| dc.description.abstract | National Integration remains a big challenge in Kenya as the recent ethnic conflicts that rocked
different parts of the country in the recent past may testify. This is not the first time Kenya as a
nation has experienced the same problem. In 1992, for example, with the advent of multi-party
politics, the country was gripped by ethnic tension and violence that resulted in the loss of lives
and property in some parts of the country. Fourteen years later the problem of ethnic conflicts
keeps recurring if the recent conflicts in Maai Mahiu, and Mandera and Trans Nzoia are anything
to go by. This shows that all peace loving Kenyans and indeed people of goodwill should do
everything possible to promote ethnic harmony in Kenya.
Kenya like many other African nations is a land of diverse ethnic communities, with 42 ethnic
groups each with a distinct culture such as language, marriage practices, economic modes of
production and dressing patterns. These values are not particularly distinctive of African
societies as a people. The values need to be exploited for the purpose of enhancing social
solidarity among the Kenyan people.
Kenya as a people have gained international recognition as a nation that is by and large peaceful.
Kenya has hosted many refugees who have migrated from their countries due to ethnic conflicts.
We can proudly testify that as Kenyans we hosted many Ugandan refugees and those from
Rwanda and Burundi following the genocide that gripped Rwanda in 1994 after the death of both
presidents of both nations. The recent peace accords signed between the Sudan peoples
liberation movement and the Islamic Government in Khartoum, and the formation of the
Government of Somali in Nairobi, Kenya is yet another manifestation of the peace efforts that
Kenyan people have made to ensure peace in the East African region, the continent of Africa and
the world as a whole.
These achievements serve to show that Kenya has the potential to solve any emerging problems
related to ethnic tension and conflicts. All that may be needed is for Kenyans to realize their
potential and tap it for their own benefit. Kenyans ought to realize that tolerance, patience and
dialogue are important elements for mutual co-existence. Similarly, the rule of law, equity and
justice, respect of each other’s customs and traditions, so long as those cultural values do not
interfere with the freedoms of others are equally necessary values for co-existence. Kenyans
must realize that no sustainable human development may be achieved in a hostile environment.
Peace and harmony are absolutely necessary for the creation of an enabling environment for
sustainable development.
Hopefully, Kenyans have learnt enough lessons from countries such as Rwanda, Burundi,
Somalia, Liberia, and Sudan among others, which have all experienced ethnic conflicts that have
resulted into massive loss of lives and property. It has been observed that when people fail to
engage in dialogue as a method of discussion and when they fail to practice justice particularly in
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all the allocation and distribution of resources, be it land, education, and water resources, among
others, it becomes difficult to avoid animosity, tension and violence. These conflicts result in
displacement of many people from their homes thus making it difficult for them to involve
themselves in development activities. Data collected by the United Nations High Commission
for Refugees indicates that by 1999 there were 11.7 million refugees globally and almost 4
million internally displaced people (UN-Habitat 2002:92). The report identified dialogue as one
of the fastest means for resolving ethnic tensions and conflicts.
It is also recognized that consensus building is one of the most widespread methods in African
societies for the resolution of conflicts. Ethnic conflicts may also be a manifestation of the
breakdown of law and order. Usually when the ordinary citizens lose trust in the law
enforcement agents they may manifest this loss of confidence by taking the law into their hands,
a situation that creates a conducive environment for the proliferation of ethnic conflicts. A
recent study by (UN-Habitat 2002:6) observes that ‘reporting levels to the police are low because
victims do not believe that the police can assist them in dealing with the matter-either because
there seems to be no chance for them resolving the crime, or because they do not believe that the
police are competent enough to help them… central to improving levels of reporting to the police
will be improving public perceptions of police integrity.
The fastest means for resolving ethnic tension is for Governments to practice justice in the
distribution of resources and to apply the law without any form of discrimination whatsoever to
both the minority and the dominant ethnic communities. Ensure that there are no illegal firearms
in the hands of unlicensed civilians. It should be recognized that for diverse ethnic groups to
continue living in harmony, they need to respect each other’s cultural values. For instance, the
agricultural communities should recognize the values of the pastoralists. Similarly, pastoral
communities should recognize the values of agriculturalists. In order for the various ethnic
groups to co-exist in Kenya they need to understand the customs of one another: Leslie White
(1954:214) points out that all human social life is conducted in terms of anticipations,
expectations and predictions. Orderly social life would be quite impossible without the ability to
make realistic predictions. Distinctive communities that live in the same area must endeavour to
understand and appreciate the customs of their neighbours as much as possible. White
(1959:215) observes that custom is a powerful and effective means of social integration and
regulation. It is a means, of effecting regularity, uniformity, order and continuity in social
systems. It is therefore, a powerful means of promoting social solidarity…by serving as stimulus
to arouse, and as a medium to express group loyalty and allegiance.
Ethnic conflicts have afflicted many African countries before and after the achievement of
political independence. This indeed is a problem that every African country should examine
with a view of coming up with a permanent solution. David Lamb (1983:106) points out that the
OAU (African Union) has encouraged and indirectly contributed to bloodshed in Africa, by
remaining silent when atrocities are committed in some countries in the name of non-interference
in the internal affairs of individual African countries. For instance, in 1994, 800,000 (plus)
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deaths occurred in Rwanda due to ethnic conflict. (See Daily Nation, April 10, 2005). The
African Union may need to form a special committee or force that deals with human rights
record of all African countries, to avoid a situation whereby the human rights are violated during
ethnic tensions and conflicts. Africa is a land of diverse cultures with 2000 ethnic communities
each with its own specific language or dialect. It is therefore not easy for these groups to live
together in harmony when they do not respect each other’s cultural values. This gives the
leaders a big challenge of maintaining peace among the diverse ethnic communities. The leaders
need to know that peace can be maintained only when they apply the law equally among all
groups and when they distribute the available resources equitably. David Lamb (1983:xiv)
observes that it is hard to explain the African situation because of the fact that this is a continent
where hundreds of thousands of people have bee n killed for no other reason than they belonged
to the wrong tribe. It is therefore recommended that everything human possible needs to be done
to bring to end the ethnic tensions and conflicts in Africa. This may be realized when as all of us
endeavours to promote peace from whatever situation we find ourselves in. Peace is an
important element for social solidarity, and business of earning a livelihood is made easier
whenever there is social solidarity Hull (l980:182) points out that regional ethnic conflicts or
civil wars presented the African Union with many problems. A major obstacle to development
of nationhood is the diversity of ideologies and political organizations of many ethnic groups.
These diversities should be viewed positively as factors that contribute to the enrichment of the
entire nation if they have to be transformed into forces of nation building.
Paper published by the University of Nairobi Anthropology Students Association “The
Anthropologist”. | en |
