3) Religions of Kenya

Religious Makeup of Kenya

The vast majority of the Kenyan population who identify with a religion claim to be either Protestant Christians or Roman Catholics. According to the U.S. Department of State's records, 58% identify as Protestant Christians, 42% as Roman Catholics, 10% as Muslims, 9% as various indigenous religions, and 1% as Hindu, Sikh, and Baha'i. (1) These percentages, however, are based upon the number of people who identify with a religion. Approximately 2.4% of the population say that they are nonreligious. (2)

Gikuyu Origin Myth

The Gikuyu tribe is a family group of indigenous people living in Kenya to the east of Lake Victoria. As our text, African Myths of Origin describes, they have their own story of how creation began and how their tribe was created. According to their story, a god named Mogai created the world and a man named Gikuyu to live in it. Mogai also created a wife for Gikuyu named Mumbi and allowed them to give birth to nine daughters. When Gikuyu asked for sons, Mogai told him to complete a sacrifice. After Gikuyu obeyed and completed this sacrifice, nine men were provided as husbands for Mogai and Mumbi's nine daughters. However, according to the myth, the woman at this time were stronger than the men and they ruled over their husbands in the families. When the men began to feel oppressed, they plotted a rebellion at the time that the wives were most vulnerable: during pregnancy. Their plot succeeded and from that point on, the men became the head of the families. (3)

Changes in Religious Makeup

Indigenous religions of different tribes in Kenya often have some key characteristics and commonalities. For example, almost all of these indigenous religions have a belief in one god or in multiple gods with one supreme god. (4) In addition, many of these religions have a strong belief in spirits. Types of spirits include ancestral spirits, nature spirits, and bad spirits. (5) Finally, most of these religions have religious leaders such as priests or shamans who perform religious duties for the good of the tribe. (6)

As one can see by the percentage of those who profess to be Protestant Christians, Christianity has made a huge impact in Kenya. This comes as a result of many Christian missionaries who traveled to Kenya in the 1800s. (7) The fact that many tribes already believed in a sovereign god made the transition to Christianity much easier. However, because Muslims also believe in one God, the indigenous people can also identify with it, making it the third most prominent religion in Kenya. (1)

(1) "International Religious Freedom Report", Section I. Religious Demography, http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2008/108374.htm, ¶ 1.
(2) "Kenya", Religion, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya#Religion, ¶ 2.
(3) Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of a Continent. New York: Vintage, 1997. pp. 159-161.
(4) "Studying Africa through the Humanities", The Supernatural in Indigenous African Religions, http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/students/curriculum/m14/activity2.php, ¶ 1.
(5) "Studying Africa through the Humanities", Types of Spirits, http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/students/curriculum/m14/activity2.php, ¶ 3, 8, and 12.
(6) "Studying Africa through the Humanities", Religious Leaders,  http://exploringafrica.matrix.msu.edu/students/curriculum/m14/activity2.php, ¶ 1.
(7) "Religion", http://republicofkenya.org/culture/religion/, ¶ 2.