Lets try to understand  perceived tribal politics

Emilly C. Maractho  

I moved to Nairobi at the end of 2011 when the political debate for 2013 general elections in Kenya was warming up. By the time I left in 2014, I had heard so much about the tribal politics pitting largely the Kikuyu and Luo against each other. 

While in Kenya, I made friends who were mostly Kikuyu and Luo. I had not consciously identified myself as Luo before. But my Luo friends adopted me as a sister, and Kikuyu friends fondly referred to Mr Raila Odinga as my brother, given my Luo heritage in Uganda. 

It is during the 2013 presidential election campaigns that I started to appreciate the nature of the perceived tribal competition for the presidency between the Luo and the Kikuyu. It was so important for both groups and their allies.

My Kikuyu friends would complain about the ill motives of Mr  Odinga representing the King of the Luo if such a thing existed. Their problem was that Mr Raila would take away the wealth of  ‘hard working’  Kenyans and give it to the  ‘ lazy’  poor.  Going by the debates, Mr  Odinga could never be Kenya’s president because the rich Kukuyu would make sure of it. 

My Luo friends saw the Kikuyu as the only thing standing between them and the wonderful life. They were not only in power politically,  they controlled the economy, and therefore determined who led the country.  Their hope for change of leadership that would work for all Kenyans in their view, was always killed by this group with economic power. 

They were perceived to have access to government resources, key positions in government and controlled businesses. Most of the poor in central, were ‘hustlers’  trying to eke a living in what was very tough life in Nairobi. 

Years later, when President Uhuru Kenyatta’s presidential victory was nullified by the Supreme Court of Kenya, I was attending a conference in South Africa where several Kenyan academics were also in attendance. Many of them were Kikuyu. As the judgment was read, they all walked out one by one.

 I found them having a meeting. It was like a clan meeting. They were so angry. I had a discussion with one of them later and the anger had to do with the ‘irresponsible ruling.’

Through those years of being caught up in the debate between the Kikuyu-Luo political rivalry, one thing was clear. 

It was not tribe pride. What was unfolding as tribal politics, was really an issue of economic, and to some extent social injustice. Right from the colonial times, the leadership of Kenya had tended to concentrate economic power in central, advantaging one tribe over the others. 

Post-colonial governments did little to address the problems created by colonial administration. Devolution failed to correct that as the centre still holds the real power. 

The problem of exclusion, when it largely affects particular tribes, is that it is bound to drive politics in the direction of tribes. It is not an issue of citizens, but the leader’s inability to read into systems of injustice and who is largely affected by it and failure to address them. 

Having Mr Museveni as the President of Uganda for the last 35 years now going onto 40,  has meant that inevitably, there are deep issues of exclusion and belonging. 

Even those without political or economic power, who belong to the ruling class and tribe, eventually learn that they have something, which often takes the form of pride or arrogance of power, a feeling of superiority worth defending at all costs.
 
For those who do not belong, a feeling of inferiority that they cannot even vote their own. And for others facing reality, a feeling of resentment that makes collective resistance inevitable. 

It cannot be castigated away because feelings grow deeper with loss of hope for change of leadership. They can only be addressed by dealing with perceived obstacles to change.

Leaders may often not be aware of the extent to which people feel oppressed. It would be a mistake to reduce the recent election outcome to tribalism. It is manifesting that way but like in Kenya, it is far from tribal. Those who won need real soul searching, looking at even regions where they won, and how or why they won. They need to listen to those who lost.

Unless we address the questions of exclusion, power sharing and economic injustice, it matters little for how long we close social media, how many times we shut down the Internet, how often we litter every street with soldiers, and if journalists only write peace stories. Ultimately, a lot more people will get enraged, even those who yesterday were in the bus.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has acknowledged that concentrating Kenya’s leadership in particular tribes since independence is a real problem for the future of Kenya.

 Through the Building Bridge Initiative (BBI) project,  he is hoping to correct that. He will no doubt find Opposition from his backyard and that of his deputy,  William Ruto, but some Kenyans will be grateful, whatever way it goes.

Ms Maractho is the head and senior lecturer, Department of Journalism and Media Studies at UCU. 
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