House of Mumbi vs the Luo Nation: A tale of two opposing tribes

There is a very credible explanation on tribalism in Kenya, that it is just about a supremacy contest between the Kikuyus and Luos. The other tribes just coalesce around each of the two, depending on which group is more likely to advance their small tribe interests. Of course there is also the other hand of the argument, that tribalism in Kenya is simply anti-kikuyuism vs  Kikuyu self-preservation.

The Kikuyus and Luos do not really like each other. I have been fortunate enough to live among the two communities and they do not have very nice things to say about each other. The Luos believe the Kikuyus are selfish, money hungry and cannot be trusted. The Kikuyus on the other hand say Luos are lazy, unambitious and obsessed with hero worship. They say inside each stereotype there is some measure of truth.

Are Kikuyu’s a selfish lot who would easily betray another to advance their own interests? Are Luos unambitious and spend their days singing praises for those who excel in their community while individuals wallow in poverty?

In the olden days

The Kikuyus and Luos have two very different styles of leadership. In the olden days, the Kikuyus were ruled by several councils that consisted of different age-set based groupings with an established hierarchy. There was no individual sole ruler, according to Jomo Kenyatta’s Facing Mount Kenya, Kikuyus had overthrown a dictatorial supreme leader and come up with this form of leadership style to safe guard against one man’s madness.

The Kikuyus had a mantra of tribe above self. This meant that no single individual interest could surpass the collective tribal interest. In this regard, there are hardly any Kikuyu heroes of years past. When wars were won, there was no single hero but the win was taken as a collective win for all the Njambas of war. The retribution of selling out the community members to an enemy were more visible during the Mau Mau wars when lots of Kikuyus who were found out to have collaborated with the colonialist were killed in the most brutal ways. There was no forgiveness for the sin of putting the community in harm’s way.

The Luos on the other hand thrived on inspirations from community heroes. There are countless stories and songs of historical and mythical legends who are considered great men in the community. They were also led by ruoths who were individuals with chief like authority. These ruoths had the power to make unilateral decisions and lead the community to a certain direction, albeit consultations with the elders were also encouraged.

And Today..

The Kikuyus sense of self preservation is still very strong, especially in the wake of targeted economic sabotage of the 80’s and the murders in the Rift Valley that coincided with election years. This sense of self-preservation is the reason why they would seem (or are actually) selfish when choosing who they want as a political head. They easily sacrificed Uhuru Kenyatta in 2002 elections because they felt as a Moi project, he didn’t have the communities interests at heart. When the Mungiki, a tool previously used to fight off community foes proved dangerous to survival of the tribe, the members of House of Mumbi did the unthinkable. They flashed out the young men, their own sons, hanged them and others were sent to exile. Tribe above self, the poor fathers and mothers would mourn their children later, when peace had come back and the Mungiki removed.

This tendency to vanquish anything that stands in the way of the tribe has been viewed as selfish by the rest of Kenyan tribes.

The Luos on the other hand choose inspiration from individuals and this has sometimes been seen to jeopardize the entire community’s interests for the sake of day’s hero. The pride and joy the Luo people feel over the achievement of one called by their name has always baffled many. But to them, one man’s success is the whole community’s success. An insult to one single member of the community is an insult to the whole community. There is no single tribe in Kenya with so much music in praise of individuals as is with the Luo tribe. From Luanda magere, Gor Mahia Kogalo to Raila Odinga, Barack Obama. The pride the community has for its excelled sons and daughters in unmatched.

What this means for politics

For political mileage in Kenya, which is measured by the tribal numbers you bring in, the Luo model of one man leadership is very attractive to many politicians. It means that the tribal chief can determine single handedly the direction the community will take in the highly charged political arena. Compared to the Luhya (though grouped as one, they are a myriad of sub-tribes who were once ruled by independent kings/chiefs) or the Kamba who do not follow a single leader.

 In the 2013 elections, we saw a shift from the normal “What can you do for the tribe?” mindset among the Kikuyus to “We want a muthamaki (single, absolute ruler)” This shift propagated by the Kikuyu oligarchy was to ensure unquestioned support for Uhuru Kenyatta, who did not have the necessary qualifications to ensure continued economic prosperity, but was needed to protect the interests of the elite. Under the Uhuru presidency, more and more Kikuyu’s are becoming highly sensitive to any criticism directed at the president. This is vastly different from his predecessor Mwai Kibaki who was arguably a better president, he was widely criticized even by the Kikuyu’s themselves, without the need of want to “protect him”.

The Kenyatta family not only managed to “escape” punishment by the House of Mumbi for betraying them after independence, but have been immensely rewarded for this, and are now being protected heavily, to the detriment of the tribe and whole country at large.

P.S. I welcome links to books or websites shedding more light on the traditional Luo set up.