I am aware that my posts today will cause plenty of controversy (and irritation), but I will not make any apologies. Most of you readers come here every day to read the truth presented in a way that it is not presented in any other media. We must be brave enough and mature enough to accept the truth even if it is not palatable to our personal selves.
It is only when a girl looks at the mirror and accepts the fact that she is ugly that she will be able to move on with her life and make the best of the situation. Only then can she look for cosmetics to mask her ugly skin and work on her dancing steps, jokes and smiles. But woe unto her of she continues to pretend that she is beautiful and has no problem.
Let us not get defensive either. With the classic denial stance many have taken in this blog pointing to Adolf Hitler's annihilation of millions of Jews and saying that our discussions here are headed in that direction.
In my opinion we need national healing and this can only start when we boldly face the past and the great injustices that were committed against some Kenyans. It would be advisable for those who see far and belong to the Kikuyu tribe to help organize a healing campaign where the Kikuyu can for instance publicly apologize to the Luo for the great injustices committed against them since independence. They should tell this generation about the deliberate propaganda that was peddled, not even for political reasons, but to enable corruption and the rape of this country to continue without any obstacles.
Kikuyus and Luos are both Kenyans. We love them both and we cannot do without either.
I am a son to both communities because not only was I born in Kisumu, (my parents were traveling and I couldn't wait to get into this world) but I also met my wife in Kisumu (she was traveling like I was). Many other wonderful things have happened to me because of sons and daughters of the Luo. I am also a son of the Kikuyu by marriage and some of my closest friends are Kikuyus. The blood flwoing through the veins of my children is Kikuyu. I have learnt a lot about business and entrepreneurship from Kikuyu mentors. I also love them the way they are because I understand them very well. Some of my favourite songs are Kikuyu songs—heard of a guy called Kamaru?
As Kenyans we badly need the business acumen of the Kikuyu (and their beautiful women—at least I do). And we also need the intelligence of our dear Luo brothers as well as all their other many unsung good qualities.
As the popular Eric Wainaina and company advertising jingle goes—which always brings tears to my eyes although I don't drink beer. Many musicians from many different tribes came together to compose this classic, including the smelly fore skins or jaruo, the kyuks etc.;
Feel the rhythm
A nation on the move
Feel the spirit
Feel it shining through
We are Kenya
Forever Kenya
We are Kenya, we are
One country, One PEOPLE.
(excuse my slight adjustments at the end)
A Little creativity made Kenyan man $1,000 in daily profits
This woman has never had sex, the reason will shock you.
Phil Says:
ReplyDeleteThank you Chris for saying it as it is. Rather than have the Kukuyus jump start your proposed national healing, I would propose that:
a) the current constitution must be done away with in totality. Let us have a complete new one that will, among other things, have the executive powers devolved to parliament, judiciary and other offices. I will quickly add that Raila Odinga DOES NOT have to be Prime Minister or Vice President. This will demystify the Kenyan presidency once and for all. The current powers of the presidency are too much open to abuse as we have experienced since independence.
b) establishment of a truth and reconcilliation commission. This will not only give Kikuyu brethren an opportunity to repent and embrace the rest of Kenyans as you have suggested, but will also create a platform for individuals who may have committed political assasinations, high level corruption and other crimes against humanity to repent without fear of persecution.
At least you came out to say you are Luo. I'm so proud of you for not hiding behind your computer key board any more. Now your posts make sense. The lie that you have Kikuyu blood in you still comes through though!
ReplyDeleteHe still didn't say he was Luo, only that he was born in Kisumu. Come on!
ReplyDeleteAre you ashamed of your tribe? Mbona nyinyi hukataa kaa nyi ni jaluo? Enyewe mimi nachukia wasapere lakini afadhali wao kuliko jaluo. The moment u limit the choice to Raila and Kibaki then I think Kibaki will score like 70% of the votes cast. No contest there. Never ever cheat yourself there is anything like kyuks vs Kenya. That only worked in the referendum coz kenyans thought odm's gameplan was kalonzo or Mudavadi. Just tell them nii Raila and u see the whole country trooping back to the snakes.
