to read, write and arithmetic. Along the way, the colonial government allowed Local Native

Councils to build more schools for Africans. They included Nyabururu Girls and Nyanchwa

Boys, (KNA/DC/KSI/1/4). Other schools like Kisii School and Kereri Girls were built by the L.

N. Cs. By the 1950s, there were many government run-schools as were mission schools. By

1957, there were 44 Gusii students in Kisii school and by 1960 the number had gone up to 55

(Maxon, 1971: 296). By 1963, the number of children attending schools was enormous and the

116 demand for education was insatiable following rapid increase in population (Maxon 1971: 321).

Such schools as Cardinal Otunga (Mosocho), Itierio and Sironga had come into being at independence (KNA/MED/1/4).

After 1963, when Kenya became independent, many more schools were built through the

Harambee spirit, the brainchild of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. According to the Kenya Secondary

Schools Heads Association, by 2010, Nyamira County had 189 secondary schools (KESSHA:

2010) and over 1000 primary schools (KEPSHA: 2010). Between 1963 and 2010 hundreds of thousands of Gusii children had primary, secondary and tertiary education and many had gone to university and become professionals such as lawyers, teachers, doctors, nurses, administrators, engineers, consultants and accountants. These western educated elite from the region form the category whose attitude towards indigenous medicine this study sought to establish. In short, this group is the essence of the Nyamira society.

At first sight, the attitude of the elite is apparently negative and ambivalent, having been brainwashed to believe that indigenous medicine in all its forms was primitive, ineffective, dangerous and backward. Yet closer examination revealed that not all the elite shunned everything traditional. In fact, western education in all its complexity did not succeed to change the African from his core African essence. The study established that in many areas, the students believed in the African cosmic system, including belief in witches. According to Welbourn

(1976: 411), “students returned to full participation in their own society after the relative seclusion of school and college and began to be haunted, however reluctantly, by the whole gamut of the occult”. “Doctor”, Mwaniki (O.I. 2016) of Bomwagamo ward observed:

There are many people, educated elites who visit my home clinic for stomach ailments,

venereal diseases and abortion. Some are married women who due to infidelity become

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pregnant accidentally and come to seek help on how to discard the foetus without the

knowledge of their spouses.

This assertion compelled the study to do closer examination of this group of elites in relation to the use of indigenous medicine and therapy among the Gusii. The researcher decided to carry out a survey among the educated elites totalling to one hundred (100), including 20 teachers, 38

Civil servants in Nyamira County Government‟s office, 12 County Assembly officers, 25 businessmen in Nyamira town, and 5 pastors from different denominations working in various capacities in Nyamira County. Table 5 gives a summary of the findings. The main question put to the respondent was whether they had used indigenous medicine and their attitude towards indigenous medicine usage, practices and beliefs. Their responses were tabulated as shown in table 5 below.

Table, 5: Attitude of Educated Elite towards Indigenous Therapy.

CATEGORY % of those who have % of those who are % of those who have used indigenous likely to use not used indigenous medicine indigenous medicine medicine

No. % No % No % 20 Teachers 15 75% 3 15% 2 10% 38 Civil servants 36 94.74% 2 5.26% 0 00% 12 Assembly officers 8 66.66% 4 33.33% 0 00% 25 Businessmen 20 80% 4 16% 1 4% 5 Pastors 4 80% 1 20% 0 0% Average % 79.28% 17.918% 2.8% Source: Field Interviews, 2016.

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The respondents were expected to state whether they had used indigenous medicine and if it was believable, affordable and effective/efficacious.

The table demonstrates that seventy nine percent (79.28%) of respondents were of the opinion that indigenous medicine was believable, affordable, efficacious and effective and had no side effects. Women respondents observed that a number of diseases among infants were not supposed to be attended to in hospital unless one wanted her child to die of these diseases. These diseases included oral thrush (omonwa oye), evil eye (ebibiriria), ebisara (false teeth) and measles (ebiaye) which were treated at home using indigenous therapeutic techniques and herbs obtained from the bush. Secondly, male and female respondents of all categories argued that education did not significantly change very much people‟s attitude towards indigenous medicine.

They said it all depended on circumstantial factors. A respondent answered by posing his question:

What do you do when you make several trips to hospital and you don‟t get treatment, you don‟t recover (Otore, O.I., 2016)? This statement/question demonstrates people‟s faith in both allopathic and indigenous medicine. They are communicating the message that they can choose to attend government health facilities or indigenous medicine practitioners. They said that apart from charlatans/fake practitioners who had emerged in the indigenous medicinal market, herbal medicine and genuine practitioners play a great role. All of them were supported by the

17.918% who said that though they had not used herbal medicine in their lifetime, they were likely to use it in future because of drug resistance when treating certain ailments like cancer and skin diseases. The respondents who did not believe in the efficacy of indigenous medicine were 2.8% falling in the category of teachers and businessmen and their argument was that the practice of indigenous medicine therapies was backward, outdated, unhygienic

119 and ineffective. However, the pastors, on the other hand, supported the use of herbal medicine and quoted mostly Ellen G. White‟s books and the Bible. White was a writer and an author of several prophetic books. They gave reference to King Hezekiah who was ailing and likely to die, save for using the paste from the fig tree (Second Kings 20: 1-21).

