The Luo

The Luo belong to the river Lake Nilotes classified for linguistic reasons.  They are referred to as the river lake Nilotes because during their course of migration, they moved along the rivers and settled around the Great Lakes region in East Africa. Another feature is the survival and persistence of the Luo languages that were often adopted and accepted by the people of different ethnic origin.

Their ancestors of the Luo were mainly pastoralists and that is why they lived in areas of good green pasture and adequate amount of rainfall.

The ancestors of the Luo are believed to have originated along the Nile in southern Sudan particularly Bahr-el-Ghazel province. By 1000 AD, the Luo were a distinct group in this region before travelling up the Nile to settle in Uganda and western Kenya. What is certain is that by AD 1000, the Luo were already a distinct group in the Eastern Equatorial region and the Eastern part of the Bahr-el-Ghazel. They were close relatives of the Nuer, Dinka and Shelluk.

At first they tended to live or settle around rivers and for this reason they were referred to as the “Jonam”. Originally they were pastoralists, enthusiastic hunters and fishermen who lived along the Nile Valley. Later when they settled in East Africa, they practised agriculture. They moved southwards up the Nile into East Africa, during the 15^th and 16^th centuries absorbing and incorporating various groups of people onto their culture. At times the Luo were absorbed into Bantu culture for example in Bunyoro - Kitara.

They believed in a higher being referred to as the JOK who served as their god. They are also said to have been great rainmakers. They are the fore fathers or ancestors of the present day Alur, Acholi, Jopadhola and Jaluo of Kenya.

Reasons for the Luo migration

Between 1000 and 1500 AD the Luo migrated from their homeland to different parts of East Africa. It is not clear as to why the Luo left their cradle land to settle in Uganda and part of Kenya.  However, the following factors could have prompted them to migrate

Pastures and water: The search for green pastures and water might have forced the Luo to migrate southwards. The ancestors were pastoralists hence migration in search of better grazing grounds.  It is possible that the original area could have been over stocked.

Internal conflicts: It is believed that within different Luo families and clans exhibited internal conflicts.  This might have forced dissatisfied groups to migrate in search of peaceful places of settlement.

External pressure: This mainly came from the hostile neighbouring tribes hence forced the ancestors of the Luo to migrate southwards in search of peaceful areas of settlement.  It’s believed that the Galla nomads frequently attacked the Luo and harassed the ancestors.

Natural disasters: The Luo might have found life uncomfortable because of famine, long periods of drought, cattle and human diseases there by causing the Luo people to move.

Population pressure: The Luo increased in number such that their original homelands could not support them.  This encouraged family and clan conflicts over land hence the oppressed decided to migrate

Adventure: There was generally a spirit of adventure that is exploring the unknown lands.  It is believed that the Luo might have been interested in discovering the geography and the people who lived in the south.

Diseases: Epidemic diseases like small pox, Bilharzia and sleeping sickness might have caused the migration of the Luo. Cattle diseases like Nagana and rinderpest also affected their cattle so they moved into safer places

Drought: There was also the effect of drought in the region which made life very difficult for not only human beings but also their animals. Crop production became difficult therefore the need for new places.

In relation to the above, famine resulted from the poor conditions especially drought and the infertile soils. Food became scarce so people had to move to new places with food.

Possibly the floods of the Nile might led these people to migrate away from floods to safer places.

Infertile soils could perhaps be another factor. There was soil erosion resulting from overstocking hence making their soils infertile. This made them to migrate.

What can be said in conclusion therefore is that no single factor can explain the cause of the Luo migration from their cradle land to parts of East Africa. Their migration is attributed to a combination of factors.

Movement and settlement of the Luo in East Africa

The Luo are said to have been a section of the river-lake Nilotes who originally lived in Southern Sudan. Others in their group were the Shilluk and Anuak

Between 1300 and 1400 AD, the ancestors of the Luo left their cradle land.  Some of the Luo moved to the North while the majority moved south wards settling at Pubungu temporarily.

Pubungu became another dispersal area in Uganda.  The Luo group settled into smaller groups, each under its own leadership and migrated into different directions.

History has it that a quarrel erupted between two princes, Gipir and Labongo who were sons of Olum, the leader of the group. The first group led by Gipir moved westwards across the Nile and colonised the Lendu, Okebu and Madi.  They inter-married with these groups and gave birth to the Alur tribe.

The second group led by Labongo moved south wards crossing the Nile at Pawir and invaded the former Bunyoro Kitara empire.  The advance of the Luo led to the final break up of this empire and the Luo replaced it with the Bito dynasty.  However, with time, some Luo further migrated through Northern Buganda, Busoga and settled in Samia land.

