The relevance of Odera Oruka’s political thought to early twenty-first century Kenya
Abstract
The late Prof. Odera Oruka recognised that while hi
s sage philosophy project was important as a
liberating venture, African philosophers had other
important facets of inquiry to attend to. In
particular, he called for more African philosophers
to delve into political philosophy, and led by
example, spending considerable time and effort grap
pling with strategies for improving the
quality of governance in African countries. This pa
per employs the analytical and critical
techniques of philosophic inquiry to identify insig
hts from Oruka’s political philosophy that can
be used to formulate a sound rationale for Kenya’s
democratisation. It also identifies
shortcomings in Oruka’s political thought, and sugg
ests ways in which current and future
philosophers could remedy them. In particular, the
paper critically examines the key concepts of
liberty, democracy, nationhood and justice as conce
ived by Oruka, and argues that a major
deficiency in his thought relates to the inadequate
attention that he gave to the issue of inter-
ethnic relations in Kenya.
Citation
Oduor, Reginald M.J. (2013). The relevance of Odera Oruka’s political thought to early twenty-first century Kenya. Presentation at the Odera Oruka International Symposiu m held at the Goethe Institute, Nairobi, Kenya from 19th to 21st November, 2013Publisher
University of Nairobi