Tyranny of tribes

I want to warn CORD that there is no guarantee that it will get the KAMBA votes in case of a re-run as exemplified by the recent division within Wiper. Some Kamba leaders have said that they have just realised where they belong {Jubilee} and they were being forced to political oblivion by Kalonzo and Muthama.

Kenya passed a constitution in August 2010 which was widely rated as progressive. 

In Kenya, there are over 42 ethnic groups/tribes, with varying numerical strengths.

With the requirement of 50%+one vote, it is imperative that the politician with the backing of the most populous tribes will always carry the victory home. The most populous tribes are Gikuyu, Abaluhya, Kalenjin, Dholuo, in that order as others follow. 

IEBC data shows that both Jubilee and CORD registered a colossal voter turnout of over 90 per cent in their turfs, largely going past the national average of 85.91, the highest in Kenya’s history.

Do you think Kenya will ever have a President coming from outside these ethnic formations? Will Kenyans ever wake up to realize that it is they that suffer from this narrow kind of politics? Kindly have your say.

The Jubilee Alliance begun with such a large numerical advantage the effort needed to secure an electoral victory is infinitesimally small.

That is why it won. Jubilee coalition turned the voter registration exercise into a “revolutionary” moment, registering 6.2 million voters or 43.2 per cent of the total 14.3 million voters registered by the IEBC.

And because Kenyans have historically voted along tribal lines, the GEMA and Kalenjin nations would vote as a bloc for the Jubilee coalition. In a 100 per cent voter turnout scenario, Jubilee would require only 980,000 votes from outside the core bloc to clinch a first-round win.

Inversely, CORD slept through the “registration revolution”, registering a paltry 2.3 million in its core Luo-Kamba ethnic bloc. Again, in a 100 per cent voter turnout scenario, CORD had a heavier lifting to mobilise 4.3 million votes outside its bloc to win.

Therefore CORD should restrain from hurting the TAXPAYERS by causing an unnecessary re-run that wlll waste money and time for Kenyans while still interfering with work and education calendars.