This is why we are still stuck in the 80s

I was an attendee in this media conference where the speaker ( a very established local journalist) pointed out a very trivial, yet important, issue that caught my attention. In that  room of about 100 attendees we were all listening to his message without paying attention to his ethnic background. The audience interacted with the speaker fully, asking questions with positive response to his jokes.

If this was a political gathering (according to the speaker) , everyone would have taken sides and we would all be divided according to our tribal lines. We would even find a reason to exchange blows with our colleagues from the other side of the political divide yet in another setting we are seemingly inseparable buddies.

Deep into my thoughts, three questions lingered. Who lied to us that every time we think about politics we have to talk about tribes? Who said that a president has to come from a tribe with the infamous "tyranny of numbers"? Should we not just wake up and put an end to such barbaric thinking that has costed us great leadership and plunging our nation into near chaos?

The other day, Ababu Namwamba, the then ODM secretary general, called it quits with the party. With speculations running around that he has expressed interest in the ruling Jubilee coalition, it was implied to mean that the Luhya community had ditched the opposition.

How do we even arrive at such a generalisation? If the president comes from a certain tribe, it is assumed that this particular tribe is leading the country. It is also assumed that this tribe crushed the economy of this nation should their leadership fail.

One would be forgiven for surmising that this menace exists because a great majority of the populace are not enlightened enough to think beyond their tribal affiliations. However, the situation in the most advanced quotas of education hold a different narrative. Tribalism takes centerstage  during campains which is a reflection of the national political scene. Tribal politics have made us so petty and in the process costing us a slot in the economic advancement arena. Now that we are months into the general elections, shall we result into the same old and do things the same way,  or shall we open our eyes and see leadership beyond political affiliations?