He was spared and added fifteen more years.The pastors also cited the deeds of pastor Abel

Nyakundi Onchoke of the SDA church, (now deseased) who did a lot of healing using herbal medicine to treat a list of 40 diseases including; infertility (abakungu bateneine), diabetes, hypertension, nose bleeding, chronic headache, asthma, poisoning (esumo), boils

(esamusamu), gonorrhoea (enyamosonono), abortion and abdominal pains.

All categories of interviewees applauded the affordability of indigenous medicine with many arguing that traditional medicine was the next frontier and debut in the coming years considering the resistance of diseases to conventional medicine. The study therefore, concluded that one‟s education in contemporary times did not necessarily radically make one‟s attitude go against indigenous medicine. Circumstances played a big role. This view was supported by

Sindiga (1995: 279) who argues that over 90% of Gusii households sought some form of non- licensed and non-institutionalized traditional medicine due to limited medical facilities, services and infrastructure.

The study‟s analysis of diseases and their remedies was able to ascertain that no single remedy was sufficient on its own to manage illness in a community. Indigenous medicine played a great role in the rural areas due to its affordability, efficacy and accessibility for the majority of the people. This was because much of indigenous medicine was obtained from plant sources, which were readily available in the rural environment. Conventional medicine did well in urban areas where majority of the people are the educated elite.

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Most of the indigenous healing in Nyamira County took place at homes of indigenous medicine practitioners because of lack of proper government support to this sector. Many healers were not licensed to operate this business in open public places. The healers thus visited the homes of clients (the sick) or the patients visited the healers in their homes for consultation, divination and treatment. Consultation touched on different kinds of illness such as Human

Immune Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS), sexually transmitted diseases, other infectious diseases, bad luck, poor social relationships; culture bound syndromes, witchcraft, physical and psychological problems and protection against afflictions. Protection included propitiation against possible offences that were wittingly or unwittingly incurred against others. This was accomplished by performing ceremonial acts using medicine against the disequilibrium or wearing totemic objects such as wrist bands for infants or wrapped up charms for adults. My informant, the late Oroko (O.I. 2016) explained that proper protection was where a patient had part of his/her body incised, say on the chest or hand, and then rubbed with protective powder or charms rubbed into the incision, getting directly into the bloodstream.

According to Nyakundi (O.I. 2016), traditional therapies had a lot of merits. One such advantage was that the healing was based on the client‟s culture; it was holistic, accessible and affordable. Good health, diseases, success or misfortune were not seen as chance occurrences but were believed to arise from the actions of individuals and ancestral spirits according to the balance or imbalance between the individual and social environment. In this, the healers had a deep personal involvement in the healing processes. The healers were also very influential and respected by their communities and therefore played a very important role in assisting the sick in the choice of health promoting styles.

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Indigenous medicine was processed and sold in well-packed glass and plastic bottles in the open market places or in the supermarkets and chemists (see image below). The people who sold these medicines claimed to be trained herbalists, had good education, were young and wore white over-coats like those worn by public health trained workers (see appendix 8 page 169). In

Nyamira sub-County, the healers were seen in the major markets like Kebirigo, Nyamira Town,

Miruka and Mosobeti. Others had mobile cars mounted with loudspeakers informing would-be clients of their presence and the availability of medicine. Some chemists at Kebirigo sold these herbal medicines to customers. The pharmacists offered explanations on the availability and use of these folk medicines. The choice of medicine depended on the rational choice action of the patient or the person behind the patient. However, since the Gusii are rational human beings, interplay of factors such as cost-effectiveness, efficacy of the medicine and maybe one‟s level of education determined the medicinal choice. More often than not, the patients made choices depending on past experiences.

Image of modern packaging of traditional medicine Source: Download from internet.

The current indigenous medicine companies like Murugu Herbal and Nutritional Clinic and Makini Herbal Clinics occasionally visited Nyamira Town to offer their health services.

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However, the percentage of their clientele was low because their services were unaffordable compared to those sold by local herbalists. This was not because their drugs were different in any way. On interacting with them (herbal medicine practitioners), they alleged that most of their medicine was imported, laboratory tested and used expensive equipment and trained personnel to prepare and package the medicine. The cost of all these had to be met by the clientele.