ReplyDeleteNow Kikuyus have to apologise to Kenyans for being Kikuyus!!!
ReplyDeleteI am a kikuyu, and have no regrets about being gikuyu. Jomo and Kibaki have done zilch for me and it is the height of idiocy to imagine they did anything for your ordinary gikuyus!
Phil Says;
ReplyDeleteGikuyu, a truth and reconcilliation commission is not for apologising for being who you are, but rather confessing to the crimes you have committed.
For example, to the maasai community (and other groups especially along the coast and rift valley) the issue of "their" ancestoral land is very emotive. Most of this land is now in the hands of what they call outsiders. How can you sort out this problem without a TRC? How will the squatter problem in kenya be resolved without a TRC? How can you be treated like a refugee in your own country?
You must remember the problem in Zimbabwe, in as much as many may want to lay blame on Mugabe's authoritarian rule, was first brought to fore by the same land problem that is very evident in Kenya and that which successive governments have continuosly swept under the carpet! Who are these outsiders occupying maasai land? These are just examples of what a country may acheve using a TRC. You should not have any reason to fear if your personal conscience clear.
Unlike you however, most of our leaders are not. And the culprits unfortunately, are mostly Kikuyu and those other tribes that were close to the powers that be since pre-independence days to present time.
I really think some issues need a lot of clarification first before we can even begin to suggest certain remedies. Number one issue is, does Jomo or Kibaki or whoever is guilty of whatever crimes ur speaking of represent the entire Gikuyu population? does every Gikuyu have to answer for Jomos or Kibakis blunders? does that mean even the Kaleos should apologise for Moi's blundders? and why isnt anybody mentioning the Moi era and the crimes commited then? ama those are not important? its time we get real here people, we should stop looking for skape goats and face the issues. Suggesting that Gikuyus are to blame for Kenyas woes and that they need to kickstart an apology thing is like hiding our heads in the sand. The Gikuyu are Kenyans and they hav suffered like any other Kenyan, let me rimind u that there are millions of Gikuyu squatters in Kenya some right in Kibakis own back yard, ever had of a place called Hombe in Nyeri? those guys have lived on the roadside since the early 70's to date, so why isnt anybody mentioning their plight? most of the Gikuyus in R/valley bought the land there and developed it themselves and those who were given land were given land with other Kenyans who had been displaced during the Emergency period - many Kiuks lots their lives and livlihoods after being packed up in concertration camps all over Kenya, when they were realeased they had nowher to go back to,most of the good land ahd gone to the whites and to their collaborator friends, the Jomo family owns land as huge as Rwanda and Burundi combined, you think that land has ever benefitted other kiuks? those who got some land in the R/valley did not interfere with anyone they were Kenyans entitled to land anywhere in Kenya, they never stole it plus they were required to pay some sum for that land, some area like Maji Mazuri and Njoro have really developed coz of the Kiuk polpulation there and they lived very well with the Kaleos, plus i think any kenyan has the right to own land anywhere in Kenya regardless of their tribe, there are very many Luhya's in central and i havent ever had that being an issue, during the Moi era in places like Ol'Ngarua, Moi gave large tracts of forest land to his people, they cut down trees worth milions of shillings, the Gikuyu in the area saw the opportunity and they brought the trees for cheap and charcoal biz boomed plus the sale of tinber, then after a while the Kaleos had exhausted the trees and they couldnt run the farms like the Kiuks so many opted to sell the land to the Kiuks, the same has happened in many areas of Kenya, so lets put the blame where it belongs,Land is a very central issue in this country and the so called ODM luminaries have been beneficiaries of huge tracts of land and that is why non of them was willing to discuss issues of the Ndungu report. Every other Gikuyu cannot be answerable to what a Kiuk president and his band of men do, so pliz as much as ur motives with this TRC thing may be good, try and adress the real issues. Another thing is that Kiuks hav suffered enuff humiliation, remeber Likoni, Molo, Narok and the rest, well no wonder they seem to trust only their own,they were killed and persecuted for nothing,people like Ntimama were even arrogant enuff to say the Kiuks will lie low like envelopes, the kiuks if u ask me have never prevented any one from being who the want, look at the last decade, the kiuks were not in power and things still happened, i saw a clip once of a woman in Njoro who said her family were slaughtered by people she had lived with for years, and all those years there had never been any problem, they coexsisted peacefully. But the moment politicians in the KANU regime started hate propagendas then all hell broke lose for the Kiuks in R/Valley, how come there wasnt a problem in R/Valley in the late seventies and in the 80's most of the clashes happened in the dawn of the 90's, are u suggesting that the Kiuks brought it upon themselves? i hope not.Remeber also the coup attempt which brought a lot of repercussions democratically, was it a Kiuk thing? So my bro the things that u r suggesting are sensitive,yes the Kiuks are big in numbers but even amongst themselves they hav their own divisions. Another thing most other tribes marry the kiuks more than any other tribe,how comes eh? pliz differentiate between politics and social issues,there are many stereo types of kiuks out there that just dont fit. So unless you also start seeing kiuks as kenyans they will always remain what u think they are and that is tribalists, pliz start looking at them as competitors people u can partner with, Raila has seen the sense in allowing his son to marry a kiuk,if we are so tribalistic how comes it happens. So my guy choose ur words wisely!
