Maina Kiai,Muite autophobia Xtreme

* A response to Maina Kiai and Paul Muite Opinion – “Ethnic ‘entitlement’ does not bode well for Kenya and its communities ” Published by the Daily Nation

Maina Kiai A Hater

Did you ever notice that there are no Kalenjin going around the world saying, or writing about, how awful Kalenjins have been? Given that the Kalenjin have unleashed three tribal wars and perfected patented industrialized genocide against the Kikuyu, why has there been no Kalenjin Maina Kiai ?Are there any Luos writing books about the absence of Luo soul-searching or expressions of sorrow over their torture and murder of Kikuyus in Kibera ? Has anyone ever encountered any Luo or Kalenjin remorse ?The answer, of course, is no. In fact, among all the world’s peoples, only Kikuyus produce individuals who have greater sympathy for those who hate their people than for those who love it. Some in this small urban kikuyu community loathe everything Kikuyu (they love their own agenda and their own vision of what Kenya could be over their own people ) and have contempt for the average Kikuyu. That is why most of them have such admiration for the Raila’s and ODM

There are no comparable self-haters in any other country, This newly minted young Kikuyu Intellectuals (sic) are often the leaders in anti-Kikuyu kamukunji(s) ,demonstrations and movements. The Kiai’s and Binyavanga’s devote much of their lives to trying to harm our community and expressing deep hatred of Gikuyu traditions.This self-loathing on their part is all the more remarkable when you consider that those who support and fund them strongly affirm their own cultural and ethnic identities. For example, while Kiai and Muite ceaselessly attack their own community ,ODM ceaselessly defends its own communities even in the face of serious catastrophic environmental negligence as shown by the issue of the Mau.

How, then, to explain this anomaly of new Kikuyu self-loathing? I offer one explanation.Many of the haters are political rejects,political wanna be’s driven by anger and selfish ambition .Anger that is similar to adolescent anger at a parent who claims very high ideals and turns out to be slightly flawed. Many of the haters are angry at Kikuyu’s for being ‘imperfect’ in accepting their values (ODM Values)and therefore disappointing them.There may be other explanations. But what is certain is that Kikuyu self-hatred is a unique phenomena that plays a particularly destructive role as designed by those who fund it .It gives fodder to those who are for the destruction of our community.What better way to promote anti Kikuyu propaganda than to have one of them spew it in the guise of speaking the truth .

Yes, we may agree with parts of your opinion that the older generation of Kikuyu leadership has failed.Failed to deal with poverty that is destroying us.Even worse is that they failed to protect the defenseless in the Rift Valley and in IDP camps , but the solution Mr Kiai is not to side with those our leaders have failed to protect us from by promoting their propaganda and agenda.

We can move on as younger Kikuyus without having to bow down to these forces or their stale ideas.

Joe Ndungu

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Posted on April 22, 2009 at 11:51 in Tags | RSS feed | Respond | Trackback URL

Tags: Article by Muite and Kiai was insulting to all Kikuyus, Binyavanga Wainaina, Ethnic ‘entitlement’ does not bode well for Kenya and its communities, joe ndungu, John Githingo, Kikuyu hate, Maina kiai, Paul Muite

17 Comments to “Maina Kiai,Muite autophobia Xtreme”

Godfrey
April 23, 2009 at 15:14

Muite is just an opportunist: if he had been nominated to parliament and perhaps gotten a job as minister, his rhetoric would be different. Now, the people who actually beleive what they are saying are the likes of Maina Kiai and John Githongo. The problem is that these are the products of the rich, old men they love to whine about. Kiai, Githongo, et al are children of priviledge suffering from guilt at having plenty amidst all the poverty around them.

I am not Kikuyu, but I don’t beleive the Kikuyu should apologize for being who they are. They haven’t stolen land from anyone, instead they bought it or were allocated by successive governments (including that of Moi). There is nothing wrong with living anywhere in Kenya and neither should they apologize for speaking their language and practicing their culture. For example, we have a “Kisumu Ndogo” in almost every town in Kenya but why isn’t anybody complaining? Certain tribes have engaged in ethnic warfare but we don’t see them apologizing.

