Indigenous People, Human Rights, and the African Problem: The Case of the Twa, Ogiek and Maasai

Abstract

This article examines indigenous peoples' human rights and the African problem through the lens of the Twa, Ogiek and Maasai of Eastern Africa. The article argues that the whole issue of indigenous peoples' rights, which has received so much attention over the last three decades, has been insufficiently problematized in Africa. After setting the stage, the article looks at how some of the problems of applying indigenous peoples' rights in Africa have been handled. In the framework of case studies, it focuses on some absolutely horrible decisions made in Africa regarding peoples that could arguably be covered by recent developments in international law involving indigenous peoples and analyzes why these developing international human rights principle standards and declarations for indigenous people have not been applied by the courts in Africa. It concludes that in order to reverse the above trend, something needs to be done: we need to educate the judges, law students, legislators, and other stakeholders about indigenous peoples rights so as to get the institutions of African governments to realize how important it is.