Some of the female interviewees said that they sent herbal medicine to their sons and daughters working and living in the major towns outside Nyamira particularly medicines for infants and pregnancy related complications (Nyaboke, O.I, 2016). They used courier companies or parcel service vehicles. As noted early in this chapter, diseases, which affected children less than five years were never taken to hospitals? The Gusii living abroad, like in the USA while visiting home bought and went back with the drugs for use while abroad (Bwari, O. I., 2016).

This was supported by Humes, Jones and Ramirez (2011) who observed that use of indigenous medicine in the USA was 42% compared to 80% in Africa and 79.28% for Nyamira County (see table 5 page 118). Note also that these were all the educated elites – meaning that if it were not for stigmatization, the number of elites using indigenous therapies and medicine could be very high (Nyakundi, O.I., 2016).

According to Oriku, (O.I., 2016), indigenous medicine was in high demand, with its use growing and expanding as more and more people, particularly the youth, joined the indigenous medicine industry in large numbers. It was an indication of the resilience of the practice of indigenous medicine among the Gusii. In Nyamira County, Maasai youth traversed the country selling indigenous medicine purportedly dealing with both human and animal diseases.

According to Barongo, (O.I., 2016), “they even got into peoples’ homes and market places as well”.This view was supported by Abdullahi (2010) who stated that despite the negative impact

123 western education and Christianity had on indigenous medicine, the latter had continued to grow, not only in Africa, but the entire world. Studies done in recent times in healthcare seeking behaviour “had increasingly come to a realization that traditional practitioners were important players in the healing processes, especially in Less Developed Countries (LDCs), (Hausmann-

Muela et al, 2003)”. Examples abound in Nyamira County as elsewhere in Africa, showing the abundance of indigenous medicine practitioners. The photograph below shows one such example.

Maasai man dressed in traditional attire selling indigenous medicine to school workers at Bonyunyu secondary school, in Nyamira South Sub-County, Nyamira County.

Source: Oral Interview at Bonyunyu secondary school. Photo was taken with permission.

John Ole Ngoitoi is a traditional medicine practitioner from Ole Runga in Narok County.

According to him (O.I. 2016), he moves from place to place selling his medicine to the Gusii of

Nyamira County. He deals mostly with medicines of the stomach, diarrhoea, constipation, malaria and skin infections. He sold both boiled and powdered medicines. Those who bought the

124 latter were given a prescription of how to boil it and the quantity of water that could be used for a given quantity of powdered or crashed medicine. The patient was also instructed on whether to take it warm or cold as well as the dosage in terms of glasses. As shown in the foregoing photo, the workers of Bonyunyu Secondary School were regular customers of Ngoitoi. He visited the school every fortnight to supply his medicine to both the teaching and support staff. On interacting with one of those workers, the researcher ascertained that they enjoyed the medicine supplied to them for their healthcare as well as treating their livestock (O.I. 2016). He hinted that the medicine was very efficacious particularly for stomachache and constipation. Such are the many examples of Maasai men moving all over the County selling their medicine. The difference that arose between the Gusii and the Maasai practitioners was that the young Gusii men were stigmatized and feared being branded as sorcerers or even witches. The consequence of being branded that was either you could be beaten or lynched in case of sickness or death of a neighbour. Secondly, those businesses were left to the older people who usually handled their clients in their homes, away from public scrutiny. That was the tradition of the Gusii from time immemorial. However, both communities used herbs, which were plenty, not only in Maasailand but also in Gusiiland.

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Photo showing the Researcher and Ole Ngoitoi: Source: Field Interview Gusii, an area that receives rainfall all year round has the abundance of leafy vegetables, most of which were used as medicine. In this study, it was realized that many people had turned into consuming leafy vegetables, particularly those which supply minerals into the bloodstream.

According to Busolo and Wasike (1994), when regularly consumed, indigenous leafy vegetables could supply the body with adequate iron. The leaves of the spider herb (gynandropsis gynandra or chinsaga) were bound, soaked in water and the concoction drunk, or the leaves were prepared and eaten for the treatment of nutritional anaemia, scurvy and stomach ailments. Nutritional anaemia made women susceptible to disease, exacerbated fatigue, reduced working capacity in the work place and at home and was dangerous to pregnant women. According to Buruchara and

Okiomeri (1986), the spider herb (chinsaga) was recommended for expectant and lactating mothers to increase the production of breast-milk. This observation was supported by informants

126 who explained that a special “tea” made from spider herb (chinsaga) roots was given to a mother who had immediately delivered to reactivate the flow of breast-milk (Nyakundi, O. I., 2016).

