Lemmie break it down. Here’s the thing. We all (or at least most of the readers in this forum) are Africans. When one is born therefore, s/he is born into a particular community. These communities associate themselves with different cultures and practices that form the backbone of the community thereby defining them as a people. These people in their day to day associations communicate through a common language that is the tribe.
Now there is a thing called allegiance. This is what one pays to his/her most immediate source of sense of belonging. In America for example, we see on t.v people sending shout outs to their homeboys and/or those in their hometowns. This is usually immediately broken down to the ‘hood’ if they are groups of people from the same hometown. Similarly for Kenya, if a Kenyan goes abroad, s/he will pride herself in the fact that s/he is Kenyan and automatically so. If we are still in Kenya, a luo will pride himself in his tribe just as much as a luhya or kalenjin or kikuyu would (politics aside). And they all have something to bring to the table. There is no lesser group (and this is what we fail to understand (politically)).
Going back to politics and any other scenario, let us try and think about this. Since we all owe an allegiance to our tribes and ‘tribemates’ thereof, we will always strive to ensure that we protect our own. It gets to a point that we even extend the sibling status to people from our tribes and call each other brothers and sisters. Why then would one be expected to extend a hand to a foreign person yet ‘s/he is in the same dilemma as my ‘brother?’’ one would ask. Consider the fact that in Kenya, career progressions highly depend on one’s ethnicity.
Maybe (just maybe) this is what presented the President and the PM with a dilemma in the much contested Judiciary nominations. Maybe (just maybe) this is what informed the appointment of Justice Gicheru as CJ in 2003 by Kibaki (though most Kenyans were happy with his appointment at the time. Anything to do away with Chunga at the time). And it is also probably the reason behind the public outcry from every corner of the nation with people asking when it will be their ‘time to eat’. Tribalism is here with us to stay. Sadly, it is for both the wrong and right reasons.
Interesting...i take a partly differing perspective, but with no blind-eye to your position Brenda...In the first instance, i agree, with you, and will begrudgingly state that we in a tribal world...tribes determine alot of things. After all, we are social beings, and we relate on the basis of likes and dislikes...in which case, belonging to a particular tribe automatically creates a bond. If i may quote the legendary Mandela, 'talk to a man in a language he understands, and you speak to his head; but talk to him in his mothers language, and you speak to his heart"...indeed, i recall during the post election violence i was interviewed in BBC, and i stated then, and repeat now, that i am first a luo, then kenyan, african, world citizen, etc. The only homogeneity that i experience is in luoland, no wonder the Igbo of Nigeria say, "marry your own"...there should be no discussions about tribalism, rather, about meritocracy...and proportionality in representation of communities in public offices... this has been done elsewhere, by the great Thomas Sankara in Burkina Faso, and so, we need not re-invest the wheel...great piece...it invigorates beliefs held deep...!!!
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