RP-Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies

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The Activities of Organized Criminal Groups and Their Effects on Peace and Security in Nairobi County, Kenya
(East African Scholars Publisher, Kenya, 2021) Katola, Michael T.
This paper is derived from a study that was funded by Kenyatta university Vice-Chancellor's Research Grant. It discusses the activities of organized criminal groups as well as the effects of those activities on security and peace in Nairobi. Nairobi County was chosen for the study because it has the highest number of organized criminal groups in the country. Such groups pose a serious challenge to Kenya Government for it negates the main objective of vision 2030 which is to achieve a secure environment for sustainable social, economic, and political development. The study used oral interviews, participant observation, and document analysis as methods of data collection. Findings of the study revealed that criminal groups were involved in several activities which made the streets, places of work or residence, public transport, and open-air markets unsafe. It was concluded that the Kenya Government must invest more in security so that Nairobi residents can live peacefully and carry out their businesses without fear of being attacked by criminals. From the findings and conclusions of the study, recommendations were made on how the problem of organized criminal groups in Nairobi can be minimized to ensure residents can live in a peaceful and secure county.
African Feminist Theology: Context, Focus and Sources
(University of Nairobi, 2020) Mwaura, Philomena Njeri
This paper is based on a presentation by the author at the Yale Divinity School and the Overseas Ministries Study Centre (OMSC) seminar on Gender and Power in African Christianity held from 1st to 5th March 2010. It highlights general themes and concepts of feminism, gender, feminist theology, gender and theology, women in theology and, more specifically, the role of women in the Church and the society with a focus on gender issues in African Christianity.
African Indigenous Knowledge versus Western Science in the Mbeere Mission of Kenya
(OASIS, 2023) Gathogo, Julius M.
This article sets out to explore the way in which Western science and technology was received in the Mbeere Mission of central Kenya since August 1912 when a medical missionary, Dr T.W.W. Crawford, visited the area. In his dalliance with ecclesiastical matters, Crawford, a highly trained Canadian medical doctor, was sent by the Church Missionary Society (CMS) at Kigari-Embu, in 1910, to pioneer the Anglican mission in the vast area that included Mbeereland, where Mbeere Mission is situated. Contending with the African indigenous knowledge in medicine, environmental conservation, agriculture and other forms of indigenous science, the introduction of Western science and technology, 1912 to 1952, the article argues, did not erase the former; rather, it complimented it. Pockets of general resistance were evident, though Mbeereland, unlike its neighbouring Mutira Mission of 1912, did not offer elaborate opposition to the Western science and technology, partly because the locals could have learnt about it from their neighbours who had experienced it much earlier. Through a historico-narrative design, the research article endeavours to primarily review the coming of Western medicine in Mbeereland: Did it conflict with the African medicine? Methodologically, the data have been collected via archival sources, oral interviews and by reviewing applicable literature. Contribution: The input of this research article to the HTS Journal’s vision and scope is seen by appreciating its focus on the interface between African indigenous knowledge and the European science and technology. Although the main focus is African versus western medicine, and how it was historically received in Mbeere Mission of Central Kenya, it largely speaks for the tropical Africa. The article is within the multidisciplinary areas in missiology and historiography
African Theology in the 21st Century: Mapping Out Critical Priorities
(European Scientific Institute, 2018) Waweru, Humphrey Mwangi
There is a dialogue taking place in the area of African Theology; “do we call it African Christian theology or African Theology and how it relates to the African culture”? Depending on where one sits, any name will carry the day as long as it fulfills the academic desire intended. What is important is the dialogue that is taking place between the Bible and the African culture. Here, we shall take the name “African Theology” as the norm. It is evident in almost all ways that from a walk which is based on the mapping of African theology or from the wide variety of current understandings of its nature and task, there are several priorities in African Theology. A number of theologians today argue that the priorities of African theology are many. These include providing a clear and comprehensive dialogue between African culture and the Bible in relation to the African faith. They argue that the Bible has also been translated into local languages in order to enable the African cultures to become intelligible in the way they relate to the scriptures. On the other hand, others have prioritized the definition of African Theology so that they can deal with it from their perspective of African Traditional Religions. Also, others want to prioritize African Theology as a reflection of the praxis of Christian faith within a relatively deprived community. Therefore, this article seeks to briefly provide some priorities in African Theology, such as liberation, reconstruction, and poverty reduction theologies. In this study, we will proceed to explore the need for a definition of African Theology, how it relates to African Christian faith, and the challenges posed by African Theology to the Christian faith. We will conclude with the general guidelines on formulating the priorities of African theology.
