Be still, Mombasa

Mombasa has been the only home I know. Having been raised and studied there, going to any other town is more of a temporary visit than any thing else. I have been in the University of Nairobi since 2009 and to-date, I still find it hard to refer to it as my 'second' home.

So, today the 27th of August, the news of riots and havoc in Mombasa had my heart racing. It all started with the shooting down of a Muslim cleric, Aboud Rogo who was in the company of his wife and their children along Mombasa-Malindi highway. Now for those who know this road know it is a busy lane lined with beach hotels, the public beach and a police station nearby.Therefore, there would have been more casualties than Aboud. How the shooting or who is responsible for the shooting is not yet clear but the man died on the spot, his wife and their daughter were rushed to Mewa Hospital.

News of this shooting, thanks to social media, spread as fast as your internet connection is and in no time, photo's of Aboud were up on Facebook. Again, those who know Mombasa, know how small the community is there and almost everyone was aware of the shooting, Aboud death and in a few hours, riots rocked the town. I heard this and the first thing I did was to call home, call friends and ask on Facebook if this is actually true.

What saddened me was that a person lost his life, property was looted and destroyed in the Central Business District and in Majengo area, a van was set a blaze, matatu fares went up and with the tension, everything was going south. Of course, at this point the Government will not sit and hope that people would be rational and 'protect' life and property. The Police was sent out and tear gas as expected was used to disperse crowds. However this is just what probably the media knows/aired about the state of affairs; I am more concerned about areas such as Bombolulu, Kisimani as well as Bamburi where they are known to be volatile- security wise.

As time went by, a church was vandalized while another set on fire (although it was contained). Now surely, what does this say; what does this scream out? That because a Muslim cleric had been killed, torching a church would make it better? I get the feeling that 'religious' differences are being cited as the reasons for Aboud's killing.That because a Muslim has been killed, the Christians have something to do with it or vice versa.I think, whoever planned and executed Aboud's shooting did it as an individual not as a community or as a religious group.I hope I am not wrong. This in my opinion should not have turned onto the religious stage.Thus by extension, the church that has always served your christian neighbour or that Mosque that has always reminded you that it is time for morning/ midday/night prayers has nothing to do with the selfish actions of an individual or a group behind a sinister action.

Let us respect property, lives and most of all PEACE. At a time when the country is sorting insecurity issues in Tana River and Mandera, Mombasa needs to be still, to respect the rule of law, to be objective and most of all to be slow to anger.In my view this is not a religious battle but a criminal activity. I know these news of the shooting mean different things to different people but at least for Peace sake, let us be rational about this. I challenge you Mombasa, Kenya and YOU: the individual to be STILL.

My Kenyan Thoughts.

ETHNICLESS: Does it make a difference?

ETHNICLESS; DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE
By Patrick Gachau

Have you read the pianist? It is a bitter-sweet story of the great urge to live by a Polish-Jew in Warsaw when it was invaded by the Nazis. It is a twist and turn of events that leave your heart pounding, your eyes with tears and you in utter shock of how much evil man is capable of doing to a fellow man. But the most touching part is when a German soldier unexpectedly catches the protagonist. First he asks him to play the pianofor him. What a request especially if he is still
going to kill you? Then in what you would only hope for in a good movie, he lets him go! He leads him back into the attics of the house where he is hiding and even brings him food for a couple of days.
The story of the lion and a calf feeding together. An enemy decides that a fellow human being's life is worth more than the
pride of a nation. He commits an act of high treason to his president and his nation. But moreso he goes against what he had previously thought was right. He was here to eliminate the jews
then all of a sudden he realises that life is good and whatever good there is in this world is worth fighting for. A killing machine letting in the light of reason for just a second hesitates to kill and embraces the full meaning of life; in an instance.

So what is the big deal with tribes and are they evil? Though I really
don't know how to explain them,I certainly know what they are not. We are from a particular ethnic group and not from a particular tribe. And your ethnic group is that a people that you are affliated. So you could be Gusii, Dholuo, Kamba and so forth. This
however is not your tribe. Nonetheless this is what has come to be known as a person's tribe! Unlike being a boy or a girl, tribe is something of affiliation. An
experiment carried out on nature versus nurture had boys put in an
environment and raised like girls while girls were raised like boys.
Amazingly, boys avoided pink dolls and preferred black, grey and navy-blue ones instead. They proceeded to tear then into bits and laugh about it. Girls on the hand tied pink ribbons on robots and sat them on small dinner tables and spoke to them.
Something inherently inside us determines our sex. But ethnicity is different. It is all a matter of nurture. Consequently, we were born tribeless and even 'ethnicless' but society gave us one. Is this wrong? This is debatable but the fact is that if I studied about the beauty of the Jewish people there is no way this should make me hate the Germans. Unless this is the aim of
the article in the first place, to defame the other people. Similary, the more you and I embrace our ethnic background, the better we will appreciate the other people, our similarities and the differences.

So the question begs, if I was brought up not knowing my ethnic background, would this make a difference incase an ethnic dispute erupted due to some election dispute? What do you think? There is a better-sweet story shared during the election violence in Kenya. Two young gentlemen confessed they had never known what their names Kamaa and Oti ever meant and from what ethnic group they were from. They had always refered to each other as Kamaa and Oti. But when the violence began, one suddenly realized he is Luo and the other Kikuyu and this made a hell of a difference. So they faught.
So does it really make a difference? On the other end a sweet story is told of person safely hiding her neigbours in Eldoret who she clearly knew were from the 'enemy' ethnic groups; because a neighbour is more important than a distant brother. And this is what this is all
about. Whether we inter-marry or not, whether we know our ethnicity or not, people will chase
their wives who are from another ethnic group and others will safely hide a neighbour from a different ethnic group. It boils down to being truely human.

