The politics of Kenya has
been defined by the rivalry
between the Luo and Kikuyu
ethnic communities.
Prior to Independence, and as the
country was integrated into the
global capitalist economic system,
suspicion between the leaders of the
two tribes was already simmering.
Soon after the partition of Africa,
the British were determined to
create an African state in the image
of their home country in Kenya.
It is for this reason that Nairobi
bears some uncanny resemblance to
London in the design of the old city.
The Uganda Railway reached Port
Florence, now Kisumu, in 1901 and
a decision to bring the eastern part
of the protectorate into Kenya was
made.
The boundary of Kenya was
therefore moved from Naivasha to
Kisumu.
The railway line was the most
important investment made by
the colonialists to facilitate the
extractive economy of the empire.
The white settlers expropriated
vast fertile lands of the country
inhabited mostly by the Kikuyus
and Kalenjins.
This action required that
equipment and labour would be
required to support the economy.
The Kikuyus found themselves
in a difficult position as there was
hatred and distrust between them
and the settler community.
The whites had annexed their
land without compensation.
The
whites at the same time compelled
them into forced labour by imposing
taxes that had to be paid in modern
currency.
In response, Kikuyus engaged in
sabotage to derail the economy.
The
settlers responded by incorporating
other ethnic communities into their
employment.
Notably, the Nandis were
recruited as security providers due
to their bravery exhibited during the
resistance led by Koitalel Samoei.
The Luo, on the other hand,
were incorporated into clerical
and supervisory roles.
The Kikuyus
provided the majority of unskilled
and manual labour.
The colonialists reinforced these
tribal suspicions with their divide-and-rule strategy. The Mau Mau
uprising proved to be an acid test
for the emerging African leaders.
Some senior key government
positions were being held by newly
educated Africans.
The trade unions
were also emerging and flourishing
to fill the void left by the ban
imposed on political parties.
The majority, if not all, of the Mau
Mau resistance were Kikuyus.
Even
though the leaders from the other
tribes demonstrated commitment
to nationalist ideals, the Kikuyu
leadership and masses were largely
held in high distrust.
When, earlier in the colonial
nation’s growth, Harry Thuku
and demonstrators were violently
dispersed at Norfolk, it was mainly a Kikuyu affair. Thuku would later
be detained at Kismayu, which then
was still part of Kenya.
The tribal hostilities later became
politically fatal, leading to the pre-independence assassinations of Tom
Mbotela and Ambrose Ofafa.
Both
were councillors in the Nairobi City
Hall and residential estates were
named after them in Nairobi.
This is how the media and key
leaders described the assassination
of Ofafa in November 1953.
The
murder of Ofafa by the Mau was a
cruel and probably calculated act. It
may be compared with the murder
of Mtobela.
Both men were killed after
their strong denunciations of the
Mau Mau and their calls to loyal
Africans to cooperate in rooting
out terrorism.
The Luo union, which was then
a quasi-political organisation,
declared they would not
countenance further attacks of
this nature on any race in the
colony and advised all Luo in
Nairobi to cooperate peacefully
with government officers and loyal
Africans.
From the Mau Mau’s
viewpoint, the murder was a
psychological error.
Ofafa, the African member of
the Nairobi City Council, was shot
in the back by an African while he
was returning home in a Kikuyuowned taxi.
He died in hospital during the
night.
He was born in Nyanza
province, educated at a mission
school and became a school teacher.
Later, he was employed as a railway stationmaster and for
five years worked on the clerical
staff of the East African Standard,
eventually going into business as a
shopkeeper in Nairobi.
In the Coronation Honours List,
he was appointed MBE for “fearless
service” to his community and to
the city during the emergency.
From his hospital bed, he
appealed to the Luo community to
refrain from attacking the Kikuyu.
His murder worsened the sour
relations between these tribes,
especially in Nairobi and had grave
import for the future of Kenya, as
in many cases, the victims were
profiled and marked out for filling
higher roles in leadership and
government.
As the country approached
Independence, Jaramogi Oginga and
Tom Mboya had to work overdrive to
cobble together the alliance between
the two tribes.
They made huge sacrifices,
including Mboya folding up his
political party, the Nairobi People’s
Congress.
Oginga, on the other
hand, voluntarily went out of his
way to reintegrate Jomo Kenyatta
into mainstream politics. ]
He would
uncharacteristically decline to form
a government until Kenyatta was
released.
The Kiambu mafia, with the
connivance of Mboya, four years
later, would jettison Oginga from
government and the ruling party
Kanu.
Three years after the infamous
Limuru Conference, Mboya would
suffer Ofafa’s fate at the hands of a Kikuyu gunman.
Earlier that year,
Argwings Kodhek was involved in
a suspicious fatal accident.
Raila Odinga replicated his
father’s deed in 2002 with his
“Kibaki Tosha” declaration, only
to suffer betrayal within two years.
Raila had hoped to whitewash
and in the process undo the 1969
Gatundu oaths.
The 10-year Uhuru
reign and Ruto’s first-term electoral
victories were courtesy of Kikuyu
anti-Luo sentiment.
However, soon after his
inauguration, President William
Ruto deliberately rejected strategic
efforts to push the Luos and
their party consorts into political
oblivion.
The shareholder narrative was
clearly an anti-Hustler Policy. Ruto
sought to establish a government
of inclusivity and national unity.
He avoided the push by his close
associate to alienate the regions
perceived to have rejected the Kenya
Kwanza coalition in the 2022 general
elections.
It eventually led to his falling
out with Deputy President Rigathi
Gachagua from Mt Kenya.
He has since reconstituted the
government under the Broad-Based
Government agreement with the
opposition chief.
The President recently expanded
Cabinet to include Principal
Secretaries in other key ministries.
The new appointments
demonstrate the President’s
commitment to inclusion and
cohesion.
He has decisively debunked the
narrative of us-versus-them by
ensuring the gains made in the
Nyanza region do not translate
into losses for the Mt Kenya
communities.
He has ensured continuity of
public service by tapping old hands
from previous administrations and
expertise from industry as senior
advisers in the presidency.
President Ruto is positioning
Kenya as a key strategic player in
regional and global new economic
frontiers, such as aviation, climate
change mitigation and blue wealth.
The President is actively pushing
for gender inclusivity and has gone
the extra mile to benefit from the
experience of trade union leaders in
the highest decision-making levels
of government.
The new leadership
is determined to mainstream justice
and human rights as it focuses on
quality service delivery.
This is a game changer in the
history of Kenya’s politics. The focus will henceforth shift to citizens’
needs as opposed to base tribal
mobilisation.
Elections that have previously
been won on the basis of a Luo-Kikuyu rivalry will have to be
recalibrated.
It will no longer be in vogue to
win the Kikuyu vote-basket by
selling anti-Luo propaganda.
The
domination of a few tribes through
manipulation of demographic data
has been rendered obsolete.
Public
service officials will henceforth find
it impossible to camouflage their
corruption and ineptitude in tribal
garb.
Commitment to public service
and national values will be the
guarantor of public positions.
Ruto has significantly altered
the structure and architecture of
Kenya’s politics.
