THE UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG

observation of a number of closely related notions and beliefs regarding a host of plants and
animals in and around the Kakamega Forest environment. The latent meaning and
implications of the law is to avoid such plants and animals.
Customary law is further extended to the places around rivers especially River Nzoia and
River Yala. Places near and around the river are supposed to be cleansing places for particular
cases. They are also associated with the spiritual rituals concerning the death of a senior
Luhya chief. For instance, the Ishuka and the Idaho have very close relationship with River
Yala because it is believed that their descendants the Mwisuha and Mwidaho respectively,
descended and still live there One respondent informed the researcher that; “there is sanctity
and must be observed around such a river. Everything here must be respected.” 648 The same
customary law is invoked by other sub-tribes regarding other small and big rivers and streams
crossing Kakamega Forest.
Lastly, there are strict laws relating to access to the forest. Non-members (those that don’t
belong to the Luhya sub-tribes) are barred from reaching the forest. The local law forbids
such people from entering the forest since they are construed to be destroyers of the forest and
contaminators of certain forest species. To a great extent, customary law bars women from
reaching some parts of the forest. In this regard, most of the laws work to prevent adverse
effect on the ecological diversity of the forest. Generally speaking, there are similar
interpretations of customary law among the Luhya sub-tribes, what happens in one Luhya
sub-tribes, happens in another and almost for the same purpose/reasons. However, other
accounts from focus group discussions with the community elders among the Maragori,
Banyole and Bukusu informed the study that; over the years, local/customary law has been
changing and declining, a phenomenon that is usually referred to as institutional change.
In the realm of historical and sociological institutionalism, it is argued that institutions change
differently, following different time series. The changes are sometimes radical, sometimes
gradual and sometimes evolve more incrementally. But it is also better to understand how
different types of institutions change and understand some of the forces that determine
institutional change. 649 In the case of Kakamega and the Luhya for that matter, it is still
troubling to understand what explains this institutional change. But in some instances, there
are clear accounts that do point to the role of extensive missionary work in this area which
could be used as a prelude to explain this institutional change. Sangere who investigated the
significance of both the mission and break away Christian church groups among the Tiriki
sub-tribe postulated that: the Tiriki and other sub-tribes of the area have been heavily
missionized by a variety of protestant sects. He goes on to illustrate that not only have the
missions been very busy evangelizing, but also ever since 1902, they have provided the
648
Field respondent No: 12, 24 –July- 2006.
649
Thelen, K and S. Steinmo. 1992. Historical institutionalism in comparative politics. Annual Review of
Sociology. 25:597:622.
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