4.7 Summary This chapter demonstrated the manifestations of the interface between contemporary lifestyles of the Gusii and the Gusii indigenous medicine. While the Gusii had received education and become professionals in various fields, they maintained the use of indigenous medicine without defiance, deviation and scorn. In equal measure, the number of traditional practitioners increased just like the number of quacks in indigenous medicine. The study illustrates this unfortunate fact and recommends, in the next chapter, that this high number of charlatans should be censured, curtailed or banned all together, though this is a problem even in the modern medical circles, as reported in the press and other media. Both the educated elite and semi literates sought some form of indigenous medicine therapies.

The study discovered that there were diseases that were never taken to hospital by the

Gusii community. These included oral thrush, false teeth and evil eye. Many genuine healers created botanical gardens where they planted medicinal plants in their homes in the face of dwindling forests; and others imported their products from other countries. This explains the resilience and determination of the Gusii community to deal with health challenges as they came.

This study utilised the resilience theory as well as the rational choice paradigm in analysing indigenous medicine usage among the Abagusii. In surmounting the health challenges in the face of murky situations, the Gusii were resilient. The Gusii were also rational human beings and always went for option two, which was alternative medicine. The study demonstrated that there were many challenges facing the indigenous medicine industry. These included lack of authentic testing and examination procedures, record keeping and stigmatisation. Yet the flipside was that

127 the government was slowly coming in to support the traditional healing therapies following the

WHO support for the use of these therapies, particularly in developing countries where drug shortage and strikes by conventional medical practitioners posed serious challenges. The Gusii were quick to seize such opportunities and that shows why they decided to create medicinal gardens in their compounds. In the next chapter, the study gives a summary of the entire study of continuity and change in the Gusii therapeutic systems in Nyamira County between 1880 and

2010.

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CHAPTER FIVE

5.0. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Summary

The study is an informed analysis of the continuity and change in Gusii medical practice between 1880 and 2010. Chapter one provided the foundation of the study, conceptual framework and research methodology that were used. The methodology adopted the descriptive research design. This was because much of the data collected was historical and required a narrative format to relay information. Though purposive sampling technique was used to get information, it was not a do or die obligation. Virtually, whoever could provide information and was willing to discuss the subject matter and provide evidence of his information was interviewed. Both the old and young interviewees knew at least something concerning indigenous medicine.

Chapter two basically addressed objective one. It discussed the traditions of origins, migrations and settlement of the Gusii, therapeutic systems, practitioners of indigenous medicine, efficacy of herbal medicine, among other issues between 1880 and 1900. We realized that the Gusii originated from the legendary misiri, an area north of Mount Elgon, probably in the Karamojong area. They are related to the Luhyia and Kuria communities of western Kenya.

Elders who were interviewed pointed to a legendary man named Mogusii as the founder of the

Gusii. The Gusii migrated to their present territory through Goye-Kadimo, Asembo, Kisumo,

Kano, Kabianga, Sotik, Ngelengele and finally the Kisii highlands. It was during their migrations over several years that the Gusii devised ways of survival through adversities. They were attacked by diseases solutions of which they had to look for. The Gusii were resilient, determined, and persistent.

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In solving their health care challenges, indigenous medicine was the solution, not only in the precolonial era, but also in the two historical epochs: colonial and post-colonial. Indigenous medicine was easily obtained from the forests in the form of herbs, minerals and animal products. The Gusii had many specialists such as herbal medicine practitioners (abanyamete), surgeons (ababari), abasari (circumcisers), Abaragori (diviners), among others. Before colonialism, the Gusii believed that disease and illness were interwoven. Diseases were caused by natural and super-natural forces. Ancestral spirits could also create misfortune or diseases such as madness (obobarimo) and impotency (obogomba). Breaching taboo could also cause illness or even death. Diseases that were dealt with by the Gusii specialists included malaria

(esosera), stomachache (enda-embe), itching (omwaga), infantile diarrhoea (orosao rwa abana), the wasting disease (enyamorero), false teeth (amaino amakubu), oral thrush (omonwa oye) and evil eye (ebibiriria).

Some of the various types of herbs used by the Gusii are indicated in table 1. These herbs and other medicines were procured by the healers from bushes and forests around homesteads.

They were processed through fire or sun drying or ground into a paste and drank. Sometimes it was boiled in water, given time to cool and drank in doses. The medicine was stored in calabashes, pots, stem trunks, bamboo cut-out trunks and plastic containers. It was taken orally or through enemas and purgatives. The study found that knowledge on indigenous medicine was passed down from father to son or mother to daughter either automatically or through some big ritual involving some elaborate ceremony attracting many relatives and neighbours. Payment of the indigenous healers was in kind: goats, finger-millet and cows. Rarely was cash involved.

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The research was able to deduce that various techniques were applied in the healing process. They included pre-consultation briefing, massaging, spiritual healing, rhythmic drumming, dancing and prayers as well as sacrifices.

