Kenya, don't cry for me my Kikuyu

In a recent post I commented on the incidence of violence associated with elections.
I was castigated in the comments section for my glib comments because I live in a relatively well off western country and my apathy to elections is a result of not having to worry about my government trying to kill me. Indeed.

I turn my attention now to Kenya specifically and news stories abound to point out that the violence in Kenya has been triggered by the peoples' rage against corruption and election rigging. The story reveals that the dominant tribe, the Kikuyu have influence beyond what is appropriate in politics and business. This is the real reason for the outbreak of violence in Kenya.

It seems that Africans see democracy in a different perspective to western countries. Whereas the west sees the wealthy, business lobby groups and the upper classes as having a disproportionate influence on the policies of government, in Africa, it is all about tribes. Reflect on the violence in Darfur (tribal) or of the Hutu vs Tutsi violence and you begin to realize that Africa and democracy are strange bedfellows.

So in the end, all the facade of democracy that is put up for the world to observe is really covering the reality of the real issue which is tribal dominance.
For a country to think and function in terms of which tribe people belong to and to resort to violence and "ethnic cleansing" as a means of solving problems is a far cry from the true concept of democracy.

You can take the natives out of the jungle but you can't take the jungle out of the natives ( I didn't say that)