How did Ominous Oath commencing Aug 5, 1969 always favour one community over all others? The Continuation of Kenya’s darkest hours Part VI Authentic Excerpts from: Tribal Politics Harass Kenya by Stanley Meisler. Copyrights: The contents of Foreign Affairs are copyrighted.©1970 Council on Foreign Relations, Inc. Volume 49 • Number 1 All rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution of this material is permitted only with the express written consent of Foreign Affairs. What, in fact, is the awesome tribal problem from 1969? It has two sides, the domination of the Kikuyus and the disaffection of the Luos. This, of course, seems obvious from the events of last year. It is easy, in fact, for an outsider to come up with a simple formula: Kenya will be sure of stability with the decline of Kikuyu power, and its corollary, anti-Kikuyu resentment, and the increase of Luo influence and loyalty to the central government. Unfortunately, the issues are a good deal more complex and emotional. Kikuyu dominance can be documented easily. The President and six of his 22 cabinet members are Kikuyu; and the six ministries include the two most prestigious, Finance and Foreign Affairs. In the civil service, Kikuyus have nine of the 22 permanent secretaryships, the highest nonpolitical position in the ministries. Of the seven provincial commissioners, the civil servants who administer the provinces for the President and the central government, four are Kikuyu. Kikuyus also head the police, the Central Bank of Kenya, the University of Nairobi, and the two most important government agencies involved in the private sector of the economy, the Industrial and Commercial Development Corporation and the Kenya National Trading Corporation. The Luos and the Kambas (the fourth largest tribe in Kenya) fill a number of the other significant positions, though they are far less influential than the Kikuyus. Three cabinet members and the head of the labor movement are Luo, while two cabinet members, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Chief Justice of the High Court, and the commander and many of the top officers of the army are Kamba. The Kamba dominance in the 4,700-rnan army comes from colonial days when the British looked on them as favored recruits and the Kikuyus, who led the Mau Mau rebellion, as suspicious and disloyal. The lieutenants and captains in the army these days, however, are heavily Kikuyu, and in a decade or two the army could come under Kikuyu dominance. In addition, the general services unit, a 1,200-rnan paramilitary unit within the police, is run by Kikuyus. In a survey of the Kenya elite in 1967, Michael Chaput and Ladislav Venys of Syracuse Universitys program of Eastern African Studies concluded that the Kikuyu were preeminent. In terms of both number and percentage they are disproportionately represented, they wrote; have more inhabitants in Nairobi; are better educated; possess more individuals educated outside East Africa; are more frequently employed by government or in the professions, private business and teaching; have more members in voluntary associations; are more widely represented in local and national government than all other Africans and most non-Africans in this survey. There has been a good deal of resentful criticism of Kikuyu dominance by backbenchers in parliament recently. No doubt some tribal bias is at work. Throughout Africa, politicians and civil servants feel more comfortable with associates from the same tribe and therefore tend to favor them in appointments and promotions. This is probably true in Kenya. But the critics of Kikuyu domination try to ignore a fact which they find difficult to face. The Kikuyus are the most educated, experienced, resourceful, energetic, adaptable and modern tribe in Kenya. If all promotions and appointments could be controlled strictly by an objective, computerized test of merit, the Kikuyus probably would still hold almost all the positions they have today. The great advantage of the Kikuyus comes from the role of achievement in their traditional society. Unlike many other tribes, they give a relatively great deal of status to a man for what he has achieved rather than what his fathers did. Wealth counts far more than genealogy. The society also is fairly egalitarian and not authoritarian. In short, there is a good deal of social mobility and competition among the Kikuyus. In this regard, they resemble the Ibos of Nigeria, probably the most energetic and modern people in West Africa. People like the Kikuyus and the Ibos are quick to adopt new ways if they feel the changes will bring them the wealth that is so admired in their societies. If it strikes them that Christianity and education and modern ways can lead to status, they will accept them all. This, of course, gives them an advantage over other tribes that are satisfied with inherited status and adopt new ways with less fervor. The Kikuyus also have other advantages. They come from an area of fertile land and cool, healthy climate. Malaria does not sap their energy, and arid or rocky land does not cheat them of production. In addition, a shortage of land has made them aggressive in their drive to compete and achieve. They also have benefited from having closer contact with the white settlers than other tribes in Kenya, for the whites settled on Kikuyu land. The Kikuyus have been closer to modern ways than other tribes and more eager to adopt them. Education statistics demonstrate their drive. In Kenya, the number of schools and pupils are good indices of a communitys desire for education, because the community usually must put up the school itself or contribute heavily to it, and the parents must make sacrifices to pay tuition. Central Province, the heartland of the Kikuyu people, has 15 percent of the countrys population but 25 percent of its primary school children. Primary school enrollment in Central Province was 312,000 in 1969—21,000 more than the estimated population of children aged six to twelve in Central Province. In short, it is probable that all children of primary school age attend primary school in Central Province, plus a good number who are over-age. In Nyanza Province, the home of the Luo people, primary school attendance is only 53 percent of the estimated primary school age population. The Harambee secondary schools of Kenya tell the same story. These schools, named from the Swahili word for Lets pull together, are built by communities without any government assistance. Under the plan, the schools become eligible for government control and financing after they have operated on their own for several years. It is a way for an energetic, resourceful community to forge ahead in secondary education. Of the countrys 431 Harambee schools, no, or more than a quarter, are in Central Province. It is nearly impossible to stem this drive of the Kikuyus. Moreover, it is doubtful whether the government of a developing country should make any attempt to dampen the enthusiasm of its most aggressive people. The drive of the Kikuyus is what development is all about. Below: The players of 1969 that successfully covered the oath and made sure that the Kikuyus and Embus were oathed
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 21:02:14 +0000
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