Abstract:
The paper focuses how the Abagusii community detected, predicted and controlled disasters. The Geographical knowledge was contained accommodated by the specialists like prophets or prophetesses, medicine men and rain makers. This knowledge was hereditary from the specialist instructed their children directly to be experts by giving them the techniques and secrets of their calling, and home, workshops and forests were major venues of this traditional geographical knowledge. They had special geographical knowledge of forecasting in ancient time equally like meteorologist in Meteorological stations in Kenya. They had special powers of controlling hailstones and prepared the people, under their guidance to make traditional process of controlling it[Ogokireka].During this process[Ogokireka]people were alerted not to go and do any kind of work in their farms for seven days, so that not disrupt the process. The consequence of people going to work in the farm was that the calamity was to befall only on those disrupted the process and leave other regions or areas unaffected. The problem nowadays, because modernization and christiannity, people have changed and longer use traditional geographical knowledge [TGK] in detecting disasters in the abagusiiland, leading to the farmers wastage of tea farmers during hailstones. The problem is also, the weather forecasting predicts occurrence of the disaster for example heavy rain and hailstones but does not tell the people how people would control it, which traditionalists do. The objectives are to study how traditional knowledge can be revived and preserved for use during the time calamity befalling on the abagusii community. Also to investigate the modality to be used to incorporate the techniques or methods used to control the catastrophes such hailstones in the Modern geographical knowledge. The research will apply true experiment on the indigenous persons surviving having Traditional knowledge and Know-How and oral interview is used to collect data from the respondents. The findings are one, prophets like Sakawa who was expert in geographical knowledge disappeared from Gusiiland and sources indicate that nobody knows where he went, because one school of thought say he never died;two,people have those special techniques but because of Christianity do not want be identified and because of fear to be labeled as “traditionalists”. It is recommended, traditional geographical knowledge is revived for the purpose of controlling technique displayed which modern techniques miss and help disaster management globally.
