In Kenya too, locals have perfected the long game

Kenya has its share of long gamers; men, women and institutions who planned long term and saw opportunities before others. They just bid their time. Some of the long gamers may surprise you.

Let’s start from the political side. The Kenyattas and Odingas are long gamers. How have they remained politically relevant for almost a century? To buttress their long game, they have decided that fighting each other was not necessary, we are now cheering them.

How did the two families successfully ride over multipartism? Was that political dispensation not supposed to usher in more competition and make dynasties impossible? They played the long game knowing that the excitement over multiparty would die out. More than 25 years after multipartism became legal, we are slipping back to single party equivalent.

They will deny this; but the two families’ key plank in the long game was a realisation that the shortest route to political power is through economic power. This realisation might drive corruption in the counties as more leaders build fortunes to fight future political battles.

The two families long game is not over. What do they have in store in the referendum? My hunch tells me it’s part of their long game to shape the Kenyan governance structure in their own image. And we shall cheer them on hoping that expanding the Executive will benefit us. We voted for the 2010 Constitution with the same belief. We hope the holders of the new positions will benefit our villages and hamlets with some trickle-down in form of jobs and projects.

Winds of change

The other long gamers are less political. They are natives of Murang’a led by the Rwathia group. Once the winds of change started blowing, and independence was inevitable, they focused all their energy on Nairobi, snapping up property owned by departing mzungus who feared the aftermath of Kenyans’ rule. It is a paradox why they outdid Kiambu, which is nearer to the city; maybe Kiambu felt they were already in the city.

Paradoxically, as Murang’a came to the city, Kiambu followed the railway line out of the city! Its natives worked in the former White Highlands and settled thereafter. Today, the Murang’a long game has paid off with ownership of assets in prime locations in the city.

Prof JH Kimura has hypothesised that the Murang’a long game started with wattle trees, which was the first cash crop before tea. Since the trees took long to mature before harvesting, young men looked for something to do; drifting to the city was natural. Once there, they identified economic opportunities which proved lucrative. They brought their friends, relatives and neighbours.

Kiambu, to be fair, has played the long game using prime land and proximity to the city. That however seems to be coming to an end as the next generation is freeing that land and selling it to investors. That is why Ruaka and Kinoo are thriving. The internationalisation of Nairobi means that this land is also attracting foreigners and their dollars.

The churches were also long gamers; they knew it was just a matter of time before the old traditions died - they actually played a role in their death. Polygamy and female genital mutilation were their prime targets. Within a hundred years, we became more religious than those who brought religion to us. We now have more churches than schools.

But they played the long game economically, too. Have you noted the prime land that churches own in Kenya? Having evangelised in other parts of the world, they had learned the importance of land. Think of the Catholic Church and its long history in South America.

Some could argue that the church’s long game has faltered with the next generation becoming more secular. But with our top leaders professing some faith, its long game will go on. The Queen of England, after all, holds the title ‘Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England’.

Indians in Kenya have also been great long gamers, not just in business as most think. Their long game is intergenerational and started with immigration, leaving the comfort of their homes. We find it hard to leave to a neighbouring county but they ensure their children get the best education in the best universities in the world. I am always amazed by the pride of Asian families as they narrate how their children are doing well abroad, either in school or in the corporate world.

While Kenyans and other Africans are trying to become citizens of foreign countries through marriages, Asians become citizens or get green cards by pursuing strategic courses that make them attractive to employers, from computer science to engineering. By empowering their children with the right education, the rest of their lives fall into place.

The other long gamers are the Mzungus who remained in Kenya after independence. They kept off politics and focused on professions and businesses that are way removed from direct competition with mwananchi. They also knew that with time the memories of colonialism would fade. Today, we rarely talk of colonialism and if one of these mzungus vied for a political post, they would easily win.

Marginal areas

Their settlement in marginal areas such as Laikipia, dry and sparsely populated, was also part of the long game after the white highlands “blackened.” The success of their long game is espoused by popularity of British schools for the Kenyan elite. But the best fruit of their long game was dual citizenship.

Multinational corporations have also played their long game. Noted how they often choose their directors? They have intimate knowledge of the markets and ride over political risks.

Other long gamers include local businessmen who realised the population would keep growing and demand for goods go up. Who will play the long game as Africa moves to the epicentre of global economics driven by population and resources?

There are other long gamers, unknown to the public. They have invested in silence and in other ways such as philanthropy. If you check the shareholders in firms listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the list might surprise you. What of Kenyans from different communities who have made Nairobi their home? 

- The writer teaches at the University of Nairobi