The Daily Nation carried a major feature recently on retired Lieutenant general Daniel Opande, one of the finest soldiers Kenya has ever produced. After General Mulinge's retirement from the armed forces, Opande was the most experienced and deserving person to have stepped into his shoes as chief of general staff. There was only one problem, his tribe.
Being a Luo, any ambitions he may have had for the top spot were doomed to fail. In fact if truth be told, the only reason he ended up as a peace keeper was to get him out of the way as his juniors (who were the right tribe) were being promoted all over the place at an embarrassing rate, some to more senior positions than his.
The Luo have not been the only victims of tribalism and ethnicity. In fact the tribe that suffered most durin Moi's long reign were the Kikuyu who not only found themselves locked out of lucrative key appointments in favor of Kalenjin herdsmen hurriedly brought in to occupy. But we also saw entire national industries destroyed and frustrated into submission, only because most of the players in the industry hailed from the House of Mumbi. The once lucrative coffee industry is a good example to give here.
But then some readers of this blog believe that there is no tribalism in Kenya. Or that it is not the main issue. One Kenyan who made a comment somewhere in this blog was so blunt that they said that anybody who thinks that tribalism is the main issue in Kenya, does not understand Kenya. (sic)
This week Kenyans have been busy analyzing the election results of the by-elections occasioned by an aircraft accident somewhere in Isiolo where a number of MPs perished.
Of course tribalism was not a major issue (as some people would like to lie to themselves) because Kenyans voted for the candidates they preferred. Luos and Kikuyus were seen high-fiving each other as they took a common stand where most of the candidates were concerned.
So why did Opande never make it to CGS?
Oh, he wasn't good enough, promotions in the army at that level have nothing to do with tribalism (oh spare me the *!#@*&).
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I must concur with you whole heartedly.Tribalism is still alive and well in Kenya and among Kenyans.The sooner we admit it the sooner we will come closer to getting rid of it.
ReplyDeletetell us something we dont already know...what do you make of the by-elections
ReplyDeletehave the youth seen their through pass?
As I've said before - the sooner we accept that there is Tribalism in Kenya and learn to use it to our advantage... the sooner we shall be able to move on & develop our nation. I am yet to hear the negative side of Majimboism... I've seen it work in other countries... why can't it work here?
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