The Symbolism of Gada in Local Political Campaign Songs among the Boran of Marsabit County in Northern Kenya

This chapter looks at how the Boran of northern Kenya use their traditional institution of gada to make dialogue with and make sense of the Kenyan political system. Despite its historical ubiquity and importance in the socio-political life of the Boran of Marsabit, the system has however been on the decline in recent decades; however, here I argue that gada has come to be memorialized in popular culture like songs and continues to influence the way in which the Boran navigate new social and political realities. Drawing on earlier ethnographies on the Boran and colonial archives reports, the first part of the chapter discusses the ethnographic background of the Marsabit Boran and locating the historical centrality of gada and its associated rituals and ceremonies in their socio-political life. The second part looks at how this system is remembered in contemporary Boran political campaign songs by analyzing the lyrics of the music and teasing out the imagery of gada contained therein. This part also puts the songs in their longue durée and expounds on their contemporary usefulness for the Boran in making sense of the Kenyan political system. The analysis reveals that despite having ‘practically’ declined, the Boran socio-political institution of gada and its associated ritual site of ardha gadamojji in Marsabit are symbolically useful resources for imagining and making sense of the Kenyan political system. Finally the chapter argues that despite having been presented as existing on the periphery of the Kenyan nation and at times portrayed as anti-national, – the Boran have in their own ways syncretized the Kenyan experience as can be discerned from their popular culture