In fact, our ethnic groups help us appreciate our roots. Malcom X once told a group of blacks fighting for equity, that this is not a fight to run away from our heritage. It is one to love it. A tree
cannot hate its roots. So we can affliate ourselves with a certain
ethnic group but that a people do
not mean hating another. If we do, its due to our deficiencies. And we should not relate this to our ethnic background.

So how come there is tension and fear whenever elections approach? How come people feel targeted? Have we been brainkwashed with ideologies? Is it because our 'leaders' come from the capital city like in many African countries and tells us we are being marginalized. The thing I fail to get is how all of a sudden this becomes our problem. We humans are peculiar,thats true! But this?

Unnecessary Noise

By moderatekenyan

 

DISCLAIMER: This post should NOT be used to attack a community or vernacular music. NOT all vernacular music is bad. NOT all members of any given community are chauvinistic and archaic in their thinking.  Any comments that are even remotely inflammatory will be deleted. Kenya is bigger than all of us!

I listen to Kikuyu music, both secular and gospel. A lot of Kikuyu music is very informative and the beat is quite catchy.

Current song I am jamming to is Agiginyani by Shiru wa GP. An awesome keep-your-head-up gospel song.

My attention has been drawn to an emerging genre of Kikuyu music  that is inflammatory, provocative and in very bad taste. In a country that is yet to heal after the post-election violence, these songs are a harbinger of bad tidings.

I shall not sit back and watch my country burn. This post is blowing the whistle. I do not know the extent of the fire that these songs have caused. What I know is the Demathew, Kamande and Muigai are some of the most popular Kikuyu musicians with mega sales of their VCDs. Thus I shudder to imagine the number of households that are playing these songs.

For the many who cannot hear Kikuyu, I have translated snippets of the songs and in Demathew’s case explained the nuances as he sings in parables. You can ask your Kikuyu friends to translate further.

Uhuru ni Witu (Uhuru is Ours) – Kamande wa Kioi

Translated snippets:

Greetings people of the house of Gikuyu and Mumbi. I bring you a message from all Kikuyu musicians. This is a message from God. Uhuru is the Moses of the Kikuyu nation. He is meant to move Kikuyus from Egypt to Canaan. Do not agree to be divided. Let all votes go to him. He is ours. He is anointed by God, poured oil on.

Raila, there is a call. Go to Mama Ngina’s house, a king has been born there. Once there ask where Uhuru is seated and pour oil on him. Just like Samuel did for David in the Bible. Stop chasing the wind Agwambo, go to Icaweri and anoint Uhuru.

You thump your chest about Hague, is Hague your mother’s? There is a curse from God. Philistines who do not circumcise cannot lead Israel. When Abraham stressed God, he was told to go get cut, even you General of Migingo, your knife is being sharpened.

Listen to the entire song  here.

Hague Bound – Muigai Wa Njoroge and Muhiko

Translated snippets:

Question: If it was you who is being pushed to The Hague what would you do?

Answer: I would call my family and divide up my property and then ask my mother to pray for me.

Question: What if you knew that Hague you are being pushed there by an uncircumcised man who wants to push you there and take over your wife and all your wealth? A man who can do anything to ensure you are in problems.

Answer: There it is better to die. Things for a man are not governed by an uncircumcised man. I would kill him. Its better they increase my charges.

Question: What would you tell your crying supporters as you are being shipped to Hague?

Answer: I would tell them to pray for me and know I am being persecuted for my love of my community.

Question: When you get to Hague how you would ensure the white man does not cheat you?

Answer: I would ask for proceedings to be done in Kikuyu.

Question: When on the dock what would you be thinking of the uncircumcised man who is the source of your predicament?

Answer: I would ask God to forgive him. I would also ask that he gets circumcised so that he matures mentally. I would also ask Kenyans to be very wary of that man.

Listen to entire song here.

Mwaka wa hiti (The year of the hyena) – Demathew

Translated and explained snippets:

As Demathew I prophesize and let the stones hear me if men wont.

It is now the year of the hyena. Who will teach you and your ears are blocked?

When a man is seated he sees further than a boy on top of a tree.

You are like a greedy hyena seeing a man walk and following him hoping that his arm will drop off. You follow him till he boards the train and the arm does not drop and you never eat. (A reference to all that may benefit from ICC)

Before Jesus was crucified He stood in the court Judge Pilato and he answered all questions, Judge Pilato said Jesus is free but the crowd asked that a thief be freed instead. (ICC will show Uhuru’s innocence)

Where are you (Peter Kenneth) from? If you were one of us, you would be pained by the people burnt in Kiambaa church. My brother lost his property in Kisumu, how can you tell us he (Raila) is our community’s friend.

Father (Jomo Kenyatta) I feel sad when I see your son (Uhuru) being persecuted by men of ill-will and a woman (Martha Karua) is carrying their bags.

In-law (Kalonzo) things are not going well for you now. You are clueless and your matters are now being discussed by women in the market. But I still remember how you saved me (after 2007 elections) when leopards had attacked me.

Listen to the entire song here.