Some of the Luo who had migrated to Bunyoro later came back to Pubungu.  These Luo with another section that had remained at Pubungu later moved eastwards to Acholi, Lango from where they inter-married hence gave new birth to tribes like Kumam.

The other Luo section migrated directly from Acholi through Lango and Teso.  Through inter-marriage, they gave birth to another tribe called the Adhola (Jopadhola) who are today are found in Tororo district. 

The final group of the Luo crossed and settled in present Nyanza region of Kenya and they are called Jaluo. There were others who went as far as Northern Tanzania settling along the shores of L. Victoria especially in the districts of Musoma and Mara.

Movement and settlement of the Luo in Kenya

The Luo are the second largest ethnic group in Kenya and they live for the most part on the shores of Lake Victoria. The Luo migrated from the Nile region of the Sudan around the 15th century. Originally, the Luo were pastoralists, but when rinderpest decimated their herds, they became fishermen and farmers.

The Luo moved and settled in Kenya under four main groups.  Each group migrated from a different part of Uganda under different leadership and also settled in different places.

Joka-Jok; The first group called Joka-Jok was led by Joka-Jok.  It moved directly from Pubungu (Acholi land) and settled in Ramoji hills in western Kenya.

Jok-Owiny; The second group (1500-1550) called Jok-Owiny is associated with the Jopadhola of Uganda.  It crossed from Budama into Kenya and settled in Alego.

Jok-Omolo; The third group called Jok-Omolo is believed to have migrated from Pawir in Northern Bunyoro and travelled through North Busoga, temporarily settled in Samia-land and finally crossed into Nyanza land province.

The Luo Abasuba (refugees); The last group comprised mainly of refugees who came from Buganda, Busoga, Ssese islands, Tanzania, Gussi and finally settled in southern Nyanza province after crossing the Kavirondo Bay.

The Luo of South Nyanza

Between 1730 and 1800, some of the Luo crossed the Kavirondo Gulf and went to settle on the southern side of Nyanza which is popularly known as Nyanza. the establishment of settlements in places such as modern Uyoma, Seme, Kisumu, Nyakach and Alego. But when the Luo who are the present occupants of Uyoma arrived in the area during the first-half of the 18th Century, they dislodged Joka-Jok.

The Joka-Jok went across Lake Victoria into South Nyanza where their descendants still live. When the Jok-Owiny and Jok' Omolo later came and settled in Central Nyanza, a group of them decided to cross the Lake. And they established themselves in South Nyanza. South Nyanza seemed to have been the destination of those Luo who were not yet settled, and gradually the Luo forsook pastoralism and took to agriculture.

Political Organisation of the Luo

The Luo societies had centralised political system with political powers (authority) centred on the Rwoth.  Below him, there was the Lodito and family heads.

The Luo population was divided up into several clans.  Several families with the same ancestral origin formed lineages and a number of lineages formed clans. 

Several clans living near each other were grouped into “Oganda” or formed small kingdoms under leader ship of the Rwoth.

Each Rwoth was assisted and advised by a council included a military leader who controlled a military strategy, settled major disputes and crimes.

The Rwoth was the leader of the central royal clan, who was careful to maintain the complex order, importance of the lesser clans, giving favours and responsibilities to the lodito according to the rank.  The Rwoth always tried to satisfy the needs of the lodito and avoided conflicts with them.

There were also small regional councils controlled by the police (ogulmama) and individual clan council which settled clan and family matters.  Hence the lesser councils helped to establish order and stability among the Luo.

The Luo had organised small armies and police for maintaining law and order and sometimes fought was of expansion.

 

Social organisation

The Luo upheld and maintained traditional religious and legal practice.  They believed in one supreme creator called Nyasaye through the ancestors.  Sacred places were established where people gathered to witness prayers and sacrifices offered to Nyasaye especially during the times of difficulties like long drought periods, famine and epidemic. Animals were highly respected because it was believed that they were ancestors who had returned to earth in different form.  The Luo highly respected departed ancestors and spiritual world.  They organised sacrifices to appease their people, communicated to them through diviners (medicine men).  They interpreted the cause of diseases and had powers to chase away trouble some spirits.

A family formed the basic political unit.  Every one belonged to a family and each family had ahead.  Above the family was a clan that is several families formed a clan. The Luo were organised into nine clans corresponding to the nine daughters of their legendary founder.  Each clan was made up of age groups organisation sets. The age groups were in turn divided into age sets of linear type.  That’s each age set was given it’s own individual name which often marked a particular event.  The administration of the Kikuyu society was by clan elders.  These were usually chosen because of their age, experience and knowledge in daily events.  Therefore, the elders were highly respected.

