Northern Kenya: Identity, Governance and Belonging with Dalle Abraham

What happens when centuries-old governance systems and a long-standing economic way of life like pastoralism meet a modern state still in formation?

In this episode of Sera na Sauti, we sit down with Dalle Abraham, a Kenyan writer documenting the complex realities of Northern Kenya, to explore how pastoralism, traditional governance, and national borders shape identity and governance.

Drawing from his piece Bordering on Borana, Dalle unpacks the artificiality of colonial borders, the resilience of traditional governance systems, and how literature challenges dominant narratives about pastoralist communities.

📌 Key themes from the conversation:

✅ Pastoralism as an adaptive, sustainable economic system that continues to thrive despite state-imposed constraints.

✅ Borderlands as spaces shaped by transnational networks, informal economies, and overlapping governance structures, rather than a singular source of power.

✅ Northern Kenya’s traditional leadership structures, which have governed communities for centuries, while the modern state struggles to impose its systems.

✅ Colonial legacies and post-independence policies that continue to shape governance and identity in the region.

✅ Writers from Northern Kenya reclaiming narratives, challenging media portrayals of pastoralist communities, and documenting stories often erased from mainstream discourse.

Northern Kenya’s story is not just about one region—it’s a lens into how borders, governance, and identity interact in Africa’s peripheries. This is a conversation for anyone interested in history, identity, governance, and the power of storytelling.

📚 Links to Reading Materials:

• Bordering on Borana

• A Story of Marsabit: A Study of Home

• Another Country: The Cultural and Religious Struggle between Northern and Southern Kenya