The Kikuyu are a Bantu ethnic group native to East Africa Central Kenya. At a population of 8,148,668 as of 2019,they account for 17.13% of the total population of Kenya,making them Kenya's largest ethnic group.
Mungiki is a banned ethnic organisation in Kenya. The name means "a united people" or "multitude" in the Kikuyu language. The religion,which apparently originated in the late 1980s,is secretive and bears some similarity to mystery religions. Specifics of their origin and doctrines are unclear. What is clear is that they favour a return to indigenous African traditions.
Kenyatta University (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Nairobi,Kenya. It acquired the status of university in 1985,being the third university after University of Nairobi (1970) and Moi University (1984). As of October 2014,it was one of 23 public universities in the country.
Facing Mount Kenya,first published in 1938,is an anthropological study of the Kikuyu people of Central Kenya. It was written by native Kikuyu and future Kenyan president Jomo Kenyatta. Kenyatta writes in this text,"The cultural and historical traditions of the Gikuyu people have been verbally handed down from generation to generation. As a Gikuyu myself,I have carried them in my head for many years,since people who have no written records to rely on learn to make a retentive memory do the work of libraries."
Peter Kagwanja is a Kenyan intellectual,adviser,reform strategist and policy thinker on governance,security and African affairs. From the early 1990s,Kagwanja was associated with Kenya's pro-democracy movement through his research and writings in the media,and was one of the founders of the University Academic Staff Union (UASU). As an emigre in South Africa (2003-2008),he was in the team of experts that provided technical backing to the intense policy processes that led to the creation of the African Union (AU) and its peace and security architecture. When Kenya's opposition ascended to power,Kagwanja became part of the technical team that re-engineered and realigned the country's foreign policy and strategy to the challenges of the 21st century. He became government adviser on the post-2008 reform agenda and strategy;managed its successful campaign for the New Constitution of Kenya and provided strategic thinking towards the transition to the post-Kibaki order. Kagwanja is a public intellectual who has authored many articles and books,including Kenya's Uncertain Democracy:The Electoral Crisis of 2008London:Routledge (2010).
Refugee women face gender-specific challenges in navigating daily life at every stage of their migration experience. Common challenges for all refugee women,regardless of other demographic data,are access to healthcare and physical abuse and instances of discrimination,sexual violence,and human trafficking are the most common ones. But even if women don't become victims of such actions,they often face abuse and disregard for their specific needs and experiences,which leads to complex consequences including demoralization,stigmatization,and mental and physical health decay. The lack of access to appropriate resources from international humanitarian aid organizations is compounded by the prevailing gender assumptions around the world,though recent shifts in gender mainstreaming are aiming to combat these commonalities.
The campaign against female genital mutilation in colonial Kenya (1929–1932),also known as the female circumcision controversy,was a period within Kenyan historiography known for efforts by British missionaries,particularly from the Church of Scotland,to stop the practice of female genital mutilation in colonial Kenya. The campaign was met with resistance by the Kikuyu,the country's largest tribe. According to American historian Lynn M. Thomas,female genital mutilation became a focal point of the movement campaigning for independence from British rule,and a test of loyalty,either to the Christian churches or to the Kikuyu Central Association,the largest association of the Kikuyu people.
Domestic violence in Kenya constitutes any harmful behavior against a family member or partner,including rape,assault,physical abuse,and forced prostitution. Domestic violence in Kenya reflects worldwide statistics in that women are the overwhelming majority of victims. Over 40% of married women in Kenya have reported being victims of either domestic violence or sexual abuse. Worldwide,over 30% of "ever-partnered women" aged 15 and older have experienced physical or sexual partner violence. The distinct factors and causes of this high percentage have often not been studied due to lack of data.
Shining Hope for Communities (SHOFCO) is a grassroots movement based in Nairobi,Kenya in urban slums providing services,community advocacy platforms,and education and leadership development for women and girls. SHOFCO serves more than 350,000 urban slum dwellers in 10 slums across three cities in Kenya.
Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg is an Executive in Residence at Schmidt Futures. Before that she was Director of African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD). Wanjiru is also the Founder and past Executive Director of Akili Dada,a leadership incubator for African girls and young women and a former Assistant Professor of Politics at the University of San Francisco.
The Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians is a pan-African ecumenical organization that supports scholarly research of African women theologians. The Circle mentors the next generation of African women theologians throughout their academic careers in order to counter the dearth of academic theological literature by African women. The Circle has chapters in more than a dozen countries across the African continent,as well as diaspora chapters in Europe and North America.
Philomena Njeri Mwaura is a Kenyan theologian and an Associate Professor Religious Studies at Kenyatta University,Kenya. She has published widely in the areas of African Christianity- History and Theology and New Religious Movements.
Teresia Mbari Hinga was a Kenyan Christian feminist theologian and a professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University in California. She was a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians.
Violence against women in Uganda is an issue that negatively affects various aspects of women's lives. COVID-19 has worsened the current condition for women facing domestic violence. Perceived changing social standards and cultural norms indicate power dynamics which is a primary cause of violence carried out against women. Refugee women in Uganda are uniquely subjugated as they have the least access to gaining social or monetary capital. However,there has been recent legislation aimed at improving the quality of life for Ugandan women and refugee women in Uganda.
Mary Getui is a Kenyan theologian and professor of religious studies at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. She is a founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. In 2009,Getui was named a Moran of the Burning Spear. She was appointed as chair of the National Aids Control Council of Kenya that same year.
Hannah Wangeci Kinoti was a Kenyan African Feminist theologian and a member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. Kinoti was an African Ethicist and Religious Studies Scholar with over fifty publications under her name. She was a founding member of Wajibu Journal,created in 1985,focusing on religion,African values,morality,politics and culture. Kinoti was the first female chairperson in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at the University of Nairobi.
Damaris Seleina Parsitau is a scholar of religion,a gender equality advocate,and feminist. She has published extensively on issues of religion,gender and society with a focus on Pentecostal Christianity. She is the first African Woman President of the African Association for the Study of Religion and its Diaspora (AASR) and the first African Woman Director of the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin University,in Grand Rapids,Michigan. She is also part of the community of social justice scholars and practitioners at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice.
Hazel Ong'ayo Ayanga is a Kenyan theologian whose work focuses on the care and empowerment of orphans,vulnerable children and women affected by HIV/AIDS. She is an associate professor of Religious Studies at Moi University,Kenya and also researches spirituality in clinical settings,religion and change in Africa and the centrality of ritual in human life. She has published over twenty peer-reviewed articles and coauthored several book chapters and edited volumes.
Anne Nkirote Kubai is an associate professor of World Christianity and interreligious studies. She is a researcher at the School of Historical and Contemporary Studies,Södertörn University,Sweden. She researches on conflict and peace building,religion,genocide,transitional justice,sexual and gender-based violence and psychosocial studies. She is a professor extraordinarius at the Institute of Gender Studies at the University of South Africa (UNISA).
