Influence of Representative Politics on Socio-economic Development of the Kadimo Clan in Siaya County during the Colonial Period

Abstract

People's representation is crucial in social and economic development. This study is on the influence of representative politics on socio-economic development of the Kadimo clan in Siaya county during the colonial period between 1902 and 1963. The study employed the descriptive research design. Data was obtained from oral, archival and secondary sources. The researcher interviewed a total of 30 respondents who were purposively sampled using snowballing technique. The study corroborated data from oral, archival and secondary sources to ensure the validity and reliability of the study. The discussion starts with the influence of representative politics on social development then moves to the influence of representative politics on economic development. Underdevelopment theory was used to establish the influence of representative politics on social and economic development of the area of study. The findings of the study were that there were no schools in Kadimo clan until 1928 when Usenge School was built in Yimbo location; there were no health centres in Kadimo; that between 1914 and 1919, the  World War I (WWI) was fought and non-Kadimo clans were recruited as carrier corps  by the Kadimo chiefs; Kadimo chiefdom brought together the many other clan elders in the chief's council and many warriors; that the peasants of Yimbo hated to leave their homesteads to provide labour in distant places and that the Kadimo clan hated to pay the oppressive hut tax and poll tax.This study has contributed to the colonial historiography of the Kadimo clan of Yimbo in Siaya county, Kenya.