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Are the Universities Being
Tribalised?
The Nation (Nairobi)
OPINION
10 February 2008
Ali Mazrui
Nairobi
We are generating emotions and tensions in Kenya which before long
may require a whole new vocabulary. Are we on the verge of
producing a form of inter-ethnic distrust which may be called
Kikuyuphobia? Have other Kenyans begun to identify a form of
prejudice which may be called Luophobia.
A Kikuyuphobe is a person who is profoundly distrustful of the
Kikuyu-a form of negativism which is partly based on a stereotype.
The Kikuyu are seen as manipulative, exploitative and inclined
towards ethnic nepotism and tribal favouritism. The Kikuyu are
seen as brilliant in commercial aptitude and other economic skills,
but often at the expense of other groups.
Kenyans should be careful not to reduce whole communities into
such negative stereotypes. Such prejudice tends to dehumanise the
targeted groups.
Luophobia is a form of distrust and prejudice shared by rival
ethnic groups. While supporters of Raila Odinga are often prone to
Kikuyuphobia, ardent supporters of Mwai Kibaki often manifest
forms of Luophobia.
In both directions Kenyans should distrust their stereotypes, seek
to contain their particular versions of "pride and prejudice", and
seek to cultivate instead some kind of "sense and sensibility".
The English novelist, Jane Austen, is assuming a new form of
political relevance in the unfolding drama of Kenya after the
December elections of 2007.
What is likely to be the impact of both Kikuyuphobia and Luophobia
on higher education in Kenya? While the Kikuyu as a group have
been politically and economically triumphant almost nation wide,
the Luo have been disproportionately triumphant in the academic
domain and among public intellectuals.
While in creative literature the Kikuyu have led the way with
Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Micere Mugo and others, the Luo of Kenya have
led the way in the study of history, in the social and natural
sciences and in the study of African philosophy.
Some have argued that while the Kikuyu are brilliant economic
entrepreneurs, the Luo of Kenya have had an edge in academic and
intellectual performance. Nevertheless, Kenya's first Nobel Prize
Laureate for Peace is a Kikuyu.
But what is likely to be the impact of our post-election crisis on
higher education in Kenya? Even before the December election there
was already an ethnic presence in classrooms on Kenyan campus.
While professional promotions in Kenyan universities were already
affected by ethnicity before December 27, 2007, grades for
students were still ethnic-neutral on the whole. But the threat of
ethnicising exam grades has become real since the beginning of
this year.
At the University of Dar es Salaam after the Arusha Declaration of
1967 students were very conscious of the ideological orientation
of their lecturers but seldom conscious of the racial or ethnic
affiliation of their instructors.
When Ngugi wa Thiong'o and Micere Mugo were lecturers at the
University of Nairobi, students were more conscious of the
left-wing ideologies of such instructors than of their ethnic
affiliation.
What we now fear on our campus is greater ethnic consciousness of
each other rather than greater sensitivity to intellectual nuances.
Universities are supposed to be arenas of universal values and
intellectual fraternity. It would be a pity if our campuses
deteriorated into beehives of tribalism.
The post-election violence has begun to trigger academic ethnic
cleansing. Members of vulnerable ethnic groups in violence-prone
university towns are now looking for jobs in ethnically more
friendly campuses. When President Mwai Kibaki made me Chancellor
of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, he was
making a statement about the universality of knowledge.
First, he himself stepped down from the chancellorship and thereby
depoliticised the office. Secondly, he chose a Kenyan in the
Diaspora to be Chancellor of a university at home thereby
emphasising the links between Kenyans at home and Kenyans abroad.
Thirdly, the President honored a Kenyan from a small minority
Swahili group at the Coast--- instead of someone from the more
powerful communities of Kenya.
President Kibaki also opened academic doors for me which had been
closed during the era of Daniel arap Moi. Under Kibaki I could
give lectures in Kenya after years of being ostracised by Kenyan
universities. My television series The Africans: A Triple Heritage
(BBC/PBS, 1986) could at last be shown on Kenyan television after
years of being banned by the Moi regime. I could also freely write
for Kenya newspapers regardless of whether my views pleased
President Kibaki or not.
The five years of Kibaki's administration (2002 to 2007) helped to
maximise academic and intellectual freedom on Kenya campuses,
though not without some degree of tribalism and corruption in some
of our activities.
Then came the elections of December 2007. Are the doors of
academic freedom beginning to close? Are Kenyan universities
retreating from universalism? Is the fog of tribalism beginning to
descend on our campuses? It is not too late yet. Just as we
sometimes call upon a doctor to heal himself, let us call upon
intellectuals and academics to liberate themselves. Let us help
our country to lick its wounds, and heal the body politic.
Prof Mazrui is the Chancellor, Jomo Kenyatta University of
Agriculture and Technology.
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