African Traditional Cultural Conundrums which Make Women Prone to HIV/AIDS Infections: A Case of the Maasai of Kenya
(Contemporary Research Center, 2013) Akaranga, Stephen I.; Ongong’a, Jude J.
The term conundrum may mean a tricky problem that is difficult to solve (Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary, 2000: 251). It describes the problems of the African patriarchal society in which the sex-based assignment of roles projects a spectre of inferiority and unworthiness over women while casting the characteristics of superiority on to men (cf. Lumumba et al, 2011:99). Traditionally, most Africans tend to assume the position of women, and the Maasai of Kenya are not an exception. Among the Maasai like most Africans, gender inequality and inequity are fundamental structures of social hierarchy believed to shape how people are related within the society. Being based on social relations, gender conundrums are part and parcel of the Maasai daily life and seem to be more pronounced in sexual relations. The argument of this paper is: HIV/AIDS is transmitted through; sexual contact, and exposure to infected blood or blood components and prenatally from the mother to the neonate (Dennis et al, 1989:31). The paper attempts to answer the following questions: What are the patriarchal practices that lead to sexual oppression of women such as; female genital mutilation, widow remarriage, polygamy; what is the negative impact of marriage arrangements between young girls and elderly men among the Maasai? Is the practice of sharing women among age mates still practiced among the Maasai? And if so, isn’t it a common path of HIV infections? To actualize our investigation, the paper analyzes the cultural education system for socializing girls and suggests ways of ameliorating such patriarchal and cultural tendencies. This was done through field research involving administration of questionnaires to various groups apart from oral discussions with some elders from the Maasai community.
Afro-Biblical Hermeneutics in Africa Today
(Churchman Journal, 2010) Gathogo, Julius; Kinyua, John Kennedy
By Afro-biblical hermeneutics, we mean biblical interpretations done in Africa especially by African instituted Churches. These hermeneutical works are typically African in character in the sense that they consciously or unconsciously borrow heavily from African religious heritage, in their dialogue with the gospel of Christ. The paper sets out to demonstrate that the Biblical hermeneutics in Kenya and Africa at large was largely shaped and/or inspired by biblical translation. That is upon the Bible being translated into the local/indigenous languages, Africans began to re-interpret it in their „relevant fashions, a phenomenon which contrasted the missionary approaches. Second, biblical translations also gave rise to the birth of African independent/instituted Churches, whose hermeneutical standpoints largely speaks for the entire „Biblical hermeneutics in Africa today.‟
Afro-Pentecostalism and the Kenyan Political Landscape
(Swedish Missiological Themes (SMT), 2013) Gathogo, Julius
The history of modern Kenya that dates back to the 1880s when trading activities began in the coastal region of Kenya under the Imperial British East Africa (IBEA) company, and subsequent colonialism, has always depicted the church, particularly the mission churches, as one which has always played a socio-political role. Following Kenya’s independence from the British, in 1963, the mission churches continued with their holistic ministries to the present moment. In the twenty-first century, however, Pentecostalism, which has repackaged itself as the ‘real’ guardians of the African heritage and spirituality, has however taken over some of the critical socio-political roles previously seen in some of the mission churches such as the Roman Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and Methodists among others. In the coastal region as in the rest of the country, the article argues, it is foolhardy to ignore its activities, particularly after the 2010 Kenyan constitutional referendum when the country adopted a semi-federal political model, otherwise called the 47 devolved governments. In view of this, the article sets out to demonstrate the strong influence of the emerging Christianities in Kenya in socio-political affairs. In its methodology, it surveys the growth of Pentecostal wave since the 1960s when TL Osborn inaugurated the movement in Kenya. It goes on to show the changing patterns of Pentecostalism where, in Kenya, its ability to capture African ethos of wholeness where religion provides solution to every life problem, such as disunity, health and economy among others. Hence, various challenges in the coastal region of Kenya such as inter-ethnic/regional divisions, insecurity, water borne diseases, historical injustices find their solution in Christianity. Addressing cutting-edge issues facing the African society, without necessarily loosing their gospel constituency makes the emerging Christianitiesbecome afro-Pentecostalism. In this article, the unique challenges of Kenya’s coastal region are case studied purposely to show the missiological tasks of the emerging Christianities in the holistic growth of the region and the country at large. The article covers a 204 wide range of issues, scholarly literature and reports (including newspaper articles and blogs etc.), and other background materials. Formal methods employed focused on short surveys and semistructured interviews; informal observations and meetings that complemented these methods.
