Ref: http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143983137&cid=15
Published on March 12, 2008, 12:00 am
By Muthoni Thang’wa
Many have sighed with relief as the country takes the road to normalcy following the signing of a power-sharing agreement between the Party of National Unity and the Orange Democratic Movement.
Even as Members of Parliament get ready to enact the necessary legislation to legalise the agreement and create the inclusive government that Kenyans want, it should not be taken for granted that the time for national soul-searching will end at the stroke of a pen.
Kenya must intensify the search since this will be a good time to rebuild, mental attitudes, heal broken hearts and families, rebuild community trust and give thought to a Kenyan identity, even as the physical homes, towns, roads and rails are reconstruction.
The danger of not investing in rebuilding the minds and hearts of the people is that should there be a disagreement, our rails, homes and towns can be destroyed again in a day.
As a nation it seems that we have invested too much in politicians and political processes. That is the area that reconstruction is being given priority.
In reality a lot more must be invested in the reconstruction of national unity, respect and appreciation for diversity and community healing and forgiveness, not to mention the power and authority vested in national institutions.
A prominent MP was heard on national television expressing the view that he wishes that tribes would be done away with all together. Such a perception is the wrong footing on which to base the foundation for peace. There are certain facts that all of us must understand even if it means forcing them down their throats.
Unless the current world order changes overnight, the basis of human identity will remain the father, (even as female headed families become an accepted norm in society), the family, community and finally nationality. The first three forms of identity are firmly entrenched in ethnicity or tribe.
As such ethnic groups fall under natural heritage, there is not much one can do about it as it is predetermined by the universe. Even adopting a new nationality cannot change ones tribe.
That leaves anyone in the world that is born into a tribe little choice but to make it a positive basis for nationhood.
Even if tribe is a source of identity and should be a source of pride rather than shame and conflict, Kenyans have to agree and find common ground on where it becomes irrelevant and nationality becomes a priority.
This kind of logic is lost to half of the adult Kenyan population. Suggesting that top public service jobs should be based on a national not a tribal agenda (if Kenya is committed to real change) is logic that will lose the other half of adult Kenyans.
Since the nation has been unable or has refused to organise politics away from ethnicity, only a strong and independent legal framework can protect public institutions from abuse.
What Kenyans need to understand is that if tribe becomes our governing mantra, it will not matter who holds office, so long as they do not belong to our communities, then they will not be right for that office.
That there are not enough jobs in Government for the entire population is another fact Kenyans must engrain in their psyche as part of change for the future.
The healing that we are entering into must be action based, not just talk. For the political parties it makes no sense that people who were rejected by the electorate should be nominated to Parliament. This is a desperate move to make parties look all community inclusive.
Although some of those leaders were rejected on a tribal platform, trying to reinvent them with a nomination may not the best way to craft a national agenda.
The situation will get even more complex if the internally displaced persons do not heal enough to return to their previous homes and places of work.
It will mean that whatever mode of geographical distribution for national jobs, nominations etc will be based on a homogenous population, further compounding the issue of a logical framework to set rules to guide such allocations.
The needed change requires creative and genius thinking. The media has been playing a role in keeping the thought of nationalism alive, mainly by playing Eric Wainaina’s song based on the national flag over and over again.
No media professional has been able to come up with any further creativity to assist Kenyans stop thinking tribe and start thinking Kenya. Yet these are professionals whose primary objective is creativity, as such how much more difficult is such thinking for a politician?
Creating a platform from which to build our nationalism will not be easy given that there is heritage that is not optional and cannot be changed, but it must be done.
The writer is a heritage management professionala
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment