Overview / Usage

Ajua (named after the seeds used as game counters) is a very popular gambling game in western Kenya and is also played in eastern Uganda. The game, which is known by numerous ethnic groups including the Luo, Luhya, Samburu, and Turkana, is closely related to Lukho, but also has similarities with Boola. As in Lukho a player has no choice after the initial re-arrangement, but the lifting of seeds is restricted as in Boola.

Tournaments seem to be widespread in Kenya. Sometimes short notes even made the national newspapers such as the "Daily Nation", which wrote on January 1, 2009, that "Busijo won the Ajua competition [in Sio Port] followed by Nambototo while Nambuku and Ganga [all names of Ajua Clubs] took third and fourth positions." There was even an Ajua tournament in the USA, which was held at the Kenya American Day (KAD) in Jersey City, N. J., on August 3, 2008.

Methodology / Approach

The world strongest Ajua player.

Other links

• https://mancala.fandom.com/wiki/Ajua