By XN Iraki
Why was there no post election violence in Runda or Muthaiga? Why was violence concentrated in slums of Nairobi? The answers to these questions may hold the secret to integration and cohesion.
Violence was concentrated in low-income areas. Crime is concentrated in the same places. Citizens in these places, dream of becoming rich some day.
If violence provides such an opportunity, they are likely to take advantage of it; not because they are bad people or less law abiding but the reality demands so.
In the keynote address to a recent conference on cohesion in America, Randall Kennedy, a Harvard University don identified poverty as Americaâs deepest fault line.
"Poor people in America donât have the chance to participate fully in society because their circumstances hold them down," he said. That is not different in Kenya.
Instead of focusing on economic solutions to anthropological problems, we are making matters worse by issuing statistics which makes it appear some people or regions are poor because other regions are rich. This zero-sum game thinking is a recipe for instability.
How do we foster cohesion and integration through economics?
Let us learn from others. How does the US integrate nationalities, let alone tribes, into one nation? For your information, if you consider Native Americans, commonly called Indians, US has more tribes than Kenya.
Ends meet
Why do Kenyans "disappear" in the US but not in our counties? They are attracted by economic opportunities. They are also "less tribal" in the US because they can make ends meet.
If we have to integrate this nation, let us do it economically. Runda and Muthaiga are integrated by affluence; Mathare Valley just across the Mental Hospital is "disintegrated" by poverty.
