Tribalism more rampant now than before: Francis ole Kaparo

Ethnicity is more entrenched in the country today than it was two years ago, the head of the commission charged with fostering cohesion has admitted.

In a candid interview with the Sunday Nation, the chairman of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) Francis ole Kaparo, said Kenya is more balkanised along tribal lines today than it was before President Uhuru Kenyatta assumed power in 2013.

But he clarified that the Head of State has not sanctioned the state of affairs, adding that many factors have led to the current scenario.

Mr Kaparo’s admission is based on findings of a preliminary report on ethnic composition commissioned by the NCIC on parastatals and county governments two years after the 2013 elections.

Just as public universities are guilty of hiring staff from communities that host the institutions, parastatal bosses also favour their tribesmen.

The perception among many Kenyans that the Jubilee government is a union of two major tribes, the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin, does not help matters.

The former Speaker of the National Assembly is worried that the situation could get worse no one is willing to address the matter.

“Remember the creation of this commission (NCIC) itself was forced on the Agenda Four talks to have it anchored in the Constitution. Before this, no one saw the need of having a body to champion cohesion matters,” he said, referring to negotiations backed by the African Eminent Persons panel that brokered a truce after the disputed presidential elections in 2007 led to violence.

He said as a commission there is only so far they can go.

“We have little power to enforce offences that we feel should fall within our realm. Other than the power to curb hate-speech, the others are largely advisory.”

ORIGINAL DISTRICTS

Negative ethnicity, he said, dates as far back more than a century, and deliberate action by citizens and leaders is required to overcome it.

“The major task we have is to address more than 100 years of encouraging tribal division. Our colonisers did this for 60 years, and for about 50 years since the winds of independence visited the land, we have continued the trend,” he said.

His sentiments reinforce recent reports by the Public Service Commission that revealed that the top five tribes by numbers (Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhya, Luo and Kamba) hold the largest proportion of public service jobs.

Mr Kaparo said the original 43 districts created by the British were guided by which tribe occupied particular geographical areas, a trend that was continued.

“We have never spent a year to create a nation state. What we have is a geographical entity called Kenya instead of one nation with one aspiration. This is one area Tanzania did better than us because while our major focus has been wealth creation for the selected few, theirs is a citizenry with a common identity,” Mr Kaparo said.

His remarks are a rare show of forthrightness from a political appointee. He was appointed by President Kenyatta after being vetted by the National Assembly.

Speaking with a measured tone and occasionally interrupted by phone calls, Mr Kaparo lamented that the country is headed in the wrong direction in every social aspect of life.

“Corruption is getting out of hand. Impunity is the order of the day, and people think universities were created for tribal groupings.”

But Mr Kaparo heaps much of the blame on county governments that he said had succeeded in creating ‘islands of tribes’.

“Some of these counties have up to 90 per cent of their staff from one tribe. This is horrible especially when it becomes hard for persons who do not come from those counties to get jobs however qualified they may be,” he said.

The NCIC boss warned of a looming danger of violence unless the trend is reversed.

“We can very easily consume one another, and this is not far-fetched. We have been down this road before; deliberate action has to be taken to correct this. Our security lies in equity, fairness and unity,” he said.

MERE RHETORIC

The 2007/08 post-election violence is a constant reminder of how competition for political office can get ugly. Hundreds of people were massacred as images of thousands of others displaced from their homes shattered the dream of a united nation.

But he dismissed as mere rhetoric accusations by the Opposition that Mr Kenyatta’s government is not representative of the country.

“Their complaints are not genuine. What we must appreciate that not everybody can for instance be appointed to the Cabinet. The law pegs the number of Cabinet secretaries to 22, which is less than the 42 tribes.

What should worry them was if resources were not being shared across the country which is not the case. The Cabinet and even other key slots are fairly shared across the country,” he said.

The University of Eldoret was recently the scene of demonstrations when Uasin Gishu Senator Isaac Melly led locals in protests accusing Vice Chancellor Teresa Akenga of favouring members of her tribe in job appointments. Prof Akenga comes from another county.

Mr Kaparo said universities should live by their name of being universal and embrace everyone .

“It should be a place where a child goes to feel what it means to be Kenyan, but the current situation is heart-wrenching,” he said.

“We do not advocate the sacking of those who are overrepresented; what we advise is that when vacancies arise in future, the opportunity should be used to hire groups who are marginalised,” he said.

On the attitude of African presidents towards ethnicity, veteran journalist David Lamb who chronicled the overthrow of Idi Amin in Uganda writes:

“African leaders deplore ethnocentrism. They call it the cancer that threatens to eat out the very fabric of the nation. Yet almost every African politician practices it, most African presidents are more ethnic chief than national statesman, and it remains perhaps the most potent force in day-to-day African life. It is a factor in political struggles and distribution of resources.

“It often determines who gets jobs, who gets promoted. To give a job to a fellow ethnic member is not nepotism, it is an obligation. For a political leader to choose his closest advisers and bodyguards from the ranks of his own ethnic group is not patronage, it is a good common sense. It ensures security, continuity, and authority.”