Tribalism is still a big issue in many African countries. Is this also the case in Kenya? Would you agree that the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya was triggered by tribalism? Have tribal conflicts already been there before the colonialists came or have they been created by them?9) Tribalism
Tribalism is still a big issue in many African countries. Is this also the case in Kenya? Would you agree that the 2007/2008 post-election violence in Kenya was triggered by tribalism? Have tribal conflicts already been there before the colonialists came or have they been created by them?
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Those of the youth in present-day Kenya don't care much about the various tribes. As long as you are Kenyan, you belong. I think tribalism was experienced most by our parents and our parents' parents.
Kenya has 42 tribes, but here in Nairobi I can't really say there's much of a difference in terms of our cultures. But if you go to the countryside, there is a gap and the traditions vary. The different tribes don't have exposure to each other. But still, many tribes have some traditions in common like dowry,...
I think people were having a lot of bad feelings for a long time and they just waited for an opportunity to let them boil out. So, that's what happened during the post-election violence.
Tribalism might also have been a reason here. But you know, for students my age, tribalism is not really an issue because we have been studying together since the beginning.
And the violence was also a lot about power - so about the most common thing in the world.
I think tribalism only plays a role in low income and uneducated groups of the population or for people from the older generation. My grandparents had to marry somebody from the same tribe, but my parents already intermixed. So for us students today, tribe is not an issue anymore. We are all Kenyans.
It's sad that tribe has sort of become an issue during the 2007/2008 post-election violence. But, you know, that was only on the surface of the conflict. The conflict wasn't really triggered by tribalism but by income inequalities and frustrated people trying to get some land for themselves. When the election fraud took place, they saw their chance of changing something about their situation. It's really sad, I know.
I think tribal conflicts have always existed. But I think that's just a normal behaviour of people: trying to protect what's theirs. It think you can see that everywhere in the world.
So, I wouldn't say the colonialists have created tribalism. The only thing they have done is put all these tribes into one country. So the tribes have to cooperate more than they used to have to in the past.
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