I think we need a radical shift in the way politics is conducted in this country to fully slay tribal politics. Firstly and most importantly, we must emerge from our tribal cocoons and embrace the warmth of Kenya. We must think of ourselves as Kenyan before anything else. This doesn't need to be achieved through BBI or anything else, but rather through each one of us choosing to do so, one man, woman or child at a time.
This will go a great way in the maturing of our political atmosphere, since usually our more prominent politicians vie for kingpinship over their respective ethnic groups, and their parties can then easily mobilize grassroots support in the 'backyard' of the kingpin since the members of the kingpin's tribe see him like their Superman. Now, since most bonobos see themselves not as members of this great nation but rather as citizens of their tiny tribes which never achieved anything remarkable in the pre-colonial days, there's no way a kingpin from another tribe can hope to have grassroots support in the backyard of another. So several kingpins must form alliances in order to achieve power, and then share the spoils of power among themselves.
The reasoning is that all the bonobos who are in the same community as they will be behind them completely, so their chances of success can be quite high. Therefore, the nation is divided mainly into two camps consisting of the 10 or so largest tribes each election, the stakes being sky-high. Why? Because! These kingpins must be in power or else! These party tribe alliances are constantly shifting, because all that unites these kingpins is their love for being in power, nevermind their ideologies or visions for the nation. The parties themselves tend to be popular for some time among a particular tribe, before being replaced by another usually coinciding with the ascension of a new king to lead the tribe.
The parties these kingpins lead aren't organizations of Kenyans from different ethnicities or creeds who are united by a shared vision for the country, they are simply vehicles used by the kingpins to achieve power, these vehicles are propelled by the collective admiration of their tribesmen and women. However, if the majority of Kenyans were truly patriotic and saw themselves as Kenyan, then the current political parties which are based around exploiting ethnic divisions in this country for the benefit of a few will need to be urgently restructured into parties which can transcend tribal divisions and appeal to millions of Kenyans with shared beliefs and values. If they cannot do that, they will immediately fade into obsolescence and be replaced with ones who can exist in a new Kenya.