Chapter three addressed objective two and centred on the encounter between Gusii indigenous medicine and the coming of colonialism 1900 to 1963. The study demonstrates that colonialism and western culture did not annihilate indigenous Gusii medicine. The two health care systems competed against each other but thrived side by side. However, there were instances where each borrowed from the other system hence produced a hybrid system of medical care, particularly in areas of patient isolation and bone setting. The missionaries built health centres next to mission stations. However, few Gusii people attended this health centres due to distances and the paternalistic tendency of Europeans. Africans also believed in the effectiveness and efficacy of the indigenous medicine. Though by 1963 over 100 health centres had been built in Gusii, people still preferred visiting indigenous health practitioners despite the luring and persuasions by missionaries to Gusii to desist from using indigenous medicine. Herein was the hybridization of the interface of contemporary lifestyle of the Gusii and indigenous medicine. The Gusii visited both with aview to get treatment. The practice of indigenous medicine was commercialised, practitioners like Mbaka set up chemists selling herbal medicine, testing of herbal medicine before use at KEMRI is being done, packing of medicine in clean glass or plastic bottles tightly sealed and wearing of white overcoats, among others were some of the new developments in the wide field of indigenous medicine

The study further demonstrates that colonialists condemned indigenous medicine as

“backward”, “heathen” and “primitive”. This did not dampen the resilience of the people and their rationality to make rational choices as rational human beings on the alternative medical care

131 available to them. However, no dispute was registered that the Gusii doubted the superiority and potency of modern medicine. To the contrary, the Gusii respected it and that is why those who had access to government facilities attended them to seek for treatment.

The study has also established that western education, negatively affected African indigenous medicine. Out of stigma, the educated elites began avoiding indigenous medicine but secretly visited practitioners of indigenous medicine for consultation and treatment. The impact therefore was negligible. The study was able to establish that even sons and daughters from Gusii living in the diaspora used indigenous medicine. The researcher, in his interaction with informants and interviewees, found that the number of sham or fake healers had increased progressively as population and hardships increased. This made it difficult to distinguish between genuine healers from fake healers.

One thing that was there in pre-colonial Gusii and continued and survived through the colonial and post-colonial time, is the existence of traditional birth attendants (TBA) within the

Gusii indigenous medicine practices. The study established that the TBA continued to co-exist with hospital orderlies when delivering pregnant mothers. The study also demonstrates that except for the surgeons (ababari), various medical practitioners continued to exist through the period of this study. They included circumcisers (Abasari), traditional birth attendants (Abarabi), love charm givers (Abaebia) and those who performed autopsy (abati).

Chapter 4 addressed objective three which focused on manifestations of the interface between the indigenous therapeutic system of the Gusii and contemporary life styles of the Gusii.

In this objective, the study has analysed the responses of the informants and interviewees and was able to reach some conclusions. Whether educated or not, the Gusii have a strong affinity to traditional medicine. In fact, some diseases like oral thrush, evil eye and false teeth were never

132 taken to hospital. These diseases were treated locally using indigenous medicine. It was established that the level of propensity to indigenous Gusii therapy was over 80%. Thus, the level of confidence and believe in herbal therapy was high. But, the study also found that some diseases were better treated in government facilities. These included infertility/impotence, backache, malaria and the modern lifestyle diseases like cancer, diabetes and hypertension.

The study applied the resilience paradigm to demonstrate that indigenous medicine among the Gusii was efficacious. This is out of the many years of experience and persistent use of the herbal medicines. The testimony by Esther Magabi, whose children suffered and died and who eventually found a cure in indigenous therapeutic practices, is evidence of the resilience, and efficaciousness of these therapies. Esther later turned out to be a practitioner of indigenous medicine.

The indigenous system of course was not without challenges of standardization and scientific prove. However, the government, following approval by WHO, has encouraged the use of indigenous therapy and the registration of the indigenous medical practitioners in an effort to provide affordable medical facilities to the public. The registration could also tame the sham healers who had become a menace and tainted the good name of genuine herbal practitioners.

The educated elite have come to accept indigenous medicine as part of the holistic health system geared towards creating a health nation.

The response of the civil servants, teachers, pastors and business community supported this view. The average percentage of people who were using indigenous medicine was 79.28% compared to 2.8% of those who had not used it. This is proof that indigenous therapeutic systems were popular among both the elites and non-elites, not only in Nyamira but also by extension in

133 the entire County. Sindiga had put it at 90% of the Gusii who sought non-institutionalized and non-licensed traditional medicine.The study confirmed Sindiga‟s position.

As expounded by indigenous medicine practitioners, dwindling of forests has made the

Gusii to import medicine from Tanzania, Uganda, DRC, China and India. There are also those who have planted medicinal plants to supplement what they get from bushes and forests around their homes. They include Onyancha and Nyakundi of Nyamira South sub-County.

