Project

Unravelling the Riddle of Kenyan Diaspora in Tanzania, 1840s -2020

Program

African Humanities Program Postdoctoral Fellowships

Department

History

Abstract

This study attempts to unravel the riddle of Kenyan Diaspora in Tanzania by examining circumstances which shaped their migration from Kenya and settlement where they did in Tanzania. Specifically, it focuses on Kikuyu, Nandi and Kamba people and, analyses their history, relations between them and their host local communities, changes or continuities in their identities, and how their presence have influenced socio-economic and political development of areas where they settled from 1840s to 2020. To achieve that, the study uses qualitative historical approach which relies on secondary, archival and oral sources. It departs from continental and national perspectives to community people centred analysis of Diaspora. It argues that Kenyan Diaspora in Tanzania is a product of historical processes which can be traced from the pre-colonial through the colonial to the post-colonial periods. The study intends to come out with a single monograph which documents the history of the said communities.