In many ways, I am not qualified to 'comment' on Kenya politics but, surely, as a relatively recent guest in this country, I can ask a few questions ...
The main, over-arching question, for me, concerns the ‘legitimacy of political ascendancy’ in Kenya (if I may be a little verbose). I refer to events that happened some time back already. I have asked this question of a few people but so far haven't got a satisfactory answer. This leads me to wonder more ...
And the exact nature of this question is this:
In Kenya, what gave that group now known as the ‘political class’, their legitimacy? By what birthright, or other credential, were they able to ascend to the thrones of political control? From what I have heard, and from the little I have read, the families that seem now to control the mechanics (and substantial fruits) of the political-economy of Kenya are not descended from the ‘royalty’ in of old. And neither are the descendants of the real ‘freedom fighters’.
The ‘freedom fighters’ that really won independence for Kenya and liberated Kenyans from Colonial rule – the Mau-Mau – are today little more than a group of aged men and women, struggling (on their own) to gain some form of reparation from the old Colonial masters who incarcerated them, and tortured many in despicably inhuman ways. The names of these Mau-Mau fighters are hardly – if at all – known to the Kenyan people today. Their families live in the same poverty as many of their original number do.
And where is the pre- (or post-) independence 'tribal royalty'? Where are the blue-blooded descendants of Kenya’s 40 or so tribes (depending how you count them). Were these ‘kings’, ‘chiefs’, and ‘paramount chiefs’ somehow marginalized, just as Kenya’s freedom fighters were?
Certainly, among the rank-and-file Kenyans I know, there seems to be no knowledge AT ALL of who the members of Kenyan ‘royalty’ are, or were! For example, whatever happened to the families descended from Karen Blixen’s friend, Chief Kinanjui? He was certainly around ... I have seen pictures of him.
Where I come from, everyone knows about the Madiba clan and the 'royalty' status of those descended from the Tembu name. The Sigcau chieftainship, and royal house, is also quite familiar to many, as are many Venda, Sotho and Tswana royal families, running all the way to the great "Rain Queen" herself. The name Zwelithini is recognized as belonging to the legitimate leaders of the Zulu people. And in the cities, even the taxi-driver heir to a chief is commonly recognized and known by the general populace.
Further, those who played a genuine role in the South African liberation struggle have been – and remain - recognized by the State, and often hold significant positions in politics, or perchance in the economy. This applies not only to ‘people of colour’ but even to the waZungu 'freedom fighters', with the late Joe Slovo perhaps being the most prominent example (but not excluding others like Albie Sachs, et.al.).
Yet in Kenya, the 'chiefs' and the 'freedom fighters' seem both to have disappeared from sight! From the little I know, today's ‘political class’ - the ‘ruling elite’ - seem to have come initially from almost nowhere! I stand grossly corrected if I am wrong and I would like to be enlightened if I am, indeed, wrong.
Post-independence history books in Kenya don’t seem to deal with claims to power at all. Maybe for good reason? Am I over-simplifying the situation when I ask whether the 'royalty' and the Mau-Mau were not both perhaps deliberately excluded from claims to power? Both seem to have been submerged by a self-styled bunch of shrewd political operators who emerged quite suddenly ... But from where exactly?
So where did Kamau Wa Ngengi really come from (other than a British-run prison) and what role did he really play in the liberation of Kenya? How did he rise to power in the post-colonial Kenya? And what role did the changing of his name - to Jomo Kenyatta - have in gaining him (perhaps new-found) legitimacy? The new name, alone, would have given him legitimacy that would otherwise have been absent. Was it a very shrewd political ploy? Who exactly might have been behind it? To me at least, these questions are a mystery indeed.
The machinations, allegiances and connivances of Kenyan politics, past and present, are certainly something to behold, but nowhere do I hear claims of proper political legitimacy being made. Least of all do I know of any history texts dealing with this, either. And perhaps this is the most revealing fact of all ...
In South Africa, despite the stooges that were put in place by successive Apartheid regimes, the legitimate heirs to various ‘thrones’ were always known. And the ‘freedom fighters’ - however insignificant any of them might have seemed at the time - remain recognized.
In Kenya, nepotism - taken to a level of an enduring ‘nepotocracy’ - has existed to such an extent that successive generations of certain families have been politically 'empowered' to the total exclusion of others. This continues to be the case - to the extent that the youth, particularly, feel they have 'no right' somehow to be in politics!
