The title sounds provocative, doesn’t it? That aside, In my previous post about the viability of Unity in Kenya I disputed the idea that Kenya’s recurrent ethnic conflicts are based on underlying national issues, and as I had promised I would expound on my case. So, here is the first part of it.
This issue of Land is especially a very emotive one. Since the advent of Multiparty politics in this country there has been a recurrence of forced evictions in North rift. The hotspots are known, Kericho, Kuresoi, Molo and the greater Kalenjin regions, In fact I the author of this blog was evicted from Kericho when only 2 years old, of course this should not be misconstrued to imply that the author of this blog and consequently this post Is biased against Kalenjins. For all purposes I have been as objective as possible in this post.
this naturally sounds very simple and its almost romantic. Unfortunately this hypothesis is flawed, and at the risk of sounding tribalist I will assert that this is an oversimplified and bastardized version of the truth
It has been said that Kenyatta and his cronies’ grabbed Land is Central Kenya and as a result many Kikuyus were left landless. The effect of this it is postulated that Kenyatta’s government decided to “Dump” this “surplus” Kikuyus in the Kalenjin homeland. This has consequently resulted in the displacement of Kalenjins from their ancestral homeland. This is what some so called intellectual analysts postulate, this naturally sounds very simple and its almost romantic. Unfortunately this hypothesis is flawed, and at the risk of sounding tribalist I will assert that this is an oversimplified and bastardized version of the truth. A deep incursion into Kenya’s history will sink this as a weak theory. The problem with these theory of Kikuyu intruders misses a few major points, Firstly the Kenyatta government was not directly involved in the mass exodus of Kikuyu’s to Rift Valley. This relocation of Kikuyus to Rift valley was a purely private intervention, History reminds us that many Kikuyus formed land cooperatives that collected funds from Kikuyu families and bought land from leaving settlers in the Rift Valley, The most famous of this cooperatives and companies being Ngwataniro founded by Kihika Kimani. These companies and cooperatives are the means by which Kikuyus got to Rift Valley, not Kenyatta and his land grabs. This however should not be misunderstood to mean there is no land issue in Rift Valley. I understand and appreciate that there are legitimate grievances about Land and these need to be dealt with rather than being politicized.
Another fact to be appreciated is that Kikuyus came to the rift Valley long before Kenyatta, Kikuyus were brought to the Rift Valley by the colonialists as labourers in their farms and at the end of the colonial regime they were apportioned land by their former masters. It’s therefore obvious that the Land issue is not as simple as these so called intellectuals are postulating.
The issue of land is a real and legitimate grievance in Kenya but it is not the reason for protracted ethnic hostility. There are land issues especially in the coast and these have never erupted into ethnic hatred and acrimony. If land was the issue why are the animated fights only during Elections? The issue of ethnic conflict is not based on logical issues but just emotive politics. The conflict between Kikuyus and Kalenjins is based on political rivalries, It is a testimony of flawed leadership and an electorate that has absconded the responsibility to discern ideologies and pursue diligence and integrity and leadership. Why do whole tribes get sucked into pointless rivalries between individuals? We all have suffer the same problems of poverty, ignorance and disease and we all seek the same things, why then do we degenerate into emotionally charged opponents just because of differences in our dialects? I think its time we abandoned this expired school of thought and adopt a more pragmatic and independently minded thought and decision making.
I must admit that this post sounds so one sided and I must make a point to give you a KALENJIN SIDE OF THE STORY.
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