After listening to these three songs I shuddered. If the leading lights of Kikuyu music are doing this, then how much more prevalent is it? Are other communities also producing such inciteful vernacular songs? This is a ticking time bomb right under our noses!

Let us think of how to put out this fire before it is too late!

PRAY FOR KENYA!

GOD BLESS KENYA!

Reference:http://moderatekenyan.wordpress.com/2012/06/23/unnecessary-noise/?year=2012&monthnum=06&day=23&like=1&_wpnonce=4b46d0cd1f&wpl_rand=6c81207535

Kenyan Thoughts III

RESCUING NATIONALISM FROM VERNACULARISM

You cannot choose the days to be a nationalist and the days you will retreat to the comfort of ethnic cocoons. Being Kenyan is a full-time commitment. This country needs citizens who are Kenyans all the time; not those who are vernacular Kenyans most of the time.

By Chief Justice, DR Willy Mutunga

SPEECH MADE AT THE ‘PEOPLE’S CONFERENCE ON NATIONAL DIVERSITY, ETHNICITY AND RACE’, HOSTED BY THE NATIONAL COHESION AND INTEGRATION COMMISSION (NCIC) AT KICC NAIROBI, 12^TH MARCH 2012.

The Prime Minister, Ministers, Ambassadors, Permanent Secretaries, Commissioners, Mr. Chairman, Citizens, friends, ladies and gentlemen:

I feel singularly privileged to speak at the ‘People’s Conference on National Diversity, Ethnicity and Race’. The timing of this conference is fortuitous as its substance is significant in Kenya’s continuing search for clarity around its identity. Coming just after the fourth anniversary of the National Accord and Reconciliation Agreement and in anticipation of a General Election, conversations such as these have a special significance in negotiating citizenship and nationhood.

Although I was asked to speak on the question of who is a Kenyan, I have expanded the focus of my remarks for reasons that will become apparent presently. And in doing so, let me start with an anecdote: 

One of the biggest threats to nationhood has been the over-supply of the vernacular politician and vernacular Kenyan and a shortage of nationalists. Who is the vernacular politician or Kenyan? It is that person who views everything through the prism of the tribe. They equate national interest with ethnic interests. They are obsessed with ethnic hegemonic projects. They hold hollow but dangerous supremacist ideologies and, have invented false notions of ethnic entitlement, most of it anchored on exaggerated grievances, yet mostly fueled by excessive greed. They revel in insults and derogatory remarks about other tribes and groups, as they descend into mindless orgies of mirth and self-amusement. When they lose an argument, they rush to the defense of ethnic stereotype. 

They are incapable of mobilizing across communities, and consider being referred to as the undisputed leader of the tribe as the ultimate political prize. They indeed treat it as a badge of honor. They excel in what divides us, and use their evil genius to create more divisions. They will never invest in the politics of issues, unless they are anthropological. When they are appointed to public office, their official trips to the countryside are regionally selective. They readily hide behind the community, when caught in a corrupt deal. They excel in rallying around the tongue; not the flag. They are sometimes very educated, professional and rich, but find satisfaction in spewing ethnic verbiage. They sometimes flaunt modern gadgetry as a mark of sophistication, but use these platforms to purvey sectarian drivel. Yet, both the vernacular politician and Kenyan thrive because they find fertile ground in the minds of Kenyans, who pretend to be powerless victims when caught imbibing this drivel. You cannot choose the days to be a nationalist and the days you will retreat to the comfort of ethnic cocoons. Being Kenyan is a full-time commitment. This country needs citizens who are Kenyans all the time; not those who are vernacular Kenyans most of the time. Just in case you forgot, Chapter Six is partly intended to eliminate this breed.

In Chapter Three, the Constitution is clear on who is a Kenyan: Anyone who is born in Kenya, or born of a Kenyan, is a citizen. Anyone who marries a Kenyan or applies for citizenship after living in the country for a certain period can become a citizen. That citizenship is universal and indivisible. But citizenship is not just a juridical concept; it is a sociological and political reality. 

For the great majority, Kenya is the land of their birth. It is their home. This is where their lives are, and it is where they will be buried. They are Kenyans because they have no other nationality. Their idea of being Kenyan defines citizenship not just for themselves, but also for all others who seek to voluntarily join this nation.

For almost 50 years, Kenya has struggled to carve itself out as a distinct entity in the community of nations on the basis of its geography, attractions, potential and complex cultural heritage. It is the nation defined by peasants who died by the bullet clutching soil in their clenched fists as it is by those who were bewitched by its splendour and opportunities, and poured their energies into making it their home. It is a place of possibility for the human spirit to thrive in freedom, justice and dignity; a place to nurture hopes and dreams that could be bequeathed to future generations.

Yet, the idea of Kenya is also problematic. At independence, the responsibility of nurturing the nation’s hopes and aspirations passed to the new leadership. After all, history was already replete with examples of nations that had been forged on the basis of brute force and strong personalities alone. The results, in our case, are a mixed bag.

In spite of the many contradictions emanating from our competing hopes and dreams, a national character has emerged over time that is celebrated in the country’s remarkable successes across sport, innovation, academia, diplomacy, industry and creativity. No one has any problems recognizing and embracing this Kenya – the world beater on the athletics track, the home of creative artists, industrious people and probing intellectuals. Kenya has a soul. Perhaps it also has a skeleton. The flesh and other details require work.