How did this all come about? I certainly don't know. And I have yet to hear decent answers from those I would I expect to know. Those who have come through the Kenyan education system - those one would expect to know - certainly don't know. And I'll happily publish a decent answer here. If I can get one ...
With some confusion, amani na mapenzi brethren,
Until later,
B-)
Showing posts with label Xhosa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xhosa. Show all posts
The Three “Esses” in Swahili
The response to my “Swahili Primer” in the last blog was absolutely great. All the closet Zulu fans and Xhosa queens came out of the woodwork at the same time. I immediately got questions about Xhosa terms (uQabandini, said with a full-palate click to the front of the mouth and meaning someone who hasn't been to 'school' but still holds strong opinions), and reams of comparisons between Swahili and the dominant local language in South Africa .
Hey guys, I didn’t realize how tsotsi-literate you all are! The only negative response I got was from The Imp, here in Nairobi , who said my blog should carry a disclaimer to the effect that I either accept NO responsibility for my butchering of the Swahili language, or that I accept FULL responsibility for same. Too late now I guess but hey, I’m trying my best.
But what I have realized is that I wrote the Swahili primer at the very end of a writing day and there was a whole lot I left out – some of the most important stuff actually. So here is a little more complete version of Swahili 101 - but is actually only about just three words in Swahili … but three that are absolutely indispensable to know!
First things first, though: The DISCLAIMER … I hereby accept no responsibility whatsoever for any inaccuracies found in this text. This, because I have not just ONE, but TWO Swahili speakers who have checked my opinions and have edited my obvious errors. Having said this, let me blaze away and make a complete Swahili fool of myself, using, as I have, my sub-editors’ remarks as entirely discretionary input …
Of course, I do also have a marginal excuse in noting that Swahili is actually a very ‘hybrid’ language and is infused with Arabic, Portuguese, Persian, a little German, and quite a bit of English. Swahili is a lot less ‘pure’ than the Bantu languages of Zulu and Xhosa found in Mzansi, in the sense that there was little to infuse the Bantu with down there. Of course, the Zulu found on the streets of Jozi is an entirely different matter (which is why I referred to the tsotsi-literacy of some of you!).
Blundering Introduction to the First Edition:
Swahili is one of the most widely spoken of all African languages (probably followed by Zulu and its variants) and is probably accessible to near 100 million people in the East Africa region alone. However, it is the mother tongue to less than 20 million people. It is the regional lingua franca with roots that can be traced back to the first millennium AD! It is found in use throughout East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi) but is also spoken to the north - in parts of Somalia and Ethiopia - and as far south as northern Mozambique and Zambia.
The true Swahili people – mSwahilini – are people from “Coast” (province) - as opposed to the coast. The word ‘Swahili’ itself actually derives from the Arabic word for ‘coast’ and the language was originally the main means of communication between the coastal peoples – since the 700's - starting with a few boats landing at Zanzibar.
Today still, the most pure Swahili is considered to be found among the Zanzibaris, thereafter within greater Tanzania, followed quite a way later by the Swahili found in Kenya - with Nairobi Swahili considered to be ‘Sheng’ (Swahili slang) rather than true kiSwahili. I guess Nairobi Swahili is somewhat akin to Jozi isiZulu (hardly the stuff of high literary lexicons and dictionary discourse)! If truth be told (popular Nairobi expression), a journalist can run into trouble with his Tanzanian editor for an over-reliance on Nairobi Swahili!
Interestingly, the Swahili alphabet – formalized in the 1930’s – includes all the letters of the English alphabet except for ‘Q’ and ‘X’ – funnily enough, exactly those letters that are found so commonly in the Xhosa alphabet! Excuse the cultural stereotype, but it seems that the fabled Xhosa penchant for petty pilfering might have played a part here: seeing that mSwahilini were not using the ‘Q’ and the ‘X’ the Xhosa people thought they might look after the letters and place them in safekeeping for the Swahili!
The First ‘S’:
The word “sasa” (transliteration: saa-saa), in true Swahili, means ‘now’, as in “kuja hapa sasa!”, or “come here now!”. But in Nairobi sheng it denotes so much more. The first alternate (short) meaning is closest, I suppose, to the South African use of "Howzit?” and it might well be used when answering a phone call …
The phone rings. You ‘pick it’ (Kenyan for ‘answer it’) and say:
“Sasa?”
