MIRADAS EXTRAÑAS, MIRADAS CONOCIDAS, MIRADAS DE IDENTIDAD…

Stevenson (2008: 12) points out that the Kikuyu tribe are “Kenya’s largest and traditionally most powerful” tribe. This status is largely due to the role played by the Kikuyu tribe in Kenyan politics. At the same time, however, this status has not endeared the Kikuyu to other domestic ethnic groups. Kenyan ethnic groups have always had a lingering perception that the Kikuyu are unwilling to relinquish power to other ethnic groups. As far as other ethnic groups were concerned, the events that followed general elections served to confirm this view. The 2007/08 violence did little to help relations between the Kikuyu and other ethnic groups.

The unwillingness shown by Mwai Kibaki to concede defeat during these elections was interpreted by many domestic ethnic groups as further proof that the Kikuyu are quite happy to maintain power within them. The 2007/08 electoral violence should also be seen within the context of distrust and animosity between the various ethnic groups in Kenya and the politically powerful ethnic group – the Kikuyu. The hostility of ethnic groups towards other ethnic groups became even more apparent in the elections campaigns leading up to the 2007/08 elections. The politicians from the Orange Democratic Movement did not pull any punches in their criticism of the

93 Kikuyu tribe. Klopp (2009: 145) observes that, “at rallies, ODM politicians often insinuated that Kibaki's ethnic community—the Kikuyu—were responsible for the corruption and exclusionary politics that characterized much of Kibaki's first administration. They also suggested that the Kikuyu were collectively responsible for [the] historical injustices from the beginning of independence, when Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, became president”.

The dim view that Kenyan groups held of the Kikuyu could be informed by a myriad of factors. For example, the majority of ethnic groups do not take kindly to the fact that the “Kikuyu enjoyed economic prosperity and political influence, and repressed any resistance against it. As a result, other ethnic groups, as well as many non- conforming members of the Kikuyu tribe, were alienated from government affairs. Participation in government was somehow a preserve for those who, either belonged to the president’s tribe, or were his pledged loyalists” (Mbondenyi, 2011: 49). On their part, the Kikuyu feel that that their political and economic dominance is justified, given the role they played in the struggle leading up to the independence of Kenya. The Kikuyu community strongly believe that they contributed significantly to the political history of Kenya, more than did any other ethnic group. The Mau Mau revolt against the British is often cited as an example of Kikuyu’s radicalism during the fight for independence. This claim is, however, disingenuous – especially given the fact that recent evidence clearly shows that other ethnic groups were also part of the Mau-Mau war. Admittedly, the Mau forces largely came from the Kikuyu community. Perhaps the lack of research in this part of Kenyan history has contributed to its distortion. Osborne (2010: 65) laments the lack of scholarship, as far the Mau war is concerned:

The dearth of scholarship seriously limits our understanding of the conflict itself: the relationship between the Kikuyu and the Kamba, and particularly the association between the Kamba and the British, the otherwise voluminous literature [the] on Mau Mau has rarely strayed from Kikuyu aspects of the episode, and has ignored [the] roles played by Kenya's other ethnic groups. We read little of Mau Mau general, Kirita ole Kisio (a Masai), or Luo or Luhya fighters, and virtually nothing about the Kamba, who—as demonstrated here—occupied a central role in the conflict.

These crucial elements that have been left out of the Kenyan history; and they have been one of the contributing factors to the animosity between the various ethnic groups in Kenya and the Kikuyu. The role played by other ethnic groups in the struggle for independence has not been acknowledged or widely documented in Kenyan history, this has created an unhealthy situation. Although the Kikuyu are the largest ethnic group in Kenya, they are not big enough to win the elections on their own; there is a need to garner support from areas that are occupied by other ethnic groups. In fact, any ethnic group in Kenya that has designs on winning the elections can only do so by forming coalitions with some of the other groups.

The Kikuyu can only win elections if they have managed to garner support from other ethnic groups. Given the animosity towards the Kikuyu by other ethnic groups, one would have thought that these ethnic groups could provide a united front in the elections, by forming political coalitions that exclude the Kikuyu – and thereby giving the Kikuyu no chance of winning the elections. The Kenyan politics, however, are not so black and white; there are too many shades of grey in between – especially when it comes to the dynamics between the various ethnic groups. The peculiar aspect of Kenyan politics is that even though various ethnic groups have one thing in common, and that is hostility towards the Kikuyu, this is not enough to unite them. Some of these groups have even given Kikuyu candidates their support in the polls.

There is a complex relationship between the various ethnic groups in Kenya. The smaller ethnic groups have tended to attach themselves (politically) to the bigger or main ethnic groups. So even though ethnic groups might share a loathing for the Kikuyu, this is not translated into a lack of support for the Kikuyu during the electoral process. According to Throup (1993: 372), smaller ethnic groups have tended to give support to the bigger ethnic groups – due to the fear of “domination by the larger ethnic groups”. If one looks at the past presidents of Kenya, one would notice a common thread. The majority of these presidents came from one tribe – the Kikuyu. In fact, Daniel Arap Moi was the only non-Kikuyu to ever occupy the highest office in Kenya. Moi was a member of the Kalenjin community. In an attempt to address the neglect of non-Kikuyu societies by previous Kikuyu administrations, Moi channelled government resources mostly to Kalenjin communities and other communities. Moi continued the same ‘tradition’ that was practised by the Kikuyu; and that is ‘taking

95 care of your own’. According to Barkan (2004: 88), Moi sought to redress this imbalance, pursuing a set of redistributive policies that favoured his own ethnic group – the Kalenjin – and other disadvantaged tribes in the Rift valley. This served as further proof that the political environment in Kenya is heavily ethnicised, and a collective identity is almost non-existent. In order to understand the complex problem encountered by Kenya one needs to interrogate the complex concept of identity.