Kenya is famous for picturesque landscapes,
dizzying diversity of wildlife, the world’s fastest runners. Kenya is birthplace
of the ancestors of the leader of the free world.
When our neighbors were embroiled in
conflict former president Moi crowed about Kenya as an “island of peace”. We
built schools and educated our sons and daughters as our neighbors sent their
sons to war. When Idi Amin and Julius Nyerere expelled Asians, we relied on
Indians to lay the foundation for a vibrant private sector a middle class.
But Kenya’s recent political and social
history is depressing. Unabashed ethnic rivalry and greed define and often turn
political competition into an orgy of inter-community violence. Reckless
politics and ethnic discord comes at a steep price.
For example Uganda’s decision to go with
Tanzania reflects Uganda’s practical and strategic concerns. Foremost are Kenya’s
recent history of politically instigated ethnic violence and the complex
politics over land in the Coast and the Rift Valley. With this deal, Tanzania
has stamped its seriousness a regional economic player of immense significance.
The ghosts of political recklessness and
catastrophic blood letting of the 2007 post-election violence still haunt us. Ethnic
vitriol is alive and well. Mobilizing for electoral competition through
opportunistic and fleeting ethnic coalitions diminishes hope for genuine social
cohesion.
There is an old
fable out west among the Luo community. It is a myth about a fierce warrior.
Folklore has it that Luanda Magere possessed supernatural powers. Luanda was
invincible at battle. Spears and arrows fashioned against him by Nandi warriors
were bent out of shape by his rock solid torso.
The Nandi community
learned at a steep cost of treasure and blood that they would never vanquish
Luanda in combat. According to this myth, which is only told among the Luo
community, the Nandi chose to make peace and offered a young beautiful woman to
marry Luanda. But her solemn mission was to find the source of Luanda’s
invincibility in battle.
The East African Institute with partners
from University of Alberta, Moi University and young artists from Kisumu County
is working on an initiative to take old stories and tell them for a new
generation. This initiative, Old Stories in New Ways, seeks to carve out of the
solid rock of the Luanda myth a grain of hope, peace and cohesion among the
Nandi and Luo communities.
In the new story, the
beautiful Nandi spy wife becomes pregnant and gives birth to Luanda’s only child.
In her agonizing dirge she says the rock
is a monument of hatred between Nandi and the Luo. The baby symbolizes a new
beginning, a future of kinship and peace.
A survey of Kenyan youth conducted by the
East Institute revealed that only five percent of Kenyan youth identify by
their ethnicity. A future of social cohesion and inter-community understanding
is possible.
We can compete for political power as fellow
citizens not as enemies. We can redeem our image among our neighbors because
our youth are Kenyans first.
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