COLONIALISM AND ITS IMPLICATION ON FAMILY STABILITY AMONG THE AEMBU, KENYA, 1895-1965

Abstract

This study explored the topic of colonialism and its implication on family stability among the Aembu, Kenya between 1895 and 1965. The Aembu family value system by 1895 was authentic, clear and secured, but with the coming of colonialism it encountered many challenges that the post-independence government wished to address in the 1965 Sessional Paper number 10 on African Socialism. Colonialism therefore had longstanding implications on the Aembu family value system. This study was guided by three objectives: to examine the African family value system in Embu North Sub-County, Kenya from 1895 to 1920, to establish the cultural evolutions brought about by colonialism on the African family value system in Embu North Sub-County, Kenya, 1895-1965 and to assess the aspects of Aembu family value system that have been preserved from 1920 to 1965. The study was informed by the Cultural Evolution Theory which is based on the premise that the culture of human beings’ changes gradually over a period of time due to competition among cultural traits as people interact. Those customs, beliefs and traditions that are fit and suited for survival and can compete favorably are the ones that survive and get transitted over the weaker ones. It is the nature of cultural competition that has led to extinction of some cultural aspects such as languages and the gradual decline of the African family value of polygamy in African communities. Descriptive research design was used for it enabled the decription of state of affairs as they were. The study was conducted in Nginda, Ruguru-Ngandori and Kirimari wards in Embu County. The respondents were sampled using purposive sampling and snowballing sampling technique. The study targeted 79,556 Aembu people in Embu North as per the 2019 census from which a sample size of 50 respondents was drawn from the three wards for interviews. The sources of data included: oral sources, archival sources and secondary sources which were corroborated to meet the reliability and objectivity of the research. Data was collected through oral interviews and focus group discussions. The study analyzed and presented data through Qualitative Data Analysis. The study established that; the Aembu were polygamists whose homesteads comprised several huts for different members; they had a supreme council Kiama kia Ngome and were mixed farmers; they had an elaborate family value system with strict safeguards on social, political and economic aspects that ensured a very stable family unit. Missionaries built the first station in Embu North Sub-County at Kigari in 1910 after arriving in 1906; there was concerted effort to end female circumcision and ensure monogamy was exercised in place of polygamy; there was positive and negative implication on family values after imposition of colonialism; people abandoned some cultural practices, embraced others and merged the good from both cultures. The study concluded that the coming of the British missionaries to Embu North Sub-County impacted on European imperialism and led to cultural subjugation. The study has contributed to the historiography of the Aembu.