The anthropological dimension of a patient's treatment: a response to Prof. Bernard Ugeux
(Wiley, 2006) Mwaura, P. N.
Beyond Expectations in the Academic World: 17 Years of Publishing with Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae (2006–2023)
(Church History Society of Southern Africa and Unisa Press, 2024) Gathogo, Julius
This research article aims to bring out the author’s 17 years of research and publications with the Studia Historiae Ecclesiasticae: Journal of Church History, abbreviated as SHE, from 2006 to 2023, and to establish its impact on his socio-scholarly formation. Methodologically, this drives the researcher to acknowledge the journal’s sharpening and preparatory role that has made it possible for him to be invited as an editor of an East African journal, an external examiner in various universities, and a conference speaker in diverse forums. The methodology also includes surveying the Church History Society of Southern Africa (CHSSA)’s annual conferences whose presentations since 2007—when the author attended for the first time—have enriched his engagements with SHE. Such presentations were later published in the journal. Key events that helped the author to come into contact with the first SHE copy have also been surveyed. The Mombasa Biographical Conference of April 2024, where the author was invited as the closing speaker, is viewed as one of the journal’s impactful events. The author was invited to address the gathering after his interest in biographical research was noted through his publications in SHE since 2006. Given this, the author seeks to usher in an East African perspective by drawing from the 17 years of his active participation in SHE publications and the CHSSA conferences. The latter provides the raw material for SHE’s publications.
Black Theology of South Africa: Is this the hour of Paradigm Shift?
(Equinox Publishing Ltd, 2007) Gathogo, J.M.
The paper is based on the premise that the proposal for a shift of paradigm, from liberation to reconstruction, in the post apartheid South Africa and the post cold war Africa, was not received with great enthusiasm, among the practitioners of Black theology, as was widely expected. Could it be a quiet way of saying, “Look our concerns such as racism, poverty, land redistribution, deconstruction of patriarchy, fair redistribution of the national resources and now HIV/AIDS have not yet been achieved? Without ‘total freedom,’ can we really engage in a theology of reconstruction?” In attempting to address the above concerns, the paper surveys the historical background of Black theology. It also attempts to explore the philosophy behind the paradigm shifts in theo-social contexts in general – as it dwells on the crucial question on: Is it time to shift paradigms? In other words, who and what dictate the change of paradigm in the society of men and women in both the African traditional society and in the “modern” society?
