Origins Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania form the majority of
Nilotic peoples. During the British colonial period, they were known as
Nilotic Kavirondo. The exact location of origin of the
Nilotic peoples is controversial but most ethnolinguists and historians place their origins between
Bahr-el-Ghazal and
Eastern Equatoria in
South Sudan. They practiced a mixed economy of cattle pastoralism, fishing and seed cultivation. Some of the earliest archaeological findings on record, which describe a similar culture to this from the same region, are found at
Kadero, 48 kilometres (30 miles) north of
Khartoum in
Sudan, and date to 3000 BC. Kadero contains the remains of a cattle pastoralist culture as well as a cemetery with skeletal remains featuring Sub-Saharan African phenotypes. It also contains evidence of other animal domestication, artistry, long-distance trade, seed cultivation and fish consumption. Genetic and linguistic studies have demonstrated that
Nubian people in Northern Sudan and Southern Egypt are an admixed group that started off as a population closely related to
Nilotic peoples. This population later received significant gene flow from
Middle Eastern and other East African populations. These studies suggest that populations closely related to Nilotic people long inhabited the Nile valley as far as Southern Egypt in antiquity. For various reasons, slow and multi-generational migrations of Nilotic
Luo Peoples occurred from
South Sudan into
Uganda and western
Kenya from at least 1000 AD continuing up until the early 20th century. Some authors note that the early phases of this expansion coincide with the collapse of the Christian Nubian kingdoms of
Makuria and
Alodia, the penetration of Arabs into central
Sudan as well as
Nilotic adoption of
Iron Age technology. The northern most group of
Luo peoples - the
Shilluk - advanced north along the
White Nile in the 16th century, conquering territory as far as modern day Khartoum. They established the
Shilluk Kingdom. In the 15th century,
Luo peoples moved into the
Bunyoro-Kitara Kingdom and established the
Babiito dynasty in
Uganda. This group assimilated into
Bantu culture. The Luo of
Kenya and
Tanzania are classified as
Southern Luo.and are the only 'river lake Nilotes' having migrated and lived along the
Nile river. They entered Kenya and Tanzania via
Uganda from the
Bahr el-Ghazal region in
South Sudan. The Luo speakers who migrated into Kenya were chiefly from four Luo-speaking groups: the
Acholi,
Adhola and
Alur people (From
Uganda and parts of
South Sudan and
Eastern Congo), especially
Acholi and
Padhola. The present-day Kenya Luo traditionally consist of 27 tribes, each in turn composed of various clans and sub-clans ("Jo-" indicates "people of").
Migration into Kenya Oral history and genealogical evidence have been used to estimate timelines of Luo expansion into and within Kenya and Tanzania. Four major waves of migrations into the former
Nyanza province in
Kenya are discernible, starting with the People of Jok (
Joka Jok), which is estimated to have begun around 1490–1517.
Joka Jok were the first and largest wave of migrants into northern
Nyanza. These migrants settled at a place called Ramogi Hill, then expanded around Northern
Nyanza. The People of Owiny' (''Jok'Owiny
) and the People of Omolo (Jok'Omolo'') followed soon after (1598–1625). A miscellaneous group composed of the Suba, Sakwa, Asembo, Uyoma and Kano then followed. The
Suba originally were Bantu-speaking people who assimilated into Luo culture. They fled from the
Buganda Kingdom in
Uganda after the civil strife that followed the murder of the 24th
Kabaka of Buganda in the mid 18th century and settled in
South Nyanza, especially at
Rusinga and
Mfangano islands. Luo speakers crossed
Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria from Northern Nyanza into
South Nyanza starting in the early 17th century. As Luo speakers migrated deeper into western Kenya, they encountered the descendants of various people who had long occupied the region. The Great Lakes region has been inhabited since the early Stone Age. The Kanysore culture, located at Gogo falls in
Migori county, are thought to be the first
hunter gatherers in East Africa to produce ceramics.
Twa people are thought to have created the rock art present on
Mfangano Island.
Bantu speakers, early migrants from
West Africa, are thought to have reached western Kenya by 1000 BC. They brought with them iron-forging technology and novel farming techniques, turning the great lakes region into one of Africa's main population centres and earliest iron smelting regions. The
Urewe culture was dominant from 650 BC to 550 BC. This culture was found in northern Nyanza. Bantu speaking groups found in the Lake Victoria basin today include the
Luhya,
Suba,
Kunta,
Kuria and
Kisii.
