KIKUYU-PHOBIA: ODM-K MUST STOP THREATS AGAINST COMMUNITIES

Dear Mzee Charles Njonjo,

As a Kenyan whose grandfather lived in Central Province, I consider the Central Kenya Initiative the most shameless exhibition of tribalism in 21st Century Kenya. My relatives are married into Luo, Luhya, Taita and other communities and I was born and brought up in the Rift Valley Province. My closest childhood friends had the names Chemng’orem, Lihanda, Shihemi, Mwangi and Opar. I even learnt a little Kisii from my neighbors Maosa and Kerubo and I am building a home in what was once known as Maasai land. My roommate and confidante in high school was called Ohanya and all the Kikuyu ladies I have shared offices with over the past four years were married to Kamba, Luhya, Taita and Luo men. The fact that my friend Wamungah from Alego Usoga is not qualified to join, makes the Central Province Initiative as desperate as the call for Luhya unity. It is as fraudulent as the 2001 attempt by Raila Odinga to unite the Luo or the GEMA-like Central Province Development Support Group’s bid to unite the Kikuyu so as to make them “co-operate with KANU”. It is only tribalists who would threaten a community with “vote for us or else”. If ODM-Kenya formed the next government, does it mean Central Kenya (read Kikuyus like my grandmother) will be denied their rightful share of national resources? Are you threatening my grandmother with economic isolation because you believe that she supported the Wako draft constitution? What other “Isolation” should scare a Kikuyu woman enough to make her into vote for Odinga, Kalonzo, Uhuru or William Ruto? Will my grandmother be isolated if she supports Ford-Kenya?  

In your statement, you invoked the names of Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga claiming that, if they were to arise, they would ask Kenyans to unite. You further claim that the isolation of the Kikuyu community “has never been experienced even at the worst moments in Kenya’s history”. I would like to remind you that the Kenyatta era and the Moi days during which you and Jaramogi played a role were the foundation of the “Kikuyuphobia” that Philip Ochieng wrote about in February 2001 in his analysis of the “Historical root of our phobia for the Kikuyu”. Jaramogi Odinga and Mzee Kenyatta are the pillars of tribal divisions between Luo and the Kikuyu. They used the names of the Kikuyu and the Luo in pursuing their political ambitions and they divided the two communities for no good reason. Their sons Uhuru and Raila were brought up in the two homesteads that divided this nation. You should not be asking either of them to vie for the Presidency of this nation. Kenya needs to heal and after all, as the wise men of your generation taught us young Kenyans, “mtoto wa nyoka ni nyoka”.

Sir, you asked what was wrong with a “Luo presidency”. The first wrong thing
about that question is that there is no such thing as a Luo Presidency. In Kenya, there can be no Luhya Presidency, Rendille Presidency or, for that matter, Kikuyu Presidency. No President should be voted in to represent a community. For instance, your preferred candidate Raila Odinga has tried to be President twice before and both times lost to Mwai Kibaki, Wamalwa Kijana and others. If your concern is that the next President must speak Dholuo, why not try or my half-Luo-half-Kikuyu nephew or Raphael Tuju, James Orengo or Shem Ochuodo? For Raila to lose, Kenyans did not have a problem with a President
whose grandparents hail from Luo Nyanza. They simply do not think Raila Odinga should be the “Luo President” you so erroneously pray for. When you fail to realize that and imply that Raila’s or LDP’s woes are due to President Kibaki real or imagined “tribalism”, you reveal your deeply held tribal biases. No Kenyan should accept to be grouped into tribal outfits such as Central Kenya Initiative every time someone is desperate for votes. Politicians must face the electoral music as individuals not as a community. Uhuru should go and endear himself to all voters and not run to Siaya demanding for “Luo Nyanza Initiative” to campaign on his not-so-wrong “Gatundu South Presidency”. If Raila wants votes from Kerugoya, Othaya, Githunguri or Limuru, he must go there “yeye mwenyewe” to convince voters that he will improve the economy better than Kibaki has and that they will not be denied their rights if they do not vote for him. Unlike it was in the years gone by, this is not about being Luo or Pokomo as ODM-Kenya would want us to imagine.