ReplyDelete"Gikuyu, a truth and reconcilliation commission is not for apologising for being who you are, but rather confessing to the crimes you have committed..."
ReplyDeletePhil dude, open up your eyes to the real world... You toy around with a political fad known as TRC and hawk it as the beginning of Kenya's walk to the promised land. Man! You are wrong a thousand times over! Try and make a community accountable for the sins of individuals and you got recipe for civil strife... or worse... I have to tell you that your simplistic ideas and those of other Kenyans that proliferate the cyber-world are the staple of which fodder for ethnic hatred comes from...
I have never worn my ethnicity as a budge of honour, and I am not about to (it carries no distinct advantage, and its just plain obnoxious to pretend it does. I am who I am because of many other reasons, least of all being Kikuyu or Kenyan). I will however take offense when seemingly informed people make blatant hate statements and hide behind attempts to help cleanse the country of tribalism!
What are these alleged crimes of the Kikuyus against the rest of the Kenyans that I am supposed to repent for? Ati because some dudes in the Kenyatta era and others in the Kibaki era committed economic and other unspecified crimes? Dude, I, and I believe, another close to 6 million odd Kikuyus didn't/don't have our fingers in the cookie jar! Or am I guilty by association? Jeez!
If that is the case, then I have beef with just about everyone in Kenya who comes from a community that has provided public servants at any level who have been accussed of corruption and other economic crimes! Reason? Their man/woman has caused me as a Kikuyu living in Kenya immeasurable grief! And yes, that includes the Boranas up in the Godforsaken north of Kenya... because Corporal Wario extracted a bribe from me the other day... That would probably mean that only El Molos owe me no apology...
As for Kikuyus embracing other people... I pray, what is that supposed to mean? Isn’t their rather wide dispersion to most corners of the corners of the republic an indication of their ability to live with others? Or are you preaching the gospel of certain contemporary opposition leaders in Kenya where failing to support the Orange party by a majority of the Central Kenya populace is seen as a statement of self imposed isolation? Please!?!? See politicians for what they are! Politics is not the plate of ugali that I, you Phil, Chris or the next Kenyan will have for dinner. Learn to separate politics from the bread and butter issues that will give you a better life. If you are not an active politician, leave the issue of numbers and regional support to politicians who need it to win elections! Focus instead on matters that make a better society such as crime, employment, education, health, economic growth etc...
And bear in mind that with the exception of one Ndichu and his Kirinyaga Kingdom blubber some years back, politicians from the Kikuyu community never threaten to implement the majimbo system like politicians from other regions are wont to (as a way of localising not just resources but their influence, and hopefully, 'controlling the Kikuyus').
Chris, you look bad when you start to waltz lyrical about your attachment/relationship to Kikuyus, and that is after attempting to load the burden of repentance for individual's mistakes on an entire community... Everything else you have said about your supposedly good relationship with Kikuyus in an attempt to show that you are not ethnic bashing flies right back in to your face screaming 'SHALLOW ATTEMPT AT COVERING UP ETHNIC BIGOTRY'!