Perhaps the Kikuyu should adopt the Asian strategy: stay low but make lots and lots of money.
sam
April 26, 2009 at 03:37

Revisonist historians would have us think that Maina Kiai was branded a kikuyu traitor by the ‘Kikuyu oligarchy’-The old men that rule Kenya.But the true historical facts lay elsewhere.

January 2008:

The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights chair Maina Kiai is missing in action. The vocal human rights activist has always been handy in advocating for the interests of politicians as if only political interests qualifed as human rights. The Eldoret Massacre was the single most deadly event in an ongoing genocide in Kenya at the time. Women and children who had taken shelter in a church were burnt to ashes in broad daylight. The killers blocked all exits before setting the church on fire.

After a long silence about the genocide that was going on, Maina Kiai came out to defend rights of Raila Odinga’s supporters to hold a protest. Newspaper reports covering the Raila protests quoted some Raila supporters confessing of slaughtering Kikuyus. The protestors promised to continue the killings until Raila Odinga is installed as president.

Maina Kiai’s selective interpretation of human rights .

Didn’t Maina Kiai and his organization find the lives of innocent Kenyans worth a two sentence statement?Maina Kiai was paid by the Kenyan citizens to advocate for the rights of the down trodden. He opted to protect the interests of ODM politicians instead because it paid handsomely. It boosted his ego when He mingled with the high and the mighty Kikuyu killers.

Kiai’s Crocodile tears

Maina Kiai finally visited Eldoret to shed crocodile tears upon the relization that ODM would not take full control of the country . A man who had given the ‘rigged’ election as justification to the killings in RV expected a warm welcome but he received boos.(not from the old Kikuyu elite he attacks but by the victims and ordinary Kikuyu’s) .Maina Kiai and his KNCHR were missing when the rights of the common citizen were being violated. He was missing when Kalenjin Militia drowned Kenyan refugees in River Kapkaren and burnt alive women and children in an Eldoret church. Showing up to fake empathy when his ODM Paymasters plan failed to overthrow the government .

Let Maina Kiai continue to enjoy his 30 pieces of silver in peace without trying to mock the victims of the criminals that he represents.There is a reason he was branded what he is and it was not by the ‘Kikuyu old men ‘ .It was by the poor he now pretends to represent
wangari
April 26, 2009 at 03:38

Kiai, please please … come down and face the reality we need peace then work for justice. You found the reality in Eldoret where you had gone to shed crocodile tears! if you acted while these crude acts against humanity were been planned you would have saved many. Now you betrayed the same people that work day and night to pay tax in order to pay your huge salary and allowances.

Kiai should not even waste our time pretending to care about the ordinary Kikuyus. This is the same man who has been calling for the police not to kill mungiki criminals but is silent when 30 villagers are killed in karatina
hadassah
April 27, 2009 at 10:37

I am releived that someone has bothered to respond to Muite and Kiai.
I am dismayed that Kiai and Muite would undertake to isolate the Kikuyu, heap such a major burden on the collective, yet clearly it is specific individuals that must be held accountable. In fact, whatever they accuse the Kikuyu of is broadly applicable to most ‘major’ tribes in Kenya. The wrongs (whatever they are) are not a monopoly of the Kikuyus, indeed all tribes, including especially the Joluo, have a strong sense of entitlement.
In the end, though, both men are rejects, and perhaps we shouldnt take too seriously their desperate attempts at staying relevent. It is regrettable just how trivial they would get.

ps: Kikuyus, like all Kenyans, should be proud of themselves, their language, their contributions. They, like other Kenyans, have the right to seek political position and influence and should not be intimidated. If the Indians have made a choice,for whatever reason, there is no reason why the Kikuyus should make the exact same choice.
blogger
April 27, 2009 at 21:48

Quote from Kenyaluv on Funua’s blog

“My problem is why some Kenyans think Kikuyu’s are the cause of all the problems in Kenya? But its nothing new, Jews are also blamed for all sorts of things. When Kalenjins filled government to the brim no one wanted to kill Kalenjins….so why Kyuks all of a sudden? Some Kenyans feel Kikuyus are wealthy(or at least perceived to be) through some mythical advantage they got in the past. Kikuyu-haters can’t swallow that most Kikuyus got what they have through sheer hard work so they are trying to bring Kikuyus down(through genocide etc) The thing is Kikuyus wont go down easy, because their house is not built on sand(corruption) but entrepreneurship and hard work, thats why even Moi tried to finish them but they got back up”.
'G'
April 27, 2009 at 23:15