I would like to correct you on the basis you keep using as an indicator of Kikuyu isolation. Kindly do not mislead Kenyans that the divisions at BOMAS were about being Rendille, Marakwet, Nandi or Kipsigis. The divisions were about the desired appointment of Raila Odinga as Prime Minister as per an
[unconstitutional] Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that should have seen LDP members receive more positions in the NARC/Kibaki government. You may benefit from a reminder that the only reason Odinga’s men defected to NARC was that Moi chose Uhuru Kenyatta instead of the then Secretary General, Raila Odinga who had traded in NDP to KANU in the hope of great things. In revenge against Moi, Raila had to painfully declare “Kibaki Tosha” and campaign for the very man he swore in March 2002 that he would never vote for. The Official Leader of the Opposition Mwai Kibaki became President.

Back to BOMAS, all those opposed to the MoU were branded “Mount Kenya Mafia” and Kenyans were told that these Mafia wanted to “scuttle the process”. It is these two camps that fuelled divisions during the referendum and the Orange campaign machinery was very effective in whipping up euphoria to tip the scale against the Banana side. They were very effective in claiming that a hurriedly non-consensus BOMAS draft constitution was “people-driven”. To defeat rational thinking, they continued to use xenophobic terms as Mount Kenya Mafia and deceived the Maasai that people from “Mount Kenya” wanted to steal their land while men were urged to oppose the right of women to inherit. The most prominent woman in the Orange campaign was even quoted opposing the women’s right to property on the basis of culture. It is interesting to note that ODM-Kenya now claims it wants minimum reforms that will guarantee the rights of women as proposed in the Wako draft. Strangely, even Muslims were urged to vote against a draft constitution that would have seen them gain more than any other Kenyan. It is the same Orange campaign that discouraged Kenyans from reading the draft constitution so that non-constitutional issues such as the NARC MoU and tribal divisions dominated the campaign. As an opposition party, KANU only joined LDP
so as to punish the NAK faction that had remained loyal to the Kibaki government. KANU was upset that Kibaki had appointed opposition MPs to his Government of National Unity (GNU) without negotiating with Uhuru Kenyatta.  Unfortunately, the disorganized YES campaign, led by LDP’s nemesis NAK, had their strongest support in Central Kenya, South Nyanza and parts of Western Province while LDP and KANU were strongest in Luo Nyanza, Coast and the Rift Valley. The battle between LDP and NAK has now become the so-called two-horse race between ODM-K and NARC-Kenya. It is wrong for Sir Njonjo, Raila and company to pretend to unite Kenyans in a desperate attempt at revenge against President Kibaki for trashing of the unconstitutional demands of the NAK/LDP MoU. The issue of the MoU remains the main division between Kibaki and Raila camps. Keep
my Kikuyu and Luo friend out of this narrow battle for control of my country.

Finally, Sir Njonjo, you referred to yourself as an opinion leader. To say the
least, that was the greatest over statement of your significance in modern
Kenya. Times have changed and in this day and age, Tony Gachoka and Uhuru
Kenyatta are the worst choice for allies in your tribal club. Mr. Gachoka, who
garnered 91 votes in 2002, has a support base the size of an estate nursery
school. Believe it or not, Mukhisa Kituyi and Raphael Tuju would be a better
choice for getting you support from Central Kenya. Uhuru Kenyatta, on the other hand, has failed the leadership test in KANU and is the weakest Official Leader of the Opposition Kenya has ever had. Uhuru cannot lead a quarter of Kenya’s population into ODM-K because he has also made it clear that he is not a representative of any tribe. If you so much want the country to unite and
believe that President Kibaki single handedly controls 43% of the voters as per
the 2005 referendum results, doesn’t it make more sense to negotiate with him
instead? You would have served a better role had your shifted the debate from
tribe to a demand for equitable distribution of resources for all constituency.
Equitable distribution means Kenyans would be comfortable if the Coast Province should be seen to develop in proposition to the growth of tourism industry while Lake Victoria region would benefit more from fishing industry. Without calling someone a Rendille or Pokomo, you may politely demand explanations as to why the Kenya Roads Board allocated more money for road in to Nyeri district. Modern Kenya, dear Sir, is not what it was when you were in politics. Wind up the Central Kenya Initiative and campaign for integrity and equitable distribution of resources by asking tainted colleagues in ODM-Kenya such Ole Ntimama to apologise for his role in fueling tribal clashes. Rise above the fray.

I remain Proudly Kenyan,

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Wainaina Mungai

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.