How Kenya’s Nubian community became ‘stateless’

The legendary kingdom of Nubia (also referred to as the kingdom of Kush) was situated in what is today’s Northern Sudan, near the border with Egypt.

It is first mentioned around 3800BC by the Egyptians as a primitive outpost, a source of treasure, slaves, dancing girls and wrestlers. The Romans too regarded it as a “barbarian wasteland”.

Yet Nubia was a centre of culture and military might in Africa. It is believed to have been one of the very first human civilisations.

Due to its geographic position, much of Nubia’s development was connected to that of Egypt. In fact Egypt ruled Nubia during the period between 2000 and 1000 BC.

As a result, the Nubians adopted Islam as their religion. However, when Egypt descended into civil war, Nubian kings ruled Egypt from 800 BC to 700 BC. Most of their culture and traditions were adopted by the ancient Egyptians.

There are more pyramids in Nubia than there are in Egypt.

These people were conquerors in their own right, ultimately defeated, not by their enemies, but by the environment. As the Sahara desert inched further south, it turned the once lush grasslands and tributaries to the Nile into a barren land, pushing the Nubian people to less productive areas, eventually settling in the Nuba hills in central Sudan.

In 1820, the army of wali (governor) Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt, gained control of Sudan. With the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, Egypt and Sudan’s economic and strategic importance increased tremendously, attracting the interest of the Great Powers, in particular Britain.

Ten years later in 1879, the government of Ismail Pasha, reeling under enormous foreign debt, principally due to financing of the Suez Canal, was forced by the Great Powers to resign and was replaced by his son Tewfik Pasha.

This move greatly angered Egyptian and Sudanese nationalists who were unhappy with the ever-increasing European governments and merchants influence in the affairs of the country, leading to the Urabi Revolt.

At Tewfik’s invitation, the British bombarded Alexandria, the principal sea port of Egypt and Sudan, and subsequently invaded the country. British forces overthrew the Urabi government in Cairo and proceeded to occupy the rest of Egypt and Sudan in 1882.

Although officially the authority of Tewfik had been restored, in reality the British took control of the affairs of Egypt and Sudan until 1932.

The Nubian people were known to be fearsome warriors and the British recruited them in large numbers in the military to help protect the newly acquired territories leading to the source of the Nile.

As was to be expected, the Nubians proved to be excellent soldiers and some even rose to junior officer levels. Following a mutiny in 1897 by the Nubians, the British military rescinded its decision to repartriate them and instead dispersed the community into Kenyan territory.

By this time the Nubian soldiers retained no ties with Sudan and had no claim to land in that country. They therefore could not return to Sudan independently and were left with no choice but to settle in Kenya.

Nubian villages sprung up in various parts of the country, the most well known being Kibra (today’s Kibera) meaning “forest” or “jungle”. Kibra was established on the outskirts of Nairobi in 1904.

Other villages were located in Kisumu, Kisii, Meru, Mombasa, Iten, Bungoma, Isiolo, Kibos, Mazeras, Kibirigo, Migori, Katumo and Migotio.

These villages became breeding grounds for soldiers for the British army, under the King’s African Rifles during World War I. However, after the war the Nubians were demobilised without proper compensation, pension or after-service benefits.

Unlike the Indians, who had also been relocated into the region by the British to render similar services, the Nubians were not accorded the priviledge of British citizenship despite their long and loyal service to the British Crown.

When constructing Kenya’s social structure, the British colonial authority consolidated ethnic groups and designated them to native reserves. They deliberately left out the Nubians who they considered to be a detribalised community rather than a Kenyan tribe.

The British also ensured that Nubians could only build temporary structures on the land allocated to them by denying them title deeds. These events and decisions are the genesis of the Nubians “temporary” existence in Kenya which in effect rendered them stateless.

The Nubians also served with the King’s African Rifles during World War II, but again suffered the same fate after demobilisation.

At Kenya’s independence on December 12, 1963, the Nubian community’s status presented a problem with the government arguing that their right to apply for automatic citizenship ceased to exist with the end of British rule.

The Nubians were not recognised as one of Kenya’s 42 ethnic registered communities. This status presented a huge challenge for the Nubian people as it was very difficult for them to obtain a Kenyan identity card or a passport locking them out of many basic services including the right to vote, travel, higher education and employment.

The position was ameliorated, to some degree, by the passage of a new Constitution in 2010, which recognised the Nubian community as the 43rd tribe of Kenya. However, in reality the community still continues to meet obstacles in their quest for statehood and identity.

Today it is estimated that there are 100,000 Nubians living within Kenya.
It is a shame that this once mighty civilisation has been reduced to a state of oblivion and hopelessness.