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Ethnic Violence in Kenya: Did we
mistake Ethnocracy for Democracy?
January 10, 2008 12:50 PM
By Nducu wa Ngugi
On the morning of December 27th 2007, the people of Kenya,
approximately ten of the fourteen million registered voters
fulfilled their civic and democratic duties by voting in the
presidential and parliamentary elections. The elections concluded
with very minor infractions or reported irregularities and as the
results trickled in, the political landscape that had been
dominated by a few individuals since independence begun to change.
In deed the electorate voted out twenty of president Kibaki’s
powerful and monied Ministers some of whom had been implicated in
corruption scandals like the Goldenberg and Anglo-leasing schemes
that had fleeced the Nation of billions of dollars. Other unsavory
parliamentary aspirants who are known criminals were left out
altogether. Money and intimidation alone could no longer buy or
sway the will of the people.
After suffering two successive dictatorships (Kenyatta and Moi)
Kenyans, at the 2002 elections, had employed Kibaki’s presidency
and retired Moi’s 24-year oligarchy, thus fulfilling their
democratic promise in an election that saw a united opposition end
Moi’s rule thus ushering in what is dubbed as the second
liberation of Kenya. President Kibaki, Raila Amollo Odinga and
others in the opposition came together and formed the National
Rainbow Coalition that ushered Kenya into a new democratic
engagement.
The 2007 presidential elections therefore were a test of the
democratic institutions and the resilient viability of a united
Kenya. The excitement and bickering that comes with elections did
not mar the campaign euphoria and Kenyans listened to the
political bigwigs go at each other as they vied for their votes.
But it was also during these presidential campaigns that a very
disturbing pattern begun to emerge that exploited an already
suspiciously volatile union of the many ethnic nationalities that
reside within the borders of Kenya: voters begun to align
themselves along ethnic lines.
Ethnocracy had begun to formulate itself into an exemplar of the
voting to come in Kenya where ones ethnic background alone assured
him the votes from “his” people. With Ethnocracy no one is
interested in a Party’s ideology, manifesto or vision for the
country. All that matters is that we put one of ours in power.
Where democracy empowers people with political authority to employ
representatives that best suit their needs, Ethnocracy craves for
an identity that seeks and recognizes that power can only be
bestowed upon one who comes from ones own ethnic nationality
regardless of their polity. It is an ethnic identity that feeds of
the fears, insecurities and suspicions that one group is hell-bent
on destroying the others. At times it is based solely on
ethnocentric sensitivities.
So the rumors, tribal jokes and slurs that begun to circulate via
internet, coffee houses and in private conversations continued
unabated. The threats of violence also went unheeded by the
general populace except for the politicians who ceased upon these
insensitivities and begun rallying their ethnic troops on their
march to State House. The underlying belief amongst Kenyans is
that we are different from other African countries that have found
themselves in bitter ethnic clashes and genocide, a belief that
has perhaps served as a bulwark against real and comprehensive
discussions between our many ethnic nationalities.
There is a tension that has always found itself covered under the
cloaks of national unity and every once in a while politicians
would find it prudent to awaken and stir this sleeping amalgam, a
tactic that Moi employed at will every time his authoritarian
government was threatened. According to the Kenya Human Rights
Commission, from 1991 to 1996, over 15,000 people died and almost
300,000 displaced in the Rift Valley, Nyanza and Western provinces”.
Ethnic divisions have therefore been manipulated severally in
Kenyan politics before. That is not new. Kenyans have seemingly
found a way to come together after the dust has settled and the
dead have been buried. What is new is the severity of how
ethnocracy manipulated itself into our personal conversations
leading up to the general election in December. With each passing
day the Nation became more and more polarized and the ethnic
suspicions fueled by non-compelling party ideology and
power-hungry politicians became glaring but no one addressed this
dangerous proposition. In fact it seemed clear that Odinga, a Luo
running with ODM and Kibaki, a Kikuyu with PNU were calculatingly
enjoying these divisions that assured them votes from their ethnic
affiliates regardless. If only they could now find other tribal
allies.
It comes as no surprise then that when the presidential elections
were tabulated, Odinga carried almost all the votes from Nyanza
province which is predominantly Luo while Kibaki carried Central
province, a Kikuyu stronghold. Ethnocracy had outdone democracy!
The Kenyan people who voted in overwhelming numbers are now being
asked to die so that president Kibaki can stay in power or that
Raila Odinga can ascend to it. In an article to the Sunday Nation
Ngugi wa Thiong’o pointed out that there are two tribes in Kenya:
the have and the have-nots. The have-nots have always been at the
beck and call of the haves; to ayah their children, tend their
immaculate lawns, mother their illegitimate children, work in
their factories, tea, coffee and flower plantations and every five
years vote for them. It is a symbiotic relationship that leaves
one destitute and needy and the other prosperous and powerful.
Unashamedly the latter claims to speak for the poor come election
time and it is therefore no wonder that the same poor electorate
is being asked to die for power. Whose power? Whose freedom? Whose
gain?
President Kibaki, Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka, the three
major presidential contenders in the just concluded elections must
come together and urge their supporters to shun the violence. If
they are true leaders with genuine love for their country and the
people who live in it they must act now and stop hiding behind
their luxurious accommodations where their almost muted calls for
an end to the violence through news sound bites is a lip-service
that is doing little to appease the situation on the ground. They
must recognize the escalating violence as the beginning of a civil
war that will leave hundreds of thousands of Kenyans dead.
We need them at the front lines quieting the people. Raila’s
utterances and accusations that Kibaki is committing genocide do
not help the situation and only serves to exacerbate an already
deadly and volatile situate. He was quoted by the BBC as saying
that he refuses “to be asked to give the Kenyan people an
unaesthetic so that they can be raped” when asked if he would ask
his supporters to calm down”.[i]
This is not the time for Kibaki’s silence and hands-off approach
to issues. His government through its spokesman countered that
Odinga’s supporters were “engaging in ethnic cleansing”. Kibaki
needs to show leadership by calling on all aggrieved parties to
talk to their supporters and ask for a cooling off. He also needs
to lift the gag he imposed on the press (democracy cannot work
without its tenets) and by calling for a joint meeting with Odinga
and an independent counsel to seek a solution to the violence and
election debacle. He must also ask the security forces to use
non-lethal methods to quell the violence. We have already lost too
many lives. The solution will not be found in the gun or the
machete but in a dialogue.
Despite the claims of election irregularities the United States
was among the first countries to congratulate president Kibaki on
his election. Now they have retracted claiming irregularities (something
they know very well). There is a need for an independent body to
investigate these allegations and perhaps a vote recount is
necessary. But no matter what, the escalating violence has to be
brought to an end. Ethnocracy must not be allowed to overtake
democracy. Perhaps a third liberation of Kenya is in order: one
that is not formed by a misty mirage in the skies but by political
actions that empower and unite the people. Liberation endowed with
the courage to find strength in our ethnicities while shunning
Ethnocracy in favor of a democracy with content. The Kenyan people
voted. Do not ask them to die as well!
Nducu wa Ngugi is an educator and writer currently based in
Atlanta, Georgia, USA. His writing has appeared in the Business
Daily, Wajibu Magazine , Pambazuka, Media Focus on Africa and
African Path.
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