Centrality of Critical Thinking to Value Creating Education for Human and National Development
(Financing for Development, 2020) Namwambah, Tom Destiny
The transformational role of education in human endeavors cannot be overemphasized. The basic function of education is to develop, in a holistic way a well-balanced, self-functioning and responsive individual who can spur development and transform society. The emphasis on the intellectual development of the human person is premised on the need to produce an individual capable of translating what is learnt into pragmatic programs as to be able to improve conditions under which humans live. This article explores the need for education in the critical faculty as the best avenue to the inculcation of skills, dispositions and traits definitive of value creating education for human and national development. By development we mean human ability to holistically partake in the collective contribution to the welfare of the society; informed by a conscious resolve to live, in harmony with others, a meaningful and satisfactory life. This view is premised on the understanding that knowledge in the critical faculty transforms individuals from dependence to independence, consumers to producers; and more importantly, into innovative, critical, creative, judicious, and projective entities with requisite abilities to navigate critical challenges that impedes national development.
The challenge and reconstructive impact of African religion in South Africa today
(Ebscohost, 2008-09) Gathogo, J.M.
This essay assesses the resilience and the reconstructive impact of African religion in post-apartheid South Africa, especially with regard to the religiosocial reconstruction of the society. It also seeks to demonstrate that following the May, 2008, Afrophobic/xenophobic attacks, the influence of African religion is undergoing a litmus test. Its hypothetical setting has it that post-apartheid South Africa, like the rest of post-Cold War Africa, is in dire need of psychosocial reconstruction on all fronts. Consequently, the essay attempts to show that, despite the effects of so-called modernity, African religion deserves to be given a chance to engage in dialogue with other religious discourses, as its impact cannot be gainsaid. In particular, its impact on the multiracial society can have a double advantage to the entire nation. Indeed, the author argues, some of its concepts such as hospitality and Ubuntu not only can be exploited for the good of South Africa, but, more importantly, it can also be bequeathed to the rest of the world.
The challenge of money and wealth in some East African Pentecostal Churches
(2011-09) Gathogo, J.M.
One of the most disturbing questions of our times in Eastern Africa, and Kenya in particular, is: has Christianity that began as a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, shifted to being material-minded? Are the modern churches willing to die for their people as in the case of the early church and as its Master did? Is it necessary for the African church in the 21st century to accept such a fate? In its methodology, the article surveys the place of wealth and the church from a historical perspective. It goes on to assess this in light of some Pentecostal churches such as Jubilee Christian Centre (JCC), Deliverance Church of Kenya (DCK), Maximum Miracle Centre (MMC), Redeemed Gospel Church (RGC) and Christ is the Answer Ministries (CITAM), among others. This article was researched through reading of extensive materials, interviews with church members, former members, church leaders, critics and sympathisers and through participant observation. While appreciating the new religio-social paradigm in ecclesiastical matters – where science and technology becomes an important component in the African churches of the 21st century, hence the money factor – the article seeks to show the need for a balance in the handling of church and personal finances. It also cautions about the need to avoid wholesale condemnations of churches, especially with regard to the question of wealth and money.
Charismatic Pentecostal Churches in Kenya: Growth, Culture and Orality
(Academicians Research Center, 2014) Nyabwari, B. G.; Kagema, D. N.
Charismatic Pentecostal churches in Kenya started in the cities and have now extended to the rural areas. The highest percentage of members in the charismatic Pentecostal churches in Kenya as this study established were formerly members of the mainstream churches. This implies, the charismatic churches offer what seems to lack in the mainstream churches. Worldwide, charismatic movements such as the Welsh Revival, Azusa Street Revival, Latter Rain Movement, the Third Wave and the Toronto Blessings began in the early 21st century with a motif to reach the entire globe with the Gospel. Speaking in tongues, singing praises to God, dancing for the Lord and healing among others became the identifying features for the movements. In East Africa, the movement arrived in 1960s and 70s through the ministry of evangelists such as Bill Graham and T.L. Osborne. In Kenya, Joe Kayo, David Kimani, Bethel Mission and Margret Wangari became the first proponents of the movement. This paper examines the growth, culture and orality of the charismatic Pentecostal churches in Kenya. Specifically the paper analyzes the start and development of charismatic Pentecostalism worldwide, distinctive features of the charismatic Pentecostal churches in Kenya and the interpretation of the theology of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Further, the paper investigates the nature and role of testimonies in the churches showing how women and marginalized groups claim to find ‘home’ in the charismatic Pentecostal churches. Data were collected through oral interviews and analysis of data from books, journals and documentaries on charismatic Pentecostalism. The oral informants included the priests, lay leaders and church members from 20 selected charismatic Pentecostal churches in Kenya. The paper singles out charismatic pentecostal churches as a threat to the mainstream churches in Kenya. The churches seem to offer inculturated Christianity which make most Kenyans to feel more spiritually administered unto.
