The plight of Burundian Kenyans

Warundi elder plays a drum outside the house of Warundi Chairman, Shadrack Chize Barnabas during a Warundi elders meeting in Makongeni area, Kwale County. [Courtesy]

Oreni Noah Basaka watches from a distance as her colleagues from the Makonde tribe enjoy benefits of owning a national ID card. Ms Basaka is a woman in pain, but cannot get affordable healthcare from government hospitals for lack of an ID card. 

She cannot apply for a National Hospital Insurance Funds (NHIF) card and get treated at any facility in Kwale County.

Basaka is among the 1,200 Warundi people living in Kwale without IDs. She struggles with her walking stick out of the semi-permanent house to join her family under a mango tree to speak to The Standard about her tribulations.

The mother of six has not had a proper diagnosis of what she has been ailing from since 2o18 because she does not have money or an NHIF card to access a good health facility. 

She says she came to Kenya with her now deceased parents in 1960s, but her efforts to get an ID card have borne no fruit. “I have no money to seek medical attention at the hospital, and without a Kenyan ID, I cannot apply for NHIF,” she says.

Her children cannot go to college because of the same problem. Her son Shadrack Kiza's dream to join college to pursue architecture has not come true. “Without an ID, we cannot do business, save or even join a chama. I joined one but I left because it was hard to transact without an ID,” she says.

Basaka says the community wishes to participate in political decisions, but cannot.

Kiza says life has been difficult without a document to identify him as a Kenyan, and that it hurts that he cannot enjoy government services like his peers. "Even when I work at construction sites, I get frustrated because even the foremen know I am not a Kenyan," he says.

He says despite being a Kenyan by birth, he does not enjoy the rights other Kenyans do. "I have undergone a lot of discrimination,” said Kiza.

His attempts to join the Kenya Defense Forces have been thwarted, as he is turned away because of the ID.

Samuel Shadrack, 33, has seen his fair share of struggles before he could acquire an ID. He is among the lucky few Warundi with IDs, thanks to his mother who hails from Ukambani. But his father is still waiting to get one.

Shadrack said most of his peers could not even dream of travelling abroad for greener pasture. They are instead stuck in the village doing menial jobs.

He appeals to President Uhuru Kenyatta to help them acquire the document and enjoy all constitutional rights. “As the third generation, we pray that the government helps us."

Ezra Kiza Nagitamana, another youth from the Warundi community, hopes that one day and soon enough they will get IDs and enjoy government services.

He says it has been hard to even start a business because an ID is a necessity to register in any self-help group and conduct transactions through banks and mobile money transfer channels.

“I was born in Kenya to Warundi parents. But despite being Kenyan by birth, I have undergone discrimination since I was in primary school through secondary. I was planning to join college, but without an ID, I won’t be able to meet most of the requirements. So I am stuck here in the village,” said Nagitamana.

The Warundi came to Kenya in early 1950s to work in sisal and sugar plantations in Kwale. They ended up settling in Makongeni, Matuga, Kinondo, Magorani and Shimoni.

Shadrack Chize Barnabas, the Warundi chairperson, says he came to Kenya in search of his uncle who worked as a truck driver in the sisal plantation, but ended up setting camp there instead.

The father of six says during the Kenyatta era everything was fine. It was until 1981 when the police started harassing and arresting them for being "aliens". “We were getting arrested and getting arraigned by police who were always demanding for IDs. We would spend nights hiding up in trees to avoid arrests, until one day the court directed that police leave us alone,” said Barnaba.

He said together with their Makonde brothers, they had been seeking IDs for decades. The Makonde people were finally recognised after protesting and marching to State House.

Barnaba says without IDs they cannot own land, and they live under the mercy of locals who take advantage of the fact that they cannot pursue justice without IDs.

“My land was taken away because I am a Rundi. We cannot survey our land to get title deeds without having an ID. The late Minister Joseph Nkaisery had promised to get us IDs, but the plan stalled. We want to feel like Kenyans and be treated equally,” said Barnabas.

He said those men married to Digo wives have no say in most affairs because they don’t have IDs.

Barnabas said 13 elders have died due to lack of medical attention because they don’t have IDs to enable them to get the government medical cover. “If you see the lives most of the Rundis elders go through, you will sympathize with them. I know of 13 elders who died because they could not access medical attention,” said Barnabas.

He said politicians don’t see value in them because they understand without an ID they have no votes.