Diversity has been a painful resource for most of African countries. It has been the source - or even more accurately - the excuse for political conflict and instability. And, more recently, diversity has formed the basis for an emergent culture war on gender, sexuality, and reproductive health among others. However, I refuse to believe that diversity, or ‘differentness’, in and itself, is the cause of these conflicts. To a very large extent, it is the instrumentalisation of difference by the political class that has plunged our country into chaos, thereby undermining the emergence of a professional state of the Weberian variety. In our diversity, the political class has found and minted a negative currency for politics.

The Kenyan political elite has achieved a remarkable feat in successfully conflating class and ethnicity thus eliminating traditional political ideology from guiding our political contests. In fact, they have succeeded in subordinating class to ethnic considerations in political discourse, which makes two Kenyans living in the slums or in the upmarket neighbourhoods, opt for different political choices. Our ethnic divisions have made us no respecter of our material conditions when making political choices. Instead we seem to derive a lot more useless value and satisfaction in ethnic esteem contests!

But this should not entirely surprise us. Our country, like most of African countries, was founded on divisions. The colonial state did not disguise its biases to serve a tiny elite and exclude the majority of the population. Kenya was founded on division; thanks to Lord Fredrick Lugard’s philosophy of Dual Mandate. Divide and rule has characterized the capture, use and abuse of state power. Ethnic groups, races, and other identity collectives have been brutalized or rewarded simply because of who they are. Ethnic profiling and stereotyping has become both a national full-time and pastime. The discriminatory tendencies of the state inherited from the colonial period and perfected after independence, engineered severe shortages of public goods that severely undermined the nationalism project and negated the very foundation of the Kenyan nation.

This has institutionalized grievance, which exploded in our faces in 2007/2008. As we approach another election, I feel that the space for re-embarking on the nation-building project is reducing, and I find it worrying that we seem not to have learnt from the past, at least going by the utterances I hear, and the conduct I observe.

On August 27, 2010, we decided that we want to be a nation when we promulgated a new constitution. Sometimes, discussions on the Constitution appear abstract, thus obscuring the underlying truth (or is it assumption?) which is that Kenyans have considered the idea and decided that they want to be together.

The Constitution, in its preamble, celebrates the pride of Kenya’s ‘ethnic, cultural and religious diversity’, and proclaims our ‘determination to live in peace and unity as one indivisible sovereign nation’. The founding values and principles articulated in Article 10 highlight inclusiveness, non-discrimination, equity, and protection of the marginalized. The Constitution recognises culture as the foundation of the nation and as the cumulative civilization of the Kenyan people and nation. Equality, diversity, is sprinkled in the entire document, including Chapter Thirteen on the public service. The constitutional commitment to equity and fairness is further reinforced in the devolved system of government that is in Chapter Eleven.

But being together is not the same as being united. There is nothing preordained and natural about Kenyans being together. It is a deliberate decision on the part of the citizenry, a choice we have freely made. We have signed a social contract among ourselves, and with our leadership now and in the future. That is why in the preamble we are exercising our sovereign and inalienable right to determine the form of governance in our country and adopt and enact the constitution to ourselves and to future generations. The boundaries of this nation, and the communities within it, will only remain if we respect the terms of that social contract.

Contracts are supposed to be performed. They contain rights and obligations. We have a duty as Kenyans to obey the law and to uphold the Constitution. In return, the state has a duty to protect life and property as well as to offer services.

Self-determination and breakaway tendencies are part of human history not so much because those who lead them have a reflexive appetite for war and fragmentation, but because there is a failure to honor the social contract, or a political practice characterized by marginalization, or lack of respect for the other, and frustration of the aspirations for some.

This country must not delude itself that it is inured from these afflictions. We must be careful. We must be sensitive. We must daily invest in the nation building project. In our conduct, our conversations, and decisions, we must demonstrate an interest in the survival and development of Kenya as a nation state. In this respect, every individual, every leader, every voter has a duty, a responsibility and an obligation.

Since national identity is inclusive, it has got to be negotiated as broadly as possible. It cannot be the exclusive province of a few. Citizenship is the great political equalizer that gives like voice to those at the center as at the periphery. Because of the temptations to disengage from the center, building a nation requires not just the consent, but also the active participation of those at the periphery. At the core of the nation must be rationale as well as guarantees of protection for those at the periphery to feel a part of the whole than if they were alone.

When we refer to certain regions as economically unviable, it is important to realize that this phraseology is loaded with stigma and discrimination. There is no region that is unviable. The world is replete with examples of deserts that have transformed into economic power houses – Israel, Dubai, Singapore and many more. Any leader who regards and refers to any region in this country as unviable is questioning the very viability of his or her own leadership. It merely demonstrates a remarkable poverty of ideas; a paucity of imagination; and a deficit of ambition. The language of high potential and low potential is a myth -- it is manifestly discriminatory, and has been used historically as a fig leaf behind which to hide to share state resources in an inequitable manner. These are the tendencies that undermine notions of citizenship. Besides, the constitution decrees devolution and equitable distribution of resources.

In numerous instances, the deliberate or unintended sabotage of certain hopes and dreams has alienated significant portions of the population from the idea of Kenya as a common good, a place of freedom, justice, dignity, self-actualization and opportunity.

We cannot build a nation on the foundation of rhetoric alone. We must express our intention, but also follow it with action. We must demonstrate that something has changed. We must crack the constitutional whip to ensure that political parties that intend to obtain registration and participate in elections do not organise around our divisions – ethnic, regional, ability, or gender. We must design our electoral processes so that they embrace minorities. 

