THE CANCER OF ETHNICITY IN KENYA

I would not be surprised if the NCIC came after me few hours after publishing this post but what am writing in this post is the truth and the truth alone. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission was created by the National Cohesion and Integration Act (no.12 of 2008) following the 2007- 2008 post-election crisis since then it has been handling cases that would lead to ethnicity conflict. Since then it has investigated people most of them politicians and bloggers.

protest shortly after 2008 elections

Now the issue of ethnicity does not trace back to 2007 or 2008 it is an issue that traces back to colonial period. Shortly after gaining independence  KANU took charge of the country and formed the ruling government with a national wide accepted president Mzee Jomo Kenyatta but his acceptance was short lived following the assassination of  economic and planning minister Tom Mboya and opposition of Jaramogi Oginga Odinga the political leaders from Central Kenya mostly those from Kiambu led by Njenga Karume and former Nakuru North MP Kihika Kimani, former Defense Minister Njoroge Mungai, former State Minister Mbiyu Koinange, and the president's nephew Ngengi Muigai felt there was need for a central association bringing together the fractious Kikuyu. This led to the formation of GEMA it brought together people linked together with the Mumbi ancestry. 

It is here that the rain started beating leaders of GEMA are accused of playing a prominent role in mobilizing the community support in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a period characterized by massive oathing throughout central Kenya for members to remain loyal to the Kenyatta regime. This in-steeled supremacy mentality among the people of central Kenya and from then they believed they were not supposed to be ruled by any other community but one of there own. The leaders also brainwashed them and showed them that people from Nyanza region as enemies.Constantly, this has been passed from generation to generation and as a tree the roots are only getting deeper. Ethnicity has 'power' and at one time or another we have experienced its power you walk into an office with all your academic qualification and years of experience and you miss a job since your name starts with O...... something, yeah thats the 'power of ethnicity.'

 I was raised in a region that was dominated by people of the Gikuyu ancestry and I remember as i was applying for my national  Identification Card (I.D) i was supposed to take it to the chief for signing to approve that i was a member of that community but when i got there the chief spoke to me in Kikuyu and i told him that i could not understand but instead he told me

"wewe si mtu wa kwetu mbona unachukulia kitambulisho huku " simply meaning you don't belong to this ethnic area why don't you go back to your land and take your I.D from there

Other people came who belonged to his tribal line and he signed their forms as they went and I wondered having spent 18 years of my life in that area was that not enough to let me get a National I.D from there.
Later on when I was in campus I met with a friend who share her story and told me that his boss belonged to a different ethnic line from her but each time she went to ask for a day off to attend to some matters at hand the boss would deny him and even threaten to fire her but people from his tribal line would even take a week long day off and it was all good.

This is agony that not only me and my friend are going through but many other people and is mostly based in public offices.
 NCIC since its establishment has been arresting and investigating politicians and 'big people' but these will not end it instead it is just creating more and more hatred. whenever a politician is arrested you will always here claims that the NCIC is targeting people from a certain community and many other claims. Recently i was going through a post in one of Kenya's famous blogs and i found this as one of the comments

a screenshot of a comment on a post

 Ethnicity has been pumped into our bloodstream and has formed part of our DNA. Some ethnic groups believe they are superior and only them can rule.

A third generation since Independence and we still hold ideologies of those who were illiterate and primitive. The 2008 post election violence was supposed to knock sense into our heads but it seems it never did. People still have hatred along tribal lines and each day it is growing more and more.
The NCIC is useless as long as civic and national act to fight ethnicity such as the one that was introduced in Rwanda is not put in place. like i say you cannot cut a tree by its trunk and go away happily that it is going to dry and die. The tree will always come back to life until that day you will uproot it