The Harambee Movement in Kenya by Martin Hill

Author:Martin Hill [Hill, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781000324631
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2021-03-10T00:00:00+00:00

THE ASSEMBLY

This was the public meeting of all mwethya members,6 which was called when it was needed. It met when summoned by the chief on a chiefs tour of myethya, during which the chief made public announcements about a range of issues, including contributions to outside Harambee projects; or for a meeting called by the mwethya committee after a day’s mwethya work to discuss problems, announce self-help contributions due, or discuss other mwethya business.

The assembly was called baraza (or valasa), from the Swahili term for meeting or assembly, which referred particularly to obligatory meetings called by government officials such as the chief or subchief. Attendance at mwethya assemblies was obligatoiy, subject in theory to a fine of 2 shs for non-attendance - although, like the official penalty of 75 shs for failing to attend a chiefs baraza, this was not usually enforced. In practice, attendance at Kamale mwethya assemblies was low, averaging little more than a third of the members during 1973–4. Mwethya officials complained loudly about this and threatened penalties for non-attenders but these were not enforced, mainly because such threats alone usually increased attendance the next time to a sufficient number. The mwethya assembly met in the central village meeting-place - the primary school playground. Chairs were set out for the committee and other notables and the other members sat on the ground facing them, men separate from women.

The assembly meeting followed conventional proceedings common to chiefs’ assemblies, with the chairman playing a strong directional role. Consensus was sought through acclamation and the absence of dissenting opinion, not usually by formal voting. Where important divisions of opinion existed, debates petered out without any decision being reached.

Speakers at assembly meetings were committee members reporting committee decisions; ordinary members speaking as ‘opinion leaders’ and representing a canvassed view; and individuals voicing their own views. Speeches were fairly direct without extended rhetoric, which in any case was not customary among the Kamba. Opinions were expressed in an orderly way, and fairly freely.

The mwethya assembly was an important arena of public expression in Kamale, alongside others - descent-group meetings , which were usually jural moots dealing with disputes; government assemblies, which were more formal and directed by government officials, often flanked by an administrative police officer; and political rallies, which were supposed to be held only with a government licence and with government officials present. Although debate in the mwethya assembly was confined to mwethya business, it was the only community-wide forum for political display and mobilization. Women and younger men participated little in the debates, although non-verbal expressions and exclamations from the women were evidendy of considerable importance. Their views were usually represented by a male spokesman.

One such mwethya assembly took place in Kamale on 16 October 1973. It consisted of about eighty people who gathered after a morning’s rather desultory work carrying bricks and fetching water for about half an hour each. Only about half the mwethya members turned up for the work and the assembly. No record was kept of the workers.

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