Kikuyus and Luos need to read this..

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There is nothing wrong with being part of a tribe. Musician Brandy, in one of her songs poses the question, ‘if you are not yourself, then who are you!’ Well I am a Kikuyu. There are those who are born Luo. Overall,as a country we are a mosaic of over 42 tribes. We have to appreciate this diversity and be proud of it. Besides, I have heard the timeless adage that you cannot know where you are going if you do not know where you are coming from!

While there are those who look at the issue of tribe in a more open way, there are others who would rather look at the two tribes, and the attendant differences, in a more divisive way. There are those who adopted the buzzword ‘ethnicity/tribalism’ to describe these differences. I disagree with such pundits. These are negative ad peddlers.

I took a mental flight to the first time that I heard the word’ Luo’ and I recalled a very popular song in the 90’s. The song ‘Gathoni, ’ by Wainaina wa Kiandege (who also sung Kanicy) reminded me that there was a time when there were great lyrics about these two tribes! The song tells the story of a woman (Gathoni) who is the verge of committing suicide because of an absentee husband. Just before she jumps into the river, a Luo woman appears, rescues her and goes with her to Kisumu! So the first story I heard about Luo was that they are caring! And on the flip side, when Gathoni got to Kisumu, the locals were awed by her beauty. They would call her “Black beauty.” As such, the first opinion I heard about Kikuyu by Luo, is that their women are like a pot of gold!

I am aware that there are historical factors that have put a wedge between the Kikuyu and the Luo over time. These factors, which perhaps you and I may not have a firm grip on, on the first hand have led the Luo to view the Kikuyu as arrogant-who see themselves as the owners of the country and working overtime to keep Luos on the sidelines. On the other hand, the Kikuyu may view the Luo as hopeless, uncertain, angry, and fear inciting batch of individuals. When you have this mix of myths planted into the mindset of people, we can never move forward.

What I refuse to believe is the thinking that these differences are ethnic driven. They are not. We exacerbate these divisions when we keep thinking they are all about ethnicity! What we see is nothing more than an identity conflict or a conflict instigated by pursuit of human wants/needs/interests.

In the field of conflict resolution which I have worked and specialized in, identity conflicts emerge when a community, in response to unmet basic needs for social and economic security resolves to strengthen its collective influence and to struggle for political recognition. Politicians have realized this and used it to their advantage. They have created alliances borne out of tribe, convincing their people that this is the only route to emancipation!

In the study of human needs we get to learn that there is more likelihood of conflict emanating from unmet human needs. Abraham Maslow and John Burton, in their previous works have noted that these needs are not just limited to food, shelter, and water, but rather extend to include non physical elements needed for human growth and development, participation, control over their own life, as well as all those things human beings are innately driven to attain. As such, the failure of existing state systems to satisfy any of these needs can only lead to divisions which some sees as ethnicity!

If we understand the differences between the Luo and Kikuyu as the mere expression of unmet needs, then this would be at a position to start the debate on how we can heal not just the apparent differences between these two tribes but also we can rally the country to a more peaceful coexistence.