Spectre of tribalism Kenya’s undoing

DISPATCH FROM WASHINGTON

By Abdillah Alawy

Are you surprised that David Mwiraria is back in the Cabinet? Or why ODM-Kenya is imploding right in front of our eyes? Why is Joseph Kamotho, a well-regarded opposition figure, supporting President Mwai Kibaki? Why is Mr Kibaki extending seemingly-honest praises to the former president Mr Daniel arap Moi? What more surprises are in the offing?

Why is Raila Odinga blasted by politicians from Ukambani only? Why is Uhuru Kenyatta warming up to Mr Daniel arap Moi? For one, it is election time—times when appropriate ethnic re-alignment will put a politician in or out of her job come January 2008. Still, the political landscape is exploding in the most revealing manner since independence.

Relax, you are not going crazy. You are not losing your intellectual sophistication or analytical tools because what you are seeing is what is truly happening on the ground. You are seeing the undignified exposure of our tribal ego. You are seeing the true colours of Kenyan politicians in their worst elements of ethnic ideologues. Only this time, they have stooped so low in personal stature and are out peddling a mean-spirited vision to the whole world.
In the contemporary politics of Kenya, there is no party-ideology or indoctrination that can beat tribal loyalty and the assumed safety-net existing within our ethnic enclaves. It is evident that blood thickens as you move closer to your family-tree and dilutes thin as you face the other guy who speaks a different dialect. Such has been our past, the present and, God forbid, a scary foundation we are laying for the next generation. National pride is slowly eroding into tribal arrogance.
Many historians have advanced the notion that Africans made a wrong start after we untangled the chains of slavery, colonization and other demeaning Western cruelties. After fighting for our national independence, we embarked on self-rule and soon after, it was realised, the citizenry was ethnically divided and may lead to the destruction of our unity.
But we were eager to develop first and address ethnicity later. We thought the shortest route to advance our society was in copying what the Europeans were doing in their countries. We went full throttle in building our institutions modelled after the West. We forgot that we were a much divided people in terms of our tribes.

Our political leaders of the time decided that our divisions were going to be manipulated productively in the future. All this for their selfish ends—and of course, our politicians were prophetic at that prediction. So, one idea was for us to become as westernised in our outlook but loyally tribal for our political potential. By default rather than ingenuity, our politicians have succeeded in both these projects.

However, the underlying phenomenon during the last forty-four years history of our nation’s self-rule has been an embarrassing power struggle among individuals with serious egomaniac tendencies. Individual whose ethnic identity has become instrumental in partitioning Kenyan communities as means of “divide and rule.”
Almost by accident, the regime of Daniel Arap Moi took over power from the predominant Kikuyu and subsequently revenged through opening-up exclusive resources and opportunities for his Kalenjin community. For more than two decades Moi’s group of tribes unfairly benefited from educational scholarships, plush military, public and parastatal jobs and all the so-called fruits of independence.

So when the “spectator tribes”, the ethnic groups that were sidelined, joined forces through a
political coalition it was assumed very strategic to go for another Kikuyu in Mwai Kibaki. Either the Kikuyu had their turn of accumulating wealth or an adopted Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was going to prevent the new president from “tribal” misbehaviour. Both theories were proved wrong as Kibaki ruthlessly trashed the MoU and the Kikuyu embraced a second wave of harvest with impunity. This time around the Mount Kenya coalition was significantly strengthened.

With this exhibition from the two ODM-K leaders, I do not see a Kalonzo or Raila government that could have been structurally different from what we have today. Evidently, the spectators’ desperation is at its peak and Kalonzo and Raila may never agree again because they both think it is their turn to harvest for their respective tribes. The role of leading a spectator’s tribe is tiring and sickening.

aalawy@gmail.com