By Kilemi Mwiria
When President Moi declared that Kanu would rule Kenya for a hundred years, few of those who wanted the party out, took him seriously. Well, they should now think twice. The presence of Kanu in the current Government is almost overpowering as Kanu politicians occupy most of the powerful ministries, thanks to the coalition government. As would be expected, some old Kanu ways, especially tribalisation of our political culture, remain with us.
Yet, we had virtually slain this tribal monster by the time Narc swept into power in 2003. For the first time in the era of multi-party democracy, an incoming President was voted in by the majority of Kenyans; Gema and Kamatusa were irrelevant. Sadly, we blew that god-sent opportunity to remain a united country. By 2005 and more dramatically in 2007, Kenya was a tribally divided country.
The re-emergence of Gema and Kamatusa has completed the slide back to the pre-2003 days. But it is not only the Kanu old guards that have been driving this resurgence of ethnic politics, including destruction of the 2003 unity. At the forefront are politicians who in their other lives prided themselves as the very epitomisation of reform.
Now we know that some of them were never reformers at heart but opportunists who had never got the break they needed to reveal themselves. The biggest tragedy of Kenya’s politics today is that the few in whom Kenyans had hope, have turned to the old ways of doing business that made hope a distant possibility because Kenyans, with the encouragement of politicians, put tribe before Kenya. We know where that led us.
Worse still, those well placed to check tribal excesses are content to sit by and watch things unfold. Although the Constitution guarantees us freedom of association, it must be bad freedom that makes the majority of Kenya’s communities feel marginalised and threatened by those who have the numbers and political muscle to put their tribal teams together.
Tribal associations further subvert democracy when they declare some select politicians leaders of communities they have not consulted. Of course we cannot expect carefully selected community representatives who attend these tribal barazas, to sing a different song from those who pay for their subsistence and travel allowances. Where are the veteran politicians and church leaders who saw the dangers of these tribal groupings in the days gone by? Is their silence an approval of what is going on? Do church leaders fronting this tribal crusade still believe they have the moral authority to preach to us about love for thy neighbour? Or is the adage "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" becoming a reality as perceived by those who see enmity in tribal terms?
When will those with the most to lose (youth, the business community) and those whose success has not depended on tribal favours stand up to agents of trouble and retrogression? It time the President and Prime Minster cracked the whip and not just condemn.
Now that politicians are leading us the wrong way, professionals, business groups and educated elites (unemployed youth, teachers, students) should speak out now, and unlike politicians, avoid using strategies of the past for tomorrow’s solutions.
The writer is MP for Tigania West and Assistant Minister Higher Education, Science and Technology
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