11 July 2009
Nairobi — A lobby group is calling on Kenyans not to indicate their tribes in the coming population census.
The 10-member lobby, Tribe Kenya, has subsequently started a countrywide campaign to appeal to the people to indicate "Kenya" as their ethnic group in the census questionnaire.
The professionals who came together three weeks ago led by former chairman of the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya Reginald Okumu say Kenyans should not be identified by their tribes.
The group has started a website, www.tribekenya.or.ke, to push their cause. The site was set for launch last evening. But government officials have sought to allay fears that the question requiring people to indicate their tribes has been included in the questionnaire for ulterior motives.
At a breakfast meeting with members of the Editors Guild on Wednesday, Planning minister Wycliffe Oparanya said the government sought to establish the population of each tribe for purposes of planning and not political reasons.
The minister said he had received petitions against the inclusion of tribe on the census questionnaire. Some people fear that the figures could be manipulated for political reasons. But he said no one wanted to manipulate the data.
"The census is aimed at helping the government in planning to realise Vision 2030. We have no ulterior motives," Mr Oparanya said. The census, which estimated to cost Sh7.4 billion, will be conducted between August 24 and 25.
The Tribe Kenya group argues that tribe is irrelevant in planning. "Tribe does not have any statistical value. The government will not construct hospitals, roads and schools for certain tribes," Mr Okumu told the Nation.
"The issue of tribe has always been used by politicians for their own selfish gain. Tribe helps them to attain power," he added. The director general of the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Anthony Kilele said on Friday that Kenyans were free to indicate on the questionnaire if they wanted to be identified by their tribes or simply as Kenyans.
He said enumerators would not force anybody to answer the question.
"You can say 'I'm a Kenyan'. But it is good to know who we are. We will see what will be answered and what is not. We will go by the figures we get," he told the Nation in a telephone interview.
Mr Kilele said the figures would be important to researchers, including anthropologists. He gave the example of the United States of America where race was part of the census questionnaire and helped authorities to address health issues touching on the blacks there.
But Mr Okumu said we need to avoid identifying people by tribe to promote national cohesion and healing. He cited Nigeria and Rwanda where people were not required to indicate their tribes in previous censuses. Rwanda, which suffered genocide of mid-1990s, removed the tribe question from the census questionnaire to promote national healing.
Kenya, he said, needs healing after the post-election violence.
Mr Okumu said the Tribe Kenya campaign was aimed at reviving the "stalled Project Kenya" started before independence. "It is a tribute to the founding fathers who shed their blood for our freedom and made us believe being Kenyan is the most important legacy we can leave for our children," he said.
He said if there is any tribe that wants to know the number of its people, it should use its resources to carry out its own census, "instead of using public resources to essentially serve partisan and personal interests".
"People are free to indicate their tribe. But those who want to be identified as Kenyans first should stand out and be counted," he said, adding the success of the campaign would be measured by "the few who will stand up and be counted as Kenyans". He also cautioned enumerators not to manipulate information they collect from the people.
Other members of Tribe Kenya are Derrick Bbanga, Eugene Lidede, Dismas Mokua, Robert Yawe, Brian Toroitich and Bernard Mwaura.
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