The response you are most likely to get is:
“Poa sana ” (transliteration: a ‘breathy’, ‘percussive’ poh-ah saa-na meaning "very good")
And the self-same question follows, again:
“Sasa?”
To which you'll get a:
"Poa-poa sana" if your buddy is really feeling good today.
Another, slightly more correct use of "sasa" is to say "now ... " but in a more 'open' sense.
It's used like:
"Now ... as I was saying"
As a means of re-opening a subject - perhaps a sensitive one - it is spoken softly and has a gentleness and un-intrusive subtlety that is very charming.
The Second “S”:
“Sema” (sair-mah) in proper Swahili means to 'speak' or to 'say something', yet it is used in a very similar way to “Sasa?” It is a more informal greeting than “Mambo?” and it means “What do you have to say?”, or “What’s up?”
Again, as with “Sasa?”, it essentially boils down to “How are you?” and again, the usual “Poa sana ” - or maybe a more moderate "nzuri sana" - is likely to follow.
“Sema?” has to be distinguished from “(Una) Sema nini?” meaning “You say what?”, which is a more direct question relating to what was just said, or to someone’s opinion of something.
My best was when I asked one of my researchers “Sema nini?”, to which she replied:
“Hakuna story” (“There is no story”).
These days I borrow her phrase when it's appropriate - and it seldom fails to raise a laugh.
By way of a small aside, you have to be careful when using variations of the "Hakuna" story ...
Hakuna matata ("no wurries")
Hakuna matatu ("there is no taxi")
Hakuna matako ("there is no ass")
Hakuna Mutoko ("Kiss FM's Caroline Mutoko is not on air")
Just a little laugh. But now for the ‘clincher’ of the ‘esses’:
The Third “S”:
The third “S” – “Sawa” (saa-waa) - is probably the most commonly used word in the Swahili language. Quite simply, it means “Ok”.
Any conversation will be infused with numerous uses of “sawa” along the way and if an arrangement has been made, the conversation will end with “sawa?” (“Ok?”), followed by the affirmative “sawa-sawa!” (“Ok-Ok!”).
In fact, it often closes a conversation or initiates departure, whether or not there has been any intervening arrangement. It is often just a warm, informal affirmation between friends and also suffices for the more formal “Kwa heri” (“good-bye”), which is seldom used.
The term, and its affirmative reply, are accompanied by many smiles and nods!
As a last rejoinder, I have to mention a rather risqué Bongo-Flava tune that made Tanzainia's Professor Jay famous in East Africa. Sung in Swahili obviously, it does the rounds in the clubs but is heard less often on radio, for reasons you’ll get …
It has a chorus consisting of two very short lines:
“HAPO vipi?” (“How is it THERE?”)
“HAPO sawa!” (“THERE is COOL/OK!”)
The sound of everyone singing it booms above the sound system (with “Sawa” being drawn out and sung as “Saaaaaawaaaaaaaaa!”).
The meaning is clear when the last line is accompanied by vigorous butt-wiggling and coy giggling on the part of the gals. Need I say more?
I have said it before and I shall go forth effusively again: The WAY the language is spoken, its syblent sounds, and the people that speak it, are all beautiful. Sheng commands my respect as a language that is highly dynamic, widely-used and highly descriptive and I’ll end this piece talking about a truly magnificent use of sheng on the streets:
The term “Mambo mbaye” is used in two completely opposite senses, depending entirely on the WAY it is said. Literally, the term means “Bad news”, but when applied to subjects like the quality of music, aesthetics (human or otherwise), or perhaps to the quality of THC, it takes on the same meaning as the term “wicked!” did in the UK some years back.
It takes this meaning only when the emphasis is placed on the second word, “mbaye” (“bad”), to which the affirmative reply might be “mbaye sana”, again with the emphasis on the second word.
What you're saying here is actually, "this is really good shit!"
When the emphasis is placed equally on the two words, it is to be understood more literally, as in “BAD NEWS”. Again, the reply could be “mbaye sana” but both the words will be spoken in a ‘level’ way, agreeing fully (kabisa) with the observation’s originator. A third, even greater agreement will, in fact, be had by the third-and-final inclusion of the agreement, “Kabisa!” ("Fully!"), in the comments.
And here, of course, the reference might be to a female predator trawling for customers at a downtown club. And, in this case, there will REALLY be NO joke contained in the reference at all!
More on this subject later …
Amani na mapenzi.
