Kenya: Historical Impacts of Tribalism and Ethnicity - Term Paper Example

Kenya: Historical impacts (successes and failures) of Tribalism & Ethnicism Kenya is synonymous with tribes and ethnics. Though these two words may seem factors of the past, it has a continuing effect on the economy and politics of this nation. Since most of the decisions are drawn in line with the tribe in power, the roots of tribalism and ethnicism continues to prevail in Kenya. The loyalty of ethnics towards political parties from their own tribe is a long standing affair of Kenya. The implications of the tribal and ethnic past makes it clear to the tribes that if candidates rise to power from their own tribe they will be assured of good job, better funds and benefits. Currently the Kikuyu tribe forms the largest group of ethnics in Kenya and is also accused for their monopoly in politics and economy. Major accusations are made by another tribe called the Luo who feel less privileged when not in power. There are more than forty tribes in Kenya that continue their affinity towards one’s tribe in order to better their living conditions (Politics, tribalism volatile mix in Kenya 2007). The loyalty towards tribal leaderships and the inability of Kenyans to accept change and democracy constitutes the major problems of tribalism and ethnicism that continue to prevail in Kenya. However, in the agricultural front Kenya has registered success by implementing innovative measures to increase production and manage farms. These may be considered as the failure and success of Kenya based on the impacts on ethnicism and tribalism. The social norm of Kenyan tribalism and ethnicism is to preserve their ancestry and consider it as a sacred aspect. Much importance is given to ancestry because they consider continuity as a significant principle of life that restores the relationship between the living and the dead. Respecting ancestors is also a form of reverence to their past. Therefore a conservative Kenyan ethnicist prefers to continue their past instead of accepting change. For this reason ethnics and tribals in Kenya have resisted all forms of change. In case, change is an essential part of the society or life, the conservative tribals would require a gradual change. It is the tradition of tribes and ethnics to have a deep distrust on changes in their basic ideology or a sudden change to it. It is also the characteristics of Kenyan tribal and ethnics to rely more on experience than on rationalism. This is also related to their continuity factor and reverence to the past. These aspects restrict them from accepting any social or political transformation to their society since they rely on tried and tested methods of living rather than believe in an ideology. Another principle of Kenyans is that they prefer concrete and specific process instead of abstract and general theories (Kiros 2001 p.100). In addition to this, they remain polarized to their customs and religion and do not prefer too much secularization. Religion is another factor which Kenyan tribes revere much (Kiros 2001 p.101). The lack of homogeneity in African nation due to the overwhelming number of ethnicity is a reason for the lack of the sense of nationhood which is still in its developing stage. Ethnicism is a prevalent characteristic of African nations. It is a product of colonial relations and history. Ethnicism in Kenya has evolved with colonialism basically due to the resistance from natives. Hence with the passage of time ethnicism has become a hindrance to social development. Triabalism is another factor that serves as a threat to the integration and integrity of nations that has evolved as a result of colonial rule. The influence of colonial rules is relevant in the initiatives and claims of the Luos and Kikuyus in Kenya (Salvatore 1989 p.60). Even when Kenya was preparing for independence, its people were not sure of a homogenous country or a single political leadership. Several groups had differing opinion about their post independent political nation. The difference in the ideas of Kenyan politicos was one of the most dangerous factors of that country for which they cannot be blamed. The disunity among Kenyans is due to historical and geographical reasons. While evaluating the Kenyan map, it can be found that there is a limited area of well watered region from the eastern side of Lake Victoria that stretches towards Nairobi and Kenya Mountain that is fertile for cultivation, while the other three areas mostly form dry, low lands. Before colonial rule was imposed these regions where accumulated with agricultural tribes with greener regions with slightly dispersed communities. These communities were formed of nomads and the sedentary. The differences between the two major groups of Kenyans are found from their varying language, political organization and customs with a further division among these groups based on their tribes. The agriculturist tribes were afraid of the dominant pastoral group and the Masai, whose routine included raids on the boundary of the sedentary tribes during their movement from one place to another. With this tribal system in place, the British imposed their administrative system into Kenya (Perham 1970 p.247). The two groups of tribes lost a major part of their fortune when the British colonial rule was set up. During that period, the British could not change the lifestyle of pastoral tribes and the tribes continued to stay aloof and proud with a little change towards civilization though they engaged in small cattle raiding occasionally. The attention of the British was focused on the agriculturist tribes. The influence of