R.I.P.A. Promotes the Fight against Negative Ethnicity in Kenya

However, the good member of the Commonwealth family opened the year of her great achievements with an ugly conflict; what has popularly been known as the Post Election Violence. Proudly, the dark past has been buried by the present bright moments where we cheered President-elect Barrack Obama and the Kenya Olympics team as Kenyans; never minding our differences as a people of different tribes and cultures.

All major efforts now have been dedicated to national healing and sustainable peace building.

I would like to concentrate on the RYC Innovative Project Award (RIPA) awarded to the Kenya youth representative by the Commonwealth Africa office and its impact in peace building. This is a project that involves university students working with secondary school students across all tribes to foster peaceful coexistence; not just as members of different tribes, but also as the young people of Kenya whose future is threatened by the ethnic division.

The first school that was visited was Gatanga Girls High School in Thika District of Central Province.  

 The idea was spending the day focusing on academic excellence coupled with a discussion about the role of peace for effective education. This approach was borne from the fact that it was clear that during the post election violence, the violence was more severe in the rural areas and in the informal settlements (slums) where illiteracy is high and inter-tribal exposure is minimal. Therefore, the uneducated youth were more vicious than their educated counterparts who remained relatively docile.

 Again, it is apparent that in Kenya, the education system can be seen to be promoting negative ethnicity. The reason is that the young students are enrolled to the school nearest their home; the form 1 quota system stipulates that a form one student should be admitted at the district, provincial or national school level in that order. Therefore, most secondary school students find themselves in a school having only their tribesmates. This reduces inter-tribal exposure which is quite essential for the developing young minds to appreciate people from other cultures. In cases where the students do not proceed to the higher institutions of learning or in urban job markets, they end up being forever confined to their divisions or districts which are distinctly one tribe dominated. The effect is that they think along tribal lines, go about their lives knowing one tribe (their own) and even vote ethnically!

n the school visit recently concluded, it was made clear by the students that:¨ The current education system promotes tribalism e.g. the form one quota system of admission¨ Inter-school games and cultural festivals play a major role in bridging the gap between different tribes and thus should be well  developed and sustained.¨ There should be a subject on good citizenship/civic education in the school curriculum at the primary and secondary levels of education.¨ Since peace is not merely the absence of war, continuous peace- building efforts should be sustained With an outreach of about 600 young females, the pace is set for the university students to fight tribalism which is high among the said youth group. By relating to the public and private universities and colleges in Kenya which have a good blend of all the 42 communities of Kenya, the campus students have themselves de-ethicized themselves and are working together regardless of their different backgrounds.

The initiative is expected to cover five more secondary schools from the rest of the provinces and the target is to reach to 3,000 secondary school youths who will be the ambassadors of anti-tribalism among their colleagues. The multiply effect is expected to widen the scope. The next school is Bishop Sulumeti Secondary School in Teso District in Western Province.

In conclusion, I would seek the indulgence of the young people in Kenya, the Commonwealth and indeed the world to shun all setbacks to the realization of youth development. Tribalism is one major setback where we do not relate as the youth; of the same generation facing similar challenges, but prefer identifying with our tribes negatively. The western democracies have shown that race, leave alone tribe, is not an issue in the 21st Century.\Deliberate efforts must be put in place especially in Africa to break the barriers of tribes and unleash the potential of young people in development and democracy.

  "To mainstream youth, through education, knowledge and awareness is a huge global challenge."

 -Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma

                                                                                                                                   MICHAEL K. MBURU

                                                                                                                     Commonwealth Youth Caucus

                                                                                                                    KENYA representative.