Several areas were identified demonstrating continuity and change in the thesis. They included the increase in indigenous therapy; growing medicinal plants at home; importing medicine from abroad; increase of sham practitioners; elites embracing indigenous medicine; practitioners as young as twenty years entering into the indigenous therapy; training of the TBA; record keeping by the practitioners and use of testing kits and modern machinery in medicine processing. The packaging was in modern plastic and glass bottles and containers. This has been highlighted in various pages and figures across the study. Since the production of medicine using machinery, testing procedures and importing some of these medicines was expensive, the practitioners were paid in cash, not in kind any more; except for the TBA whose services were found to be affordable and could accept a token of appreciation for assisting pregnant women to deliver. They were paid in both cash and in kind. The use and practice of herbal medice continued, practitioners and their skills continued administering herbal medicine, treatment of evil eye, oral thrush, false teeth and scurvy among children continued with the best treatment being indigenous medicine offered at homes of medical practitioners.

134

5.2 Conclusion

This study has demonstrated the process of healing therapies among the Gusii using indigenous medicine in historical perspectives. The synopsis of salient features of indigenous therapeutic systems of Gusii delineates that it was a fully established medical system that served people well in the absence of conventional medicine. This happened in the pre-colonial epoch. It was the resolve of the people, their perception of the efficacy of indigenous medicine that made the Gusii resiliently apply indigenous medicine to their satiety. The protracted migratory routes taken by the Gusii from Misiri, Mt. Elgon, Kisumo, Kano, Kabianga, Ngelengele and finally

Gusii highlands were full of health challenges, which the Gusii surmounted resolutely and resiliently. The Gusii were a determined lot, had the stamina to move on in the face of adversities and were visionary in turning vulnerable situations into opportunities. They never surrendered to fate. This explains why they were able to migrate to safer grounds whenever the situation proved volatile either from marauding Luo migrants, cattle rustlers of the Maasai and Kalenjin communities or diseases and drought. The study used the resilient theory in this analysis to arrive at this conclusion.

Even during the colonial and post-colonial era, the Gusii being rational human beings made rational decisions in chosing the best alternative medicine. Persistence, experience and resilience forced them to continue with traditional therapy. At the same time, other factors encouraged them to continue with what they knew best (herbal medicine). These factors included affordability of indigenous medicine, distance to the health facilities; approachability and amiability of indigenous medicine practitioners, expensiveness of modern medicine and the high affinity/propensity to indigenous therapeutic systems.

135

Rather than abandoning their traditional medicine in favour of the more potent western medicine, the Gusii continued to use indigenous medicine. Modern health facilities were put up by missionaries and colonial government but still the Gusii‟s propensity to indigenous medicine was strong. The resilience theory guided this study and proved our research‟s relevance in as much as the Gusii did not give up their resolve to apply indigenous therapy through epochs.

They (Gusii) did this against the onslaught of western culture. Gusii indigenous medicine was vulnerable to extinction due to adversities brought by western culture but this never happened.

Instead, both systems developed side by side and what emerged at the end was a hybrid system whic offered solutions to healthcare challenges among the Gusii. Some practitioners were able to establish small herbal medicine processing units where the medicine produced were packed in various plastic and glass bottle containers before being sold to consumers. As seen in appendix 8, the indigenous medicine practitioners dressed in white overcoats reminiscent of those attires worn by conventional health workers in public health facilities. Some practitioners like Joel

Mbaka, in appendix 9, had created chemists in their offices fully licensed to sell indigenous medicine. These were some of the manifestations resultant from the interface between Gusii indigenous medicine and the modern lifestyles of Abagusii. It was also a new hybrid system, an offshoot from the encounter between western culture, particularly western medicine and Gusii indigenous medical practice and usage.

The resilience theory therefore was suited to this study in analysing, processing and presenting the findings in the way and manner presented. The resilience paradigm demonstrated how passionate and pious the Gusii were to time tested indigenous medicine. That the Gusii were able to apply their skills, abilities, knowledge and insights that they had been able to accumulate over time was in no doubt. The theory which made assumptions of the existence of difficulties,

136 hard times, calamities and hazardous situations applied much to this study. The Gusii were able to absorb disturbances brought by western culture and reorganize while adapting to changes.

However, they (Gusii) retained key elements of structure and identity as a distinct community.

The model assumes that people‟s beliefs and attitude were critical determinants of their health related action.

In applying the rational action model, the Gusii were able to make rational choices and actions as rational human beings. The model guided this study by assuming that individuals are driven by goals, wants and needs that express themselves through preferences. The model which is usually used in trade-offs, between alternative choices, was used to analyse the health seeking behaviour of the Gusii and alternative care practices the Gusii engaged in. Given the various alternative health choices, the Gusii were able to choose indigenous medicine over and above conventional medicine due to its availability and affordability factors; amiability and amicability of the practitioners. Environmental set-ups in which both the consumers and practitioners found themselves in were conducive and hastened the healing processes.

