Business Daily (Nairobi)
Nducu Wa Ngugi
8 January 2008
opinion
On the morning of December 27, approximately 10 million of the 14 million registered Kenyan voters fulfilled their civic and democratic duties by voting in the presidential and parliamentary elections.
The elections concluded with minor infringements and as the results trickled in, the political landscape - which had been dominated by a few individuals since independence - began to change.
The electorate voted out 20 of President Kibaki's most powerful ministers, some of who had been implicated in corruption scandals such as Goldenberg and Anglo-Leasing which fleeced the nation of billions of shillings. Other unsavoury parliamentary aspirants were kicked out altogether. Money and intimidation could no longer buy or sway the will of the people.
The 2007 presidential election was a test of democratic institutions and the resilient viability of a united Kenya. The excitement and bickering that came along with the elections did not mar the campaign euphoria. But during these presidential campaigns, a very disturbing pattern emerged.
The pattern exploited an already suspiciously volatile union of Kenya's many ethnic nationalities: voters were aligning themselves along ethnic lines. Ethnocracy had begun to formulate itself into an exemplar of the voting to come, where one's ethnic background alone assured him votes from "his people."
Within ethnocracy no one is interested in a party's ideology or manifesto. All that matters is that we put one of our own in power. While democracy empowers people with political authority to employ representatives who best suit their needs, ethnocracy recognises that power can only be bestowed upon a candidate who comes from ones own ethnic nationality. It is an ethnic identity that feeds on the insecurity and suspicions of one group of another.
So the rumours, tribal jokes and slurs that circulated via internet and in private conversations continued unabated. The threats of violence went unheeded by everyone except politicians, who preyed upon these insensitivities and rallied their ethnic troops on their march to the State House.
The underlying belief among Kenyans is that we are different from other African countries who have delved into ethnic clashes and genocide. This belief serves as a bulwark against real and comprehensive discussions among our many nationalities.
There is tension here that has always found cover under the cloak of national unity. Every now and then politicians find it prudent to awaken this sleeping amalgam, a tactic that Moi employed willingly.
The fact that local politics has been manipulating ethnic divisions is not new. But Kenyans have found a way to come together, after the dust has settled and the dead have been buried, before. What is new, however, is how deep ethnocracy planted itself into our personal conversations, leading up to the General Election.
With each passing day the nation became more polarised, while ethnic suspicions, fuelled by non-compelling party ideology and power-hungry politicians, became glaring. Yet no one addressed this dangerous proposition. In fact it seemed clear that Mr Odinga and President Kibaki were calculatingly enjoying these tribal divisions which assured them votes from their ethnic affiliates.
It comes as no surprise then that when the presidential ballots were tabulated, Odinga carried almost all the votes from Nyanza province, which is predominantly Luo, while Mr Kibaki carried Central province, a Kikuyu stronghold.
Ethnocracy had outdone democracy! The people who voted in overwhelming numbers are now being killed and displaced so that President Kibaki can stay in power, or so that Mr 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 haves 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 and plantations and vote for them every five years.
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, Mr Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka - the three major presidential contenders in the just concluded General Election - must come together and urge their supporters to shun violence.
If they are true leaders, they must act now. They must recognise the escalating violence as the beginning of a civil war that will leave hundreds of thousands of Kenyans dead and displaced.
Ngugi is an educator currently based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
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Kudos to Nducu wa Ngugi for speaking the truth. Ethnocracy has become is a convenient weapon by which rich Kenyans entrench their dominance over the majority poor.
Let me reiterate another truth published in the Pambazuka magazine (this week: NOT EVERY KIKUYU IS RICH AND NOT EVERY LUO IS POOR. Therefore forget such cheap media categorisation of the Kenyan problem.
Well said; however the 10 million voted for change regardless wheater on ethic line or socioeconomic line; they were just looking for change and they gave it their all.
The socioeconoicly disadvataged Kenyan's are tire of being stuck at the tottem pole they are looking for change and it doesn't matter who promissed them this I think they would still have voted the same way.
Balots is the only power this people have; it is sad that Kibaki and his croonies have decided to trample on these peoples democratic dream.
Keep on writting brother.