Bleeding Brain

KENYA IN THE NEWS

Many people have wondered why I have not commented on the current crisis in Kenya. I have often blogged about my experiences there and yet, the one time that Kenya is on international news, I have been silent.

Allow me to write a little about the country and its woes.

I was born in Kenya in the late sixties into the majority tribal group. At that time, Kenya was at the apex of its post-independence idealism. The economy was soaring, civility and traditional hospitality were deep cultural traits and tribal divisiveness was being discouraged by the government and leaders in most of the tribes.

Unlike many African countries, Kenya handled the transition from British colonial rule to African rule fairly well and the institutions like the court system and the parliamentary system continued under Kenyan leadership with hardly any seams.

The expectations of the population were high. Everyone anticipated a gradual climb out of third world status and into modernity. Education was insisted on for all children as a national priority and a well-educated Kenyan youth emerged.

To be sure, there were problems like are to be found in all countries but there was a component that was not found in all countries and that is the component of hope. Each farmer or welder or factory worker who sent his or her children to school believed that the future was going to supersede the past with opportunities, peace and freedom.

After all, during the campaigns to kick out the colonial masters, it was often said that the British were the real hindrance to Kenya's liberty and prosperity and now that they were gone, was it not logical that their lives would get better?

Well.....maybe not.

In a country like Kenya where multiple tribes found themselves ensconced within artificially drawn borders, there was one simple question that was not adequately answered before the British were thrown out.

Here is the question: Is there any difference between being ruled by a white foreigner and being ruled by a black man of a different tribe?

In the idealistic frenzy of seeking independence, the argument against colonialism was that black Africans should be ruled by black leaders. The question of the tolerability of being ruled by black men from various tribes did not feature strongly in the pre-independence debate.

After winning independence from the Brits, a leader from the majority tribe (Jomo Kenyatta who died in 1978) led the country and things were relatively settled.

When Kenyatta died, his vice president, Daniel Moi, a man from a minority tribe called the Kalenjin ascended to the presidency and for a time, the country continued its peaceful course. The majority tribe accepted the leadership of a man from the minority tribe when he started out his terms with skill and tack.

After a few years, storm clouds began to gather over the small country as corruption began to burgeon and economic disasters began striking.

As the population became restless and started blaming the politicians, political insecurity set in and the president expanded a suppressive campaign to silence opposition. The real test as to whether a majority tribe would accept the oppression of a minority ruler was underway.

In much the same way that Saddam Hussein who hailed from a minority tribe in Iraq (Sunnis) managed to suppress the Shiite majority tribe through economic and violent measures, Daniel Moi held onto power using fear and fanning the flames of inter-tribal loathing. The once healthy economy weakened into almost complete collapse leaving the country desperate and free of the opportunities that the large educated youth population needed. A massive number of Kenyans left the country to find better lives in the US, Britain and other places.

Anecdotally, when I contact my classmates from high school, I usually reach them in Texas, England and California where they serve as architects, doctors and teachers. They could not find reasons to stay in the land they were born in.

These are of course the very people needed to build the well being of a country but were forced to flee due to the suppressive and ruinous actions of a black leader in their own country.

This is where the irony rests: The fervent fight against white rule was successful in ushering black rule which then resulted in a generation fleeing to live under the white rule in Britain and the US.

Under President Bush's policy of issuing foreign aid only when democratic reform was demonstrated by recipient countries, Daniel Moi was finally forced to step down (this is why I love Prez. Bush). Circa 2002, a historic election was held that put the current president into power. One of the first actions undertaken was to give the departing president a large pension rather than to prosecute him for crimes against humanity.

The reasoning was that in the future, leaders would know that it was safe to relinquish power and so would have no fear in calling fair and free elections.

It turns out that the current president may have violated the very ideal he was trying to establish when he first set foot in office.

I guess power is an addictive potion.

From the Kikuyu side, I think I understand why they would be less than enthusiastic in efforts to fight against the election irregularities that their tribal comrade is being accused of and probably committed.

When Jomo Kenyatta died, there were some Kikuyus who did not want a Kalenjin in power and some shenanigans were being conducted behind the scenes to keep Daniel Moi out of power even though, as the sitting vice president of the deceased president, he was constitutionally required to take over the office of the president. Most Kikuyus did not support the subversive effort but instead supported the legal handover of power to a president who was not of their tribe.

When they supported the handover of power to a minority tribe, they were rewarded by being crushed and economically destroyed by Moi. Government efforts were directed to making the Kalenjin tribe the most favored tribe in the country. Kikuyus may have some trepidation in going to bat for a minority tribe again. They last time they did so, they came to regret it deeply.

In Kenya, as a rule, no good deed goes unpunished.

Where is the country to go from here?

Maybe the Kikuyus will rally once again against a man from their own tribe who tried to hold power illegally and hand power to a minority tribe again.

With the violence that erupted quickly after the vote was called, that is unlikely.

An old friend of mine from the Luo tribe sent me note saying that he was grieved deeply by the election mess in Kenya. He wrote that what happened "may signal a slide back to darkness".

Indeed it might.

Africa always seems to slide back to darkness.