The Uhuru -Raila truce: a classic example of Kenya’s maturity

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The handshake on 9th March 2018 between Raila Odinga and Uhuru Kenyatta has brought the forgiveness of generational curses and hatred between the communities especially Kikuyu and Luo.

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The first two political parties before and during independence Kenya – the  Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) and the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) – propelled current tribal politics in the country.

KANU was a Kikuyu and Luo alliance party while KADU was comprised of other small tribes who feared domination by KANU. KADU was founded by Daniel Arap Moi, a Kalenjin from Rift valley.

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However, a few things have emerged from the meeting and the subsequent reports that have emerged from the truce. We’ll deal with the whole thing as a whole from the statements to the division in NASA to the stories that have emerged.

The joint statement released by the two protagonists Uhuru and Raila is a bit of a drag and does not seem to be elaborate on the issues that have to be addressed.

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They talk about uniting and dealing with issues such as divisive elections, national dialogue and such.

Kenyans are worried that the handshake was just meant to hoodwink Kenyans while the two duo benefits from government resources and huge government tenders.

When Kenyans cast their ballots to pick the president, the roles played by ethnicity and tribalism are likely to be decisive. 

A classic example that comes to mind is pressure on the IEBC by the NASA faction was only being agitated in Kisumu and areas where the Luo Nation is very strong. The judiciary was condemned by the Kikuyu nation after the August 8th Election.

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Politicians are not keen to tackle tribalism since it plays to their advantage.

Kenyan politics have been characterized by ethnic tensions since independence in 1963. But it was not until 2007 that the demons of tribalism really flared up after the hotly disputed election.

The clashes mainly between the larger ethnic tribes, the Kikuyus, Luos and Kalenjins, erupted after Mwai Kibaki from the Kikuyu community was declared the winner amidst accusations of rigging.

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Analysts such as Brian Wanyama say ethnicity per se has never been the problem. The dilemma arises when politicians use ethnicity for their personal gain and create a divide which breeds tribalism.  

During his period in office until 2002, Moi was accused of perpetuating the politics of divide and rule.

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His presidency was also marked by tribal animosities. The major outbreak of clashes happened in 1992 in the Rift valley’s Molo region which left 5,000 people dead and another 75,000 displaced.

The conflict was primarily between Kalenjin and Kikuyu communities. Land ownership and disputes were cited as some of the key reasons for the conflict.

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Now church leaders have been tasked to preach the gospel of unity .

Recently former Kiambu governor William Kabogo called on Kenyans to shun tribal politics and engage into developmental agendas.

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Kabogo accused leaders of fueling the tribal politics for their own gain.

“Let shun leaders who are tribal in nature,the time has come for Kenya to be free of trial leaders,’he said.

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