Don't call me a tribalist

General
1

Copied Simekha

I heard on Radio Citizen FM last night that the nation (of Kenya) is mourning the death of a certain MP… I sympathize with his family, beneficiaries and associates, but I am not part of that nation that is mourning him. He has been part of the “majority coalition” in the Kenya National Assembly & Senate that has actively collaborated with and protected the National Executive since 2013 to plunder, steal from, undermine, and expose our health sector to cartel extraction while preventing funding and capacity building for counties to build strong health systems, in line with health being a devolved function.

Instead I mourn the most knowledgeable, most skilled, most honest, most reliable and most trustworhty individual motor vehicle mechanic that I ever knew in my life, Mr. James Muti Njoroge. In spite of the legendary myth about Kikuyus, Mr. Njoroge was one of the only 2 individual freelance mechanics I have been totally comfortable to ask to pick my cars, check & let me know what needs to be fixed or serviced and how much it would cost, and I would have nothing to complain about after the cars are delivered back. Some Luo mechanics stole a car tyre from me, a Luhya mechanic cheated me he had replaced a critical auto part when he hadn’t, Kamba mechanics I tried weren’t quite sure what they were supposed to do, I haven’t tried Somali or Kisii ones, but this humble Kikuyu mechanic dealt honestly and professionally referred what he could not handle. The only other one I can describe in similar terms if Patrick Lumumba Makomele, Phanice Okuso’s brother, Oliver Amanya’s uncle in Kisumu.

RIP Jimmy. Unlike MPs, there’s hardly anything you could personally do, other than pay your taxes as you did, for our public health system to assure your health and wellness. I mourn the helpless health workers who are dying in similar manner, sacrificed by our failed governance and corrupt political system.

2

Our generation is more tribalistic than our parents.

3

Not quite. They even intermarry which was an abomination back then.

4

Intermarrying was there before. Same percentage extent. Its not attributed to tribalism but due to intertribal pressure. One has to look for a girl whose family they knew was reputable, therefore most likely of the same tribe. And a familiar background. Our generation took tribalism and rode it to the sky. Our parents would joke about tribe. " wewe mkamba, wewe msomali". It was jokeful. But our generation, we hate for no reason. You find someone hates all Jaluos for no reason. Or someone who hates kyuks for the same. And that time they grew up in the city. In mixed neighborhoods.

5

And yet some are very well educated… but most likely not learned.

6

It is interesting that while growing up we have no notion of tribe. I had luhya, kamba and Luo friends I used to play with as a child. We had no idea what tribe we was. It’s only later that we came to know so and so is a kao etc.