B-)
Hey guys, I didn’t realize how tsotsi-literate you all are! The only negative response I got was from The Imp, here in Nairobi , who said my blog should carry a disclaimer to the effect that I either accept NO responsibility for my butchering of the Swahili language, or that I accept FULL responsibility for same. Too late now I guess but hey, I’m trying my best.
But what I have realized is that I wrote the Swahili primer at the very end of a writing day and there was a whole lot I left out – some of the most important stuff actually. So here is a little more complete version of Swahili 101 - but is actually only about just three words in Swahili … but three that are absolutely indispensable to know!
First things first, though: The DISCLAIMER … I hereby accept no responsibility whatsoever for any inaccuracies found in this text. This, because I have not just ONE, but TWO Swahili speakers who have checked my opinions and have edited my obvious errors. Having said this, let me blaze away and make a complete Swahili fool of myself, using, as I have, my sub-editors’ remarks as entirely discretionary input …
Of course, I do also have a marginal excuse in noting that Swahili is actually a very ‘hybrid’ language and is infused with Arabic, Portuguese, Persian, a little German, and quite a bit of English. Swahili is a lot less ‘pure’ than the Bantu languages of Zulu and Xhosa found in Mzansi, in the sense that there was little to infuse the Bantu with down there. Of course, the Zulu found on the streets of Jozi is an entirely different matter (which is why I referred to the tsotsi-literacy of some of you!).
Blundering Introduction to the First Edition:
Swahili is one of the most widely spoken of all African languages (probably followed by Zulu and its variants) and is probably accessible to near 100 million people in the East Africa region alone. However, it is the mother tongue to less than 20 million people. It is the regional lingua franca with roots that can be traced back to the first millennium AD! It is found in use throughout East Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi) but is also spoken to the north - in parts of Somalia and Ethiopia - and as far south as northern Mozambique and Zambia.
The true Swahili people – mSwahilini – are people from “Coast” (province) - as opposed to the coast. The word ‘Swahili’ itself actually derives from the Arabic word for ‘coast’ and the language was originally the main means of communication between the coastal peoples – since the 700's - starting with a few boats landing at Zanzibar.
Today still, the most pure Swahili is considered to be found among the Zanzibaris, thereafter within greater Tanzania, followed quite a way later by the Swahili found in Kenya - with Nairobi Swahili considered to be ‘Sheng’ (Swahili slang) rather than true kiSwahili. I guess Nairobi Swahili is somewhat akin to Jozi isiZulu (hardly the stuff of high literary lexicons and dictionary discourse)! If truth be told (popular Nairobi expression), a journalist can run into trouble with his Tanzanian editor for an over-reliance on Nairobi Swahili!
Interestingly, the Swahili alphabet – formalized in the 1930’s – includes all the letters of the English alphabet except for ‘Q’ and ‘X’ – funnily enough, exactly those letters that are found so commonly in the Xhosa alphabet! Excuse the cultural stereotype, but it seems that the fabled Xhosa penchant for petty pilfering might have played a part here: seeing that mSwahilini were not using the ‘Q’ and the ‘X’ the Xhosa people thought they might look after the letters and place them in safekeeping for the Swahili!
The First ‘S’:
The word “sasa” (transliteration: saa-saa), in true Swahili, means ‘now’, as in “kuja hapa sasa!”, or “come here now!”. But in Nairobi sheng it denotes so much more. The first alternate (short) meaning is closest, I suppose, to the South African use of "Howzit?” and it might well be used when answering a phone call …
The phone rings. You ‘pick it’ (Kenyan for ‘answer it’) and say:
“Sasa?”
The response you are most likely to get is:
“Poa sana ” (transliteration: a ‘breathy’, ‘percussive’ poh-ah saa-na meaning "very good")
And the self-same question follows, again:
“Sasa?”
To which you'll get a:
"Poa-poa sana" if your buddy is really feeling good today.
Another, slightly more correct use of "sasa" is to say "now ... " but in a more 'open' sense.
It's used like:
"Now ... as I was saying"
As a means of re-opening a subject - perhaps a sensitive one - it is spoken softly and has a gentleness and un-intrusive subtlety that is very charming.
The Second “S”:
“Sema” (sair-mah) in proper Swahili means to 'speak' or to 'say something', yet it is used in a very similar way to “Sasa?” It is a more informal greeting than “Mambo?” and it means “What do you have to say?”, or “What’s up?”
