6 FACTS ABOUT THE HERITAGE OF THE BUKUSU FORTS -CHINGOBA
The Bukusu or Babukusu are the largest of the 17 houses sub-tribes of the Luhya are today found largely in Western Kenya and Eastern Uganda. Learn all about Bukusu origin, ancestry, clans, traditions and culture. Commonly referred as the Bukusu, the name Babukusu was given to the community by other communities who came into contact with the Bukusu. During the ancient, at the markets where barter trade between communities took place, the Babukusu were known for their habit of inquiring about bukusi (price) of the goods. As a result, they earned the nickname babandu be bukusi (the “price people”). To date, there is so much to learn about the Bukusu. The modern Bukusu is a quite elaborate cultural heritage that lies deeply entrenched in the fortified monuments that spread all over the Bukusu lands. Unfortunately, these sites, which were once abuzz with ancestral activities, now remain untraceable, faded from the face of the earth and Kenya’s history. These forts, locally known as chingoba...