I am a
Kikuyu hailing from Central Kenya. I don’t say this often, particularly on
social media, since I don’t find it important. Am not proud to be a Kikuyu because
it is not an achievement, but am proud of my parents for teaching me to work
hard and practice honesty and virtue. I didn’t do anything to be born a Kikuyu
and so my being one is neither here nor there. I have met people who think am
lucky to be a Kikuyu. I find such people to be ignorant. There are others who
are wary of me because am Kikuyu and between them and the first group, I can’t
immediately assess who is more ignorant than the other.
I believe am
liberal in my thinking but I was not always like that. I was brought up in the
village surrounded by my kinsmen and from an early age, I was fed on the usual
tribal prejudice against other tribes. I became an adult believing that
bull-shit (pardon my French) of tribalism. It is only through travelling to
different places in the country and interacting with people from other
communities that I started seeing errors in the stories I had heard. I came to
realise that tribalism is not a genetic condition; it is an acquired trait.
My first
transfer from Nairobi was to Kisumu. I didn’t know anybody there but within a
very short time, I had many friends. This was due to the friendly nature of the
people I met. A few weeks after I had landed, one of my new friends told me
that I needed a Luo name. Others in the group agreed and they called me “Onyango”.
This really enhanced my feeling of belonging and whatever prejudice had
remained in me completely vanished. I had a very comfortable stay in Kisumu and
the friendships I formed then still run strong to date.
When I later
moved to Eldoret, the story was repeated again. My first close friends were
from the Kalenjin community. They decided that I needed a “local” name and they
called me “Kibet”. By now, I had concluded that the tribal prejudices we
exercise are completely without reason.
It was also
in Eldoret that I interacted with many people from the Luhya community and as
you must have guessed by now, they were and still are friendly towards me.
Again, my Luhya friends thought I should have a Luhya name. This time however,
it took longer to get a name than before. This was owing to the fact that, my
friends could not decide whether I should get a name from the Bukusu, Maragoli,
or a few other different dialects that I cannot now remember. I had no idea
that there are so many dialects among the Luhya, some members of who do not see
eye to eye. I was almost giving up on getting a Luhya name until I was given
the name “Wekesa”. I can’t recall which dialect it comes from. It taught me an
important lesson; the Luhya are not a homogenous community.
I like
making new friends on social media, especially Facebook. I usually prefer
befriending people from different communities because I find this enriches my
experiences and interactions. It is in this spirit that I recently befriended a
Lady on Facebook by the name of Nekesa Lidia Wanga (am not sure if it’s her
real name).
I have been
following Nekesa and have noted that she posts about only one issue – Mumias Sugar
and how Raila and Kidero defrauded the poor farmers from her community. At
first, I found it irritating and monotonous for a person to post on only one
subject. This was despite the fact that she has more than 2,500 friends (I
checked her profile). I almost unfriended her especially after she demanded
that those who are not from her Kingdom (Yes, you read that right!) should not
bother to comment.
It is
however her resilience and single-mindedness that made me decide to stick
around (she might unfriend me after this). She also aroused my interest in that
almost forgotten (but apparently still going strong) Kingdom in the heart of
Luhya-land. It is this Kingdom that Raila claims to have descended from and has
been known to recite an interesting analogy to prove the same. It is the Wanga
Kingdom many of whose numerous subjects are sugar cane farmers; who were supposedly
short-changed by one Evans Kidero (under the political stewardship of one Raila
Odinga) when he was CEO of Mumias Sugar Company.
Nekesa is angry
because her poor farmers are now wallowing in poverty and destitution because
two politicians from a “different” community wanted to amass millions to run
for a gubernatorial and presidential seat respectively. Her hero, in whom she
has put all her hopes of redemption, is her 'aspiring' local MP, Hon. Aleri Chris. This
Lady reminds me of another one who was mentioned in the bible who wore out the
ruler until her demands were met. I would have said all this on her wall but I
stood warned that it was only open for those who are from her Kingdom and being
a humble Layman, I obliged and decided to put it on the general layman’s
platform. Somebody needs to listen seriously to Nekesa and her people.
P.S. By the way, who is the present
King of the Wanga Kingdom?
like yesterday
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