Customary Laws of Wrongs in Kenya: An Essay in Research Method

Abstract

The literature on the customary laws of Kenya is probably more extensive than that for any other country in East or Central Africa. The Restatement of African law project has been able to compile a bibliography of approximately seven hundred entries touching on the subject. In reviewing this literature preparatory to embarking on fieldwork, I found sufficient material concerning the larger tribes–Boran, Elgeyo, Embu, Gusii, Iteso, Kamba, Kikuyu, Kipsigis, Kuria, Luo Luyia, Masai, Meru, Mijikenda, Nandi, Pokot, Samburu, Taita, and Turkana–to permit me to construct for each a broad working outline of the more limited field of customary wrongs.