The gist of the argument in my opinion can be summarized into two major points:

1. That there exists a number of Kikuyus who actually loathe themselves:

Joe clearly demonstrated this aptly. Indeed there exists a class of Kikuyus who loathe the fact that they were born Kikuyu. They actively engage in talk that suggests that Kikuyus are thieves,land grabbers and the greediest people in Kenya. Am surprised you castigate him for this statement. Njonjo once said “I feel ashamed to have been born Kikuyu”. Many black people in America for a long time actually believed that black people were stupid and prone to criminal behaviour. Thus the phenomenon of self hatred is not knew but, as the author argues, unique to certain (not all) members of the Kikuyu community.Contrasted to other communities, Only Kikuyu leaders or persons in high position have spoken ill of the communities.

Now can you show me a single Kalenjin,Luo,Luhya or Kamba leader who has PUBLICLY condemned his own community? Even worse has any ODM leader come out clearly to apologise to the members of the Kikuyu community who lost loved ones,property and livelihoods?

Joe has aptly shown that the words of Muite,Kiai and Githongo clearly condemn Kikuyus and exhibit a sense of ethnic guilt.
I quote
“……But this attitude is not just the prerogative of powerful politicians, it has also affected the middle class and ordinary Kikuyu.There is a dangerous sense of victimhood and entitlement. The feeling of victimhood is now deeply entrenched in the community, and understandably so, given the colonial emergency, the clashes in the ‘90s, and the post-election violence in the Rift Valley, but it is coupled with a sense of entitlement and superiority over other communities, expressed in attitudes that the Kikuyu are somehow superior; that they work harder than other Kenyans; that they have more financial and entrepreneurial sense than others; and able to govern better than others.

It is also expressed in derogatory assumptions and stereotypes about other communities………………..”

The above statements read in the entirety of the article have the implicit meaning of Kikuys having a superiority complex yet nothing is further from the truth.

2. The Failure of Leadership in Central Kenya
I believe there is no need to belabor this point. Joe ties this with the first point very well stating clearly

“Yes, I agree with your Opinion that the older generation of Kikuyu leadership has failed.Failed to deal with poverty that is destroying us.Even worse is that they failed to protect the defenseless in the Rift Valley and in IDP camps , but the solution Mr Kiai is not to side with those our leaders have failed to protect us from by promoting their propaganda and agenda.

We can move on as younger Kikuyus without having to bow down to these forces or their stale ideas.”
With this statement he not only goes to the heart of the matter but also provides a solution.

Indeed I suspect your misreading of his article leads to your mistaken conclusions.I tell you Peter ODM propaganda machine is as efficient as that of Goebbels and has convinced other communities that the problem of Kenya is Kikuyus. Thus the thrust of Joe’s argument is that the statements of Kiai and his ilk only serve to oil this machine.

Let me finish by saying the saddest thing is that if Muite and Kiai lived in Eldoret in Jan 2008, their property would have been burnt and they would have been killed regardless of their “hallowed exhortations” to fellow Kikuyus.
daniel.waweru
April 27, 2009 at 23:42

Did you ever notice that there are no Kalenjin going around the world saying, or writing about, how awful Kalenjins have been? Given that the Kalenjin have unleashed three tribal wars and perfected patented industrialized genocide against the Kikuyu, why has there been no Kalenjin Maina Kiai ?

Are there any Luos writing books about the absence of Luo soul-searching or expressions of sorrow over their torture and murder of Kikuyus in Kibera ? Has anyone ever encountered any Luo or Kalenjin remorse or self-hate?

Tricky, tricky.

Either it’s good to show remorse for wrongdoing or it isn’t. If it isn’t, then Kalenjin and Luo who haven’t shown remorse have done nothing wrong. But you’re on their case, so you do think that they ought to show remorse, so you do think that it is good, at least sometimes, to show remorse. If it is, then Kalenjin and Luo should show remorse for their wrongdoing; that they haven’t is a mark of their badness. I think that’s a conclusion you embrace.

