Tribes in Kenya

Tribes in Kenya are something that you would expect to be fairly comprehensible to an American, at least after some explaining. A tribe, after all, is just an ethnic group and every urban area in the US has plenty of those. However it really is so much more that it becomes very difficult for the average American to relate to what one's tribe means to a Kenyan. Tribes are far bigger and more important than the threads that tie people of the same ethnicity together. A tribe transcends a sense of identity, a common language or a cherished culture. And tribal stereotypes, though just as commonly held and just as partially true as ours in America, are no more than an often humorous side note. Unfortunately some of the more significant aspects are not so innocuous. When it comes down to it, tribe is the device an individual uses to distinguish "us" from "everyone else."

The general attitude is if you're of the same tribe, you're probably OK. If you're not, well then I don't know you and I don't trust what you're up to. It's funny to watch how Kenyan visitors are treated when they arrive at the market center nearest to me, which also serves as a bus stop. First the local men give sideways glances at the outsider (especially if it's another man), which quickly turn to flat out stares. If it seems the man doesn't know the place well and nobody knows him, someone will go up to the fellow and say something in Kikamba, the local tribal language. If the visitor responds in Kikamba, smiles explode and everyone lightens up and acts like family. If the visitor responds in Swahili then his questions will be answered politely yet coolly, and everyone will continue with their business with an eye kept on the stranger.

Even me, when I'm in different parts of the wider region inhabited by the Kamba people, if I speak the little Kikamba I know I am treated completely differently than if I use Swahili. Simply saying "Watinda ata?" (Kikamba for: How is your day going?) has people freaking out. They immediately start cracking up laughing, they want to know where I stay, what I'm doing, am I going to marry a Kamba woman (because we can ask each other how our days were, which is about the amount of interacting married couples do in the country side), and often a soda is offered. If I speak Swahili MAYBE they will note "Ah, you have learned some Swahili. Good for you." To have learned any Kikamba means I must have spent time with and been accepted by other Kambas somewhere, therefore I must be OK.

With 45 tribes in Kenya, and the largest comprising no more than 1/5th of Kenya's population, the problems come when you look at national politics. First of all Kenya got off to a bad start. Soon after gaining independence from the British in 1964, Kenya's founding president, a man of the majority tribe fittingly named Jomo Kenyatta, immediately seized the best pieces of land and distributed them to other members of his tribe. This set the tone early for tribalism and protecting narrow interests. To this day many people exclusively vote along tribal lines, and when elected into power a person is expected to use that influence to advance his or her tribe. Regardless if this means 'misappropriating' money or blocking a project in a rival tribe's land that might benefit the whole country.

Even worse, when any type of problem arises that incites tribal tensions violence is not uncommon. This is usually fairly isolated and tends to happen in more urban areas dominated by a single tribe but with a small but significant population of another tribe. During the 2007 election tampering was suspected by the majority tribe which has dominated national politics due to their strength in numbers. In the aftermath there were pockets of vicious violence against that majority tribe which ended up killing over 2,000 people and displacing around 300,000 more. Peace Corps actually pulled all Volunteers out of the country for six months (my group was the first full, new group to return).

Most of the time most people of all tribes get along just fine. But the fractiousness of tribalism makes national unity elusive and stability tenuous when issues of national importance arise. Living in Kenya has made me appreciate what Iraq and Afghanistan must be going through. You have all these distinct ethnic groups who may or may not see any connection whatsoever with each other, and you're asking them to become a single nation that they may or may not want to be a part of, under leadership that most absolutely do not support. There are bound to be bumps in the road. Luckily Kenyans have gone well beyond questioning whether they should be a single state or multiple. And as more people become educated and the population shifts to urban areas where peoples naturally mingle tribalism should slowly dissipate. Though for the foreseeable future tribes and tribalism are going to be shaping forces in Kenya. This will keep it an interesting place, with an enormous diversity of cultures existing right next to one another, but it will also hinder development and make national elections dangerously contentious affairs.