"Why Don't you Go After the Big Man?”: Reminiscences on the Kenyan Crisis

BY CANUTE TANGWA (Originally published on African Path in February 2008)

“Why don’t you go after the big man?” were the last words of Nahashon Njenga Njoroge, the Kikuyu alleged assassin of the celebrated but unsung Kenyan foremost nationalist icon Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya a.k.a Tom Mboya, as he supposedly went to the gallows.

Tom Mboya, a Luo, was shot to dead in a Nairobi street on July 5, 1969. His death ripped open latent ethnic rivalries and bitterness between the Kikuyus and the Luos. The bloody clashes that ensued did not spare the revered Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu. He was pelted with stones as he alighted from his presidential limousine to attend Mboya’s requiem mass. Yet, from all indications Kenyatta had earmarked the charismatic Mboya as his successor. However, a big man thought otherwise.

There is this refrain that we were one and the white man came with the big stick and divided us. There is also this penchant of not seeing any redeeming features of European colonialism. So, the story goes, the Kikuyus, Luos, Maasais and Kalenjins lived peacefully together until the Whiteman came with a wedge! And do not forget latterday apologists for an autocrat like Robert Mugabe because the Whiteman came with a bible and sword and grabbed our land!

The main cause of the unfolding Kenyan crisis is the big man; and this holds true of the rest of Africa. The big man here signifies our leaders and elite.

Because of the big man, Tom Mboya was assassinated and Kenyans had a foretaste of what is happening today.

Because of the big man, lands recovered from White settlers (at the instigation of the late Oginga Odinga, then Vice president) were rather given to Kenya African National Union (KANU) cronies and man Fridays who knew nothing about land management. Upshot: mismanagement and waste.

Because of the big man, anti-corruption crusaders like Joseph Kariuki and others were eliminated. Consequence: corruption runs amok and the ordinary Kenyan irrespective of tribe suffers.

Because of the big man, ordinary and even educated Kenyans cannot rise above ethnic or tribal sentiments. They are unable to realize that a cabal of big men (from independence till date) is holding them hostage; pitting them against each other in order to sustain their selfish interests.

Because of the big man, the December elections were rigged. For the first time in Kenyan history, the ruling corrupt oligarchy felt threatened by Raila Odinga’s Orange Party. Their reaction was to preserve their privileges. Hence, the ageing Mwai Kibaki was declared winner and installed overnight.

Because of the big man, Kenyans are killing, maiming, hacking and butchering fellow Kenyans. The big man from Kikuyu tells the ordinary and even educated Kikuyu that the Luos are after them and vice versa. When the butchery is over the big men from both sides will roll out toothpaste pious phrases to lull the populace. But it is a merry go round.

Because of the big man, Kenyans do not remember Tom Mboya who “worked throughout his life for an end to tribalism and for the growth of a Kenyan nationalism” (Time Magazine of July 18, 1969: Under the Ayieke Tree).

Kenyans (Africans), irrespective of tribe and creed, should go but after the big men. They are, these people, a kind of pest.

Comments

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