The Tribes
I haven’t discussed Kenya yet for a couple of reasons. Namely, we had a bad experience there that colored my whole experience a bit. I need to press forward with all the good stuff about Kenya. When I went to Kenya I thought it would be fun to have a combination of tribes along. I thought it would be interesting to see Meru, Kikuyu, Masai and other peoples interacting. From last year’s visit, I knew tribalism is a major issue in Kenya. Pamela is Meru, our guide, Solomon, is Masai and our driver, Jessie, is Kikuyu. I also invited two friends, Albert and Ayanna, from Tanzania and from a completely different tribe as well as country. We saw a lot of Kenya in three weeks and the travel put us in contact with a number of other tribes. Since this was October and November and a national election was coming up in late December, a lot of political discussions took place and it was obvious that a person’s favorite for president was based on their tribal affiliation and the relationship that tribe has with the current president’s Kikuyu tribe. During our trip around Kenya, the more tribalism I witnessed, the more concerned for Kenya I became. It was a major reason that I found it difficult to picture myself living in Kenya. At no time, though, did I understand what we have since seen after the election.I am currently at SFO waiting for my flight to London, Nairobi and on to Cameroon. I am not too excited about Nairobi considering I have twelve hours there and I am not sure I will be able to leave the airport. Our plan was for Pamela to come to the airport and then we would be in Nairobi for the day, but the situation is unpredictable today and we will have to see if roads are open. This trip is a logisitical nightmare because I am packing things to stay in Nairobi for the future travel to Mideast and Asia and I am bringing a bunch of things just for the Central African Republic camping trip. My planning will kind of fall apart if I am not able to drop off the kilos of books and other items not needed in Cameroon. The latest text message from Pamela said that they are not able to travel due to security problems because Pamela is Meru, she is connected closely to the Kikuyu tribe and there are people that might treat her poorly if they stopped her. Pamela and her sister, Lendsy, live close to Kibera slum and that presents risks as well since Kibera is mainly Luo tribal people and those that have been described as against the Kikuyu president.
Kenyans generally know three languages – their tribal language, Kiswahili and English. When two people from one tribe are together, they speak in their tribal tongue. When two Kenyans of different tribes are together, they speak Kiswahili. If they are discussing business, government affairs or international affairs then they speak in English. It did not take long to start learning about the different tribes, their languages and their relationship with each other. By time I left in November, I was saying that Kenyans need to start living as Kenyans and not forty-two different tribes within a country called Kenya. The current system has too much power in the largest tribe, Kikuyu, too few protections for the other tribes and has pitted the tribes in power against the rest because of nepotism, cronyism, corruption and favoritism. I have become aware during my trip that the greatest strength of the US constitution is equal protection and its concept of guaranteeing legal protection for minorities is sorely missing in much of the world and is a real problem in Kenya. Now Kenya has a situation where a significant number of its people believe (probably correctly) that they have been abused by the system and the Kikuyu governance and now they want to take serious action to right their wrong. Unfortunately, this cannot be corrected via violence and murder and Kenya seems to be dangerously close to civil war or anarchy. So much for being one of the most prosperous and stable countries in Africa.
I hope Kenyans figure out a path forward from this cliff, but this problem will not be solved quickly. Kenya is a complicated country with just about as much diversity as I have seen anywhere. Nairobi is a city of four million residents representing all of the tribes since Nairobi never existed until a hundred years ago and therefore does not really belong to a tribe. It has some very serious poverty and very wealthy residents. In fact, Kibera slum with its 800,000 residents is located very close to Karen which is one of the wealthiest places I have seen in Africa. Nairobi is a very paranoid city with most of its residents afraid of violent criminals. I believe a lot of this paranoia and the underlying reality causing it is because of the diversity in residents’ tribal affiliation and wealth. Pamela’s family is from Meru near Mt Kenya. The average life expectancy there is 67 years and it appears people live a good life in this highland farming district. On the flip-side is Mombasa on the coast which has a life expectancy of 33 years. Is there any surprise that the violent protests are coming out of Kibera and Mombasa while Karen and Meru are calm? My guess is that something has to change soon or Kenya is poised for a lot more violence.
Tags: Africa, kenya, Travel
vagabondrick
Jambo, Rick! Thought about you during the recent horrific upheavals in Kenya and was concerned about your plans to return, but knowing that you’re now on your way there, I wish you good travels and hope that you and Pamela are able to connect safely. Nanette