the British penetrated deep into these tribes. The Kikuyu were an ambitious and intelligent lot with eagerness to work on Europeans farms, towns and houses. This group of tribes envisaged a better life to become rich and overcome their poor status and ignorance by interacting with the Europeans. The Kikuyu however were politically conscious due to the greed of the Europeans to grab more and more land from them. The Kikuyu now forms the major political party called the Kenya African National Union or KANU which was formed in association with the industrious Luo tribe. The pastoral tribes thus faced a reverse situation with a major threat from the educated and civilized Kikuyu and their greed to grab more land. Though the Kikuyu were given government assistance in finding agricultural success in their region, there were unemployed and landless Kikuyu who engaged in secret oathing deeds under the label, Land Freedom Army. The threat of the Kikuyu is the coalition of the underdeveloped Kikuyu and pastoral tribes. The coalition of underdeveloped kikuyu and pastoral group formed a counter political party called the Kenya African Democratic Union or the KADU. The KADU proclaimed regionalism and decentralization to secure their tribe and avoid political advance from the centralized government led by the Kikuyu. The regionalism of the Kadu has its basis on local requirements. Thus tribalism is said to be the greatest handicap of Kenya (Perham 1970 p.248) that gives importance for divide and rule system. Specific ethnic groups have dominated the ruling parties in African governments. In the case of Kenya, it was the Kalenjin the tribe of President Moi from the dominant KANU party. The exclusion of certain tribes has been prevalent in African ethnic politics. It is a fact that in a multiple political system even the groups excluded from authority have an opportunity to voice their opinion by forming a political party of their own. However, in nations like Kenya, tribalism is also institutionalized and legitimized under the norms of multiparty democracy. Though political leaderships stand beyond tribal political parties they are pulled back by the partisanship of supporters and parties to lead the nation in a divisive manner (Mwakikagile 2001 p.150). Tribes take advantage of these circumstances to promote their regional and ethnic interests by gaining support from the political party that in fact means tribalism. The one party political leadership is thus hated by Africans due to its oppressive nature (Mwakikagile 2001 p.151). Off late, the competition between the various tribes and ethnics erupts into violence during political elections. The Kikuyu tribe is isolated for attacks by gangsters. Though tribal violence was a rare phenomenon in the recent past, the increasing hatred among various tribes has led to widespread violence. The rivalry goes to the extent of shifting the Kikuyu and their supporting tribes from their home town to different places. The violent ethnic clashes results in scarcity of food. The evacuation of tribes from their home leads them to take shelter in police stations and churches. The number of such asylum seekers sometimes exceeds one lakh. In certain cases, the Luo tribe provides shelter to the Kikuyu tribes and safeguards them due to their earlier association. Humanitarian crisis reaches its peak due to ethnic clashes. There are almost half a million individuals who require medical aid with around 2.5 million people requiring shelter. The clash between the political class has its roots in their ethnicity and tribalism. The political crisis has a vast negative impact on the economy of Kenya. The main industry of Kenya is tourism. The incidence of violence results in the evacuation of hotels overnight. The price of shares also tumbles as the Kenyan currency once there is news about violence in the nation. Activities at the Mombasa port that also serves as the port for neighboring countries also shuts down during violence in any part of Kenya. The roadblocks put up by gangs usually stop the trucks moving out of the port and loots them if vehicles are not accompany by the army. Relief materials supplied by the UN to Somalia and Sudan also gets held up in Kenya due to the civil unrest. Moi utilized tribal politics in the Rift Valley region in the 1992 elections and resulted in the killing of 800 people in various conflicts. In the backdrop of tribalism, Kibaki won the 2002 elections since his rainbow alliance constituted all the tribe groups that were against Moi. The political crisis of Kenya is beyond the reach of the ruling power or western authorities to find a solution. The crisis is basically an outcome of the imperialist exploitation of the entire continent of Africa. It is the inability of the ruling elite to evade t he economic domination of certain tribes and draft a policy that gives equal status to all irrespective of the tribe divide. The policy adopted by the first president of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta was also a capitalist development theory though it was publicized as African Socialism. The economic and political developments put in place by the British broke apart leaving behind a disastrous economy and a poor nation for a major part of the population. The elites of Kenya have ransacked the country and are now greedy to accumulate the fruits of foreign investment (Talbot 2008). It is found that the lessons of ethnicity and ethnic rivalry was also taught at school. Negative ethnicity gains momentum because schools in a region accommodate students of the same tribe. If a student does not continue higher education or engage in