Our citizenship must be universal, where every individual enjoys the civic rights granted by the Constitution even as he or she retains his or her other identities, including the ethnic one. We must ensure that those who attempt to trample on the rights of citizens do not find comfort in public office.

We must also fully discharge our obligations to each other as individuals who are part of this polity. These obligations start from the basics of requirements: respect for each other as individuals, as well as respect for communities and other identity groups. It is socially obnoxious, politically reckless, and economically ignorant to cheapen the presence of any community in this country by making derogatory remarks as has been all too evident in our country’s history. It is only the weak minded, people incapable of comprehending the origins of the modern state, its philosophy, its instruments and its edicts that resort to such approaches in managing expressing disagreement. Thus when I hear leaders warning whole communities that Kenya has its owners, I wonder whether such leaders appreciate the unconstitutionality and illegality of such comments.

Just as a fish that grows in a pond may consider itself the king of the sea until it is introduced into the ocean, we too must also awaken to the reality that our ethnic and sectarian interests may only matter if we are disconnected from the rest of the world. Unless we all recognize that Kenya is a confederation of cultures, languages and interests, we shall never be able to cultivate the sensitivity and respect for one another necessary to hold us together. We might never live up to true greatness as a member of the community of nations because we overstayed our welcome in the pond when the ocean beckoned.

The things that are seen to divide us – ethnicity, religion, race, class, clan, region, occupation, sexual identity, generation, disability – are also the raw materials needed to create the mosaic of one nation. 

I also want to caution that pejorative commentaries, sometimes excessive even in comedy, should be purged from our national discourse. Negative ethnic profiling is sometimes aided by excessive parody. What was essentially parody sediments into ‘truth’ and the rest of us begin to make decisions in real life based on the emerging caricatures. I enjoy comedy, and I would be the last person to suggest that anybody should censor it, but let us give a thought to instances when well meaning activity may end up hurting the broader public interest. Comedy should complete the cycle by celebrating our idiosyncrasies, and deliberately banish any notions of ethnic hierarchy that may unwittingly be transmitted.

In our continuing search for identity, we need to settle the question of the philosophy that defines our nationhood not just as Kenyans, but also as Africans. We need to search and find that symbol of nationhood that will inspire us to create a just, peaceful society we all desire to live in.

The creation of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission in the aftermath of the sad events following the 2007 elections is an attempt to begin this conversation. It must seize the moment to align our daily endeavors towards nurturing a truly nationalistic culture. Beyond the commission, all Kenyans have a duty to construct the nation’s identity by embracing diversity, tolerance and respect for one another. Press coverage of the identity problem treats it as a problem only in the public sector. I think that this problem is probably more acute in the private sector. NCIC owes this country an audit on ethnic concentration in terms of employment, contracts, and promotion. We must cultivate a culture of tolerance draw from the spirit of the Constitution; the edicts across religions. NCIC needs to conduct attitudinal surveys so that we can improve on our tolerance levels and eliminate trust deficits.

In the Judiciary, we have acknowledged the challenges we have faced in the past in this regard. We shall partner with the NCIC within the context of the National Council for the Administration of Justice (NCAJ) to help NCIC deliver on its statutory mandate particularly in the context of the coming elections.

The Judiciary itself faces these challenges of diversity. Only recently in a station not too far from here, three of our judges stared the problem in the eye when the paralegal staff from one community boycotted a luncheon the judges had hosted because their colleagues had accused them of speaking in their local dialect while at work!

In conclusion, I know that while identity can be a puerile matter it can still be quite rewarding to some people. I am privileged to come from a profession, the law, that long recognized equality of human beings long before other disciplines. Physiologists now tell us that you cannot identify people’s identities through any other body’s organs such as the heart, brain etc. The Human Genome Project showed that we are 99.9 per cent the same. That, of the nearly 30,000 genes in the human body, the diversity within races and tribes is much higher than between them. It is still amazing that despite this evidence from science, a perversion of difference capture a large segment of our intelligent minds. Further, sameness is no guarantor of stability and harmony. Somalis and Koreans are some of the most homogenous people on every front: looks, culture, language, religion – yet we all know that these countries have been at war for many years. It is not enough to just look alike, or speak the same language. And a corollary to the right that we are all equal is the fact that none of us is better than the other on account of ethnicity or other identities. Nobody should be punished or rewarded on the basis of identity.

Finally, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that this conference and the deliberations that emanate from it awaken all citizens to the great responsibility each one of us bears in fashioning, perfecting and sustaining the Kenyan nation. As Kenyans we should daily ponder what brand of Kenyans we are. Are you a vernacular Kenya or are you a nationalistic and patriotic Kenyan?

Dr Willy Mutunga
Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court
Republic of Kenya

Kenyan Thoughts II

Who’s behind terror attacks against innocent Kenyans?

By  Makau Mutua

The recent terror attacks on Kenya could be the tip of an iceberg. Methinks that very dark forces are at work. Some very bad people are trying to wreck Kenya.

Unless security is quickly restored, Kenya could become another African catastrophe.

Terrorists, drug cartels, criminal gangs, secessionists, rogue politicians, and merchants of impunity are tearing at Kenya’s fabric.

Mark my words. It’s not a long distance from here to Somalia, or the DRC.

Which begs the question – why does the Kenyan State appear to be asleep at the switch when the country is under attack?

