Inter-tribal marriage will lkely only become more popular as urban
youths, particularly from the middle-and upper-middle classes, place their
national identity ahead of their tribe. That is no small thing ia country
where tribal animus is as pernicious and pervasive as malaria.
Robert Odongo said he has come to appreciate his urban upbringing. His
best friend is half-Masai, half-Kikuyu, and he is close to lots of people
from other tribes and ethnic groups-- Kambas, Indians, "a wide
cross-section," he said.
"I have had to deal with people differently," he said, "not looking at a
person's tribe, but looking at someone as he is. I do not look at people and
see tribe first."
Young people such as Mbugua Ngugi say they think of themselves as
Kenyans first. They are not necessarily ashamed of their tribal heritage;
they just have not found it very relevant.
Mbugua, blessed with easygoing charisma, flits through different groups
at the International School of Kenya without a stumble. He is typically the
only black Kenyan in his classes, and there are usually only a few Africans
in them. He does not seem to care.
"It took me a couple of weeks to get used to it," he said while walking
across campus, "but now it doesn't really matter."
Mbugua's closest friends in school are a Kenyan of Indian descent--a
rare relationship in this country--and a Tanzanian. He sits next to his
Tanzanian friend, Chedi, in each of the three classes they share.
Mbugua said they became good friends not because Chedi is an African, but
because "we played a lot of basketball together."
For a moment, the ethnic tensions that have long eaten at this country
seemed far away. "Maybe now we'll become a nation," Malaki Warambo had said
in his living room, "and not just a collection of tribesmen."
END OF REPORT.
Beraki, MD