New genes: Why we should allow Burundians to stay put

There is a woman who took the microphone at Bunge la Mwananchi – Jacaranda Grounds and left me in stitches. She addressed President William Ruto saying she got her youngest child with a Burundian man, so nobody should chase them away because her child will remain without a father. She even claimed she has children with Nigerians, Somalis, Tanzanians and Sudanese.

She may have said it in jest but she had a point. One advantage of allowing immigrants into the country is the diversification of the gene pool. This is inevitable as long as human beings are eating and sleeping. Once people have taken care of the basics, emotional needs suffice. There is an old rumour that the king of a kingdom in Western Uganda sired a prominent Kenyan politician when he stayed in Central Kenya for a few months on his way to the coast.

This is something people will rarely acknowledge because of cultural codes around sex. Our women have gotten children with foreigners since colonial days. Colonialists brought Nubian soldiers, Rwandese and Burundian farm workers, Makondes from Mozambique and even Ethiopian prisoners of war. All these men sired children with our women and their genes are very much around.

It is human nature and women love to have a taste of the new man in town. The same with men when a new lady comes to their vicinity. Men will begin a way of winning her heart. These visitors and foreigners will get preferential treatment in the romance field. The serious foreigners will get married and settle.

I remember making a joke online that the reason Kenyans are against Burundians and not the other foreigners is because of their height deficiency. Conventional wisdom says that the shorter the monkey, the longer the “tail”. Our women may be happier than we would want to admit.

Migration is as old as mankind. Africa is the cradle of human beings, we emerged from Africa. Then some of us discovered that there is an Ismuths, a natural bridge just above the Red Sea. They used it to cross over to what is now Middle East, Asia then they branched off to Americas, Europe and Oceania.

It is restless dreamers and courageous lot who moved. I wrote sometimes back how Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder was not a disorder in the past. People lived in the open as communities and someone’s inability to sit still was advantageous in spotting dangerous animals, and animals that could be killed for food. They were also the innovative lot. These are the people who migrated out of Africa.

Playing catch up

If you follow them, they went to Asia and domesticated chicken, horses in Eastern Europe and dogs somewhere out there. Meanwhile, what was happening in Africa? The weather was good, wild game was in plenty and rivers flowed all year round. Those who remained in the familiar surroundings in Africa are now us.

We may not have the details of how life was over those many thousands of years, but the descendants of those who left returned. They colonized us and later shared their technology with us. To date, Africa plays catch up to Europe, America and Asia on many fronts. There is something about immigrants.

Most Indians are generally poor in India. However, the Indians who followed the British empire into all the corners of the world have prospered. They are businessmen who make the most out of the circumstances in their adopted countries. The diaspora effect comes into play where lack of social support safety nets, make people to outperform themselves and shine. You have heard how Kenyans in the diaspora are united across ethnic groups but those of us at home cannot shake off the ethnic shackles.

So, let these immigrants be, they will spice up life locally and leave a few genes around. Anyone who leaves the comfort of familiarity at home in times of peace for another country is courageous. Even if he lacks the education and skills, his genes carry the courage of someone who could dare to face uncertainty. Those genes will do us good, they have served the United States of America very well.

Outsiders tend to see things locals take for granted. All we need to do is to find out what they are doing and how they are doing it. A friend of mine who lived among the Maasai of Arusha told me how families with their kinsmen in Kenya stand out. They have better housing and they live a relatively better lifestyle.

If he were not Kenyan and he decided to follow these Maasai to Kenya, he will discover they just hawk herbs, socks, sandals and petty household goods. Jobs which many young Kenyans will not run for. Yet they manage to save a good amount of money and send back home. Immigrants can teach us something about ourselves if we take time to learn.

Immigration is as old as mankind. Those of us who lack the courage to go out should not be hard on those who have chosen to come here. Our relatives have also flown out to the Gulf States, Europe and USA in search of happiness if wealth eludes it while at it. All we need to do as country is to make sure we are ever in need of extra hands to do the jobs. Hence immigrants are a good problem.