Bukusu Tribe (Luhya) - Settlement

Settlement

Together with other Luyia sub nations, the Bukusu are thought to have first settled north of Lake Turkana at a place called Enabutuku. From here they settled in Cherangani Hills at place called Embayi later to be known as Sirikwa. After the evil and bad omen befall them they dispersed taking six routes; five going around mount Elgon and one via the eastern side of Mount Elgon. Those who went via the western side of Mount Elgon included Basilikwa, Banabayi, Baneala, Bakikayi and Bamalaba. Mwalie cluster took the eastern side route and settled at Mwalie hills. This area was already inhabited by some Kalenjin sub nationalities like the Laku, Sabiny, Bongomek, Sebei etc. These groups were hostile to their new neighbors. To check and protect themselves against these wild tribes the Bukusu built fortified villages. The art of fortified villages was as ancient as the tribe right from their origin in Misri.

The Bukusu trace their origin from Muntu we Entebe who lived in Tabasya of Misri. Muntu was a great warrior who was later deified by the people of Misri. His son Mwambu married Sera the daughter of Wasiela the son of Samba Ambarani who is believed to be Abraham the Hebrew. Mwambu founded the cities of Kush, Nabibia (Nubia, Namelu (Meroe), Rwa (Alwa) and others including Soba and Balana.

Mwambu became the father of Mwaabini the inventor cum discoverer. Mwaabini was the father of Kongolo and Saba.

Kongolo became the father of all bantu tribes west of River Nile while Saba became the father of all the Bantu East of the River Nile. Saba moved to the East and founded the kingdom of Saba (Sheba. His great grand daughter called Nakuti of Saba (Queen of Sheba) traveled abroad and married a prince from the house of Samba Ambarani and had a son with him. The name of the son was Maina wa Nakuti okhwa Silimani of the East. It is believed it is this Maina whom the Arabs called Ibn Malik and Ethiopians referred to as Menelik. But the people of East Africa refer to him as Maina. Maina ruled Saba for a long period before his kingdom was invaded by hostile Arabs forcing some of his people South West under the leadership of great descendant called Muntu Mkhulu. Muntu Mkhulu became the father of SabaII. It was Saba II who led people to Tabasya north of Lake Turkana.

Following repeated attacks from the Balana call them Borana or Galla and unfavourable weather conditions, and it was resolved to migrate south and east, to unsettled lands. Masaba the father of Bukusu and Kisu led the people to Embayi which was later to become Sirikwa or the fallen kingdom. It fell after the people disobeyed their God Khakaba and so he send a giant boulder from the sky which hit the land of Mbayi causing an earthquake followed by swarms of stinging insects spread allover. Then came epidemics and other calamities forcing the subjects of Sirikwa to scatter into different directiond. They dispersed and settled among the Kipsigis, the Nandi, the Samburu, the Marakwet, the Borana and even beyond. The main body is what headed south East and West under the banners of Basirikwa, Banabayi, Bakikayi, Baneala, Bamalaba and Bamwalie.

Currently, the Bukusu mainly inhabit Bungoma, Trans Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Kakamega and Lugari districts of Western Province of Kenya. The Bamasaba of Uganda are very closely related to the Babukusu, with many shared customs and closely related dialect. Previously, the Bukusu were referred to as the 'Kitosh' by the colonialists; this was a word derived from the Nandi and Kwavi who used the word derogatively describe the Babukusu. Kitosh means the terrible ones. they called them the terrible ones because the Bukusu warriors were ruthless and decisive in battlefields. Following vigorous campaigns by community their defenders, the name Kitosh was eventually substituted with Bukusu in the mid 1950s.