Tribal Chauvinism must be stopped

Tribal chauvinism is a threat to national reconciliation and stability in any given country. It happened in Rwanda and the Rwanda genocide has a left a bitter pill in the throats of the Rwandan people. In the name of a constitutional referendum in 2005, we balkanized and polarized our nation.

Two years later, poor kenyans massacred fellow kenyans in the name of a stolen general election. People were burnt in houses and churches and the images of the post-election crisis remind us of the cruelty of negative ethnicity.

This is the reason why the debate about the KKK alliance should not be given the latitude and time to take root. The architects of this alliance are mere political opportunists. Their political rhetoric is not what Kenyans want to hear. Their promise for a better Kenya in fundraising events is just but hot air.

We do not need a Kamba, Kikuyu, and Kalenjin alliance. Neither do we need a Luo, Kalenjin, and Luhya alliance. For heaven's sake, Kenya has more than 42 tribes. If we need an political alliance, then the 42 plus tribes must be represented. This is what national harmony and cohesion is all about.

While we cannot tolerate the manner in which poor Kenyans are being evicted from Mau forest, we should never politicize the environmental issue. The attempts to gang up into tribal cocoons to undermine the concerted efforts of conserving the environment lacks wisdom.

The Prime Minister should never be demonised in the implementation of government policy. Any misgivings in the way the government is manning its affairs should be addressed in diplomatic and amicable ways. The confrontational attitude of some of our leaders leaves a lot to be desired.

In the final analysis, kenyans rise and fall as one whether poor or rich, whether educated or uneducated, whether Luo, Kamba, Mijikenda, Kalenjin or any other tribe. The problems bedevilling us are many and common. When the poor folks cannot produce enough food for subsistence use, the economy suffers and the wealthy cry as a result.

We do not have a Western problem. We do have a North Eastern problem. We do not have a Rift Valley problem. Neither do we have a Nyanza or Coast problem. We have a Kenyan problem. We need a common purpose and a Kenyan solution rather than a tribal solution.

Chris
Article published in the Standard(04/12/09) and DN(05/12/09)