I'm reading an interesting article on public policy and class in Kenya (Amey and Leonard, 1979). Some interesting quotes make me realize there's a problem with the "two groups in Kenya, rich and poor" thingy Kenya-ttans are always quoting.
Here are some quotes.
Here are some quotes.
I'll paraphrase a bit:
Political class consciousness is often weak or confused in Kenya...the Kikuyu political elite have used their control of the state to provide benefits to their poorer ethnic brethren different from the rest of Kenya, in order to avert a class struggle
Political class consciousness is often weak or confused in Kenya...the Kikuyu political elite have used their control of the state to provide benefits to their poorer ethnic brethren different from the rest of Kenya, in order to avert a class struggle
"A class struggle would deny the rich [Kikuyu] elite their voter base and would threaten a REVOLUTIONARY transformation of society. And that is how the elite continue the tribal politics of the colonial times."
Meanwhile the politicians go home to tell the rural poor and workers that their social problems are ethnic, not class.
The interests of the non-Kikuyu elite are also buried in an anti-Kikuyu ideology that accuses the Kiambu Kikuyu of having monopolized the fruits of independence.
The interests of the non-Kikuyu elite are also buried in an anti-Kikuyu ideology that accuses the Kiambu Kikuyu of having monopolized the fruits of independence.
The predominately Kikuyu political elite prefers matajiri politicians from the other tribes "because their demands deal only with personnel- not the structure of the system- and can be accommodated." Politicians who make more radical demands are jailed, assassinated or bought off
End of quotes.
Many Kenyans already say what they're saying. But the difficult thing facing our struggle now is how to tie class to ethnicity and even to race. Rising up the class/power ladder means necessarily more favors from the Kiambu elite, as we saw with the handshake
Many Kenyans already say what they're saying. But the difficult thing facing our struggle now is how to tie class to ethnicity and even to race. Rising up the class/power ladder means necessarily more favors from the Kiambu elite, as we saw with the handshake
And as I argued after the election, this ethnic-class power structure is very weak, but it is supported through electoral autocracy (rigging) and global capital (Euro-American capital, whose power is represented by the EU, US and UK embassies wandianjoya.com/blog/kenya-ele…
Since class in Kenya-tta is defined ethnically, many Kenya-ttans, regardless of ethnicity, find it difficult to disconnect themselves from the rich people of their ethnic group. If being rich means being more "Kikuyu," their rich elites are not rich because they're not Kikuyu
So even though Kenya-ttans understand that there's a class difference between them and their tribal lords, they are unable to resist them during elections because we don't yet have a language to untie class (wealth) from Kikuyu-ness. The term #Uthamaki is a case in point.
One of the ways to delink class from ethnicity and see that all the rich, regardless of tribe, are pigs to be sent over the cliff is by divorcing our country's name from the name of the oligarchy. We're not free when our country's name & ruling family's name share the same roots
The truth is, our country's salvation lies in a class struggle. We cannot get material freedom if we don't cut our soul ties with our elites, which they maintain by appealing to our ethnicity and claiming that they're not at par with the Muigai's because of tribalism
That is the tough mental work that has to be done, and I wonder how long it will take, since more middle class Kenya-ttans with the education to understand the problem dont aspire to replace the structure, but to take the place of the personnel in the structure 😢
