Something archaic awkward, dangerous, obnoxious and odd’s happening in Kenya. A few people have shown to have forgotten Kenya's perilous past that just happened recently. Reference’s made to the Post-Election Violence (PEV-2007) that saw many innocent Kenyans slaughtered as a result of tribal animosity between Kalenjin and Kikuyu among others. Everybody who follows things up in Kenya knows too well. Of all, Kenyans, especially leaders, need to know more than anybody else. Failure to this, such leaders aren’t anything in any sense and meaning but the enemies of the people. I know. I’m not Kenyan but a neighbour in the south. After evidencing things go south in our own country in 2001 resulting from political madness, I must admit that I was horrifically chagrined of the situation. Those who remember, in 2001, some Tanzanians in Tanzania Island were killed by the police resulting from conflict relating to allegedly election hold-up. Many people from Pemba–––which’s the ground zero of the carnage–––sought refuge in Shimoni, Mombasa; while others went as far as Somalia. For, the first time, Tanzania produced refugees while, since its independence, used to receive ones from all neighbouring countries including Kenya during its dictatorial past.
Recently, I heard two MPs aligned with Vice President William Ruto tarnishing his already tarnished name even more. After finding that their master’s allegedly ill-treated by president Uhuru Kenyatta with who they formed a government after facing charge in the International Criminal Court (ICC) and surprised the world by winning the elections that followed thereafter, decided to hit back in an odd manner of hurling abuses and other unspeakable things at Kenyatta. One of them, Oscar Sudi, went as far as going ballistic and morphological through negatively entertaining body parts of the mother of the president. He’s quoted through the clip that’s doing rounds on social media saying that both he and Kenyatta sucked their mothers’ matiti, which’s in the bad taste to any Swahili speaker. Maybe, just maybe, he wanted to say they sucked their mothers’ milk which in good Swahili is maziwa but not matiti. In many African cultures, touching anybody’s parent, especially mother or calling one a dog, you ask for nothing but perils. My mother has nothing to do with my political carrier nor is she a public article for any hoodlum to consume or attack. Therefore, it is fair and important to sanitise their deeds, stances and utterances. Fanning the fire of tribalism is nothing but self-destruction for Kenya as a nation and a people. Those who are trying to make Kenya a tribal experiment should know too well; it’s never worked anywhere. Wherever tribalism worked, it surely destroyed those involved. Look, at the CAR, Somalia, former Yugoslavia and among countries ruined by toxic ethnicity.
Another MP Johana Ng’eno, whose clip’s also doing rounds on social media, is heard daringly telling Kenyatta to disband his government and go back to Gatundu if he feels Ruto isn’t required in his government. Similarly, he used deficient, dirty and vulgar language to insult the head of the state he’s telling that he doesn’t own Kenya. He adds that they equally own Kenya something that’s laughable. If we face the truth and revisit the history of Kenya and other postcolonial African states as they’re formed by our ex-colonies, by implications, the presidents and former presidents have more shares of the countries than the commoners. Their lives and treatments are totally different from the commoners. Even if we go by names, being the son of the former president, Kenyatta had more to offer to Ruto than the former had when they aspired for power (I’ll address this in an independent piece next time). Those who daydreaming thinking they equally own their countries must know this bitter truth.
Looking the manner, the two MPs ventilated their views guided by their angers and vengeances, they’re lucky that the president didn’t equally reciprocate. Otherwise, they’d have been in a big danger. Being men as many men like to assert, the duo must have understood the gulf they’re causing to their followers and sympathizers. It’s very interesting to find that males who are used to fight and kill each other for and over females are now ready to die for another male who can’t die for them. Such a way of doing things is the very cause of the PEV wherein followers butchered each other while their masters were phoning each other to complain about the goings-on. It seems. Some Kenyans have easily forgotten the perdition they went through; if it isn’t they, their relatives and community did. Those who are beating the drums of war, ala Raila Odinga, should underscore the famous Swahili proverb that vita haina macho or war’s always blind.
It’s an open secret that currently, the situation in Kenya’s degenerating as far as leadership’s concerned. The rift between two presidential aspirants–––come 2022–––Raila, ODM leaders who entered handshake with president Kenyatta in 2018 and VP Ruto who it shook, as was the same between Mwai Kibaki and Raila, has paralysed and polarised Kenya. If there’s a historical nugget Kenyans need to revisit’s the current us versus them axis. To draw and example from Tanzania, we don’t have tribal axis of us versus them although recently there had surfaced political tribalism Tanzanians are now fighting vehemently. In Tanzania, it’s us versus they who want to divide us as a nation but not as a tribe. Using tribalism to maintain power’s worse than even colonialism. For, the colonisers were not our relatives. Neither were they our kin as our citizens are to each other regardless the communities they come from.
No doubt. Kenyans are viewed as the most educated people in EAC. Ironically, if you consider how they’ve been ruled since independence, you just wonder. The same applies to Ugandans. At certain time, they’re more educated than Kenyans. But when you visit the history of their independence, you wonder how they ended up being robbed and tortured by boobs, hoods and goons. It is because of tribalism that made them blind so as not see the reality.
Trading abuses and insults testify to lack of competency and probity for those involved. Abusing each other’s family members, especially mothers for antagonist sides, shows how acidic and toxic the parties have become. Our families are private but not public business. They have and must enjoy the right of being left out of dirty politics. More importantly, when such decadence involves the leaders of the country, it truly shows the humungous the degeneration and loss such a people is. Instead of being paralysed and polarised, Kenyans should harshly and quickly reprimand and shirk such tribal lords who want to lord it over them pretending to fight for their rights under tribal cocoons. No way any lucid and realistic person can destroy the nation to promote the tribe and be safe. Apart from Kenya’s choppy past, examples from neighbouring Somalia, South Sudan even Rwanda speak volumes. Kenya whose army’s stranded in Somalia’s no insanity of this level to dare thinking and dream about destroying itself lest we easily forget and avoid facing the reality however brutal it is.
Long story short, Kenyans should avoid robbing Peter to pay Paul. Instead of playacting that their history has no lesson to offer to them at this critical moment some of them are doing unthinkable things for the peril of their nation, they must not easily forget the dangers they’re courting and entertaining by banking on tribal security that’s naturally elusive and illusive. Mjenga na mbomoa nchi ni mwananchi, namely the country’s either built or destroyed by its citizens. Those that want to destroy and deface Kenya are those all who think they’re vulnerable under their nation but comfortable and safe under their tribe. What a lie and a suttee! I strongly urge Kenyans to learn from their turbulent past to avoid repeating the mistakes that’ll cost them dearly. He who’s eyes must see; he who’s ears must hark. For, the presidency of our tribal lords won't add any food on our tables except to theirs. Those who like to use their followers to toll death knell should know re-enacting the PEV will never be forgiven and they’ll never get away with murder.
Source: African Executive Magazine today.
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