Admittedly, there were lots of challenges in Kenya as I prepared for my return home. There was ethnic exclusivism, xenophobia, discrimination and marginalisation of certain groups of people. There was flagrant nepotism and cronyism. Integrity, competence, education, training, experience and skills, which should be the basic criteria for employment and upward mobility, didn’t matter as much as ethnic, racial and class affiliations. Caucasians, Asians, and the Kikuyu and Kalenjin elites – generally – were regarded to rank higher than other groups, in that order. The first and second categories derive their privileged status to colonial policies, while the elites of the third and fourth groups draw theirs from neo-colonial tribalism and abuse of power. In fact, growing up (and even up to this moment), I have never met an unemployed or homeless Kenyan Caucasian or Asian. Whether at Kenya’s airports, hotels, restaurants or at social and political functions, those belonging to these two groups are always served first and more politely than their African counterparts. It’s one despicable colonial and neocolonial legacy I have never accepted, and which is what I felt the burning desire to help change.......Miguna Miguna,Peeling back the Mask
Posted on: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 06:42:06 +0000
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