If that’s true, then it’s unlear why you’re down on Maina Kiai. After all, you think communities can be communally responsible for wrongdoing and you think they ought to show remorse for it, and that not showing remorse is a sign of badness. All that’s required is the very plausible thought that there has been communal Gikuyu wrongdoing — by your standards, not a very difficult standard to meet.

_____________________________________________________________________

The point here is Maina Kiai was missing in action when people were being slaughtered.He was the head of an organization that was charged with upholding their human rights.He failed to do his job.Now as a self proclaimed ‘national’ leader he wants to talk about what Kikuyus have done and not what others have also done . Kiai is just as guilty as the kalenjin militia .He should first take a look at himself before talking about others

PS .There will never be Gikuyu remorse for self defense.
Emily Wairimu
April 28, 2009 at 01:06

Daniel i think you completely miss the point and other commentators have dissected the post well to bring out the point of the reply .The issue is not is remorse good or bad . The issue is people offering remorse for what has been done by individuals.Maybe the kalenjin and the Luo have realized that the bad that has been done has been done by leaders out of selfish ambition.Thats why their lives have to changed.

Communities can not offer remorse for what has been done by a few individuals. That is why blanket apologies on our behalf are not necessary .

Kiai should have written of the nepotism(kibaki and his friends some of who are not even Kikuyus)I fail to see like many why propaganda against a community should be peddled in such a manner

I think everyone can see Kiai wrote the article to appease ‘Other’ constituencies and not to correct Kikuyus. This is the same man who championed Odm’s right to hold demos instead of calling for an end of violence and church burning in the RV .

We don’t want Kibaki types and we don’t want Kiai types.Maybe younger people like Joe should run for office
kim
April 29, 2009 at 14:34

For those who are not aware, the hate against Kikuyus is beyond reprieve. Haven’t we seen People saying that as far as its Kikuyus who are dying there is no problem with that. If Muite and Kiai has a problem with Kibaki thats their problem. They should know that once the dermonization boils to a point of no return even their keens will not be scared by those whom they fondly love.
But anyway this is a very strange article that only ridicules Kikuyus as traitors even amongst themselves
Moses Gichohi
April 29, 2009 at 22:27

I read the article by Messrs Maina Kiai and Paul Muite on the Nation April 17. Like them, I’m Kikuyu. Like them, I’m educated, and wish to notify them that I’m not as stupid as they alleged.

True, ethnicity is and has been a problem, causing tensions and suspicions. However, I take great exception to their apparent disrespect for age.

It is the height of intellectual arrogance to refer to a whole community as composed of nothing but ignorant paupers who worship evil, presumably illiterate, good-for-nothing old men. Have these “selfish” men been always old?

In 2007 General Election, most Kikuyus voted for Kibaki, so did Luos for Raila and Kambas for Kalonzo. Kalenjins supported Moi for a quarter of a century.

Kalenjins didn’t vote for Raila. They were trooped in there by Ruto. Had Ruto been vying, the same voters would have merrily voted for him and rejected Raila. And had Mudavadi been vying, Luhyas would have abandoned Raila.

Even the tribes that didn’t present candidates had a tribal king. Let national debates to reduce tribalism be honest.
M.Kuria
April 30, 2009 at 01:07

MY FRIEND PAUL MUITE’S joint article with Maina Kiai titled “Ethnic entitlement does not bode well for communities” (DN, April 17) was frightening. No, in fact it was dreadful.

Never before has so much venom been poured, never has vitriol flowed so freely. A stranger from outer space would be totally lost on reading that piece, wondering who are these despicable Kikuyus whose devilish behaviour would attract so much bile from eminent persons like Muite and Kiai.In a letter, Masafu K.S.C from Chwele, Bungoma (DN, April 22) took the cue from the indefatigable pair. “Let’s not have jobs for some people. There are many poor Kikuyus, but seeing a Kikuyu watchman in Eldoret is as hard as seeing a Luo hardware shopkeeper in Nyeri.”

I am sure that Muite and Kiai must have read this with lots of satisfaction, the hornet’s nest they stirred having produced ethnic bigotry that not only met but also exceeded their expectations.ALL KENYAN COMMUNITIES ARE today grappling with the same problems. Kenya has been said to be one of the most unequal societies in the world. That is a fact. We also have a major problem with a growing army of unemployed youth.Too many of our citizens do not have access to land, which is condemnation to a life of deprivation, given that ours is an agrarian society.Generally speaking, the elite are increasingly seen as being detached from the realities of the harsh living conditions. Leaders appear to be living in Utopian world, a mockery of 46 years of independence.Too many of our people do not have access to clean water, healthcare and quality education, while entertainment is only a pipe-dream they can ill-afford.

