The Pokot of Uganda

The Pokot of Uganda, numbering approximately 155,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Nilotic ethnic group of East Africa, known especially for their pastoralist and agro‑pastoralist way of life, strong clan systems, and deep cultural ties to cattle and land. They mostly adhere to Animism and Pökoot is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Pokot

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Uganda
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Pökoot (pko)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 155,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015131
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Pokot of Uganda

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

51%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pökoot
Language Family: Nilotic

100%
%
Pökoot Speakers

Media Resources in Pökoot:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Pökoot:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2008 Bible Society of Kenya✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Pökoot bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Pokot are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Pokot:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Pokot of Uganda

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
readMatthew 5:6

Pray for those who are lost to desire righteousness and to be filled with the peace and purpose that only comes from following Jesus.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
readJob 1:20-22

Pray that those who mourn will worship God in the midst of their suffering and loss, recognizing He is the source of all good things and that He is worthy of their praise and trust.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
readPhilippians 2:5-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will imitate His humility in all they do.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Pokot Across Countries (ROP3 - 108091) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

Scroll to Top