As the Kenyan crisis continued to shake the East African country, a rare feat was pulled off by an American of Kenyan descent ( incidentally from a Luo father like the aggrieved Presidential candidate Raila Odinga).
Barack Obama beat his main rivals including Senator Hilary Clinton in the first leg of the race to the White House.
He went to give a stirring speech that spoke of change and a people’s victory. Now the Luo factor may be the entry to this post so lets comment on that. There has been a barrage of comments about the “ tribalism” of Kenya’s inferno pitting two ethnic groups, the Luo and Kikuyu, against each others bloodied machetes and all. Some commentators like David Blair of the Independent, said elections depended so much on tribal affiliation that there are no more than a disguised census. Among other things many commentators are wondering whether democracy is worth the sweat in Africa.
The Luo constrast, Obama and Odinga represents that divide. Obama is able in democratic America to reach beyond racial and party lines while Odinga’s value seems to be that he stands with the rest against the traditionally dominant Kikuyu’s.
Both men seek to change the status quo- with violence being and chaos being the distinguishing feature in the campaign.
The experiment with democracy has not failed in Kenya or elsewhere in Africa. In fact what is happening in Kenya is the pressure on democracy itself to evolve. Democratic transition cannot ignore the nature of its constituency. White, black, rich or poor, Luo or Kikuyu, many voters will support a candidate who is one of “theirs”.
The democratic deficit in Kenya is not lacking. The violence on the streets of Nairobi is in defense of democracy. Unfortunately there was a close election but even when this is taken into account, critics of democracy in Africa often forget that at the very least as a system of governance democracy consistently falls short of moderating competing influences based on its very tribal constituency.
In other words- democracy pretends that ethnicity does not exist instead of naturally owning up to this fact painted with blood across the continents skyline.
There are examples of how democracy can respond to this challenge- including the Burundian way where ethnicity is the basis of the current democracy there or Ghana where a long history of meeting the challenge of ethnicity has been creatively attended to.
What the Luo factor in Kenya says which Obama does not have to worry about is that Democracy in Africa aught to accommodate the nature of its tribal and ethnic constituency.
Elitist commentators like Blair only propagate the idea planted in the time of Britain’s empire that ethnicity is evil- those savages!
In any case by talking of power sharing that is the accommodation that Gordon Brown is talking about.
A bigger challenge for Africa and countries like Kenya and Uganda is to understand not just the identity forces in the democratic constituency but that ultimately that those very same constituencies often calculate beyond their ethnicity. They want a good education and opportunities that go beyond the sound of their mother tongue.
For Odinga to become an Obama it will take the maturing of these identities and the governments that deliver for them.
Finally – many may not have noticed but the Luo which are descended originally from Sudan are settled in much of Northern Uganda where by the hand of history they form the main constituency for the official opposition in Uganda. Not surprisingly the Luo leaders including Prof Morris Ogenga Latigo have expressed solidarity with Odinga.
It becomes a far richer story- when the Ugandan Luo are included in the equation of democracy and its successes and failures.
Finally – many may not have noticed but the Luo which are descended originally from Sudan are settled in much of Northern Uganda where by the hand of history they form the main constituency for the official opposition in Uganda. Not surprisingly the Luo leaders including Prof Morris Ogenga Latigo have expressed solidarity with Odinga.
It becomes a far richer story- when the Ugandan Luo are included in the equation of democracy and its successes and failures.