Again, as with “Sasa?”, it essentially boils down to “How are you?” and again, the usual “Poa sana ” - or maybe a more moderate "nzuri sana" - is likely to follow.
“Sema?” has to be distinguished from “(Una) Sema nini?” meaning “You say what?”, which is a more direct question relating to what was just said, or to someone’s opinion of something.
My best was when I asked one of my researchers “Sema nini?”, to which she replied:
“Hakuna story” (“There is no story”).
These days I borrow her phrase when it's appropriate - and it seldom fails to raise a laugh.
By way of a small aside, you have to be careful when using variations of the "Hakuna" story ...
Hakuna matata ("no wurries")
Hakuna matatu ("there is no taxi")
Hakuna matako ("there is no ass")
Hakuna Mutoko ("Kiss FM's Caroline Mutoko is not on air")
Just a little laugh. But now for the ‘clincher’ of the ‘esses’:
The Third “S”:
The third “S” – “Sawa” (saa-waa) - is probably the most commonly used word in the Swahili language. Quite simply, it means “Ok”.
Any conversation will be infused with numerous uses of “sawa” along the way and if an arrangement has been made, the conversation will end with “sawa?” (“Ok?”), followed by the affirmative “sawa-sawa!” (“Ok-Ok!”).
In fact, it often closes a conversation or initiates departure, whether or not there has been any intervening arrangement. It is often just a warm, informal affirmation between friends and also suffices for the more formal “Kwa heri” (“good-bye”), which is seldom used.
The term, and its affirmative reply, are accompanied by many smiles and nods!
As a last rejoinder, I have to mention a rather risqué Bongo-Flava tune that made Tanzainia's Professor Jay famous in East Africa. Sung in Swahili obviously, it does the rounds in the clubs but is heard less often on radio, for reasons you’ll get …
It has a chorus consisting of two very short lines:
“HAPO vipi?” (“How is it THERE?”)
“HAPO sawa!” (“THERE is COOL/OK!”)
The sound of everyone singing it booms above the sound system (with “Sawa” being drawn out and sung as “Saaaaaawaaaaaaaaa!”).
The meaning is clear when the last line is accompanied by vigorous butt-wiggling and coy giggling on the part of the gals. Need I say more?
I have said it before and I shall go forth effusively again: The WAY the language is spoken, its syblent sounds, and the people that speak it, are all beautiful. Sheng commands my respect as a language that is highly dynamic, widely-used and highly descriptive and I’ll end this piece talking about a truly magnificent use of sheng on the streets:
The term “Mambo mbaye” is used in two completely opposite senses, depending entirely on the WAY it is said. Literally, the term means “Bad news”, but when applied to subjects like the quality of music, aesthetics (human or otherwise), or perhaps to the quality of THC, it takes on the same meaning as the term “wicked!” did in the UK some years back.
It takes this meaning only when the emphasis is placed on the second word, “mbaye” (“bad”), to which the affirmative reply might be “mbaye sana”, again with the emphasis on the second word.
What you're saying here is actually, "this is really good shit!"
When the emphasis is placed equally on the two words, it is to be understood more literally, as in “BAD NEWS”. Again, the reply could be “mbaye sana” but both the words will be spoken in a ‘level’ way, agreeing fully (kabisa) with the observation’s originator. A third, even greater agreement will, in fact, be had by the third-and-final inclusion of the agreement, “Kabisa!” ("Fully!"), in the comments.
And here, of course, the reference might be to a female predator trawling for customers at a downtown club. And, in this case, there will REALLY be NO joke contained in the reference at all!
More on this subject later …
Amani na mapenzi.
B-)
Races and faces from various places (with apologies to Dr.Suess)
In the same way that Johannesburg is the melting pot of southern Africa, Nairobi is the melting pot for the whole East Africa region, being the most highly urbanized city in the region, and also bearing the same ingredients of plentiful crime and poverty that beset Johannesburg.
One regularly sees Somali, Ethiopian and Sudanese men and women plying their trade, or simply walking, on the streets of (particularly downtown) Nairobi. Eastleigh is the unofficial free-trade area for these people and driving in the area is fraught with duelling dusty busses that have just arrived from Mogadishu, Juba, and Addis Ababa. Somali women dressed in black are often refered to, jokingly, as "Isili" (as in 'Eastleigh')...
