Unpacking Tribal Domination Through Tribal Myths: Tribal Hegemonies

This is a complex issue, but for the sake of simplicity I will reduce what I am going to say into itemized propositions:

  1. Leaders use tribal voting blocks to win elections. The main reason for this is because Kenya is still a tribal society and political constituencies tend to be homogeneous in terms of tribal affiliation; that is true even in large cities where you will find members of the same tribe living in the same urban neighborhood. That has been the pattern since the days of British colonialism in Kenya!
  2. If you appeal to your “tribesmen” to win elections, what are you going to give them in return? For the vast majority of Kenyans with modest to no income, not much!
  3. For show and tell the “unGodly” leaders undertake high profile projects–a road here, a bridge there, a school over here, etc; these do indeed help wananchi with their “mikokoteni” (wheeled carts) in transporting their produce to the markets. But by and large, the big infrastructure projects in particular are of more benefit to the wealthy. Heavy commercial trucks can undertake long distance hauling of goods for the global as well as Kenyan market places. Today in Kenya, you will see an incredible sight of huge 18-wheel trucks strewn all over the place along the Mombasa-Nairobi road.
  4. Whatever the “unGodly” leadership does, they understand that the passport to great riches depend on the construction of a modern infrastructure. Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto cannot continue to amass their wealth without undertaking these “mega” projects. Besides there is the political payoff of using such projects for propaganda and winning elections.
  5. Big projects and foreign investment also yields tremendous dividends in terms of bribes, shake-downs (extortion of foreign investors), etc. Remember Biwott? He was called “Mr. ten percent” because that is allegedly what he demanded from investors whether local or foreign. Rather quietly the “unGodly” Kenyan leadership has been doing the same since our independence.
  6. Kenya is not a static society and there has emerged a class of middle income class of professionals in both the private and public sectors. These are people who the “unGodly” has to bribe through loans from bank that they control or influence, appointments to state and parastatal institutions, etc. Since the days of Mzee Kenyatta, the Kikuyu in particular have been the beneficiaries of this process.
  7. Primitive accumulation is a process where people use both legitimate as well as illegitimate means of building their wealth. Take an example of Ruto. Unlike Uhuru whose father did the dirty work of primitive accumulation way back, Ruto started with virtually nothing. Today he is one of the wealthiest men in Kenya. This wealth was not amassed by the simple gospel of “hard work” that is preached to the everyday people!
  8. When people talk about “Kikuyu” this or that, thinking that all the Kikuyu have fared very well after years of “Kikuyu” domination. The reality is that the vast majority of the poor in Kenya today are Kikuyu. The same goes for the Kalenjin after years of Moi’s leadership. In fact during the heyday of Mzee Kenyatta and Moi, members of their respective constituencies in Gatundu and Baringo were among the poorest people in Kenya! How about that? But you would not know that when you hear the political rhetoric in “tribalized politics”.
  9. The GEMA (Gikuyu, Embu, Meru Association) “hegemony” has become a belief system that a vast majority of Mt. Kenya tribes subscribe to, whether rich or poor! Mzee Kenyatta started it all with the oath “the Flag of Kenya Shall Not Leave the House of Mumbi”. Mumbi being the mythical parent of all of the GEMA clans.
  10. “Nyayo” politics of Moi took a page from Kenyatta and created another hegemonic myth that saw the ascendance of the Kalenjin. Moi. who was described as “professor of politics” had learned well from Mzee Kenyatta, hence his famous political line of “nyayo” (following the footsteps)!
  11. Kenya today has come full circle with Uhuru (GEMA) and Ruto (Kalenjin), who have implemented the same political strategies and tactics of tribal hegemonies.
  12. Projecting the past into the future: Jomo Kenyatta (1964–78); Daniel arap Moi (1978–2002); Mwai Kibaki (2002–13); Uhuru Kenyatta (2013– ). Beyond this Uhuru would like to have his 10 years (constitutional statutory limits), Ruto 10 years, and then Uhuru’s son 10 years. You can understand why hegemonic myths are such powerful ideologies of domination. They are tried and proven instruments of power in Africa.