Is it incompetence, complicity with the attackers, or State failure?

Let’s take a “deep dive”. I have three theories about who’s attacking Kenya.

States the world over rarely reveal grave security risks to the public. Even in more open democracies like the United States, secret services are ordinarily tight-lipped.

They may foil, or thwart, a terror attack. But you rarely hear about it unless someone is charged in open court, or a political decision is made to tell the public. This is as it should be.

Otherwise sources and methods of intelligence gathering could be compromised.

Equally worse, on-going investigations could be breached. That’s why states rarely reveal to the public even 10 per cent of what they know.

But in Kenya, one gets the impression the State doesn’t know much, or is either unable or unwilling, to act on what it knows to end terror attacks.

My first theory is that Al-Shabaab has been behind “only a few” of the terror attacks.

Some of these seem to have been by “freelance” amateur terrorists. By which I mean incompetent and misguided locals fired up by crude Taliban ideology.

Such attacks lack sophistication and careful planning. Their execution has been primitive. It’s clear that Al-Shabaab hasn’t carried out many serious attacks on Kenya.

They’ve tried, but haven’t been wildly successful. I suspect that Al-Shabaab will be quick to claim responsibility when – and if – it launches a spectacularly successful attack on Kenya.

That’s how terror works – the true terrorist is keen to claim credit for his handiwork. That’s why Al-Shabaab may not be behind many of the grenade attacks.

My second theory is based on deductive reasoning. This is investigation by elimination.

Since I have eliminated Al-Shabaab as the main source of Kenya’s security woes, I want to ask a central question. Who else would want to harm Kenya?

The Swahili have a saying – kikulacho ki nguoni mwako. The English equivalent is that “your enemies are among your friends”.

My theory here is that there is a criminal element embedded in the State.

It’s this element that appears to have been working in cahoots with the Artur brothers.

It seems to be involved in drug trafficking, extra-judicial killings, and grand corruption.

Which begs the question – why would this criminal element sponsor what appears to be terror attacks?

Criminality within the state thrives in a republic of fear. A panicked public is unable to hold the state accountable.

Public fear saps the energy of the citizenry and allows malignant and dark forces to loot the treasury and carry out all manner of illegalities.

Usually, elements of the police and other secret services participate in, and benefit from, the illicit activities of drug traffickers and high corruption.

Senior officials, politicians, and businesspeople use the police and the security services in protection rackets.

Seemingly random “terror” attacks could be the work of criminal elements within the state. This is one indicator of a “rotting state”.

Kenyans are right to ask whether such a Mafioso exists within the state.

My final theory is connected to the Kibaki succession politics. Everyone knows that Kenya is on edge.

I can’t remember such a period of political uncertainty in Kenya’s history.

Some of the leading presidential candidates have been indicted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

It’s now a foregone conclusion that their trial at The Hague will begin in a matter of months.

Yet – incredibly – the suspects have insisted they’ll be on the ballot paper.

How they will defend themselves for the most serious crimes known to man and run for the presidency beats me. But one thing is clear.

Their supporters have vowed to lay waste to the electoral process if the suspects can’t run.

What am I getting at? Insecurity connected to the Kibaki succession and the ICC trials may be used as an excuse to scuttle the election.

A spike in violence could easily lead to the declaration of a state of emergency by the government.

Besides the ICC, there are other dark clouds overhead. Nascent secessionist movements like the so-called Mombasa Republican Council could heighten tensions.

Then there is the unresolved matter of the census in northern Kenya. How could a free and fair election be conducted without a legitimate headcount?

These volatile issues threaten to engulf the country. My suspicion is that the criminal element within the state is likely to add fuel to this fire.

What can be done to avoid these doomsday theories? I wish they were just theories, but I am afraid they might be real. If so, who’s watching over Kenya?

Does the state have the wherewithal to avoid a meltdown similar to the one in 2008?

Where, I ask, is President Mwai Kibaki in all of this? Is Mr Kibaki incapable of acting decisively?

If so, what role should the other arms of the state – the legislature and the upper echelons of the judiciary – play to restore sanity? We need all hands on deck.

Kenyan Thoughts I

We are not all responsible for 2008 Mayhem
By Lukoye Atwoli

In an attempt to sound reconciliatory and avoid inflaming passions one way or another, many commentators have taken to asking Kenyans not to point fingers at those they think are responsible for our ethnopolitical crises, including post-election violence after the 2007 General Election. Most have argued that all of us are to blame for these problems, having contributed to the current state of near-total state failure in one way or another.

This phenomenon is not new, however. The claims climaxed some time in 2008 as everyone who could be heard in the public space was busy emphasising peace and reconciliation, and discouraging those of us who thought we had an idea about what had happened to our country from speaking out.

Telling us that if we search deep within ourselves we would find some reason to be guilty was their way of silencing us and buying space for whatever they were calling peace and reconciliation.

Let me be the first one to remove myself from this herd of murderers and arsonists, if no one else will speak out for me.

On the morning of December 27, 2007, my family and I used the Kisumu-Eldoret road via Nandi Hills on our way to Eldoret town where we were registered to vote. All along the way, it was already evident that all was not well.

Burnt tyres, logs and rocks blockaded parts of the road in some areas, evidence that some demonstration or riot had already taken place even before Election Day.

People milled by the roadside at most urban centres we passed and, in some places, there was a bit of shouting and sloganeering that we assured ourselves was born of the usual electoral euphoria.

