A Real-Life Hunger Games
A country plagued by tribal warfare seems almost like a fantasy story. Yet Kenya has been playing a political Hunger Games for years, with its many ethnic tribes fighting each other for political power. This country suffers from one of the most violent tribal rivalries in Africa: the Kikuyu vs. the Luo. Though there are hundreds of tribes in Kenya, the Kikuyu and Luo tribes are by far the largest and most influential. But how does a small rivalry affect an entire population?Over the past 2 decades, at least 10,000 Kenyans have officially died at the hands of this civil war, though the exact number is likely much higher (Nyambura). At the very heart of this deep-rooted conflict lies a treasure: the Kenyan presidency. The country is essentially set up with many fatal flaws that allow the president to use his power to only benefit his own tribe, rather than the country (Kiruga). For the past 8 years, the Kikuyu tribe has held the presidency, with the current President, Uhuru Kenyatta, also hailing from the tribe (“Ethnic Cleansing”).
The tribal rivalry has drastically escalated in the recent years that members of both tribes have resorted to mundane violence to assert tribal dominance. In the case Kisumu, the capital of the Luo tribe, the city was reduced to a rubble waste field as constant battles ensued. All of the Kikuyu population was driven out of the land with threats, hostility, or cold-blooded murder. In one particularly gruesome event, 25 Kikuyu’s were hacked to death with poison arrows (“Ethnic Cleansing”). The murder of the Kikuyu tribe is due to the ethnopolitical conflict in the country. The Luo are frustrated with the lack of political representation in government, so they resort to violence. The rivalry is no longer personal but rather based on the deep, historical tradition of fighting. One article by The Economist, explains that “what [the Luo] wanted was a Kikuyu to kill—any Kikuyu” (“Ethnic Cleansing”). This tribal war is based solely on the affiliation to a tribe rather than personal faults, a rather troublesome predicament to engulf an entire country into.
But what exactly started this murderous rampage? The answer is a bit hazy. The main catalyst for this war dates as far back as 1950 when Kenya was still colonized by the British. During this time, the Kikuyu tribe rose to prosperity and garnered most of the country’s wealth (Nyambura). This sparked the beginning of the tribal rivalries in Kenya, forcing the poorer tribes to fight for equality. Furthermore, the conflicts were only perpetuated in the election of 2002, where the two main political candidates were from opposing tribes. The two candidates began feuding at a tribal level which ultimately resulted in the use of Kenyan law to oppress the Luo tribe as thee Kikuyu won the presidency (Kiruga). One member of the Luo tribe even claims that the current president “is the face of an oppressive government, inherited from his father” (Kiruga). The ethnopolitical unrest caused by the public’s blatant distrust in its government only adds to the corrupt nature of the country.
With the current election system being based solely on voting for members of a tribe rather than on political foresight, the Kenyan government often struggles to appease the entire population. For example, in one election, Luo candidate Tom Mboya desired the presidency as a way of “strengthening ethnic identities”(Kiruga). When politics clash with ethnicity, the only outcome is political unrest in minorities. Even though the current president’s policies are more geared towards the general welfare of the country, the other tribes will continue to riot until they gain political representation (Nyambura).
This tribal rivalry even affects Kenyans who choose to avoid the tribal life. In an article by BBC, a Kenyan native describes one night where he was forced to sleep in a bar because his house was going to get raided by members who thought he was affiliated with a rival tribe (“How Kenya”). The man was forced to leave his own house because of a conflict that he was not a part of. This issue also puts a strain on ethnically mixed couples, where each partner belongs to a different tribe. A couple from a mixed Luo-Kikuyu background made the decision to move to Nairobi after voting because their child was receiving death threats to compel the couple to vote a certain direction(“How Kenya”). The rivalry has disrupted the lives of countless civilians who simply want to live a simple life, but are forced to reside in fear because of their ethnic origins.
Though such a deep-rooted conflict cannot be alleviated quickly, there is hope with the upcoming generation of youth who grew up with the internet and Western culture. Wanjiku Kihika, a young Kenyan who founded the Tribeless Alliance, is evidence of this hope. She explains that the hashtag “#TribelessyouthKE” trends on twitter every week and has already received 3.5 million views (Nyambura). The youth pose the potential to bring a promising future for Kenya, but experts worry that public support in itself will not be enough. Another solution is to recreate a government similar to the British system, where there are two supporting ministers to the prime ministers. This allows the ministers to come from a variety of tribes rather than one single tribe to create a balance of powers (Maina).
Whatever way Kenya chooses to proceed with this issue, the conflicts will only rise and the death toll will keep increasing until political justice is achieved. The question still remains: How many more deaths will it take to end this ceaseless war?
Works Cited
“Ethnic Cleansing in Luoland.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 7 Feb. 2008,
“How Kenya Election Puts Strain on Ethnically Mixed Couples.” BBC News, BBC, 4 Aug. 2017,
Kiruga, Morris. “The Ethnic Rivalry That Holds Kenya Hostage.” The Africa Report, 30 Jan. 2018,
“Letter: Tribal warfare." Independent [London, England], 7 Dec. 1999, p. 2. Gale In Context: Global
Issues, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A66392645/GIC?u=los42754&sid=GIC&xid=7d850f3c.
Accessed 18 Apr. 2020.
Conversation, 6 Oct. 2019, www.theconversation.com/how-kenya-could-move-away-from-the-
politics-of-ethnicity-77980.
Nyambura, Zipporah. “In Kenya, Politics Split on Ethnic Divide.” DW, Deutsche Welle, 26 Oct. 2017,