This is Kenya, our Kenya, whether one is a Kikuyu, Luo, El Moro or Rendille. For Muite and Kiai to apportion disproportionate share of these problems, and in fact blame the Kikuyu for their existence, is an insult to a whole community.Only the two know the reasons for this unwarranted attack. What we know, however, is that this kind of reverse-ethnicity only creates a fertile environment for Kikuyu-phobics such as Masafu K.S.C to confirm their fears.
Given our recent history, especially the post-election violence that has rocked Kenya in 1992, 1997, 2002 and tragically, 2007, all Kenyans, not least opinion leaders like Muite and Kiai, ought to realise that they have the power of making headlines, but that power ought to be exercised with maximum restraint and with the greatest sense of responsibility.The Kikuyu community has endured many years of targeted victimisation for the myriads of problems facing Kenya. These two writers are just the latest entrants into a crowded arena.

Muite and Kiai mask their wholesale condemnation of a community with thinly veiled attacks on the so-called old, wealthy leaders. The undiscerning and gullible may fall for this cheap prank, but as the floods of responses through Letters to the Editors have shown, the majority of Kikuyus, and indeed, other Kenyans, are smarter than the two had imagined.The whole of Kenya, and not just Kikuyuland, is due for a massive generational change. Octogenarians are not the preserve of the Kikuyu. They abound in North Eastern Province, among the wonderful Maasai, intellectual Luo, thrifty Kikuyus and industrious Kalenjins.

Luckily ,our civilization has developed a way of rejuvenating our leadership. Every five years, we go to the polls to elect leaders. Those who take too long to get out of the way receive a polite nudge from the electorate.

I cannot pretend to hold brief for Kikuyus, but I have the temerity to aver that Kikuyus will always humbly play their rightful role in our nation.As our fore fathers joined other Kenyans in fighting the colonialists in the search for dignity, land and independence, so shall this generation join other Kenyans in seeking solutions to the problems that afflict us as a nation, country and people.Attempts at blanket Nazi-like condemnation of the Kikuyu will be resisted, whether from Muite, Kiai or any other high priest of ethnic bigotry.We are all Kenyans and we shall face our challenges eye-ball to eye-ball.

Mr Kuria is secretary-general, Centre for Strategic and International Studies. (mkuria@thetechnologyhouse.com)
EMMANUEL NGALA
May 4, 2009 at 06:48

I’m a young man from a humble Giriama family that has intermarried with Kikuyus, Luos and Kambas. I’m not in the best position to dispute the article by Mr Muite and Mr Kiai (Nation, April 17). Being Kikuyus themselves, they may know something we don’t.

However, I want to disagree with them for insinuating that the Kikuyu are greedy. No, they are not. They just have a sense of entitlement that we all need to have if we want to achieve something. There are many positive behaviours among the Kikuyu that need to be emulated to build a working nation. Reader Masafu K.S.C. was wrong about the jobs Kikuyus do.

In Coast Province, Kikuyu young men wake up long before anyone else and cross the Likoni Channel pushing hand carts on their way to Kongowea to carry vegetables for kiosk operators. A Kikuyu mama mboga’s kiosk is always the first to open. In contrast, the local youth prefer to study foreign languages and get jobs in hotels. They consider pushing a hand cart awkward. Sooner than later, the Kikuyu hand pusher is awash with cash and opens up a big retail shop.

I’ve come to understand the Kikuyu as people who will do anything not to be dependent on another person. Many people brand them selfish. A Kikuyu will not be obliged to take care of his parents or half brothers or cousins of a cousin’s cousin. His parents will continue to till their land and sustain themselves well into their 80s.

And the parents will not curse their son for not coming home to buy them unga regularly. At the Coast and in western Kenya, a mere teacher may be depended on by a host of able bodied clansmen with excuses for not working hard. A Kikuyu teacher will get a loan for businesses while those from other ethnic communities do so to pay school fees for lazy relatives’ children.

