New law unites the 47 tribes of Kenya

Once upon a time, in a country called Kenya, when the President said jump..”

We can only have one President at a time.  The President can only belong to one tribe.  Should we ever have a half-caste President, two. In its 50 years of self-rule Kenya has been governed by presidents from two tribes.  Three out of four have been from the same tribe.  Between the two, one tribe ruled for 24 years, the other 26. 

It is not such a bad thing to belong to a tribe.  It gives you roots.  It breeds in you a culture.  It gives you an identity.  It becomes and is your history.  The Constitution recognises that tribe, culture and heritage are a part and foundation of our nationhood. 

For a long time, tribe has played a pivotal role in electoral politics — who will ever forget the tyranny of numbers.  It threatens to continue to do so.  Only successful implementation of devolution can tame negative tribalism and its chokehold on our national psyche.  Here’s how:

Under the repealed Constitution, the Presidential winner took all.  The President had over 21 Constitutional powers that could not be questioned in any forum, including courts of law.

They included appointment and removal of the Vice President.  He could appoint as many ministers and their assistants as the budget could accommodate.  He terminated them at will. 

He dissolved Parliament at will; and fixed the date of the General Election to suit his political whims. 

He appointed and terminated members to the electoral and other commissions.  He could appoint judges, the Commissioner of Police, the Attorney General, and other key appointees without consultation. 

He had powers over land, setting it aside for use or occupation, ideally for public purposes, but rarely so. 

Naturally, every politician wanted to be President.  Every Kenyan desired that their tribesman hold office.  The two tribes that have had kinsmen in office have benefited in every way imaginable, lawfully and unlawfully.   They continue to do so.

Tribal leanings are openly frowned upon, but embraced and practiced behind closed doors.  We are unhappy and feel left out when people speak in their mother tongue in our presence; but relish and cherish the opportunities when speaking the same language will open doors that are closed to others. 

This is negative tribalism.  It has been used as an excuse to reject policies that do not suit the government of the day.  Majimbo was rejected by the Independence KANU Government because of the fear of the polarisation of the country along tribal lines.  The idea of multi-party was resisted by yet another KANU Government on similar fears. Yet, with the passage of time, the jinni called negative tribalism grows more intolerant, louder, larger, belligerent, prone to fits of violence and ungovernable.

One of the noble aspirations of devolution was to nurture 47 new tribes.   Not defined by language or place of birth.  Not defined by blood or other family relations.  Forty-seven tribes with their own governments, thriving economies, markets for labour and goods, home-grown laws; united within the boundaries of Kenya by the Judiciary, Parliament, the President and his deputy. 

Devolution dismantled the all-powerful omni-present presidency. Once the symbol of power; now the symbol of National Unity. At the national level the Constitution creates independent commissions to remove the powers of the President over land, elections and boundaries, the Judiciary, finances, salaries and wages of public officers, and so on.

At the county level, it gives Governors a legislative arm and executive powers.  The Governor has a larger financial budget than the President.  He has wider unchecked executive powers and discretion.  In the right hands, these tools can permanently change the destiny of any county.  Kenya only needs one successful Governor; like India’s newly-elected Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, once was.