Pokot

The Pokot are a Nilotic-speaking ethnic group in East Africa, residing mainly in western Kenya with smaller communities across the border in Uganda. They are traditionally pastoralists and farmers, known for cattle herding and seasonal migrations between grazing lands and cultivated areas. Their heartland lies in the present-day counties of West Pokot and parts of Baringo and Turkana.

They speak the Pokot language, also called Pökot, which belongs to the Kalenjin cluster of Nilotic languages. Social life is organized around clans and an age-set system, with elder councils governing customary law, marriage, and rites of passage. Traditional dress features beadwork and ornamentation; music and dance accompany ceremonies such as initiation, marriage, and harvests.

Economy: Livestock are central to wealth and social status; cattle, goats, and sheep are herded across seasonal grazing routes. Crop farming is practiced in upland areas, with millet, sorghum, maize, and vegetables. In modern times many Pokot participate in education, wage labor, trade, and urban businesses, while livestock remains economically important.

History and relations: The Pokot trace movements within the Nilotic-speaking groups of the region and have longstanding interactions with neighboring peoples such as Turkana, Marakwet, Sabiny, and Luhya. During colonial rule and in the postcolonial period, land pressures and competition over grazing areas affected intercommunal relations and led to periodic violence. Today their political organization is integrated into Kenya’s county and national structures, particularly in West Pokot County.