Ethiopian women (the younger ones) in Nairobi are sometimes seen wearing very long dreadlocks, and generalised legend has it that they are the most beautiful in this part of Africa. I can't say I always agree. There was a lone, fine-featured Ethiopian woman I saw at a club's 'Reggae Night' once. Her dreadlocks had obviously been growing since childhood and were wound around her head in a veritable ‘nest’ of hoops and swirling circles, with the occasional errant lock falling to the middle of her back. With a middle-Eastern, somewhat Judaic ‘look’, and semi-Caucasian skin tone, her hair was clearly a lot ‘softer’ than that of the Bantu-African peoples, and, in her case, had been bleached light brown by the sun.
The people of South Sudan are noticeable for their height and most are probably over six feet tall. The older men seem often to have trouble with their legs, perhaps because of this height. The Sudanese are a Nilotic people and their history runs parallel with the history of the Nile River Valley that starts at Lake Victoria. Many men from South Sudan (and much fewer women) are refugess from the fighting between the Dinka and Nuer tribes that seems to continue unabated, despite a few attempts at peace talks and mediation.
The diversity of what one sees in Nairobi covers all the above, aplenty. It is such that there is an abiding interest in who-is-who-in-the-Nairobi-zoo. Ambiguously-non-Bantu people (like, for example, a Somali woman not dressed in black) will walk past, and the comments will issue forth:
“… Somali…”
“… No, she’s Ethiopian”
“… Not tall enough to be Sudanese …”
“… No, she’s a Luo chick …”
(I jest but it's not that untrue)
One would notice Nairobi’s diversity that much more if it weren’t for the fact that so many people from neighbouring countries are not that distinct from Kenyans: On the whole this applies to the Bantu people of the region. For example, one won’t tell a Tanzanian from a Kenyan (I won’t tell, anyway) until the former starts to speak Swahili. I have noted before that it is a different Swahili, soft and lyrical. As I have noted too, the Ugandans are ‘bigger’ than the average Kenyan, and Ugandans speak Luganda, yet their ‘look’ is not that distinct that one readily sees the difference. Good looking men, on the whole.
It is among the non-Bantu people in this region that the differences are easy to see. The non-Bantu people are mainly ‘Nilotic’ in origin and in Kenya, first up are the Luo people who live (traditionally) on the ‘lake side’. They typically have the fabled ‘eyes of Cleopatra’. In Uganda, just the ‘other side’ of the lake, there are also Luo people. Initially this was surprising to me – and it was explained to me by reference to ‘travel’ - until I realized that the borders between the countries were drawn up by (largely ignorant) Colonists who saw nothing of the ethnic unity that existed across their imposed territoriality. The Luo of Kenya share exactly the same origins as the Luo of Uganda, the only difference today being that they have both undergone genetic changes as a result of their enforced association with other peoples (principally via the limitations imposed by the exigencies of cross-border travel). And in both countries, Luo surnames most often start with the letter “O”.
The Luo are known as 'proud people' and in Kenya, at least, there seems to have been very little deviation from the original genetic pool. They are particularly ‘dark’ in complexion – dark brown - but not quite the same dark colour as the ‘black’ African skin one sees in the west of the African continent. They are big people, and non-Luo women sometimes remark (slightly jealously) on the Luo women’s skin texture. Their skin is often very smooth and soft. The Nilotes of South Sudan (Nuer and Dinka tribes) are quite closely related to the Luo. The Luo, Dinka and Nuer peoples are all known as 'Lake Nilotes' as opposed to 'Plain Nilotes'.
The Plain Nilotes mainly comprise the Kalenjin, from where most of Kenya’s long-distance champions come, and the Maasai.
The Kalenjin, like the Maasai, are a 'warrior nation'. They are noted for smaller eyes and slight frame atop long, thin legs. Daniel Arap Moi, who was Kenya's president for 27 years, is Kalenjin and, at time of writing, 90-something and still very much alive.
Of course, this discussion of people in Kenya would not be complete without mentioning the Maasai. There are various ‘Maasai’ groups, all of which speak minor dialect variations of the Maa language. The Maasai are quite closely related to the Samburu and less so to the Turkana in the north of Kenya.
The Maasai of the Serengeti live on both sides of the Kenya-Tanzania border. On any day, one might find a few of them riding a bus from Arusha, Tanzania, to say, Namanga on the Kenyan side. When the bus is a little distance from the border, someone gets on to check their (usually shabby) travel papers (never a passport). When the bus stops at the border post, they don't get off but just wait for the bus to continue its ride, having already had their papers checked. The Serengeti is still their place and the drawing of arbitrary borders between Tanzania and Kenya never changed much for them.