Community integration for psychosocial well-being: building sustainable peace and strengthening identity through story- telling in the South Sudan
(2015) Kamwaria, Alex N.; Katola, Michael T.
In a war-ravaged country, a great need exists for community integration in order to heal the psychosocial wounds and to enable the process of development and reconstruction for peace. Even after settling in their villages and home, many communities South Sudan have stories that elicit their traumatized self-images and identities. When these people pass trauma stories to their children, this has long term effects on the community identity. Trauma stories can be catalysts for selective memories of trauma that create potential atmosphere for future conflicts. This paper shows how community integration can be used to bring together individuals, families, and villages in south Sudan that have been divided by war by strengthening the common threads that bind all members. By providing forums in which individuals, families, and villages can come together, trauma stories can be narrated for constructive dialogue and integration. The stories of family members, friends, colleagues, villagers, and members of other ethnic groups can help to build trust, common identity and overcome anxieties and misconceptions about others
Concept of Basic Human Rights in African Independent Pentecostal Church of Africa and Jesus Is Alive Ministries
(Penn State University Press, 2012) Mwaura, Philomena Njeri
Condom use and Culture of Life: The Roman Catholic Church Dilemma in the Wake of New HIV Infection
(International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE), 2018) Musili, Telesia K.; Gecaga, Margaret; Gitome, Josephine
The World has devotedly committed to ending HIV and AIDS epidemic by 2030. However, the latest global data demonstrate among other challenges an increase in new HIV infections. In 2015 there was an increase of new HIV infections from 1.8 million to 2.4 million, an average of 2.1 million. In light of this challenge of increasing new HIV infections, a scrutiny on the effectiveness of HIV prevention strategies and measures is important. Abstinence, fidelity and condom use are among the strategies that have been lauded to prevent further transmission of HIV infections. However, the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) stance and repression of condom use by her adherents bars the positive strides of preventing the spread of HIV. This paper addresses the possible grounds for review of the RCC negative stance on condom use. This is premised on the famous Pope John Paul II’s culture of life theology that upholds not only the sanctity of human life but also the intrinsic value and dignity of the human person. A phenomenological approach was employed in guiding this discourse. The following concepts illuminate this worth course. They include the primacy of subjective interiority in sexual choices, valued inter-relational sociability of human persons and pursuance of eschatological hope. In this era of HIV and AIDS, we argue for a relational eschatology rather than a punitive eschaton. This is believed to cushion a time that is permeated with relational challenges that are meant to steer the values of love and trust. Keywords: Condom use, culture of life, HIV and AIDS, new infections, church teaching on sexuality
Consolidating Democracy in the Colonial Kenya (1920-1963): Challenges and Prospects
(Jumuga Journal of Education, Oral Studies, and Human Sciences (JJEOHS), 2020) Gathogo, Julius
Kenya became a Crown Colony of the British government on 23 July 1920. Before then, 1895 to 1919, it was a protectorate of the British Government. Between 1887 to 1895, Scot William Mackinnon (1823-1893), under the auspices of his chartered company, Imperial British East Africa (IBEA), was running Kenya on behalf of the British Government. This article sets out to retrace the road to democracy in colonial Kenya, though with a bias to electoral contests, from 1920 to 1963. While democracy and/or democratic culture is broader than mere electioneering, the article considers electoral processes as critical steps in consolidating democratic gains, as societies now find an opportunity to replace bad leaders and eventually installs a crop of leadership that resonates well with their pains, dreams, fears and joys. With its own elected leaders, the article hypothesizes, a society has a critical foundation because elected people are ordinarily meant to address cutting-edge issues facing a given society. Such concerns may include: poverty, corruption, racism, marginalization of minority, ethnic bigotry, economic rejuvenation, gender justice, and health of the people among other disquiets. Methodologically, the article