18/07/2021
REVISITING THE ISSUE OF 1969 OATHING CEREMONIES IN CENTRAL KENYA
I wish the true history of this country is taught in schools including the dark and repulsive aspects. Some say history is useless but the truth is that what we call the present is shaped a lot by the past.
There is for example this issue of oathing ceremonies that happened in Central Kenya in 1969. Many of the people who comment on the issue comment from a point of ignorance.
I have studied the issue in the past and also talked to relatives who took the oath. The truth is that this issue happened over a very short period in 1969. Those who took the oath were forced to take it.
Many Kikuyus were killed for refusing to take part in the oath as it were against their religious beliefs. The church in the region was against the ceremonies and wrote to Kenyatta warning him that they were isolating Kikuyus from other communities. Towards the end of 1969 the church led those had taken the oath in renouncing it.
People would be rounded up in trucks and would be told they were going to take "tea" which was the code word for the oath. They would later find themselves being forced to take the oath. Others would be kidnapped and forced to take it.
The claims that Kikuyus cannot elect a person from another tribe because of the oath are nonsense. The oathing ceremonies were mainly about Jomo Kenyatta consolidating power after his fallout with Jaramogi Odinga in 1969.
The year 1969 was a troubled one. It was the year Tom Mboya was killed and Jomo Kenyatta was stoned in Kisumu. There was also general election in which the opposition had been banned. This is the background in which the oathing ceremonies took place.
Other communities might not understand the significance of an oath but in Central Kenya oath taking was part of the freedom war. Taking an oath was a serious issue as it was believed that going against it could result in ones death. Kenyatta used the oath as a political power play to ensure his ethnic base could not split.
The differences between Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Odinga were mainly ideological and political not ethnic. However, since the two leaders were undisputed heads or leaders of their different tribes their differences turned into ethnic differences.
Very few people are alive among those who took the 1969 oath. The oath is an irrelevant issue in today's politics.
I do not believe there exists any ethnic hatred between Luos and Kikuyus. What there is are cultural differences and political rivalry. The people who turn such into hatred are an extremist minority.
Kikuyus and Luos live together, intermarry and do business with each other until politicians incite hatred during elections. Yet in both political camps there are people from both tribes. For instance in 1969 Jaramogi was party leader of KPU and Bildad Kagia was the Deputy. In 1991 when Jaramogi founded FORD he did it alongside Kikuyus such as Philip Gachoka and George Nthenge. In 1997 George Nyanja was elected Limuru MP on Raila's NDP ticket.
I also do not believe that the reason why Kikuyus don't vote for Odinga are because he is a Luo. Given our ethnic voting patterns there are no reasons why Kikuyus would have voted for Odinga in 2007, 2013 and 2017 when they had one of their own as a front runner. Even Luos have never voted for a person from another tribe when one of their own was a top candidate in a presidential election.
If Odinga wants support from Central Kenya in 2022, he should not fear approaching the people and selling his agenda. I wonder what he is waiting for given the inroads his competitor has been making in the region since 2013.
I would talk about about the Assassination of Ofafa.
