THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG

Biodiversity and customary law in Kakamega District
In previous chapters and more precisely chapter two, we have already mentioned that
institutions are the foundations of politics and economics life as well as social order. These
consist of both formal and informal enforcement mechanisms and systems of attaching and
interpreting meaning to specific life contexts. In this regard institutions also define the context
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in which individuals and other organizations live, operate and interact with each other.
In the foregoing treatment we understand institutions as settlements born from struggles and
bargains, reflecting the distribution of resources and power in the society. Once created,
institutions determine how people make sense of their world and act in it. It also relates to
how they channel and regulate conflict, hence ensuring stability in the society. At the
foundation of all this stability is customary law. This is the basis of both formal and informal
institutional arrangements in both industrial and agrarian communities. Further more, in our
discussion of customary law in Kakamega, we shall limit ourselves to the institutional
arrangements in terms of customs and nomenclatures relating to the usage of biological
resources.
In the study, it was found out that the Luhya still have a strong adherence to laws relating to
the universe (cosmology), laws/customs relating to rain-making and the powers of the
rainmaker Omugimba. The institution of a rain-maker has an important position in the Luhya
traditional authority structure. He is referred to as a giver of life through rain-making. He is
well guarded from individuals perceived to be harmful to the Luhya sub-tribes and therefore,
only approached through his representatives. Rain is construed to preserve life because it
facilitates both plant and animal life. It also goes without saying that rain is also seen to be the
fulcrum for the Luhya agrarian economy and therefore, the preserver of economic life in this
context.
In the same respect, the institution of the omugimba is a strong institution guarded by Luhya
customary law. We need not to recapitulate the role of precipitation on the development and
sustainability of ecological life and ecological functioning. Metrological observations show
that rainfall is not only abundant, but also regular in Kakamega particularly, in the Luhya
occupied locations. However, there are several rituals and taboos relating to rain-making and
rainfall reliability. These are performed to avoid a repeat of what happened in 1918, when a
great drought hit the area. As a result, customary law in Kakamega forbids people from
getting involved in actions that may lead to rain failure. Such actions may be related to the
destruction of different plant and animal life. It may also result from using plant or animals in
a state of impurity.
As we earlier noted, customary law is extended to the perseverance and respect of different
plants and animal species given their significance in the Luhya communities. For this reason
there are laws relating to plants and animals in a state of impurity. The law here is an
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Giovani, D, R. Nelson and G. Winter. 2000. Nature and the dynamics of Organisation. Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
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