IT’S A DEAD END!

My birth mother worked as a midwife at Pumwani Maternity Hospital, Nairobi until 2001. Her job came with some benefits such as community council housing in the hospital premise, which we called ‘kambi moto’ and was multi-ethnic in nature. I spent most of my childhood here, it was a vivacious one. The community was vibrant as well. It taught me care, love and that charity will never make me poor. As kids, we played together and nobody was ever left out. I also knew that if I had something nice and joined the rest of my friends with it, I had to share. Even my older siblings and their friends would lend out dresses to each other. Sharing wasn’t a problem, even for the older.

During calamities like death, we had ‘matagaas’ –funeral meetings- that were more of celebrating the departed and would run through the night. Music and coffee were both played and made at a fee. This was a way to raise more funds for funeral expenses and a way to entertain ourselves as we kept awake. They were also a form of showing support and an assurance that we would be available for each other through day or night. To me they were a way we protected each other from the phenomenon of death which of course is overwhelming. I remember visiting my friends’ rural homes which were in different parts of Kenya, differences such as ethnicity, educational level, religion and the likes were never an issue, we simply were ‘kambi motorians’. Of course we did have disagreements and exchanged words or got into petty fights but we always resolved them and at times, we just forgave which made us a strong united community. I will always believe this is the African way of life, Ubuntu. Africa naturally has an ethnolinguistic nature and has tribal groupings. We have roughly 1000 tribes across sub- Saharan Africa with distinct languages and customs that varies. Nigeria with a population of over 150 million has almost 400 tribes (ten times that of Kenya) while Botswana with just over 1 million people has at least 8 large tribal groupings.

Ethnicity is one of the major strategies that African politicians use to divide us. In 1994, nearly a million people were killed in Rwanda’s horrendous genocide and in the Darfur region of Sudan, where ethnic violence has displaced and killed hundreds of thousands. It is estimated that as many as 2000 people were killed in 1992 during Kenya’s tribal clashes while another 1, 300 died and 600, 000 displaced in the 2008 clashes, 309, 200 are still leaving in IDP camps since 2008 as of 24^th April 2015 (estimates by IDMC). In the past 5 decades, an estimated 40 million Africans have died in civil wars (which includes tribal wars) scattered across the continent, this  is  equivalent to the population of South Africa and twice the Russian lives lost in the second world war. 

Ethnicity is also one reason offered to account for why African countries have little to show for despite it being the world’s biggest producer of raw materials and having still received over US$ 300 billion of aid since 1970. It is estimated that a typical civil war costs around four times annual GDP, that is, four times the country’s annual domestic earnings. Evidently, ethnicity limits a country’s economic, social and moral growth resulting to poverty, crime and at times full blown civil war. It creates distrust between different groups thus making collective governance and public service provision difficult. It also slows down the implementation of key policies that could spur economic growth limiting investment and entrepreneurship. A World Bank study showed that 85 per cent of aid flows (loans and grants) received by Africa were used for purposes other than that which they were intended for. It is also estimated that US$ 10 billion depart Africa every year through corruption -this is roughly half of Africa’s 2003 aid receipts. This indicates that even public funds stolen through corruption aren’t invested back in Africa but abroad. A wise investor who has invested heavily in their country/ region will promote peace and stability among other factors to protect his? her investment for sustainable growth. When a politician incites on ethnic grounds or any other way for that matter, it indicates that they have invested little if at all for that matter in their country or region. They clearly have little to lose and maybe a lot to gain from a tribal war.

We cannot deny that Africa has had its fair share of tribal fracas. But by the same token it is true that that there are a number of African countries where disparate groups have continued to co-exist peacefully (Botswana, Ghana, Zambia just to name a few). I do not believe that people who have lived as neighbours for hundreds of years start attacking and killing each with no provocation or support from those in power. We all were born by mother Africa so why bother listen or act for individuals who are less interested in investing in us, in fostering entrepreneurship or in developing our middle class, than they are in furthering their own personal and financial interests? Dambisa Moyo in her book Dead Aid points out that African cities live in a more integrated Way than you might find in other cities- there are no ethnic zones such as those that exist in Belfast, London or New York, for that matter.

Ethnicity has cost us many lives and many years that could have been used to promote development. Once locked into the ethnic argument, there is no obvious policy prescription, IT’S A DEAD END! Better to look to a world where all citizens can freely participate in a country’s economic prosperity, and watch the divisive role of ethnicity evaporate. Don’t you think?