Southern Nilotic speakers, the
Nandi,
Kipsigis and
Maasai also were found in this area. Luo expansion into these already inhabited areas led to trade, conflict, conquest, inter-marriage and cultural assimilation. The previous inhabitants were pushed by Luo speakers to their present day boundaries. The Luhya were pushed up into higher ground. The Kuria were pushed southwards between the Kenyan and Tanzania border. The
Nandi and
Kipsigis were pushed east and northeast. As Luo people moved into the Nyanza region, the local Bantu peoples stopped circumcising as they increasingly adopted Luo culture. Women played a significant role in overcoming prohibitions to intermarriage by changing circumcision practices and other customs. Luo women told the local Bantu men, "If you want to marry us you have to stop circumcising and file your bottom teeth, so that you look like us and we can marry you." The Suba and other Bantu groups were interested in Luo brides because their bridewealth was much lower or non-existent. Luo women living in Suba communities spoke to their children in Luo, who became bilingual. The Luo language spread rapidly this way. Luo customs and habits also changed as they adopted the culture of the communities with which they interacted. Conflict and raids in this diverse area led to the development of defensive savanna architecture, typified by the stone walled ruins,
Thimlich Ohinga in South Nyanza.
Neville Chittick, the director of the British Institute of History and Archaeology in East Africa was the first to assert that the site was likely to have been constructed before the arrival of Luo speakers. This assertion is poorly supported archaeologically, however, because most of the stone walled structures are dated to within the period of Luo expansion. Nevertheless, Luo speakers maintained
Thimlich Ohinga and continued the tradition of building stone walled fortresses (
Ohingni) as well as defensive earthworks (
Gunda Bur) in both Northern and Southern Nyanza. These defensive earth works would curve around living areas surrounding them. Some of these defensive structures enclosed several hundred houses. Archaeological and ethnographic analyses of the sites have shown that the spatial organisation of these structures most closely resembles the layout of traditional Luo homesteads. Ceramic analysis also confirms continuity between the earliest inhabitants of these sites and Luo speakers. The Seventh-day Adventist Church missionaries were amongst the earliest Christian missionaries to proselytise to Luo people.
Arthur Carscallen, a Canadian
Seventh-day Adventist(SDA) was the first Adventist to work in Kenya with Peter Nyambo, from
Nyasaland (Present day Malawi). The first mission was opened with the assistance of German missionary Abraham C. Enns, in November 1906 at Gendia Hill,
Kendu Bay. These missionaries established stations at Wire Hill,
Rusinga Island, Kanyadoto, Karung,
Kisii and Kamagambo. These were all in
South Nyanza. The first Luo SDA converts were baptised on 21 May 1911. Carscallen was the first to reduce
Dholuo to writing. He produced a textbook of grammar and started translating the bible into Dholuo. Catholic missionaries and Anglican missionaries through the
Church Mission Society (CMS) were also active throughout Nyanza, but mainly focused on Northern Nyanza. It remains unclear whether Luo people westernised due to colonial pressure or they readily accepted aspects of western culture. However, by the 1930s, the Luo way of life had changed significantly and westernized. European education carried out by the Christian missionaries also played a role in the westernization of the Luo. The earliest modern African political organization in
Kenya Colony sought to protest pro-settler policies, and increased taxes on Africans and the despised
Kipande (Identifying metal band worn around the neck). Mass meetings were organized separately by Luo people in
Kavirondo and the
Kikuyu people in
Nairobi. A strike at the CMS mission school in
Maseno was organised by Daudi Basudde. He raised concerns about the damaging implications on African land ownership by switching from the
East African Protectorate to the
Kenya Colony. A series of meetings dubbed
Piny Owacho (Voice of the People) culminated in a large mass meeting held in December 1921 advocating for individual title deeds, getting rid of the
Kipande system and a fairer tax system. Bound by the same concerns,
James Beauttah, one of the founders of the
Kikuyu Central Association initiated an alliance between the Kikuyu and Luo communities. Archdeacon Walter Edwin Owen, an
Anglican missionary and prominent advocate for African affairs, formalised and canalised the ''Piny' Owacho'' (Voice of the People) movement. Colonial authorities would come to praise him as having re-directed the political movement, which was thought of as premature. However, locals perceived him as their advocate. He started the Kavirondo Taxpayers Welfare Association and became its president, offering Africans an avenue through which they could address their grievances. However, he concentrated primarily on welfare issues and avoided politics that would upset colonial authorities.
