Local Adminstration of the Pokomos

Local Administration of the Pokomos

The Buus are a large group in the Pokomo tribe that live in Villages in the Tana Delta. 
Ngao is such a Village.
Apart from the Government,Local chiefs and others, In every village there is:

a)A Headman

The  Headman(is a local leader chosen the villagers) He acts as a representative of the community to the government regarding minor issues like security,political and social matters.

In case someone wanted to announce something to the Villagers He first went to the Headman and The Headman was the one to go around the Village proclaiming or announcing to the people the news.
He was also responsible of calling all  men for  meetings to discuss  issues affecting the Village.

•  I t has to be noted that decision making among the Pokomo people was through consultation. 

b)The Gasa

Another important institution is the Gasa (a council of elders chosen by the community) their main work is to settle  land disputes, marriage conflicts, death and other issues.
This group is highly respected and is still active today as the government acknowledges it.

C)Clan Elders

The People living in this Village (Ngao)are divided into two major groups.

These two are;

Karara which has five houses(clans) and Kinamwiti which has three houses(clans)

1)Karara group

The five house clans of the Karara are;

a)Karya which is the largest and has its own three sub groups namely;

• the house of Buko
• the house of Obole
• the house of Kalonae.

b)Katsae

C)Yuu

d)Kamwelo

e)Chomo which is the smallest.

2)Kinamwiti group The three houses (clans)of the Kinamwiti are;

a)Katsae

b)Deno

c)Kale

In Every Clan there is an Elder who is the representative of all the members of that Clan and whatever problem that may arise among the members it is first reported to him and it is his duty to call the other members to discuss the issue and see how it can be solved.

                 d)The Council of Women

Last  but not least there was a  Council of Women. This council was in charge of  taking care of the welfare of the  women of the village.For example pregnancy and child bearing.
After a woman is Pregnant an expert elderly woman is given the task of taking care of this particular pregnant lady,she is to advise her and teach her all the taboos e.g She would tell her don't seat like that its not good for the baby.

This lady "Hakabvi" generally is a traditional midwife, she  massages her in case of physical pain due to the pregnancy or even invites other experienced women to help her,

After the Lady "Hakabvi" has given birth she takes care of her and the baby massaging her with coconut oil (it has high value as antifungal and antibacteria) and with hot water  both the mother and child at least once or twice a day for 40 days.

As a tradition after Child birth the mother and child stay indoors for 40 days  not to be seen by men or outsiders...the room they are in is usually kept warm, there is always a fire and a big hot pot of water on the fire as it is believed that after giving birth a woman should never  touch cold water as she may get fever.
It is believed that keeping her under this condition hastens the healing process.

During this period the New mother is not supposed to work neither walk bare foot ,everything is done for her sometimes even bathing. The old ladies job is to make sure all rules are followed.
All this is to achieve that at the end of the 40 days the woman has recovered  physically and that her skin is as beautiful as that of  a bride.

On the last day a big ceremony "hali/debe" is organised  for all the women to come to eat and dance to celebrate the successful birth and to welcome the new mother to adulthood.

As she has to look special and as beautiful as a bride,she is made to wear a very beautiful traditional garment,with lots of ornaments on her arms, legs.and hair.

The before mentioned council of women is also responsible for  the settling of social misconduct and similar issues. The offender , once found guilty by the Council of Elders 
( the Gasa) he or she was handed over to the women and punished.
The offender would be taken by the women to the bush and there they would strip naked the offender and would go around  dancing and singing.
Using their long nails.They went round pinching the victim.
Once they were done with him they would apply hot pepper to the victims body...
This sounds cruel but it did a lot of good to the community because there were very few cases of lack of respect to elderly people, theft ,rape, and wife beating and other problems which are on the rise today because the government has prohibited this kind of punishment saying  no one is allowed to take the Law into his hands.