Why council of elders will sink us deep into tribalism

I’ve been struggling to unravel one particular folly in Kenyan politics. I am talking about the institution of “tribal elders.” I call it an institution not because I want to institutionalise it, but because it seems all too prevalent. You know the monster I am referring to – Kaya Elders of the Mijikenda, Meru’s Njuri Njeke, Luo Council of Elders, Akamba Clans Governing Council of Elders, Kalenjin Council of Elders, Kikuyu Council of Elders, Luhya Council of Elders, and the Masai Council of Elders. I could go on to infinity, which is number 42, but I will spare you the agony. Let’s focus on two words – “council” and “elders.” Those two words are supposed to confer infallibility, wisdom and authority.

Recently, Cotu boss Francis Atwoli introduced a new twist to the tribalisation of the politics of ethnicity. He purported – I say purported because Mr Atwoli isn’t known for erudition – to bestow on Amani leader Musalia Mudavadi the title of Luhya spokesman. Mr Atwoli, known for bizarre theatrics, told us that a scientific “study” and “poll” by academics had established that Mr Mudavadi was the most popular Luhya leader. I scratched my head. If that’s all it takes to be the Luhya spokesman then the so-called Prophet Owuor – a clear charlatan – could be named the divine spokesman. How can one of the contestants for State House be a tribal spokesman? What does popularity have to do with being a spokesman?

Instilled awe and fear

I only digressed here to underscore the folly of the madness. Let me be clear lest you declare me a self-hating African. I come from the stock of a proud people. My maternal grandfather was a venerable traditionalist. The story is told of how he could make snakes stand on their tails. Mbiti wa Mbele – a mountain of a man – instilled awe and fear in both friend and foe. I know that when the white man tried to convert him from the Akamba religion to Christianity, Mr Mbele instead told him that you couldn’t convert a Mukamba to any other religion. That’s because Ukamba included everything – culture, religion, life, being. There was nothing like a Kamba religion, separate from being.

The point is if a Mukamba “converted” to Christianity – a virtual impossibility – then that person ceased being a Mukamba. That’s the reason I have an issue with messianic faiths that seek to conquer other spiritual universes. But I only make this point to underline my fidelity to the dignity of African spiritual and cultural heritages. That’s not my beef with so-called “tribal” councils of elders. My quarrel with these councils of elders is that they are a perversion of African heritage. They unscrupulously misappropriate culture and tradition to serve the myopic interests of a thieving ethnic elite. The “tribal” councils of elders are packed with charlatans and self-seekers. In fact, they’ve nothing to do with the ethnic group.

The analogy is the Mungiki which started as a Kikuyu revivalist movement but was quickly hijacked by political elites and weaponised into a deadly cult. The tribal councils of elders today are nothing but cartels which traffic in the name of ethnic heritage to hawk political influence for subnational elites. They are an anvil that’s hypocritically deployed by clever elites to hoodwink “their” kin. That’s the logic behind the “appointment” of Mr Mudavadi as Luhya spokesman. Like sheep, the Luhya are being lied to that “they” will never ascend to State House unless they unite behind one of “their own.” What the Luhya elite aren’t telling you is that they want “their turn to eat” – and Mr Mudavadi is the meal ticket.

Let me call what the tribal councils of elders truly are – primitive, backward, misogynistic, and divisive. These loin-cloth wearing, snuff-chewing, meat-eating, cow-hide dressing, mendacious men are the blight of Kenya. They represent the idea of anti-Kenya. They have nothing to do with a glorious past, but everything to do with our miserable, divided, and toxic present. They are the reason Kenya has been backward for so long. These oath-administering, conniving cabals are a menace to society. They perpetuate the myth that Kenya can’t be one. They sell the lie that to be a leader, one must first be “approved” by the tribe. It’s because of them that Kenya isn’t a nation, but a collection of tribes.

In fact, the tribal councils of elders stand against everything Kenyan, especially the 2010 Constitution. They are the first to defend “their” corrupt kinsmen. They are unelected and totally anti-democratic. They are exclusively male. They will fight for incompetence in the name of “regional balance” to pack the public service with their kin. We can’t build a nation if those who want to lead us are beholden to empty historical relics designed to lead more pigs to the feeding trough.

-Makau Mutua is SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of KHRC. @makaumutua.