The Nation (Nairobi)
Murithi Mutiga
4 July 2009
Nairobi — At the height of the State of Emergency in the 1950s, Tom Mboya was forced to move out of Kaloleni estate in Nairobi, an area primarily occupied by the Luo, to Bahati, which had mainly Kikuyu, Embu and Meru residents.
The shift was supervised by the colonial government and the reasons illustrated one of the slain minister's most positive attributes: he was, above all, a Kenyan nationalist who resisted the temptation embraced by many politicians of the time to use their ethnic communities as their principal base.
In his biography of the former minister who was killed 40 years ago today, David Goldsworthy reflects on the episode:
"In Nairobi, it was an ongoing part of emergency policy to segregate the tribes residentially, chiefly so that the Kikuyu, Embu and Meru would be isolated from the rest. Thus, Bahati became an almost entirely Kikuyu-Embu-Meru estate and Kaloleni almost exclusively Luo.
Personal strain
Mboya was already under personal strain in Kaloleni. The very nature of his union work meant that he spent most of his time with the Kikuyu, who were the most disadvantaged of union members, and this aroused a degree of resentment among some of his tribesmen, who saw him, notwithstanding his service as secretary of the Nairobi Luo Union, as not a 'good' Luo... The idea was to locate the troublemaker where he could do least damage: that is, among other troublemakers."
This information, in Goldsworthy's book, Tom Mboya: The man Kenya Wanted to Forget, sums up the man. He was a Kenyan first and Luo second and, historians contend, he is the one politician who would have saved Kenya from the descend into one of the most ethnically polarised countries in Africa.
Mboya benefited from his upbringing in Kilimambogo in Thika, a largely multi-ethnic area. He spoke Kikuyu, Dholuo and Kikamba and saw himself as a citizen of the world. His ambition, Goldsworthy writes, was to be Foreign Affairs minister of the East African Community and, almost without doubt, he saw himself as a future president.
The trajectory of his career also helped, according to Nairobi University lecturer, Dr Adams Oloo.
Ethnic groups
"Mboya basically drew notice first as a brilliant trade unionist. Trade unions are not primarily based around ethnic groups so this meant that he had a broad support base," he said.
"When district associations came into being, Mboya's district was Nairobi, a multi-ethnic constituency, which further strengthened his appeal."Mboya did not shy away from his roots in Luoland. He had a long running battle for supremacy in Nyanza with Oginga Odinga, who was more old-fashioned in his views on the role of ethnicity in politics.
Mboya's dazzling rise and perceived domineering style earned him resentment from the other seven pioneer legislators in the National Assembly. The representatives from Nyanza, Mr Odinga and Mr Lawrence Oguda, in particular, were unhappy with what they saw as their younger tribesman's lack of respect for them. Mr Odinga described Mr Mboya as "a rabid black dog that barks furiously and bites everything in its path".
The younger man won the duel and, in doing so, Mr Mboya displayed some of the less appealing traits in his character. He edged Mr Odinga out through draconian constitutional amendments and intrigue.
Once Mr Odinga was out of the way, Mr Mboya was seen as the candidate to succeed Jomo Kenyatta as president.
"No one could doubt he would make a very able candidate," writes Goldsworthy, "he could play heavily on his uniquely non-tribal, all-Kenyan position."
That status may have cost him his life. He became the next target of a group alternately dubbed Kiambu Mafia and Gatundu Group - an alliance of influential Kikuyu leaders determined to stop him from ascending to the presidency.
The cabal started by chipping away his support in the constituencies he was strongest, particularly within Nairobi, and in trade unionism. In 1968, in elections for the Nairobi Kanu branch executive, Mboya's favoured candidate was defeated in highly contentious circumstances, with both sides coming up with a different tally for the outcome of the poll.
Days later, two American friends of Mboya were declared prohibited immigrants. And in February 1969, the "Gatundu Group" sponsored a candidate in the Central Organisation of Trade Union elections. The candidate beat Mr Mboya's man after representations from two powerful political figures of the time.
The goings-on in Kanu left Mr Mboya, who had supported Mr Kenyatta throughout his career despite the pair being from different tribes, downcast.
He refused to campaign for the Kanu candidate in a by-election in Gem, Nyanza Province. The Kanu candidate lost, entrenching the ill feeling towards Mr Mboya by the "Gatundu Group".
"The ceaseless plotting and manoeuvring against him had left him depressed, disillusioned, uncertain of the future and less and less willing to do the inner group any more favours," writes Goldsworthy. Mr Mboya also considered quitting politics, amidst rumours that he might be tapped to take the post of United Nations secretary-general. But the assassin's bullet got him first.
The supreme irony of Mboya's assassination was that it led to a sharp rise in the role of ethnicity as a defining factor in Kenyan politics, something he had strove to fight all his life.
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