focusses more on the 1920 and the 1957general elections. This is due to their unique positioning in the Kenyan historiography. In 1920, for instance, a semblance of democracy was witnessed in Kenya when the European-Settler-Farmers’ inspired elections took place, after their earlier protests in 1911. They were protesting against the mere nomination of leaders to the Legislative Council (Parliament) since 1906 when the first Parliament was instituted in Kenya’s history. Although Eliud Wambu Mathu became the first African to be nominated to the Legislative Council in 1944, this was seen as a mere drop in the big Ocean, as Africans had not been allowed to vote or usher in their own leaders through universal suffrage. The year 1957 provided that opportunity even though they (Africans) remained a tiny minority in the Legislative Council until the 1963 general elections which ushered in Kenya’s independence. What other setbacks did the Kenyan democratic process encounter; and how were the democratic gains consolidated? While the article does not intend to focus on the voice of religious societies, or the lack of it, it is worthwhile to concede that a democratic process is an all-inclusive enterprise that invites all cadres to “come and build the barricading wall” for all of us
Constraints and Prospects of Inculturation in Kenya
(Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, 2014)
The inculturation process in Kenya has been challenged by internal and external sources. Internally the process has been destabilized by the Kenyan socio-religio cultural structures which are patriarchal: men have been the only proponents of the inculturation progression. Issues of ethnocentricism, discrimination and prejudice have affected the process by locking the ministers in their tribal cocoons; a situation which has been of late been fueled by political activists and some religious leaders have explicitly expressed their support of a Christianization phenomena have immensely affected the inculturation process in Kenya. In the event of the Kenyan people accepting the western Christianity wholesomely, they forget and abandon their cultural identities. A number of westerners view the Kenyan culture as empty, pagan and primitive without acknowledging their morality and relations to the Deity before the inception of Western Christianity. Communication technologies, computerized systems and swift currents of economy have also affected the inculturation process in Kenya. The process of inculturation has been challenged in all these aspects but it has been able to survive because it is a heavenly initiative that people may receive the Gospel message in their native culture, tongue, art, language, syntax and form. The study borrows Nasimiyu’s (1986) Vatican II conceptual framework. Data were collected from priests, church members and leaders from both protestant and catholic churches in Kenya.
Contextual Limitations in Sandra Harding's Epistemological Framework and How they Can be Overcome
(EdinBurg, 2024-05) Mulwa, Beatrice Jannie; Magero, Jacob; Oyigo, Josephat
This paper aims to investigate the contextual constraints in Sandra Harding's epistemology and suggest methods to get around them. The standpoint theory developed by Harding highlights the significance of taking historical, social, and cultural contexts into account when producing knowledge. This strategy essentializes and homogenizes various experiences and viewpoints. The study offers potential solutions to these constraints by critically examining the drawbacks of intersectionality and feminist standpoint theory. This entails embracing a more nuanced understanding of power dynamics, encouraging inclusive and diverse viewpoints, and acknowledging the complexities of multiple intersecting identities. The study aims to strengthen and enhance Harding's epistemology by addressing its contextual limitations and promoting a more equitable and inclusive approach to knowledge production. To achieve this goal, this study employs the laws of thought: three guiding principles: the non-contradiction rule, the excluded middle, and the identity principle. The study is primarily a conceptual analysis that proceeded by library study, employing the typical philosophical argumentation approach of evaluation, analysis, synthesis, reflection, and philosophical speculation. By highlighting the weaknesses of Harding's epistemology and suggesting possible remedies, this study contributes to a broader debate on the potential limitations of epistemology. It offers insights into developing more robust epistemological frameworks that promote social justice and inclusivity in knowledge inquiries, practices, and justification.

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