The Samburu are often quite decorative in their dress. On special occasions (like when Moses the taxi driver came to my house for the first time), Samburu will be seen in full battle dress but also adorned with trinkets, bracelets, chains and talismans all over their person. It is exceptionally beautiful to see and it can be quite humbling to be in a Samburu’s presence.
The Maasai from the Mara seem to be more ‘down-to-earth’. They are pastoralists, famed for their drinking of blood and milk from the live cow. Some research I was exposed to recently cites the fact that the Maasai from Arusha liken the eating of vegetables to ‘being a goat’. It is not something they do with much gusto despite attempts by NGOs to counter rising malnutrition and develop a vegetable-eating habit among Maasai children.
These are bits of rural Kenya and surrounds that are seen in Nairobi. This, of course, says little of the rural Kenya that has remained the same for quite some time now. This is the Kenya that people call the ‘original Africa’… the image that comes to mind when one hears the Swahili word ‘safari’ (to travel). It is the land of lions (‘simba’ in Swahili), elephants, and plenty of giraffe. I have seen very little of this Kenya so far but we can only hope that it stays the way it is, at least until I get a chance to see it all! … Wild animals, warriors, tribes, and chieftainships.
So, what (really) is the point of all this writing? It is to say that Kenya is seriously diverse, and there’s a very high level of tolerance for other people and nations. People from all over Africa are seen regularly in Nairobi. Everyone is just getting on with life, doing their 'thing', whatever that is. Witnessing this is both illuminating and exciting (for me, anyway). The problems facing Kenya (internally) stem from an essential distrust between various of the resident people. That they have different ‘ethnic roots’ - on an 'ancient' scale - probably exacerbates the problems they experience.
It will all be okay in the end... it's all okaynow, really.
Peace and Love, Amani na Upendo, to everyone.
B-)
One regularly sees Somali, Ethiopian and Sudanese men and women plying their trade, or simply walking, on the streets of (particularly downtown) Nairobi. Eastleigh is the unofficial free-trade area for these people and driving in the area is fraught with duelling dusty busses that have just arrived from Mogadishu, Juba, and Addis Ababa. Somali women dressed in black are often refered to, jokingly, as "Isili" (as in 'Eastleigh')...
Ethiopian women (the younger ones) in Nairobi are sometimes seen wearing very long dreadlocks, and generalised legend has it that they are the most beautiful in this part of Africa. I can't say I always agree. There was a lone, fine-featured Ethiopian woman I saw at a club's 'Reggae Night' once. Her dreadlocks had obviously been growing since childhood and were wound around her head in a veritable ‘nest’ of hoops and swirling circles, with the occasional errant lock falling to the middle of her back. With a middle-Eastern, somewhat Judaic ‘look’, and semi-Caucasian skin tone, her hair was clearly a lot ‘softer’ than that of the Bantu-African peoples, and, in her case, had been bleached light brown by the sun.
The people of South Sudan are noticeable for their height and most are probably over six feet tall. The older men seem often to have trouble with their legs, perhaps because of this height. The Sudanese are a Nilotic people and their history runs parallel with the history of the Nile River Valley that starts at Lake Victoria. Many men from South Sudan (and much fewer women) are refugess from the fighting between the Dinka and Nuer tribes that seems to continue unabated, despite a few attempts at peace talks and mediation.
The diversity of what one sees in Nairobi covers all the above, aplenty. It is such that there is an abiding interest in who-is-who-in-the-Nairobi-zoo. Ambiguously-non-Bantu people (like, for example, a Somali woman not dressed in black) will walk past, and the comments will issue forth:
“… Somali…”
“… No, she’s Ethiopian”
“… Not tall enough to be Sudanese …”
“… No, she’s a Luo chick …”
(I jest but it's not that untrue)
One would notice Nairobi’s diversity that much more if it weren’t for the fact that so many people from neighbouring countries are not that distinct from Kenyans: On the whole this applies to the Bantu people of the region. For example, one won’t tell a Tanzanian from a Kenyan (I won’t tell, anyway) until the former starts to speak Swahili. I have noted before that it is a different Swahili, soft and lyrical. As I have noted too, the Ugandans are ‘bigger’ than the average Kenyan, and Ugandans speak Luganda, yet their ‘look’ is not that distinct that one readily sees the difference. Good looking men, on the whole.