a job in an urban setting, it is likely that the student has no opportunity to mix with people from other tribe and would result in a situation of tribal isolation and develop hatred towards other tribes. Thus they vote for their own tribe and have knowledge about their tribe only. However, the current education system gives emphasis to promote tribalism. This is emancipated with the introduction of inter school cultural festivals and games that serves as a bridge to reduce the divide between various tribes. Ethnic violence is more serious in rural regions in informal living environments like slums where people are illiterate and the opportunities for inter tribal mixing is low. Hence, uneducated population of Kenya is a serious threat when compared to their education population because illiterate population participates in ethnic violence due to their ignorance about people from other tribes (Mburu 2008). Though political pluralism is ushered in Kenya to reinstate democracy after its independence, human rights and accountability, ethnic violence, polarized societies and excessive violent clashes indicate that Kenya still practices the principle of a divisive tribal chief instead of adopting a democratic national leader. Currently, tribalism has made its way to all sectors of programs and acts as a great hindrance to the economic development and economic expansion of the nation (Rono 2002 p.94). The rural economy of Kenya has been dynamic due to the favorable policies drafted for the impressive growth of the agricultural sector in highly potential regions. The agrarian policies have witnessed a continuity during the past seventy five years though there has been two world wars, the civil Mau Mau conflict in the 1950’s and the independence of Kenya in 1963. Though commercial agriculture predominantly belonged to European plantations and farms, around 80 percent of the products produced for marketing were exclusively from European plantations. After the independence, productions were handled by very small and small African farmers. By the year 1981, around 54 percent of the production was from small plantations while most of the balance production was contributed by large farms of Africans. The Million Acre Scheme implemented by the first Prime Minister, Jomo Kenyatta distributed to farmers over a period of ten years from 1961 to 1971 was a successful plan that boosted the agriculture of Kenya. Around thirty five thousand families were settled in around 470000 hectares of agricultural land under the scheme (Tomich, Kilby & Johnston 1995 p377). On the agricultural front Kenya gained much benefits due to the smooth transition towards the independence. The positive legacy towards colonialism is due to the knowledge obtained from the Europeans in terms of increase in the production of tea, coffee, dairy products and pyrethrum (Tomich, Kilby & Johnston 1995 p.378). Political parties are exploiting the rage of ethnic clashes to cash in on votes from their tribes. Ethnicity is an inevitable part of African election. Countries like Kenya have very poor economic development and their people lead a marginal life and depend on their nearest people for survival. Villagers depend on their near ones to raise crop and share food in times of crisis. In urban areas people organize common amenities like schools since the government is not competent enough to provide the facilities throughout the nation. For these reasons, Kenyans first trust their family and secondly trust their tribe. Since politicians are aware of this dictum they exploit people ruthlessly by campaigning that they belong to a particular tribe (Doyle 2008). The history of Kenya constituted by tribalism and ethnicism continues to dominate the life of Kenyans irrespective of the various political parties that has risen to power over the time since independence. The tribal divisiveness continues in politics and in the administration of policies. Thus the implications tribalism and ethnicism are prevalent in the present day Kenya in various forms. Reference Doyle, M January 4 2008 Kenya stokes tribalism debate Available: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7168551.stm Accessed on January 20, 2009 Kiros, T. 2001. Explorations in African Political Thought: Identity, Community, Ethics London: Routledge Mburu, M.K. December 9 2008. R.I.P.A. Promotes the Fight against Negative Ethnicity in Kenya Available: http://www.thecommonwealth.org/news/152883/185853/r_i_p_a__promotes_the_fight_against_negative.htm Accessed on January 20, 2009 Mwakikagile, G. 2001 Ethnic Politics in Kenya and Nigeria New York: Nova Publishers Perham, M. 1970. Colonial Sequence London: Taylor & Francis Politics, tribalism volatile mix in Kenya. December 31, 2007. Available: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/31/africa/AF-GEN-Kenya-Elections-Tribalism.php Accessed on January 20, 2009 Rono, J K. 2002. The impact of the structural adjustment programmes on Kenyan society Vol.12. No.1 Journal of Social Development in Africa Available: http://archive.lib.msu.edu/DMC/African%20Journals/pdfs/social%20development/vol17no1/jsda017001007.pdf. Accessed on January 20, 2009 Salvatore, D. 1989 African Development Prospects: A Policy Modeling Approach. London: Taylor & Francis Talbot, C. January 8, 2008. Kenya: Social disintegration in country touted as African “success” story Available: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2008/jan2008/keny-j08.shtml Accessed on January 20, 2009 Tomich, T.P., Kilby, P & Johnston, B.F. 1995 Transforming Agrarian Economies: Opportunities Seized, Opportunities Missed New York: Cornell University Press Read More