EMMANUEL NGALA,
Malindi
hadassah
May 4, 2009 at 10:27

KIKUYUS ARE NOT GREEDY, THEY WORK
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Letters/-/440806/593668/-/ig9wp8/-/index.html

Note this link leads to Emmanuel Ngala’s note above as a letter to the daily nation.
I couldnt help but ponder on one parsimonious insight: that entitlement is fine, good actually, to the extent its accompanied by honest, individual and/or collective effort at improvement.
Kahii ka Mukami
May 4, 2009 at 22:37

Muite,his political godfather Njonjo and Maina Kiai suffer from a condition ,that for lack of a better term ,I shall call the Man Friday Syndrome.Those who have read Daniel Defoe’s classic,Robinson Crusoe,
will remember Man Friday,Crusoe’s slave who enjoyed captivity.The same mental vacuity can be attributed to the above mentioned autophobes who get their kicks from insulting their kin in the name of human rights and democracy.
hadassah
May 5, 2009 at 06:55

So below, a link to another letter in the Daily Nation.
I am still quite puzzled at the fixation with an entire community, which is dangerous at best. Such writers should be encouraged to demonstrate how and by what mechanism they make the grand leap from individual decisions to entire communities. They should also be strongly encouraged to indicate why they have singled out Kikuyus yet the substance of what they discuss is broadly applicable to other ethnicities as well. This DN letter whose link I have posted here is yet another exemplar of the shortcomings I mention. Dreadful.

DONT DISMISS THE ARTICLE ON KIKUYUS
WAIKWA WANYOIKE,
Canada
http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Letters/-/440806/594056/-/igahap/-/index.html
Kimz
May 7, 2009 at 07:07

If you read your history books well (AFRICAN Section – JKL at UoN Main Campus), do you remember the period 1970-1978?

When the KIAMBU-MKM mafia did some (not an inclusive list) of the below:

- Contradicted MOI on a daily basis
- Walked around as royal kabira attidue
- Slap Kales, KAMATUSa working for MOI
- Harrased Nassir, Ngala and others from COAST who wanted Majimbo
- Derogatirly referred to Western Kenya as “WANYAMA wa MASHARIKI”
- Initiated a secret govt militia (NGOROKO) to prevent power from leaving Nyoomba
- Had MOI forcefully tied between Eldoret, Nakuru and Kericho with no movement beyond without acceptance
- Stole as much money as they could from Govt Coffers with one scheme after the other
- Did not bother with any govt devpt programs beyond nakuru, isiolo and embakasi
- Diverted most of the FDI manufacturing MNCs facility towards Mungiki land
- Engaged in massive settlering in RV, Coast at the expense of KAMATUSA and Mijikenda
- Tolerated IMPUNITY as they declared “Kenyatta is GOD and ABOVE the LAW”
- Nduriri ministers endured harsh rebuke and kuchapwa kama watoto in SH.
- Most govt offices had one language being spoken off openly (not english or swahili)
- Massive recruitment and promotion of ethnic elites from MKM regions

Come Aug-22-1978, all these moves FAILED miserably. On Aug-24th Mbiyu fainted at JKIA as he arrived to see phots of MOI.

For 25yrs, MOI and KANU and the REVENGEFUL KALE MAFIA brought KIKUYU ECONOMY & BUSINESSES to its knees.

You woulD think Mungiki Educated MKM mafia would learn from hsitory. No no no!!! they will repeat it. Thats 100% sure!

MUITE AND KIAI WERE RIGHT

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Right about what? You have given examples of individuals(a mafia click) so how are 9 million Kikuyus involved in this.Did nine million kikuyus most of whom were not even born stand on that Nakuru road to slap Moi.Did they take part in cabinet meetings talking Kikuyu. Until Kenyans realize that evil done in this country is done by individuals not by communities we will continue with the same cycle of ignorance.
jke
July 16, 2009 at 01:52

“There are no comparable self-haters in any other country”

Oh there a lot of that type in Germany. Most of my fellow (German) countrymen have a problem with anything close to nationality at least since 1919 (= Treaty of Versailles). Which may be good for a common European approach, but bad for national interests (of which there are still many).

It’s interesting to see this debate, truly Kikuyu if I may say so (which proves your comment). Wouldn’t expect this from any other group.