Lumbwa people
The Lumbwa, also known as Humba, Lumbua or Wakwavi, were a pastoral people who lived in southern Kenya and northern Tanzania. They are linked to two language groups: Kalenjin-speaking communities like the Kipsigis, and Loikop groups who spoke Maa.
In the 19th century, the name Lumbwa was used for different groups and later gained a pejorative sense for people who stopped herding cattle to farm. Early missionaries in East Africa wrote about groups called Wakuafi and Iloikop, and used the name Lumbwa or Humba for this broad group.
By the late 1800s, writers began to distinguish Maasai, Wakwavi, and Lumbwa as separate groups. Some described Lumbwa as Maasai who had lost cattle and turned to farming. By the early 20th century, the term mainly referred to the Kipsigis part of the Kalenjin, and colonial authorities used it to describe that region as people moved away from pastoral life. Some accounts also mention ties between the Lumbwa and the Nandi.
In Maasai language, Ilumbwa means “well-diggers,” a label tied to living in dry areas with wells.
The Lumbwa were mainly cattle herders, but some groups took up farming. They lived alongside and traded with neighbors such as the Maasai, Nandi, Kipsigis, and Meru. Some traditions also link the Yaaku and Ngaa to movements that included the Lumbwa, showing long-lasting contact between forest peoples and those who grazed livestock on the plains. Archaeology and local lore talk about holes in the ground, sometimes called Sirikwa or Agumba holes, that are connected to the era of the Lumbwa.
In the 19th century there were wars among Loikop factions and the Maasai. The Lumbwa sometimes lost ground as these conflicts unfolded.
Today, the name Lumbwa is most often associated with the Kipsigis, the Kalenjin-speaking people who eventually adopted farming.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 20:34 (CET).