The ogre of tribalism in Kenya must be laid to rest

The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) is set to release another report detailing the ethnic composition of public institutions. An earlier report produced in August this year was a damning indictment on the national and county governments that have shown unwillingness to move beyond the rhetoric stage and ensure tribalism does not dictate how Kenyans relate to each other.

A key plank on which many leaders campaigned and continue to, is to end endemic tribalism. During rallies and at political gatherings, Kenyans are always urged to regard each other as brothers and sisters yet the same leaders who preach this are in the vanguard unashamedly propagating the vice.

The recent incident in Eldoret where local leaders objected to the appointment of a new Vice Chancellor for Moi University on the basis that he did not hail from the local communities vindicates the findings by NCIC.The National Cohesion Integration Act 2012 expressly bars any single community from holding more than 33.3 per cent of jobs in any institution. This however, has not been the case.

At Kirinyaga University, the local community occupies 82.7 per cent of available jobs. Kabianga University has 68.8 per cent of the jobs in the hands of locals. All this negativity is carried out under the guise of devolution. Devolution, however, should not be used to propagate hate and entrench tribalism. We are all Kenyans, we belong to the same country under one constitution and one national government. That tells us why we must accept others as equally deserving of whatever there is to share.

Public appointments should be dictated not by the whims of local leaders, but by the provisions of the law. Appointments, while taking into account the sensitive issue of gender parity, the interests of the minority and disadvantaged groups, should be based purely on merit. That is the only way we beat incompetence in public institutions.