In Kenya, we have had Kenyatta (a Kikuyu) as the president for 15 years. Moi, so far, the longest serving president Kenya has ever had, was there for close to a quarter of a century. Moi, from the Nilotic speaking Kalenjin, ruled Kenya for a whopping 24 years from 1978 to 2002. The third Kenyan president who is just about to retire, and I pray to oblivion, will have served for another 10 years come March 2013. He also comes from the Bantu speaking Kikuyu. Basically, all these three presidents come from only two ethnic communities. Yes, only two ethnic communities out of over 40 communities forming the so called Kenyan nation.

Among the Kenyan communities, we have the aboriginal Ogiek and other hunter gatherer communities. Though the Ogiek speak a Nilotic language all the other hunter gather communities, on the other hand, speak a mostly Cushitic language. However, I am not sure of the difference between, say, Aweera, Watta and Boni. These to me seem to be the people the Somalis refer to as Bon. My apologies to them in advance if these communities happen to be different from each other. Other communities found in Kenya include the most loathed Somali – I don’t have to qualify this because the indicators in the North Eastern Province of Kenya (NEP) speak for themselves. We also have remnants from the British colonialist who call Kenya home. Though a minority, there also exists a significant number of Indians from the Subcontinent who mostly came as cheap labourers during the colonial days.

Basically, the Kenyan peoples can easily be categorized into three language groups and two non-indigenous groups (the Europeans and Indians). Of the three language groups, the Bantus, no doubt, form the majority with the Nilotic speaking communities being the second largest group. The least of this group are the Cushitic speaking peoples though inarguably the first to inhabit Kenya. Enough scholars have written about the fact that Cushitic speaking peoples preceded both the Nilotes and the later arriving Bantus in Kenya.

So, in as much as the Somalis have a right to be Kenyan just like the Bantu speaking Kikuyu or the Nilotic speaking Kalenjin, subsequent Kenyan governments serving the interests of the two said communities have deliberately and systematically adopted a scorched earth policy towards the people of NEP. Over the years, and throughout the presidencies of all the three presidents Kenya has so far had, untold atrocities have been visited upon the hapless Somalis in Kenya – just because of their being Somalis. So, in the warped logic of the powers that be, the Somalis are nothing but non-Kenyan aliens. Yes, alien in their own home country. What happened in Garissa recently rightly proves the point I am trying to make.

Even despite the so called power sharing agreements being in place, that Kibaki is the most powerful person in Kenya is in no doubt. The Chief of Defence Forces is also a Kikuyu who was promoted for nothing else other than to protect the interests of the Kikuyu. The top dogs in the police also happen to come from the same section of Kenya. Therefore, it is obvious that the coalition government is in name only and Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister, is not as powerful as he should be. It is for this reason that when Odinga gave orders that the business people in Garissa be compensated for their loss, a Kikuyu minister differed with him publicly.

Mohamed Yusuf Haji, Minister of Defense

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