Why kikuyus are hated

People are being forced to take sides and to even adopt new identities. Some people have begun asserting their Kikuyu identity by adding a Kikuyu name to their Christian one, or by demonstrating their filial ties to a Kikuyu in-law or spouse by hyphenating their names. There is a perception that having the right connections will open up all kinds of opportunities, from jobs to tenders.

She says that white people often silence people of colour by pretending that the problem lies with the latter, and not with the former, or by accusing the non-white person of being overly sensitive about race. Their mouths start twitching as they get defensive. The current stand-off between Uhuru and Ruto can thus be interpreted as a battle for supremacy — Kikuyu privilege fighting Kalenjin privilege and vice versa.

Now all those who are not white know what white privilege looks like. It is like oxygen in the air — we cannot see it, but we know it is there. It is that taking-for-granted feeling among people who have never had to explain themselves to others and who have never had to seek permission to exist. It is like when a white person asks you how you learnt how to play the piano so well, or when she marvels at the fact that you have a PhD. Or like when as has happened to me several times , a white person asks if I still eat Indian food with my hands.

Of course I do, not all the time, but only when I dip a roti into a curry — a feat that would be impossible with a fork and knife. In many ways, Kikuyu privilege is akin to white or male privilege in that most Kikuyus are not even aware of it. I use the word liberal here deliberately because unlike the rabid white right-wing racist, the white liberal assumes, falsely, that he does not enjoy privilege, and that even if he does, he works consciously to underplay it.

My critics will no doubt remind me that there are millions of Kikuyus in this country who are poor and who do not benefit financially or politically from their Kikuyuness. Indeed, as I have said so in many of my articles, poor Kikuyus got the short end of the stick at independence. Many were not only dispossessed of their land by former Kikuyu loyalists known as homeguards who went on to form the political elite after independence, but those who were relocated to the Rift Valley have suffered violence in virtually every election since the s.

And we must remember that it was a Kikuyu president, Mwai Kibaki, who oversaw the extrajudicial killing of hundreds of Mungiki members — children of the very Kikuyu people who were alienated from their land by the Jomo Kenyatta regime.

Kikuyu privilege, like white or male privilege, therefore, has little to do with wealth but everything to do with self-perception — and delusion.

It is the reason why, despite having suffered at the hands of every regime in Kenya, poor and dispossessed Kikuyus continue to follow the philosophy of uthamaki , a belief that Kikuyus are — and should remain — the true and only rulers of this land known as Kenya. Turned on its head, this philosophy was also adopted by the Kalenjin, who have sought power, wealth and privilege with equal determination. They do not ask why this wealth does not trickle down to them, why they still remain poor.

How can I, with my Indian name and heritage, compete with the largest tribe in Kenya? And because I did not marry into one of the larger tribes, I face an additional disadvantage. His father was Malawian but since my husband never lived in that country, he identifies most with his Taveta roots.

On the contrary, being a Kenyan Asian married to a small tribe man in Kenya with a foreign African father probably places me somewhere at the very bottom of the pecking order. I am not saying that I did not inherit certain privileges on account of my race or class. I grew up in an urban middle class Asian family that did not struggle with money issues and which took many things for granted.

We were not rich, but we were not poor either. My sex placed certain obstacles in my way — Indian culture denies women and girls many privileges, so I learnt at a very young age not to reach for the stars. Sheer stubbornness on my part dismantled some of these barriers and allowed me to pursue some of my goals.

But even as a child, I was aware that the playing field was not level for Asians. So, for instance, I could never aspire for a government job because those jobs were reserved for Africans. And in a society so deeply divided by race thanks to the apartheid imposed by British colonialism and white settlers that lingered on after independence , it was difficult for me to make a case for why I deserved to be treated equally.

It is a privilege that assumes that Nairobi is the norm and whatever happens outside its borders is just tourism. Here I saw what marginalisation does to a people. It lowers expectations. People expect less, so they demand less as well. How can Kikuyu privilege or any other kind of privilege be addressed? Black people in the UK, for instance, will be invited to talk about their experiences to white audiences, or to become champions of anti-racist advocacy groups. Muslims and other minorities in the United States will be invited to speak about the discrimination they face.

Yet the onus really should lie with the ones having the privilege. They themselves must ensure that not every board member in a parastatal or corporation is a Kikuyu or from just one ethnic group.

They must demand that key positions in government be shared in a fair manner among all ethnic groups. They must sensitise their own people about the dangers of uthamaki and other myopic ideologies.

A friend commented that he was surprised that every panelist at a talk he recently attended was a Kikuyu, and he wondered why the organisers of the event had not made more of an effort to make the panel more inclusive of other ethnic groups.

If we are to move forward, we must have a frank and honest discussion about tribalism, and what it has done to us as a society. We — not just Kikuyus but every ethnic group and race in Kenya — must know and acknowledge our individual privileges, and then dissect them for all to see. Only then can we begin having an honest conversation with each other. The Elephant is helping to build a truly public platform, while producing consistent, quality investigations, opinions and analysis.

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Every contribution, however big or small, is so valuable for our collective future. Rasna Warah is a Kenyan writer and journalist. Over the past two decades, Russia has aimed to re-establish itself as a world power. At the same time, questions have arisen about how A3 members — the annually elected grouping of African states — coordinate positions among themselves, and with respect to the interests of the five permanent UNSC members the P5. These divisions were seen most sharply in discussions relating to Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine and the Women, Peace and Security agenda.

It was the Kalenjin who torched terrified men, women and children seeking sanctuary in Eldoret last week. In , 1, Kikuyu or 'non-indigenous' people were slaughtered in the Rift Valley east of Eldoret by Kalenjin and Masai moran, or warriors, armed with pangas. Many were hunted down like animals with bows and arrows in the woodland and farms around Nakuru, the provincial capital.

An estimated , fled their homes. There were no arrests, no proper inquiries, and very little publicity for these atrocities - most foreign correspondents were too busy cataloguing the larger horrors of Congo and Rwanda. But the seeds of the genocide that engulfed the Great Lakes of central Africa were sown by Moi in Kenya.

Until now they lay dormant, but in fertile ground. Kenya is the most stable and economically successful state in the region. It has been the base for international emergency relief operations to Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Sudan for decades.

But it is no less riven by ethnic hatred than any of its neighbours. Put crudely, very few Kenyan tribes get along well with one another - and almost all hate the Kikuyu. The Kikuyu are the biggest tribe, with 42 different ethnic groups, and make up about a fifth of the population.

They fought the British in the Mau Mau uprising that led to independence in It is unlikely the Kikuyu and Luo communities had ever interacted before This might have been a small matter if it did not permeate into social interactions, affecting how people choose spouses and business partners.

A fight between two students quickly escalated into a school-wide brawl that lasted two days. It only ended when 34 students left in protest — all of them Luo. The fight had begun because a Luo student kicked a Kamba colleague. It would be insignificant if this school, situated in central Kenya, did not produce many of the elite who took over state power in the s. From this crucible of ethnic identities and the removal of Kikuyus from urban centres in the s emerged both trauma and opportunity.

Kikuyu elites, many of whom were safely away from the fighting and suffering, bolstered their position by claiming to have lent a hand in the freedom struggle. They built upon the trauma that the community suffered from a genocidal colonial government and quickly weaponised it. On the Luo side, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga quickly rose to power. Both he and his main rival, Tom Mboya, realised the political power they desired was dependent on first strengthening ethnic identities even further.

It is almost as if, to some extent, is That was the year Jaramogi Odinga finally quit the ruling party to form his own. It was also the year the onslaught on Odinga and his supporters began in earnest.