I guess that you are genuinely not an ethnic bigot, but I will remind you that association with someone does not mean that you cannot betray them. Remember that Hutus married to Tustsis in Rwanda ended up killing them or betraying them to the Interahamwe?
My dear brothers,
ReplyDeleteI agree with Anonymous that the Kikuyu community has greatly suffered in this country.
Remember the fight for independence? Many died, were tortured massacred etc. Even during the Moi era, he did everything to destroy the Kikuyu including messing the national coffee industry just to fix Kyuks
One of the most admirable things about the Kikuyu is that they are a resilient lot and quite resourceful. They simply moved to the horticultural industry and had immediate success there. This was an industry that could not be sabotaged easily because the customers were abroad. Homgera my kyuk brothers!
A truth and reconciliation committee would also include those who have committed crimes against the Kikuyu confessing and apologizing to them. Moi and some of his Kalenjin cronies should apologize for what he did in Molo (he even imported arrows to kill Kikuyus as Burudi Nabwera revealed the other day).
I just gave the example of Kikuyus here but many other individuals belonging to various communities have lots of stuff to confess and seek forgiveness. There is even the massacre that happened in North Eastern.
Let’s not allow tribal emotions to get the better of us. Can we try to be objective on this and lessen the references to the Hutus and Tsutsis of Rwanda. Kikuyus are far too intelligent to be compared with those guys.
The big challenge guys is this; can we argue our case without hate or emotion and still see the other person’s point of view?
My honest opinion?
It is begining to happen right here before our very eyes in this blog. Look at the detailed anonymous response. Very passionate but very level headed and they have a number of very valid points.
Ladies and gentlemen. This is what national healing is all about. I am a nobody and my aim is not fame. My aim is for a better Kenya, even if it means me slipping away quietly to the background as the brave new free, united tribeless Kenyans arises.
-Kumekucha-
GUYS THERE IS NOTHING LIKE KIKUYU VS KENYANS JUST FORGET.I'M NOT A KIKUYU BUT IF THE BATTLE TURNS OUT TO BE BETWEEN RAILA AND KIBAKI I WILL VOTE FOR KIBAKI AND I ASSURE YOU KIBAKI WILL SCORE NOT LESS THAN 80%.
ReplyDeleteSTOP TALKING ABOUT FORGIVENESS ATI KIKUYU TO FORGIVE JALUOS'S THAT IS PAST TENSE
This whole story that the Kikuyu stole land form the kalenjin and Masai is false, areas such as Maji Mazuri and Njoro had kikuyu villages as far back as 1864 when the European adventures were making there way into Kenya, remember they were good diarists and advised others coming in, which community was where and where they could re-stock food and water, the Molo road via Njoros became a major transit route and later settlers choose to settle there because there was already a big population of Kikuyu’s it is all documented.
ReplyDeleteThe two tribes living in the central Rifvalley were mainly kikuyu and Maasai. The Kelenjins had not yet descended over the west rock of the Rifvalley. Note diary circ. 1864 notes that Kikuyu people were growing food in Molo and as far as Maji Mazuri prior to the settlers land grab which moved people and penned others like the kikuyu into small reserves before drawing administrative boundaries which alienated people. We Kenya’s need to open up these diaries and challenge the misinformation in the public domain indeed they Kikuyu should look dipper into the archives.
It is totaly disheartening to read what people who are supposed to be progressive thinkers are writing about.It is a clear indication that we are not yet free of colonialism.How do you judge an individual by the language they speak?If I speak french does that make me superior?It all apears to be a competition of imagined supremacy which my dear friends will not and cannot improve relations in kenya.I think the colonbialists really managed to divide us to an extent we can never be united.I advise all of you tribal bashers to read the book mashetani and decide for yourself if you have truly been mentaly colonised.Rather than dedicate our ideas to progressive issues such as education,infrastructure,health e.t.c we wish to vent our economic frustrations on each other.You know what they say when pointing at others remember 3 fingers point back to you.I rest my deeply disturbed soul.
ReplyDelete