Reading the news in Kenya. (Carney/TYG)

The explosion of violence that followed the announcement of Kibaki’s victory is said to be fueled by ethnic animosities. Many believe that the Kenyans who have fared best under Kibaki’s rule have been those of his own ethnic group, the Kikuyu. Marginalized ethnic groups hoped that an Odinga presidency would bring economic and political advancement for those overlooked by Kibaki’s administration. When Odinga—who belongs to one of these marginalized groups, the Luo—lost in what appeared to be a stolen election, widespread fighting erupted.

But this narrative only captures part of the complex crisis unfolding in Kenya. Although the turbulence has been attributed to tribal rivalries, many Kenyans, especially the youth, argue that ethnic antagonisms were appropriated by politicians and belong more to the older generation than to its children, many of whom now live in culturally diverse urban areas. However, young Kenyans have not sat idly by. They are adding their voices to the fray, as computers and cell phones provide them with the means to challenge their parents’ generation’s entrenched and politicized views.

How much power their voices will have with these new tools remains to be seen, especially as established political parties and government officials have begun to use the very technologies associated with the younger generation—text messages, emails, and blogs—to perpetuate age-old ethnic tensions.

Invented Divisions

In coverage of ethnic rivalries in Kenya, the media have largely ignored the generational factor. As Herold Aluoch, a Nairobi citizen now working at Emory University, said, “Kenyan youth did not care much about people’s ethnicity until this year when the older folks have brought it up and made it a big issue.”

Indeed, basic economic disparity and disenchantment with political hierarchies are as much at the root of the violence as ethnic rivalries, especially since most Kenyan families, particularly in cities, are multiethnic. Many Kenyans in both rural and urban areas, regardless of tribal associations, suffer from poverty and its associated ills—insufficient land, lack of healthcare, poor education and unemployment. Kenya’s economic growth, which distinguishes the nation as one of the healthier economies in Africa, has largely benefited an elite upper class since independence. While ethnic rivalries matter, they have provided only a superficial explanation and a trigger for the underlying economic dissatisfactions that fed the explosive violence.

According to Micah Mitoka, a college student from Nairobi, “Our generation chose to ignore or is unaware of tribalism because we did not introduce it to our political system, nor did we make it a part of everyday life. Tribalism has also been overcome in urban areas because of the integration of a multitude of cultures.” One manifestation of this change has been sheng, a Swahili slang widely spoken by youth in Kenya.

Mitoka added that a gap in generational attitudes has contributed to the violence. “The youth at the moment are basically pawns for the political class. They are only useful during the election campaigns, when ethnic ties are used to keep the youth in check so that they vote as a herd instead of rationally.”

During the campaign, politicians exploited tribal rhetoric—leaflets reinforcing ethnic associations were widely distributed, and vernacular radio stations like Kass FM and Rmogi FM supported specific candidates with highly charged ethnic messages. But young Kenyans like Mariko Ombaka resent these incendiary campaigns. Ombaka is a Luo from rural Nyanza, the heart of Odinga territory. His public school has been closed since the violence erupted. “The people of Kenya elected the president of their choice regardless of the tribe. They also don’t like the current one not because he is a Kikuyu but because of what he did or is doing to them!”

Technological Irony

Ethnic antagonisms may belong largely to the older generation, but much of the violence has been facilitated by the very technologies associated with the youth. In spite of prevailing poverty, most Kenyans have access to cell phones, and many can use television, radio, and computers, even in rural areas. In the days following the election, mainstream news coverage, largely controlled by the government, was periodically shut down or restricted; other technologies filled the void. In particular, citizens have relied on cell phone calls, text messages, and blogs to communicate and disseminate information.