Kenya is a Tense Country of Rival Ethnic Groups

Henry Srebrnik, [Summerside, PEI] Journal Pioneer

Many Prince Edward Islanders know about Kenya through the work of Farmers Helping Farmers, a group founded in 1979 that is involved with various small-scale agricultural projects in that country, particularly in Meru.

Another PEI group, the Mikinduri Children of Hope Foundation, which started in 2003, provides dental and medical care in nearby Mikinduri.

But Islanders may not be aware of the larger political context in Kenya, one that can be quite unsavoury.

This is, after all, a nation where the president has just narrowly avoided being tried by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Kenya’s 45 million people are so diverse that the largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, makes up less than a quarter of the total. Altogether, there are 42 tribal entities, including the Luyha, who comprise about 14 per cent of the country; the Luo, at about 13 per cent of the population; and the Kalenjin, at 12 per cent.

Ever since Kenyan independence in 1963, politics have been characterized by ethnic tensions between the larger groups. “Tribalism” is a curse, and especially intense has been the rivalry between the Kikuyu, the Luo, and the Kalenjin.

Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first president, was a Kikuyu, and his hostility towards Oginga Odinga, a Luo chieftain, was legendary. In 1969 Odinga was arrested after the two verbally abused each other publicly in Kisumu; at least 11 people were killed and dozens were injured in riots. Odinga was detained for two years.

Kenyatta led the country until his death in 1978. His successor, Daniel arap Moi, a Kalenjin, was seen as a compromise. He withstood an abortive army coup in 1982, and remained in office until 2002.

Kenya’s third president, Mwai Kibaki, a Kikuyu, was elected that year. Despite his pledge to tackle corruption, some donors estimated that up to one billion dollars was lost to graft between 2002 and 2005.

The December 2007 presidential election pitted incumbent Kibaki of the Party of National Unity against Raila Odinga, a Luo and the son of Oginga Odinga, heading the Orange Democratic Movement. It led to one of the worst outbreaks of violence in Kenya’s history.

The election was strongly marked by ethnic rivalry, with Kibaki gaining support amongst his own Kikuyu and neighbouring groups like the Embu and Meru in central and eastern Kenya. Odinga built a coalition which included the Luo along with the Luyha in western Kenya, Kalenjin in the Rift Valley, and Muslims along the Indian Ocean coast.

Three days after the vote, the Electoral Commission declared Kibaki the winner, with 47 per cent of the vote against 44 per cent for Odinga. As Odinga had been leading by several hundred votes after the second round of counting, his loss was met with furious accusations of election rigging.

This triggered widespread and systematic violence, resulting in some 1,500 deaths and the displacement of over 500,000 civilians, particularly in the Rift Valley, with its longstanding land disputes between the Kikuyu and Kalenjin. Many of the displaced never returned to their homes.

Kenya’s police forces were also implicated, with reports suggesting that they were responsible for almost 40 per cent of civilian deaths, especially in Nairobi and Kisumu.

Things calmed down after Kibaki and Odinga struck a power-sharing deal in March 2008 and formed a national unity cabinet.

The Kenyan government took further steps towards ensuring that widespread violence would not occur in future presidential contests. A new constitution, approved by referendum in 2010, devolves some authority to local governments, paves the way for land reform, provides a bill of rights, strips the presidency of certain powers, and limits the use of patronage.

As a consequence, the 2013 election was free of violence and resulted in victory for Uhuru Kenyatta, the son of independence leader Jomo Kenyatta, over Odinga, who ran a second time. (Kibaki could not stand again because of term limits.)

However, in 2012, six Kenyan politicians, including the future president, were ordered to stand trial by the International Criminal Court in the Hague, accused of links to the 2007-2008 post-election massacres. But the charges against Kenyatta collapsed a few weeks ago after prosecutors admitted they lacked evidence.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, said that Kenya – now ruled by Kenyatta -- had not handed over the bank and phone records the court was demanding, leaving it without a case before the scheduled Oct. 7 start.