Homeland
The Pokomo live along the banks and delta of the Tana River in Tana River County. The 2019 census counted 112,075 Pokomo.
Divisions and language
There are two main divisions: the Upper Pokomo, who are mostly Muslim, and the Lower Pokomo, who are mostly Christian. Kipokomo is a Coastal Bantu language close to Swahili. The far-upstream Malakote, also called Ilwana or Walwana, speak a markedly different language and are counted separately.
Origins
Pokomo tradition, like that of the Mijikenda, looks back to Shungwaya, a homeland placed in what is now southern Somalia, though the two are not the same people.
Society
A council of elders, the Gasa, governs customary matters.
Livelihood and food
The Pokomo farm rice, bananas and maize on land the river floods and leaves behind, and they fish both the river and the sea. Rice and fish are the staples. Competition with Orma herders over the delta has repeatedly turned violent, most severely in 2012.
Arts and music
The melody of Kenya's national anthem is widely reported to derive from a Pokomo lullaby.
Today
Most Pokomo today are Muslim or Christian, and like most Kenyans many speak Swahili and English alongside Kipokomo.
Sources
From The Peoples of Kenya: An Ethnographic Reference (Kenya Experience, November 2026), a synthesis of published sources. Practices described as traditional are historical baselines; today most Kenyans are Christian or Muslim, live in or near towns and speak Swahili and English. Spot something to correct? Write to kibetck@kenyaexperience.org.
