DNA from six dry bean cultivars was analysed with a total of thirty two primers in RAPD analysis to develop a method to distinguish between the different cultivars. The varieties are cultivated in three African countries and belong to two different gene pools. The cultivars analysed were Lyamunga 85 and Lyamunga 90 from Tanzania, CAL 96 and K 20 from Uganda, and Awash I and Mexican 142 from Ethiopia. The two types of beans, the Mesoamerican white seeded and large seeded Andean calima types, were separated in the two genetic pools. RAPD analysis revealed a close relationship between Lyamunga 85 and CAL 96. All the cultivars tested could be distinguished with a minimum of six primers.