The clan elders were also assisted by a council of elders who assigned duties to the junior warriors, settled major cases that could be settled privately, they passed laws governing society and offered prayers to God.

Each clan had it’s own fighting force of warriors for maintaining law, order, justice and security.  The soldiers were organised under a leader who also acted as a spokesman.  For a given age group before a council of elders. The junior elders remained soldiers until circumcision of the first child.

The Luo had well-established system for maintaining law, order and justice example murder cases were fined in terms of cattle or was given a young woman to the kinsmen of the victim.

 

Economic organisation of the Luo

Pastrolism was a very important economic activity.  Cattle keeping was very important for meat, milk, for payment as favours and was also given as gifts to marriage ceremonies.  Goats, sheep, chicken and bees were also kept for subsistence provisions. The Luo were self sufficient in agricultural produce.  They grew cereals such as millet, simsim, sorghum, beans, groundnuts, maize and other crops like potatoes, tobacco and cotton. The Luo also practised fishing in the nearby rivers, lakes and swamps.

Effects of the Luo migrations

The Luo migration led to political, social and economic effects on the people of East Africa which have shaped modern society. 

First, many tribes were absorbed into the Luo tribes groups especially Bantu tribes that is the Banyoro, Basoga, Samia, and Banyankole.

Second, there was population growth in East Africa as a result of Luo migration.  The areas of final settlement like the Nyanza province, Bunyoro, Acholi and West Nile experienced an increase in population too.

The Luo migration led to the disintegration of some empires and kingdoms like Bunyoro Kitara Empire which collapsed partly due to the coming of the Luo.

As a result of the disintegration of the Chwezi Empire, many other small kingdoms such as Buganda, Toro, Wanga, Karagwe, Busoga, Rwanda and Urundi emerged.

New tribes emerged in the course of the Luo invasion especially in West Nile. They intermarried with the Okebu giving birth to the Alur tribe.  In eastern Uganda, they intermarried with the Bagwere and gave birth to the Jopadhola.  The Ja-Luo of western Kenya are also a product of intermarriages.

The Luo migration led to inter-clan fighting over land especially in areas of final settlements example Bunyoro, Nyanza province and west Nile.

There was displacement of some people from their original homeland for example the Langi was pushed into Kenya and some Banyoro were forced to migrate to Busoga, Ankole and parts of Buganda.

The Luo founded the Bito dynasty in Bunyoro that later lasted for about four centuries.  This was a replacement of the former Bunyoro Kitara empire. There were some other dynasties in Buganda, Busoga and Kiziba in Tanzania. The Baganda are still against this view2

The Luo introduced new economic activities such as new crops like simsim, groundnuts, and sorghum.  Nomadic Pastoralism was also introduced as an economic activity in eastern Uganda.

The Luo invasion led to the introduction of new cultures, languages and customs in some cases, the Luo dropped their language in favour of those they came across.  On the other hand, the defeated people were absorbed into the Luo culture.

The Luo also introduced new items to the royal regalia in Bunyoro example royal drums, a bag of millet.

Petty names such as Amooti, Akiiki in western Uganda are believed to have been introduced by the Luo. These were names of friendship used in Acholi.

The Luo also introduced the idea of chiefdoms particularly in western Kenya and western Uganda.

The Luo invasion sometimes caused insecurity in the areas they passed through.  They fought civil wars in which many people died and even property was destroyed. In West Budama for example the Jopadhola had to fight the cattle raiding Masai coming from the East. They also had to fight the Banyole at the Battle of Maundo.

The Luo movement brought about unity among local people because they had to come together to fight a common enemy (the Luo).

They introduced some new political ideas in east Africa. The Luo group that moved from Bunyoro Northwards (Palwo)  introduced the concept of Rwotship in Acholi as an institution and sought to enlarge the political scale organization. The concepts in particular were the idea of hereditary kingship which was associated with the possession of a royal drum.

The Luo language was adopted by some tribes for example the Lendu and Okebu dropped their languages and adopted a Sudanic language.

The Luo brought with them craft works that are being shared up to the present day with many non-Luo tribes in Eat Africa.

The Luo brought religious ideas, which they shared with non Luo communities. Up to the present day for example, the Alur of West Nile share similar elements of religion with the Luo.

In conclusion therefore with the coming of the Luo, many new changes came that have shaped the history of East Africa permanently. Some are good while a few others were bad.