Harambee

What it is

Harambee covers any community effort where people join forces for a shared goal, whether that means collecting money or carrying out development work. The scale varies a great deal. A small event may be over in a few hours and spread only by word of mouth. A larger one can run for several days and be announced in newspapers. Organisers usually aim at something concrete for the area, such as a local project that the community pays for and builds. Because the practice is so familiar, it shapes how Kenyans talk about cooperation, and it has long mattered in parts of East Africa as a way of holding communities together.

The word's roots

Where the word comes from is not settled. One view holds that it is genuinely Bantu, and that Swahili porters used it as they lifted heavy loads; in that older spelling it appeared as Halambee. A different story, which the article calls folk etymology, credits Indian workers who built the Uganda Railway. In that telling the men called on Hare, described as the divine energy of God, and on Ambe, a Hindu goddess, while they worked. No firm evidence settles the question either way.

From motto to law

Jomo Kenyatta, the first prime minister and later the first president of Kenya, made harambee a national idea and asked citizens to join forces for the country's development. Communities were encouraged to raise money for local projects, with a promise that the state would pay the costs of getting them started. Wealthy people who wanted a political career could donate heavily to local drives and gain standing from it, though the practice was never made official while Kenyatta was in office. Later governments cooled towards it. In 2002 the Risk Advisory Group, working on anti-corruption for President Moi's administration, recommended doing away with harambee. In 2003, when NARC replaced KANU, President Mwai Kibaki's Public Officers Ethics Act barred MPs and cabinet secretaries from leading harambee gatherings.

Doubts about the name

Christian critics in Kenya have said the word should not serve as an official term, believing it comes from a Hindu source. That view has been called insulting to the country's Hindu community. Others answer that even if the old reading of hare Ambeh were right, it has no bearing on what people mean by harambee now. A petition reached the national assembly and the senate in February 2018, asking that the word be removed from the coat of arms, once more because of the Hindu goddess claim. Members declined. They held that such a step would discriminate against Hindus and against the Hindi language, that the word is internationally recognised, and that altering the coat of arms would be costly.

Who carries the load

Not everyone gains equally from harambee. Since independence, women's groups have created their own mutual-aid arrangements, because the labour that built community infrastructure often came from women who were not paid for it. When structural adjustment programmes left holes in public funding, state bodies passed social services down to these grassroots female networks. Women supplied most of the money and work, while male political figures often took the public credit and the authority, using events to build patronage. Many of these networks have since turned to chamas, small savings groups they run themselves, so that they keep control of their funds and stay outside male-dominated structures.

How Harambee is kept

A harambee is called by a community when it needs something done, such as a local development project. News of a small gathering travels by word of mouth; larger drives are advertised in newspapers and may run for several days. People attend, give what they can and hear pledges from those with more to offer. Public figures, including members of parliament and wealthy donors, are often invited to take part. The money goes to the project the community has chosen; under Kenyatta's arrangement, the government promised to cover the costs of getting such projects started.

When and where

Harambee has no fixed date. A gathering is arranged when a community decides it needs money or work done, so events happen throughout the year. A small one may last only a few hours, while larger drives can run for several days. Under Kenyatta's government, communities were urged to organise them for local projects, with the state promising startup funds.

The tradition belongs to Kenya, where harambee serves as the national motto and appears on the coat of arms. The source notes that events of this kind have long mattered in parts of East Africa as a means of building and keeping communities together. Fundraising and development drives are organised locally, from small neighbourhood efforts to large public campaigns.

What Harambee means

For those who keep it, harambee carries the idea in its name: everyone pulls together. Personal generosity is tied to a shared result, so a local project belongs to the whole community rather than to one donor. After independence it also stood for national effort, a way for citizens to build the country alongside the state. Critics inside Kenya disagree about the word's origin and about who gains most, yet the call to combine resources is widely understood.

Questions people ask about Harambee

See also

Arbor DayAn annual secular observance dedicated to planting and caring for trees around the worldGadaaAn eight-year democratic governance cycle practiced by the Oromo people of Ethiopia and Kenya.Madaraka DayKenya's annual public holiday marking the start of self-governance on 1 June 1963PicnicA meal taken outdoors in a park or scenic spot, often shared with friends and family.

Good reading and sources

• Harambee: The law of generosity that rules KenyaBBC, Article
• Harambee: The law of generosity that rules KenyaBBC, Article

• Harambee on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data

It may contain mistakes. Traditions differ from one family, village and community to the next, and the people who keep them know them best. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-05.