Jubilee's actions are undermining National Unity

By tradition, the African Man’s first allegiance is to his family, then his clan and lastly his tribe. Long before the Europeans partitioned Africa into regions that suited their economic and strategic needs oblivious of the complexity of the African culture, the highest level of the African man’s allegiance ended at his tribe. Allegiance to race and nations was foreign to the African Man and it was imposed on him by foreign masters. It was the Europeans who told us that a white man is different from a black man and that a Kenyan man is different from a Tanzanian Man. It’s the Europeans who came up with the whole notion of nations that cut through multiple diverse tribes in Africa and said we should live together under a democratic government. It’s therefore no surprise to see many African nations torn between tribal alliances and crumbling within such deep blurred lines. Kenya is no different, the things that have always held the lines together are under attack and the Jubilee government has been too consumed with preserving its survival to realize its efforts are burning down all the factors of national unity at the same time.

Through the civics class in elementary schools, Kenyans are taught about the factors that unite Kenyans which include; the presidency, the national language, the constitution, education, even resource allocation, and our social interactions.  Factors that undermine national unity include corruption, tribalism, nepotism and biased resource allocation. While these factors that undermine national unity have thrived and multiplied in scores that haven’t been seen in Kenya before, factors that promote national unity have been more undermined and almost certainly reduced into meaningless nuances under the Jubilee administration. While those in blind support of the government might question the neutrality of this analysis and choose to lay the weight of this situation on the opposition or deny the validity of it altogether, let’s remember that Jubilee is the government and keep a scholars mind as we look at  the Precedency as one these factors in detail.

The presidency as the first factor of national unity should be one of the strongest. However, most may argue that the presidency has hardly ever been a strong factor of national unity in Kenya except in the advent of President Mwai Kibaki’s ascension into power. His ascension into the highest office of the land had been backed by a great majority of Kenyans in what was well believed to be a free and fair election. In subsequent elections, this office has almost torn the country into pieces. It’s one of the factors that hold so much potential of destabilizing the country and the Jubilee government in its struggles for survival has almost invalidated this office as a uniting factor for Kenya.

 President Kenyatta and his deputy successfully appealed the most traditional instincts of the African Man; “allegiance to tribe” and positioned themselves as the highest custodians of the people of their tribes. Their people thereafter voted for them overwhelmingly and they won after which the term “tyranny of numbers” was coined by their supporters. This sent the message that they have the numbers and they can do whatever they please. Their sworn pact to rule the country for 20 years using such tyranny of numbers only works to disillusion other Kenyans. The opposition has refused to believe that the Jubilee coalition has the tyranny of numbers within their most populous tribes. They have tried to keep this factor alive, energizing their supporters to believe that they also have the numbers if a free and fair election is conducted but the Jubilee government has refused to budge in reassuring all Kenyans that the president will be whoever the majority of them choose.   While the Jubilee alliance stands to lose nothing by helping create a more trusted electoral body and reassuring Kenyans that they will get a president they want, they have allowed themselves to be entrapped within supremacy battles with the opposition which they know they cannot win without tearing down their own credibility.

Given the “tyranny of numbers” and the deeply rooted tribal allegiance within the Jubilee parties, this government stands a fair chance of re-election. They have a record though very difficult to sell to the rest of Kenyans because of the very dark stains of corruption; chances are they will find partners outside those they have enchained within the most traditional African Man’s instinct of allegiance to tribe. There are those who would say it’s better the devil you know than one you don’t.  President Kenyatta therefore has no reason whatsoever to not join the rest of Kenyans in creating a more trusted electoral body and rebuilding some faith in the presidency as the most important factor of national unity.