First Person - Paul Karuri: 'A Kenyan mob attacked my bus'

[alfredo]

This article by Michela Wrong gives a good account of the troubles in Kenya. There's not many Euro writers who write as well about the plight of the African people.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1ab1b352-d133-11dc-953a-0000779fd2ac.html

At the town of Kaplong, we heard there was trouble ahead, so we diverted via Litein. We met the first roadblock at the first town after Litein. There were not hundreds, but thousands of men on the road, waving pangas (machetes), axes and rungus (clubs). They were shouting: ''We want revenge.'' They tried to open the doors, but we had removed the handles.

The ringleader told me to switch the engine off. The first question he asked was: ''Are you a Kikuyu?'' I didn't reply. I told him: ''We're just peaceful people, we have nothing to do with politics.'' Then he said that everyone on the bus had to get off with their ID cards ready. While he was saying this, the others were putting tyres and wood under the bus, preparing to set it on fire.

They were supporters of Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, and they were shouting: ''No Raila, no peace.''

Everyone in the back of the bus was totally silent. I think if we had got out at that moment, we would all have died. They would certainly have killed me, because I am a Kikuyu.

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Her book "I Didn't do it For You" is an excellent account of how colonialism totally screwed an African nation.* The Kenyan troubles can be traced back to the colonial powers dividing up the continent without regard to traditional tribal boundaries. Understand Africa's post colonial troubles and you will understand the troubles in Iraq.


*There's also a photo of my army buddies and a whole chapter on them. The photo is a vivid depiction of American style neo colonialism.

[knitter4democracy]

1. And they always said Kenya was relatively stable.

I find this just horrifying. Everything is falling apart.

[alfredo]

2. There's always been tension because of the artificial colonialist

national boundaries. The way they carved up east Africa made the Kikuyu the majority and the Luo the minority in Kenya.

[knitter4democracy]

3. Ain't that the truth.

I've often wondered what would happen if there were a large pro-Africa summit with representatives from every tribe and nation and they gave themselves the chance to re-draw borders realistically. I wonder if it would work.

[alfredo]

4. No, the ruling parties will not allow any changes. I can see their point.

Three countries would lose territory if the Luo got their own country.

Look at the battles between the Eritreans and the Ethiopians. The Eritreans won independence from Ethiopia after a bloody war. Still they are fighting over a desolate patch of land on the border.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrean-Ethiopian_War Ethiopia had good reason to resist independence. Eritrea controlled access to the Red Sea.

This shows the Luo territory just in Kenya. They border lake Victoria.

[knitter4democracy]

5. I wonder what it would take to get rid of nationalism, then.

We have the same problem here, really. Anti-immigration stuff comes from the same place. Hmm.

[alfredo]

6. Nationalism is tribalism. I think it is hardwired in us. It is

as basic as the family unit.

The infant identifies with the mother, then the family. From there they identify with friends, school, and in time it could be their city, state, church, ethnicity, or nation. Each group has ins and outs. It's human nature. If you have three people, one will be the odd man out.

[knitter4democracy]

7. Fair point. An extension of the family.

I wonder, then, how we make peace with that odd man out.

[alfredo]

8. The odd man out has decide if they gain anything by being in

that situation, or if they can live with it.