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The distinguished Kenyan lawyer S. M. Otieno died intestate in 1986; the ensuing struggle between his Kikuyu widow and his Luo clan became a matter of national concern. Debates raged over what grounds should govern the disposition of SM's remains, what legal rights should be enjoyed by widows, and over the interests of the state. While closely scrutinizing the legal case record, the authors examine how history was constructed by the various litigants, counsel, jurists, and witnesses, including an elderly gravedigger and mason, a cook, and a professor of philosophy. In an unusual addendum, the authors invited a half-dozen scholars from different disciplines to discuss "what the case was really about" and "how the story should be told."

"What we have in this book is two historians of exceptional talent showing us how it is possible to peel away the many layers of the Otieno story."

Journal of African History

"Cohen and Odhiambo have shown the potential synergy and transformative capacity of joint insider-outsider authorship."

African Studies Review

Burying Sm: The Politics of Knowledge and the Sociology of Power in Africa: Search Results