Alba wrote:@Wakanyugi
Partisanship in the US is not tribalism. It is based on ideology or principles.
Republicans have a set of beliefs that are the polar opposite of democrats. For example, republicans are passionately pro-gun and will vote against any politician who wants to resrict gun ownership. On the other hand democrats are often passionate about issues like the environment and social spending.
With regard to racism, it is true that racism affects the US but not to the same extent as tribalism in Kenya. Obama is black yet he was elected in the US. If he were a Kenyan, he would have been eliminated from contention based on his ethnicity.
Obama was elected because he espoused principles like protecting the environment, spreading wealth, healthcare for all, ending wars, social justice, immigration reform etc. As a result, the US has made progress in healthcare reform, ending wars and so forth.
On the other hand, in Kenya he would likely need to build a tribal coalition. very few people gets any tangible benefit from voting based on tribe. The country is the biggest loser because Uhuru does not care about these issues. He knows that whether Kenya is insecure or whether crime is high does not matter. Come 2017 Its all about tribal coalitions. Thats why tribalism is Kenya's biggest cancer.
But lets forget USA. Look at Nigeria. They identified their biggest issue as being security (with regard to Boko Haram). So they voted out goodluck jonathan because he was incompetent when it comes to addressing security. They will keep voting on this issue until they find a president who can address it. Thats why they will make progress.
In Kenya we have issues like security, crime, unemployment, traffic, poor infrastructure. These issues not only affect your safety, they also affect foreign investment and thus hinder economic growth. Tourists do not want to come to an unsafe country. Investors don't want to build factories in a corrupt country.
No wonders tourists are voting with their feet and leaving. No wonder unemployment is high due to low foreign investment. Thus crime is high because there are too many unemployed youth.
But instead of voting on any of these issues, we obsess with tribe. We defend mediocre leaders if they are from our tribe. Thats why these issues are not being solved in Kenya.
Also, in Naija, the presidents typically come from the smaller tribes. There is no tyranny of numbers or tyranny of tribalism in Nigeria.
The Hausa are the largest ethnic group yet there has never been a Hausa president. Buhari is fulani, Jonathan was Ijaw, Babangida was Nupe, Abacha was kanuri and so forth.
Going further back, shagari was fulani, Murtala was Berom............
This can never happen in Kenya. Imagine a Pokomo or Teso as president?
Alba: sorry I missed your detailed and I must say thoughtful response. I have been away. In the meantime it seams the discussion has taken its own trajectory, so I better let it.
One point though: I define tribalism as discrimination on the basis of one's ethnicity. I have lived in both Western and African societies and I can tell you for a fact that tribalism in Amerika, Canada, UK...is alive and well. Don't be fooled by the terms they use to sanitize it.
Just like Americans institutionalized political bribery and called it lobbying...well, you get my point.
"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth." (Niels Bohr)