I called one of my friends who lives in Boston a few days ago. He had just traveled to Kenya just in time for the chaos caused by recent presidential election fiasco.

As he spoke I could hear clucking chickens and the sound of children playing in the background. I had expected him to have been holed up in the village the entire time as I prodded him for news about the election. In a display of resiliency or denial, he had been traveling to and from Nairobi to shop and visit friends but did make phone calls ahead of time to find if there was trouble ahead. Life seemed to be getting back to normal depending on where one lived in Kenya.

Kibaki’s Government rightly gets a mountain’s share of the blame for triggering the crisis by botching the electoral process. Kibaki, a Kikuyu as happens with African politics, gets most of his support from Kikuyus in Central Kenya. The Opposition led by Raila Odinga on the other hand has condemned police brutality and violence, but really not according to the government not done enough to condemn the ethnic cleansing of Kikuyus in ODM (Orange Democratic Movement) strongholds. There are two separate struggles going on right now, a class war in the cities and ethnic cleansing of “outsiders” in the opposition controlled provinces.

The images from CNN, BBC and the mainstream news channels show violence in the cities mostly contained in the slum areas. People with little to lose have a lot more to gain looting and might not care much for the destruction of other peoples property. Those with a vested interest in the security and prosperity of the nation prefer to take the peaceful route. As for the violence in Rift Valley and other Opposition dominated provinces, Prof. Kang’ara’s interview in Seattle Times describes the seeds of the conflict:

Q: What is causing the conflict between tribes?

Kang’ara: Kenya was colonized by the British from 1899-1963. The British first settlements were in the Rift Valley and central Kenya, inhabited primarily by the Kikuyu. Because the British took Kikuyu land, the Kikuyu had to be moved from their homeland to other parts of Kenya. They were dispersed throughout the country.

The British system relied heavily on Kikuyu to supply labor to white communities because Kikuyus were agricultural communities. Kikuyu labor was the bloodline for the British colonial empire.

The struggle for independence was led by Kikuyu, including the Mau Mau movement. That meant the transfer of power from British mainly to Kikuyu elite. The question of Kikuyu dominance was always at the forefront of the independence negotiations. In 1963, the Kikuyu, the Luo and the Kalenjins agreed to have a unitary government as a way to keep the country together, minimize the prominence of ethnicity and build a national identity.

But the distribution of resources, especially land, occurred along very ethnic lines. Kikuyus were the agricultural community and they had been dispersed away from central Kenya. When the whites left, the Kikuyus were the first to acquire land they vacated. Kikuyus had easy access to credit which allowed them to start businesses and become more economically dominant and have access to education more than other tribes. With economic power, they began to control politics.

The ethnic cleansing is likely to be more damaging to Kenya’s democracy and capitalistic ideals. Commerce and entrepreneurship cannot prosper when the right to buy and own property in any part of the country is no longer guaranteed. As such, there are few Kikuyus willing to criticize Kibaki as he now presents the best option for their protection. It’s clear however no side is willing to give in for now. How can you have a democracy which is tied to ethnicity and not ideology? As the Africans say, “when two elephants fight, it’s the grass which suffers”. Regardless of who ends up in power, more economic opportunities and security for Kenyans is needed to prevent this tragedy from happening in the future.