The Two Problem Tribes in Kenyan Politics

If A Way Could Be Found To Have Them Withdraw From Politics, We Would Be Able To Achieve A Lot... But Alas, It ain't possible

I have just returned from a visit in the Kenyan Coastal region that has made me look at Kenyan politics from a whole new light.

Usually I love to mingle with the ordinary folks (the majority voters) and listen closely to what they have to say. I had a prolonged discussion with this rather attractive Digo woman, who has just had her fourth child.

She's fairly intelligent and had some controversial remarks to make about Coast politicians. Including one that I am yet to recover from about the late Karisa Maitha having been assassinated because he was well on his way to standing for the presidency. The mother of four was pretty sure about that one and even gave the example of Ronald Ngala (who died in a mysterious road accident on the Mombasa road in the mid 70s which most analysts believe was an assassination). She informed me that the late Ronald Ngala's son, (katana Ngala) now a senior Kanu Coast province politician fears to stand for the presidency saying that he does not want the fate that befell his father to also befall him.

But it was what she said about the Coast being allowed to give the nation its' next president that really struck me. It seems that the view rapidly gathering momentum at the Coast now is that Kenyans will always be making a mistake when they choose a President from one of the "big tribes". Choosing one from the smaller tribes (preferably those ones at the Coast) will be much better for the future of the nation.

What she said next made even more sense. She said that she had gone to school (at the Coast) with students who hailed from the notorious two big tribes that have always caused problems in Kenyan politics. Namely the Luo and the Kikuyu. If a way could be found to leave these two tribes out of politics in Kenya, tribalism and all the current political problems we have would be a thing of the past. She went on to say that by going to school wiuth members of the two big problem tribes, she had learnt that "tribalism" was too deeply entrenched in them and because of this they are actually holding the country back.

No matter which angle I tried to analyze the Digo woman's remarks, I could not fault them.

In the referendum over the constitution last year, these two big tribes were the most responsible for creating tensions and fanning tribal animosity. Had we been in a situation where the Luo and Kikuyu were completely left out of things, we would have been able to analyze the document more soberly. If you look at all the political realignments happening in the country at the moment, they are all happening under the close supervision of these two big tribes.

Historically the whole problem started with the brilliant son of Kenya called Tom Mboya (who wanted nothing to do with tribalism and yet his assassination triggered the worst tribal-based violence in the history of Kenya. Yes, worse than even the so-called tribal clashes of the early 90s which were "political creations."

In sharp contrast the many small tribes at the Coast are very united. It helps that most of them speak one language – Kiswahili – quite well. In fact Coast province is probably the least tribal oriented province in the country.

The Digo woman emphasized her political statements further by proving that she's in fact married to a non-Digo man.

She will never read this post because she has probably never come close to a computer in her life, let alone surfed the net. But I am very grateful to her for the sort of political education I would not have gotten anywhere else.