In carrying out this study, we used various instruments and tools of methodology.

Qualitative methods including descriptions and explanations were more suited as is the norm in historical methods. This research methodology guided us well in arriving at in this conclusion.

Occasionally, quantitative methods were sparingly used in the form of tables to enable the researcher interpret data and draw conclusions.

No serious problems were experienced in this study except the hilly terrain of the Gusii region. However, walking over long distances formed part of a health exercise and therapy. The terrain proved to be a gym because at the end of the day, the body felt light as we embarked on writing this thesis.

137

On integration of indigenous medicine with conventional medicine, the study concluded that the epidemiological and ideological characteristics in the two systems can not allow it to happen. In conventional medicine, there is a hierarchical system which is non-existent in indigenous medicine. While allophatic medicine practices are practical and can be proven in the laboratories, indigenous medicine lacks standard measurements, can not be scientifically proven and some treatment is shrouded in mystery, is unreliable and unverifiable. However, since the health problems of the nation is a collective effort by all and sundry, there is need for cooperation and collaboration in tackling health challenges facing the people, not only in

Nyamira county, but also the whole nation. This cooperation between the two systems will ensure continuity in both indigenous and conventional medical practices.

This study enriches the understanding of the position of indigenous medicine in the cumulative health care system of the Country. The argument is that indigenous medicine plays and will continue to enhance the health care needs of the Country. Indigenous medicine efficaciously and effectively deals with children diseases like oral thrush, false teeth and stomach pains. Body massage, physical techniques and diet controls, as part of indigenous medicine, are part of a solution to even non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes. These practices need to be encouraged and supported. The study was therefore justifiable and significant as it contributes to the body of knowledge and enriches people‟s understanding of their health requirements, challenges and where and how to deal with them.

Finally, the study was able to establish that the pre-colonial Gusii indigenous medicine was a firmly established and comprehensive system of healthcare delivery; that the British colonial institutions, including western medicine did not threaten or displace the indigenous

Gusii medical practices and indeed the interface between the modern lifestyles of Abagusii and

138 indigenous Gusii medicine resulted in hybrid manifestations. These included packaging using plastic containers, keeping records, testing of indigenous medicine and wearing of white overcoats. The study‟s objectives were therefore met while the study‟s premises were proved over

90% correct. Numerous instances of continuity, change and hybridzation have been identified and listed in the Gusii‟s indigenous therapeutic systems. They include use of machinery to process medicine instead of sun-drying; packing in plastic bottles instead of pots, leaves and tree trunks, dressing using white overcoats, laboratory testing, training of personnel instead of interns following practitioners to the forest, and establishing chemists fully licenced to sell herbal medicine, among others.

5.3 Recommendations

Based on the conclusion of the study, the study made a number of recommendations.

First, the study recommended that the ministry of Health should identify, register and issue licences to genuine practitioners of indigenous medicine to support the mainstream healthcare system in the country. Two, a research should be carried out to analyse medicinal plants that have disappeared in Kenya. The findings from such a study will be the first step in profiling the

Country‟s indigenous medicinal plants so that those that have disappeared can be revamped and recouped for posterity. Third, the Gusii herbal medicine practitioners claim to heal non- communicable diseases like diabetes and cancer. Research should be carried out to authenticate this claim in a scientific manner so as to assist in policy formulation by government. Fourth, while the study revealed that the Gusii got their medicine from herbs harvested in the forests, not much effort has been put in place to conserve Gusii forests for future provision of herbal medicine. We recommend for serious action on preservation and conservation of Gusii‟s natural forests for posterity in terms of herbal medicine usage. Finally, witches and sorcerers are a feared

139 lot among the Abagusii. The study recommends research to be mounted on why they have continued to exist and thrive in the Abagusii society in the face of Christianity, western education and modernisation. We finally recommend for a study on changes on the indigenous therapeutic medical systems for animals over the same period.

140

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APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Interview Schedule

Section A: General Information Name...... Age…………..Gender…………Clan……………..Reside nce… Education…………………Occupation……………Religion…….. Section B: Historical context of the Abagusii and nature of their indigenous medicine. a) Who are the Abagusii? b) Explain the origins of Abagusii before settling in Gusii. c) Which other communities do you think are related to the Abagusii by Language and culture in Kenya? d) When did you settle in Nyamira? e) Briefly explain the nature, practice and usage of indigenous medicine among the Abagusii. f) Outline some of the herbs used as medicine among the Abagusii. g) Mention some of the terms used in reference to the indigenous healers among the Gusii. h) How was information on indigenous medicine handed down to the next generation?

