Aspects of Impact of Covid 19 on African Traditional Burial Systems.: The Case of the Bukusu of Kenya’s North-Western Counties

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue VI, June 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

Aspects of Impact of Covid 19 on African Traditional Burial Systems.: The Case of the Bukusu of Kenya’s North-Western Counties

Margaret Nasambu Barasa¹, Anakalo Shitandi^2
1,2 Research and Extension, Kisii University, Kenya

Abstract: The conjoining of the unforeseen Covid-19 pandemic on the social fabric of the Africans automatically invokes an assorted mix of analytic and philosophic questions. For example: What are the impacts of covid_19 on the African traditional burial systems pastoral and associated values, customs and traditions? This paper is anchored in the framework of the Sociocultural theory and will attempt an ethnographic analysis establishing the impact of the Covid 19 on the Bukusu nation in Kenya. It is important to point out here that the first Covid 19 death case was a person from Bukusu society in the North western Parts of Kenya. The manner in which the burial was conducted was very different from the normal Bukusu culture and traditions hence the need to study the impact of this corona disease on the African traditional systems. The paper adopted an ethnographic approach in data collection, analysis and interpretation. The qualitative data will involve conducting key informant interviews via phone calls and Focus Group Discussion (FGD) in form of Zoom meetings, to explore and hear the experiences of covid_19 on the family members of the deceased and the impact on the social fabric of the said community. Methodological triangulation ensured that the study analysis and recommendations are sound and built on diverse perspectives. The unit of analysis was the individual household which have experienced a Covid 19 death case. The target respondents of the closed/structured survey questionnaires were based on gender (either a woman or a man household head) in an alternating way. While as a pioneering study, this study will enrich our understanding and advances our knowledge around the impacts of covid_19 African Traditional Burial systems, that is important in shaping the changes in terms of culture and traditions. The findings suggest that the understanding of death is fundamental to understanding the social fabric and belief systems of ‘traditional’ societies.

Keywords: Covid 19, Africans, burial rights, effect, Bukusu, Kenya

I. INTRODUCTION

The coronavirus has upended the world’s operating assumptions. Now, all attention is focused on countering this new and extreme threat, and on blunting the force of the major recession that is likely to follow. In a country like Kenya which is keen on maintaining the traditions and customs of its people, the effect of Covid 19 on the social fabric of these communities is significant and has rapidly changed the ways societies prepare and conduct the burial rites.

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