Oginga Odinga started the Luo Thrift and Trading Corporation (LUTATCO) after noting that Luo business owners, who were the most financially independent Africans, loathed education. He also sought to uplift the economic status of the Luo community whilst proving that education was useful for business. The LUTATCO office was the first African owned building in
Kisumu Town. One of the many business ventures it engaged in included the publication of African Nationalist newspapers including
Achieng Oneko's vernacular newspaper
Ramogi and
Paul Ngei's radical newspaper
Uhuru Wa Africa. For his efforts he was appointed as
Ker or Chief of the
Luo Union, an organisation that represented the interests of the greater Luo Peoples in East Africa. Oginga Odinga would become a Key political figure in Kenya. He first ventured into politics when he joined the
Kenya African Union.
Harry Thuku, a pioneering Kikuyu politician, founded the Kenya African Study Union in 1944 which later became the
Kenya African Union. This was an African nationalist organisation that demanded amongst other things, access to white owned land. It was multitribal.
Jomo Kenyatta became president of KAU in 1947. In an effort to gain nationwide support of KAU,
Jomo Kenyatta visited
Kisumu in 1952. His effort to build up support for KAU in Nyanza inspired
Oginga Odinga, the
Ker (chief) of the
Luo Union to join KAU and delve into politics.
Mau Mau Uprising The Luo generally were not dispossessed of their land by white settlers, avoiding the fate that befell the pastoral ethnic groups inhabiting the Kenyan "
White Highlands". Many Luo played significant roles in the struggle for Kenyan independence, but the people were relatively uninvolved in the
Mau Mau Uprising (1952–60). Instead, they used their education to advance the cause of independence peacefully. An intense propaganda campaign by the colonial government effectively discouraged other Kenyan communities, settlers and the international community from sympathising with the movement by emphasising on real and perceived acts of barbarism perpetrated by the Mau Mau. Although a much smaller number of Europeans lost their lives compared to Africans during the uprising, each individual European loss of life was publicised in disturbing detail, emphasising elements of betrayal and bestiality. Luo lawyer
Argwings Kodhek, the first East African to obtain a law degree, became known as the Mau Mau lawyer as he would successfully defend Africans accused of
Mau Mau crimes pro bono.
Pre-independence politics Following the suppression of the Mau Mau uprising and containment of Kikuyu politicians, Luo anticolonial activists filled the gap, achieving prominence on the political scene.
Tom Mboya stepped into the limelight and became one of the major figures in the struggle for Kenya's independence. His intelligence, discipline, oratory and organisational skills set him apart.
Tom Mboya started the Kenya Federation of Labour (KFL), which quickly became the most active political body in Kenya, representing all the trade unions. Mboya's successes in trade unionism earned him respect and admiration. Mboya established international connections, particularly with labour leaders in the
United States of America through the
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU). He used these connections and his international celebrity status to counter moves by the colonial government Tom Mboya started the
Nairobi People's Convention Party (NPCP), inspired by
Kwame Nkurumah's People's Convention Party. It became the most organised and effective political party in the country. It later merged with the
Kenya Independence Movement and KAU to form the
Kenya African National Union (KANU), which would go on to rule the country until 2002. Tom Mboya also started the
Kennedy Airlift scholarship program in order to address the issue of a lack of African skilled labour. Over 800 Kenyans and East Africans benefited from this program, including environmentalist and
Nobel Peace Prize winner
Wangari Maathai, former vice president
George Saitoti and
Barack Obama's father,
Barack Obama Sr. The first election for African Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) was in 1957.
Tom Mboya and
Oginga Odinga were elected. In June 1958,
Oginga Odinga called for the release of
Jomo Kenyatta who had been imprisoned following the crackdown on the Mau Mau uprising. He made this call at a Legislative council debate. He endured months of persecution for taking this stand before it became the rallying call for the African nationalist movement.
The Lancaster House Conferences were held in London to discuss Kenya's independence and constitutional framework. Tom Mboya and Oginga Odinga enlisted the assistance of
Thurgood Marshall, an American Lawyer and civil rights activist to draft the first constitution. Odinga and
Bildad Kaggia, a Kikuyu politician and
Mau Mau leader, criticised the Kenyatta government for adopting a corrupt land redistribution policy that did not benefit the poor and landless.
Pio Gama Pinto, a prominent anti-colonial activist, Odinga's chief tactician and link to the eastern bloc was assassinated on 25 February 1965 in what is recognised as Kenya's first political assassination. Odinga became increasingly sidelined in government and was eventually compelled to resign and start his own political party – the
Kenya People's Union (KPU). The
Kenya People's Union (KPU) had strong support amongst the Luo. The Kenyatta government persecuted this party. A security Act was passed in Parliament in July 1966 that permitted the government to carry out detention without trial ostensibly to maintain law and order in situations where the current order was threatened. This Act was immediately used against KPU members. In August 1966, government police arrested prominent Luo KPU members including
Ochola Mak'Anyengo (the secretary general of the Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union), Oluande Koduol (Oginga Odinga's private secretary) and Peter Ooko (the general secretary of the East African Common Services Civil Servants Union) and detained without trial. The
Cold War intrigues reached their peak in 1969. Since Odinga's exit from KANU, the Luo increasingly became politically marginalised. Argwings Kodhek, the pioneering Mau Mau lawyer died in a car crash under mysterious circumstances on 29 January 1969.