Section C: Nature and transformation of indigenous medicine a) What is indigenous medicine? b) Name some of the medicine used by Abagusii. c) Why do Abagusii like using indigenous medicine? d) i) How do patients choose their healthcare providers? ii) What characteristics do patients look for when choosing a healthcare provider? e) i) Compare indigenous medicine and modern medicine. ii) Describe the changes that took place between 1900 and 2010 in terms of the usage of indigenous medicine. f) Why did the colonial government and Christian Missionaries discourage the use of indigenous medicine?

159 g) How many of your siblings are over 18 years and how many of these prefer the use of indigenous medicine to modern medicine? h) What is your opinion towards indigenous medicine? i) In the absence of government hospitals near your residence, describe what you do when sick j) Many Maasai herbalists traverse through the county selling indigenous medicine. What is your comment? k) Describe how the drugs are obtained, processed, and administered by the healers l) Discuss if there has been improvement in the quality of indigenous medicine over time (history). m) Tell if there been an increase or a decrease in the number of medical drugs over time. n) What in your opinion, has changed as far as indigenous medicine is concerned? q) Were there indigenous medicine clinics like Makini in colonial times? r) Are the herbs grown or they are found naturally? Or they are imported? s) What is the role of spiritual beliefs and ancestral spirits in indigenous medicine processes? t) Ababari (surgeons) were the most respected physicians. Do they still exist? u). how did the encounter between western culture and Gusii indigenous medicine manifest itself?

Section D: The impact of colonialism and its institutions on indigenous medicine a) Comment on the cost of Western medicine compared to indigenous medicine. b) How is indigenous medicine and indigenous healers viewed by both the youth and general populace? c) Explain how western education and Christianity impacted on Gusiiindigenous medicine. d) What can the government – both County and National government do to promote the usage of indigenous medicine to supplement modern medicine in the provision of health services to the people? e) Are there any colonial laws that outlawed indigenous medicine?

f) What role did Western Education and Christianity play in promoting indigenous medicine?

g) Why did the colonial Government in Kenya ban witchcraft?

160 h) What is the difference between witchcraft and indigenous medicine? i) Do educated elites visit herbalists to seek treatment? j) What is the attitude of educated elites towards indigenous medicine? k). should the government integrate herbal medicine with conventional medicine?

161

Appendix 2: List of Oral Informants The list of these informants is synopsized in the following manner: name of respondents, age, gender, locale and date of interview. . NAME AGE GENDER LOCALE DATE IN INTERVIEWED YEARS Banchiri, Orango 76 Female Konate village 30th May 2016 Barongo, Jane 52 Female Bosose village 12th May 2016 Bwari, Joyce 55 Female Bonyunyu village 11th May 2016 Daudi, Eunice 59 Female Ogango village 15th May 2016 Gesora, Mongare 77 Male Ogango village 22nd May 2016 Magabi, Esther 53 Female Masosa village 7th May 2016 Mbaka, Joel 52 Male Ngokoro area 10th March 2016 Moraa ,Alice 79 Female Bomondo village 14th April 2016 Moraa Ogega 75 Female Sironga Market 15th April 2016 Mosicho Nyauma 95 Male Sironga village 15th April 2016 Mwaniki Gisore 56 Male Bomwagamo village 12 April 2016 Nyakundi k Robert 68 Male Konate village 10th April 2016 Nyamboga Ebisiba 54 Female Konate area 7th May 2016 Obiero, Jane 54 Female Konate village 21st June 2016 Okangi Jane 67 Female Geseneno village 26th May 2016. Ole Ngoitoi, John 43 Male Nyamaiya area 31st May 2016. Ombati, Frank 58 Male Bokimori village 2nd July 2016. Ombinya ongeche 78 Male Bokimori village 2nd July 2016. Omwoyo Moka 58 Male Ogango area 3rd July 2016. Onyancha James 77 male Bosamaro ward 4th July 2016. Oriku, Jane 61 Female Konate villge 12th June2016. Oroko , Ibrahim 88 Male Bokiambori village 5th May 2016. Rabera Oroko 52 Male Monga village 3rd August 2016. Sitibi Mobegi 87 Male Nyamwetureko 25th April 2016. village Zakaria Mbane 63 Male Eaka area 23rd April 2016.

162

Appendix 3: Research Permit

163

164

Appendix 4: Research Authorisation by NACOSTI

165

Appendix 5: Approval of Research Proposal by the Graduate School

166

Appendix 6: Research authorization by the County Commissioner’s office

167

Appendix 7: Letter of introduction to the Director General, NACOSTI by the University

168

Appendix 8: Practitioners with Cars mounted with loud speakers selling indigenous medicine

169

Appendix 9: Contemporary indigenous medicine practitioner

Joel Mbaka in his office, Kisii Town.

170