NCIC launches public discussions on ethnicity

Written By:Sylvester Ruto,    Posted: Tue, Aug 16, 2011

NCIC chairperson Dr. Mzalendo Kibunjia said the meeting was the first in a series of 10 regional meetings that will be held around the country in the next four months. National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) has launched a four months series of conferences countrywide to engage the public in discussing various issues related to ethnicity and race conflicts as the country prepares for next year's General elections. Speaking during the launch of the exercise at Kenyatta International Conference Centre in Nairobi (KICC) Tuesday, NCIC chairperson Dr. Mzalendo Kibunjia justified the need to address past historical ethnical diversity to bring equality to all and avert re-occurrence of post election in the country. He said marginalization of some communities, bad governance, unequal distribution of resources, discrimination and misappropriation of public resources are the major issues to be addressed during the exercise. "Negative ethnicity is a function of bad governance. There is a direct correlation between bad governance and unequal distribution of public resources and services, poor service delivery, discrimination, marginalisation, exclusion and inappropriate public policies," Dr Kibunjia added.  Dr. Kibunjia said that the commission has deployed enough personnel to regions to carry out the exercise. He called on the public to embrace peace and cohesion as the country prepares to go the polls in 2012. Prof Vincent Simiyu, who teaches history at the University of Nairobi, traced the creation of epithets that have fuelled negative ethnicity to the colonial state, which did not change even after independence.   The state, he added, has to play a central role in creating the nation and enforcing common laws and protecting the territory from external invasion and internal dissension. It is the responsibility of the state to promote a common language. "Do we have a government-sanctioned Government Printer Kiswahili version of the new constitution?" he posed to a silent audience of over 200 people at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The Nairobi conversation focused on the making of urban ethnicity and culture. Ford Foundation's resident representative, Dr Joyce Nyairo, said the way nationality is constructed in Kenya often omits the city, where there are fresh experiments in overcoming the difficulties of bring multiple identities together. Ethnic identity has been a longstanding theme in Kenya's history, going back to the colonial times and has remained alive and central throughout the independence years and the negotiation for a new constitution. Mr Bobby Mkangi, a member of the Committee of Experts that wrote the constitution, said acknowledging ethnic diversity can be a basis for delivering equality. "There is a link between power, race relations and ethnicity. The community that produces the president, for example, does come out to be favoured in the allocation of resources," said Mr Mkangi.  Disproportionate access of ethnic groups to national resources creates imbalances that fuel divisions, he added. The next discussions will be held in Kakamega, Kisumu, Nyeri, Isiolo, Kilifi, Mandera, Lodwar, Nakuru and Machakos before closing with the People's Conference in Nairobi. The National Cohesion Commission is organising the discussions in partnership with the Africa Health and Development International (AHADI) with the support of the Embassy of Sweden (Sida).