Tom Mboya, widely touted as the heir apparent to Kenyatta, was assassinated 6 months after on 5 July 1969. The political tension led to the
Kisumu massacre when Kenyatta's presidential guard and police forces shot and killed several civilians in
Kisumu Town, the capital of
Nyanza Province. Following this massacre, KPU was banned, turning Kenya into a
de facto one party state. All KPU members were arrested and detained without trial, including
Oginga Odinga. The political marginalisation of Nyanza province worsened and continued under the
Moi administration. In 1982, Odinga attempted to start a new political party - Kenya African Socialist Alliance. Section 2A of the
Kenyan constitution was amended making Kenya a
de jure one party state therefore preventing Odinga's efforts. A coup attempt that same year by
Kenya Air Force soldiers in August, led by a Luo,
Hezekiah Ochuka was foiled.
Oginga Odinga and his son
Raila Odinga were accused of involvement and detained without trial for several months. These events led to many years of marginalisation of the Luo community. The perception of marginalisation was further enforced by the murder of
Robert Ouko, the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1990. Economic and political marginalisation of the community and disastrous economic management in Kenya, particularly under the KANU party's administration of the nascent state, had tragic consequences for the people of Kenya. Despite the economic potential of nearby
Lake Victoria, Kenya continues to struggle with
poverty and
HIV/AIDS. Local and international pressure in the early 1990s resulted in the
Moi government repealing the amendment of section 2A of the constitution. Multi-party politics was therefore permitted in Kenya. The
Forum for Restoration of Democracy (FORD), a multi-tribal opposition party led by
Oginga Odinga,
Kenneth Matiba and
Martin Shikuku was formed. This party split up due to internal wrangling into ethnic based opposition parties -
FORD-Asili (led by Matiba) and
FORD-Kenya (led by Oginga Odinga). Oginga Odinga died in 1994.
Ford-Kenya later split and Odinga's son,
Raila Odinga started the
National Development Party of Kenya (NDP) which had considerable Luo support. This party merged with KANU in 2002, just before the
general elections. Raila Odinga is widely credited with enabling
Mwai Kibaki to win the 2002 presidential election through the support of his
Liberal Democratic Party. This relationship turned sour however and
Raila Odinga led the vote against
Mwai Kibaki in the
2005 Kenyan constitutional referendum which was widely perceived as a referendum against Kibaki. More than 1,000 people were killed and 600,000 displaced in the
2007–2008 Kenyan crisis following the 2007 general elections. The campaign and election period were heavily polarised along ethnic lines. Raila Odinga led the
Orange Democratic Movement against
Mwai Kibaki's
Party of National Unity. A power sharing agreement mediated by
Kofi Annan led to a coalition government with Raila Odinga receiving the new position of Prime Minister. The ethnic rivalry between the Kikuyu and the Luo underscores deeply rooted historical issues that involve access to resources and power. This rivalry continues to shape Kenya's political trajectory. Despite the polarised politics that have led to economic and political marginalisation, several members of the Luo community continue to achieve prominence in Kenya. These include,
James Orengo, Professor
Anyang' Nyong'o,
Peter Oloo-Aringo,
Dalmas Otieno and Peter Ombija. Dr.
PLO Lumumba who is the former
Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission director also is a Luo.
Lupita Nyong'o won an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the film
12 Years a Slave in 2014. Prominent Luo doctors and scientists include the late
Prof. David Peter Simon Wasawo, the first science professor in East and Central Africa and first black East African to study and lecture science courses at Makerere university;
Thomas R. Odhiambo, prominent entomologist, founder of the
International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) and the
African Academy of Sciences, winner of the Albert Einstein Gold Medal (1991);
Washington Yotto Ochieng, winner of the Harold Spencer-Jones Gold Medal 2019 from The
Royal Institute of Navigation (RIN) following his outstanding contribution to navigation;
Prof. Henry Odera Oruka, philosopher; Professor
George Magoha, a consultant urologist and former Vice-Chancellor of University of Nairobi; and Prof
Richard Samson Odingo, vice-chairman of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which received the 2007 Nobel peace prize. ==Genetics==