On the outskirts of Eldoret town, we learnt from the news on the radio that some vehicle had been torched in town, suspected of carrying marked ballot papers.

As we voted, we were acutely aware of the tension, and the possibility of post-election violence. Subsequent events, as they say, are inscribed in the history books.

Two weeks before the 2007 General Election, I had penned an article denouncing acts of violence that had been labelled “political violence”.

I rejected this tag, instead characterising looters and arsonists as common criminals using politics as a convenient cover.

But for the context set in the campaign period, anyone reading that article today would be forgiven for thinking it was discussing the post-election violence.

I was, therefore, utterly shocked when almost everyone feigned surprise and claimed that the post-election violence was unforeseen and caught them by surprise, when all indications before the election had been that a peaceful outcome would be the exception, not the rule.

With this background, I challenge these “peacemakers” to point out what I did to be held responsible for the violence that erupted after the election, and the subsequent dysfunctional government that was rammed down our collective throat.

As a matter of fact, my colleagues and I were intimately involved in designing a response to deal with the physical, psychological and social outcomes of the violence after it broke out.

This habit of rushing to implicate whole populations betrays a mindset that is comfortable with a herd mentality of crime and punishment, which is antithetical to the liberal democracy we are apparently forging in Kenya.

Voting: The Secret Affair

Election day is here, last minute campaigns still going on. So, I am standing in this long queue at CCU, waiting to cast my vote. So far so good but the place is a mess. Posters, fliers, little pieces of papers strewn all over the floor. It had rained the previous night so posters are stuck on the floor, in walls, on trees: practically everywhere. There are goons with whips (nyaunyo) forcing names on my face and shoving small pieces of papers with names of guys to vote for.

I am in a queue and the majority are first years. The are excited as they are relaxed, waiting to get inside and practice their first democratic right in the institution. Sadly, at this point, a guy goes up to one of the quiet guys on the line and forces him to vote for his candidate literary. Oh, wait there is a lady too!Asking, pleading and smiling to guys to have them vote for a certain candidate.

A few hours ago I heard that there was tension in Chiromo over ballot papers but am yet to confirm it. I am inside the voting area now.I see two of my Literature lecturers in the hall. One picks my student I.D and a student Commissioner verifies my name on a list, picks the student I.D from mwalimu and asks me to go ahead and vote. There are four armed policemen in the hall. Two are having lunch as one is overseeing the voting process.The University is ensuring that these elections will be peacefull even if it means guns in the vicinity to maintain order. It reminds me of a phrase that its not that the University administration doesn't trust us, it does, it is the election 'devil' they do not trust.

There are observers all around and the voting space has been reduced to a square, not larger than 8meters in length. The ballot papers come in various colours for the different candidates. It was a smooth process I voted, got my small left finger inked and walked out, in less than 5 minutes . The rest of the voting went on well, and last time I heard, the votes were being tallied at A.D.D.

Voting despite the noise, peer pressure and at times coercion is a Secret Affair. I may agree to vote for so and so but when inside, vote my choice. I bet there was betrayal, change of thought, commitment during the election but above all it was a Secret Affair!

UoN: We go to the Polls

As we go to the Polls...

April 27^th is the date for the SONU Elections. To those familiar with Campus elections, know that this is a time for the loudest, meanest and 'wealthiest' comrades to flex their 'political' muscle. The few who have great manifestos and ideas they hope to champion are drowned in this 'wrestling'. Interestingly, almost three quarters of those vying in main campus are my classmates in particularly my Political Science class. 

However, the most outstanding thing about this election is that most of those campaigning for the SONU positions were in some way either directly or indirectly involved in the past two-three elections. How? They were either clerks, goons or even office holders in the past government. So we have like a recycling of leaders in the Student Leadership.

It raises the question, aren't there over 30,000 students who can run and even win these elections and not the same guys all over again. Well, the truth is, there are...many, myself included. What then is stopping me, and the many others from taking up these positions, and especially the ladies? First I think its the setting in which these campus politics are rolled out. This is because, there are sadly, tribal factions that will terrorize you, pull down your posters, ask for bribes to leave you posters overnight, want a bribe for your safety and a lot more under dealings for your chance 'to eat of the Campus Pie'

My Principle of persuasion lecturer challenged us on time in class as to why as his students, we shy away from leadership. Something came out clear after the three hour discussion, that not everyone of us has to be in the limelight. Not everyone of us have to seen to be recognized as leaders because in essence we are all leaders in our own right. However what separates leaders, good leaders at that, from pseudo-leaders is servant-hood. Here, my definition of servant-hood is an ordinary comrade who does not have to don an oversize/ tight Marc Spencer Suit in order to address a crowd. A leader who will not spend the entire night going through a dictionary to cram and the next day, squeeze and jumble up archaic jargon leaving their listeners perplexed (its intentional) than understood. My idea of a servant leader is one who can clearly differentiate between the rights of a student in campus from the purported privileges they hope to give unto us if we give them our vote. It is not our privilege to have clean hostels (most are by the way, in the mornings though) but our right so when a leader says they will ensure hostels are clean, it leaves me wondering if they intend to do it themselves. The cleaning that is.