It is among the non-Bantu people in this region that the differences are easy to see. The non-Bantu people are mainly ‘Nilotic’ in origin and in Kenya, first up are the Luo people who live (traditionally) on the ‘lake side’. They typically have the fabled ‘eyes of Cleopatra’. In Uganda, just the ‘other side’ of the lake, there are also Luo people. Initially this was surprising to me – and it was explained to me by reference to ‘travel’ - until I realized that the borders between the countries were drawn up by (largely ignorant) Colonists who saw nothing of the ethnic unity that existed across their imposed territoriality. The Luo of Kenya share exactly the same origins as the Luo of Uganda, the only difference today being that they have both undergone genetic changes as a result of their enforced association with other peoples (principally via the limitations imposed by the exigencies of cross-border travel). And in both countries, Luo surnames most often start with the letter “O”.The Luo are known as 'proud people' and in Kenya, at least, there seems to have been very little deviation from the original genetic pool. They are particularly ‘dark’ in complexion – dark brown - but not quite the same dark colour as the ‘black’ African skin one sees in the west of the African continent. They are big people, and non-Luo women sometimes remark (slightly jealously) on the Luo women’s skin texture. Their skin is often very smooth and soft. The Nilotes of South Sudan (Nuer and Dinka tribes) are quite closely related to the Luo. The Luo, Dinka and Nuer peoples are all known as 'Lake Nilotes' as opposed to 'Plain Nilotes'.
The Plain Nilotes mainly comprise the Kalenjin, from where most of Kenya’s long-distance champions come, and the Maasai.
The Kalenjin, like the Maasai, are a 'warrior nation'. They are noted for smaller eyes and slight frame atop long, thin legs. Daniel Arap Moi, who was Kenya's president for 27 years, is Kalenjin and, at time of writing, 90-something and still very much alive.
Of course, this discussion of people in Kenya would not be complete without mentioning the Maasai. There are various ‘Maasai’ groups, all of which speak minor dialect variations of the Maa language. The Maasai are quite closely related to the Samburu and less so to the Turkana in the north of Kenya.
The Maasai of the Serengeti live on both sides of the Kenya-Tanzania border. On any day, one might find a few of them riding a bus from Arusha, Tanzania, to say, Namanga on the Kenyan side. When the bus is a little distance from the border, someone gets on to check their (usually shabby) travel papers (never a passport). When the bus stops at the border post, they don't get off but just wait for the bus to continue its ride, having already had their papers checked. The Serengeti is still their place and the drawing of arbitrary borders between Tanzania and Kenya never changed much for them.
The Samburu are often quite decorative in their dress. On special occasions (like when Moses the taxi driver came to my house for the first time), Samburu will be seen in full battle dress but also adorned with trinkets, bracelets, chains and talismans all over their person. It is exceptionally beautiful to see and it can be quite humbling to be in a Samburu’s presence.
The Maasai from the Mara seem to be more ‘down-to-earth’. They are pastoralists, famed for their drinking of blood and milk from the live cow. Some research I was exposed to recently cites the fact that the Maasai from Arusha liken the eating of vegetables to ‘being a goat’. It is not something they do with much gusto despite attempts by NGOs to counter rising malnutrition and develop a vegetable-eating habit among Maasai children.
These are bits of rural Kenya and surrounds that are seen in Nairobi. This, of course, says little of the rural Kenya that has remained the same for quite some time now. This is the Kenya that people call the ‘original Africa’… the image that comes to mind when one hears the Swahili word ‘safari’ (to travel). It is the land of lions (‘simba’ in Swahili), elephants, and plenty of giraffe. I have seen very little of this Kenya so far but we can only hope that it stays the way it is, at least until I get a chance to see it all! … Wild animals, warriors, tribes, and chieftainships.
So, what (really) is the point of all this writing? It is to say that Kenya is seriously diverse, and there’s a very high level of tolerance for other people and nations. People from all over Africa are seen regularly in Nairobi. Everyone is just getting on with life, doing their 'thing', whatever that is. Witnessing this is both illuminating and exciting (for me, anyway). The problems facing Kenya (internally) stem from an essential distrust between various of the resident people. That they have different ‘ethnic roots’ - on an 'ancient' scale - probably exacerbates the problems they experience.
It will all be okay in the end... it's all okaynow, really.
Peace and Love, Amani na Upendo, to everyone.
B-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)