Leadership is about setting a trail, being an example. It is about walking in our shoes and knowing where the shoe pinches and not being the 'unreachable'. The University churns out brilliant minds each year to a waiting nation. I personally think we do a disservice to the University of Nairobi if during the elections, we witness violence, slander, bribery, deceit, corruption, hatred and vilest of them all tribalism. As a student of the largest think tank in the country, I take the responsibility to talk about these issues, I take the responsibility to vet the guys who push to you their election nomination papers to sign, I take the responsibility to challenge my classmates to be critical on who they pledge their support to, I take the responsibility to sober up my comrades whose thoughts are dictated by their 'charismatic' kinsmen, I take the responsibility to go to the polls on Friday the 27th of April. To vote, not for a classmate who reserves me the front seat, or the one we are with in my discussion group, or from my region...but a leader, a servant leader who Suits, funny postures and nonsensical words do not define him, whose size and heaviness of his pocket are not important. One who will accept defeat, accept opposition, accept correction and accept to learn and most of all accept to be a servant leader.

Is it possible?

Posters in Education Building

Vote for Me: I AM NOT MY TRIBE Blog gets nominated in the BAKE Awards 2012

The Nominees for the BAKE Awards 2012 are out!!

The awards are meant to encourage those blogging to be more active and pay more attention to their content. The Awards also seek to recruit more bloggers especially in topics which, though important, have not been ventured into. Topics like Health, Real Estate, Environment, Childcare, Education just to name a few have not drawn those in the respective fields into the blogging world to inform and educate the rest on the same.

 To vote for me, click here 

Once on the page, scroll down to the Best Politics Category and vote for iamnotmytribe.blogspot.com

The BAKE Awards Gala is set for May 5th.

Find the full list of nominees in the 14 Categories here.

Tribal Associations in Universities: End of an era?

Ethnic diversity is a resource that has been mismanaged in the past and must be resolved now to enable greater cohesion in the country.

Back in 2009 in first year of campus, we covered a topic on ethnicity in Political Science. At the time, I had done writings on tribalism and I had already started this blog. So doing the unit in class broadened my understanding on the same. Throughout the lesson, I kept remembering the flyers and posters stuck in our hostel and the tunnels asking members of a particular community to meet at various venues to "discuss the way forward for their people". There it was, tribal alliances that many times say they are to safeguard the interests of students from a particular region but come elections time the 'subtle' community organizations are at the forefront to prop one of their own for leadership position whether qualified or not.

I was burning with questions, why does the University allow it? What can the University authorities do to stop this trend of tribal alliances? So I summed up courage and asked my lecturer that. So here I was in a class of about 5oo students asking what can be done to break the 'status-quo', what was the way of doing business. My lecturer, Prof. Nying'uro looked at me, then looked at the entire class which was now quiet waiting to what he would tell me. He moved closer to my desk and instead asked me " Madam, what the university can do for you is not important...what is important is what you, as a student, a scholar do for this university...what can you do?"

The ball was kicked back to my court; I was challenged to do something. The class dispersed soon afterwards but Professors words stung me. I had to do something. I remember that day as I walked through the tunnels I went pulling down anything that was tribal inclined. All the posters that called for the Butere comrades to meet at hall 3 or those for the Narok students association came down into the dustbins. I know, that is a drop in the ocean but I had to start somewhere. Next thing I did was mobilizing  a few friends, my room-mates to join in not only removing the posters but to talk to fellow classmates, friends within our campus and other campuses about coexistence with other communities. Slowly, we planted a seed, we watered it and in as much as it grew, there were thorns and harsh environments which choked it. I faced opposition from some goons who told me I was doing useless work. So maybe I was, but I had stirred something, I had started discussions on tribalism in campus in a small way.

Next thing I did was to post anonymous notices, which signed off as I am not my Tribe. They spoke of integration, importance of each member of the various communities in a creative, sensitive and not forceful way. They were not calling anyone to meet up in room 310 for discussion on the way forward; the three paragraph notes challenged my fellow comrades. They would be plucked from the notice boards (tit for tat) and I moved to Phase 3 of my campaign, wearing the talk, literary.

Sample of the T-Shirts we made

So, we got a fellow student, Elvis, who we contracted to design T-Shirts with our message. A week later a batch of ten I am not my Tribe branded T-Shirts in different colors was delivered. On a set date, a Friday, we all donned our T-Shirts and went to class; good thing is half of us were from different campuses. So our campaign went a notch higher, guys were asking where we got the shirts/ idea from. We were practically walking banners with our message. One of us in the T-Shirt was stopped in town by several people asking about the 'movement'.

Flash forward to 2012, the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has now put a check on these tribal associations in Universities.

“The education of young people should deliberately inculcate positive values on ethnic and race relations as opinions they form will often be those they will carry with them throughout their lives,” the policy against tribalism says on tribal associations in institutions of learning.  

“Education should lead to enlightenment, understanding and tolerance of the people of all ethnic groups and races,” it adds, noting that the institutions have been targeted for the role they play in national cohesion.

NCIC chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia, said this was not only critical during this election year, but equally important since the country was switching from a central government to a devolved government structure. 

“The climate of tension has been accentuated by the International Criminal Court confirmation of charges,” Dr Kibunjia said.

“There is therefore an urgent need to pro-actively start continuous conversation on ethnic, racial and religious grievances and their possible resolution with the political and economic elite across the country,” he said.

As my post topic asks, could this be an end of an era?

*I am not my Tribe philosophy is still on course, just like a river during the dry season, it may not be visible on the surface but it still continues to meander and flow underground, its absence does not mean it’s not there, it is...it continues to flow!