How politicians are using the tribal card to divide Kenyans

Amidst growing fears that the youth — Gen Z — might influence the outcome of the 2027 General Election, politicians have invoked the tribal card to consolidate their bases and rally ethnic support.

Led by President William Ruto and his fierce critic, former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua, the political class has ditched the issue-based debate and resorted to fanning ethnic loyalties and divisions by using community identity as a tool to secure votes and portray rivals as threats to their community's interests.

President Ruto last week questioned the opposition leaders' aggressive quest to oust him and their constant attacks on his administration, compared to former Presidents Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, in what was interpreted to mean that the criticism of his government was ethnically motivated.

“Hii fujo yote wananiletea ni ya nini. Mbona hawakuletea Uhuru, mbona hawakuletea Kibaki? (Why cause all the chaos during my time? Why did they not cause chaos during President Kibaki's time and President Uhuru's?)” Ruto asked rhetorically, claiming that his predecessors, Mwai Kibaki and Uhuru Kenyatta, did not face the same intensity of opposition-led disruptions.

He did not tell his listeners how his party, Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), involved the international community in a move to kick out Kibaki and ultimately shared the government on a 50-50 basis so that the country could be governable after the disputed 2007 general election.

After his party, Jubilee, secured a disputed victory in 2017, Ruto, who was Uhuru's Deputy President, led a splinter group of the ruling party to fight his boss's handshake with Raila and spent the entire second term campaigning against the duo, whom he derisively dismissed as dynasties.

Ruto’s claims mirror those of Interior and Coordination of National Government Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen last year, when he claimed that his boss was being unfairly treated because he came from the Kalenjin community.

“Why is Ruto only being compared to former President Daniel Moi, who was also from the Kalenjin community, and not others like Jomo Kenyatta, Mwai Kibaki, and Uhuru Kenyatta, who were all from the Kikuyu tribe?” asked Murkomen.

Ruto’s remarks have been criticised by, among others, Busia Senator Okiya Omtatah, who said the claims were a tactic to divert the public’s attention from important issues and an attempt to absolve himself from taking responsibility for his failures.

Gachagua has also been beating tribal trumpets while consolidating the Agikuyu community against the Kenya Kwanza administration, presenting Ruto as the biggest enemy to the region’s interests and de-campaigning his allies from the region, branding them community betrayers for associating themselves with the President.

“My greatest pain is the collaborators, our own leaders who speak the way we are speaking but are working with him to finish the community. That is my greatest pain as a leader from that region. The MPs for Kikuyu and Laikipia East are the greatest enemies of our community. All that attack of businesses, all that killing, arrest of young people — they are the ones they are planning with Ruto. So as you go back, tell our people to note and never forget the traitors of our community,” Gachagua told members of the Kikuyu community living in the United States.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula, whose position demands he remains apolitical, has also joined the bandwagon of reckless national leaders. While attending an empowerment event in Trans Nzoia recently, Mr Wetang’ula urged the Kalenjin community to defend the "government and their son".

“Nyinyi ndugu wetu wa Transzoia, hasa jamii ya Wakalenjin nyinyi ndiye mmezaa Rais William Ruto na munaona vile anachezewea. You are the first and last line of defence ya Rais wetu, mtu akija hapa na maneno ambayo haiyeleweki mwambie wewe ngoja wakati wako ukifika utasema maneno yako,” he said in a political rally in Transzoia.

Similar sentiments were echoed by Uasin Gishu Senator Jackson Mandago, who uttered unspecified consequences targeting specific tribal groups, whom they say have been critical of the current regime.

“We the Kalenjin nation delayed the colonisation of this country by 15 years, wazungu wangekua hii dunia by 1905, sisi ndio tulifanya wakakosa kufika hapa. Wewe unatambia tulipigania uhuru, if you continue — and I want to caution the Mt Kenya nation — mkiendelea namna hiyo we are going to do an audit of what has happened to this country in the last 15 years,” he said.

Belgut MP Nelson Koech recently averred that his community will not stand by and watch Ruto serve only one term. He warned those opposing the government to desist because his community can equally disrupt peace in defence of Ruto.

Analysts believe that while using the tribal card is a strategy in Kenya’s political history, it risks deepening national disunity and undermining democratic ideals, as leaders prioritise tribal allegiance over national cohesion and development-driven agendas.

“The trend signals a troubling return to ethnic mobilisation that has historically fuelled political tension and post-election violence in the country. It is high time leaders from across the political divide change the national conversation to agenda-driven narratives, as opposed to returning the country to ethnic balkanisation,” Prof Gitile Naituli, a professor of leadership and management at Multimedia University, noted.

Githunguri MP Gathoni Wamuchomba said it was unfortunate that the country was sliding back to tribalism even after Kenyan people were victims of tribalism.

“It’s very unfortunate that the people who are at the front line in calling for this tribal mobilisation are none other than people the society respects — people who are opinionated, people who are elected, people who are holding offices as duty bearers. But they are the same people who are using their offices to propagate this kind of tribal hate,” she said.

She added: “It worries me to hear Wetang’ula asking the Kalenjin community to protect Ruto as if he is a Kalenjin President. He is the father of the nation and is supposed to be defended and protected by everybody. How can the Speaker tell one community to defend the President?”

Suba South MP Caroli Omondi said the use of the tribal card was not only rhetoric but painted a picture of reality with the country’s political class, as he faulted the educational system.

“I’ve tried to propose that we incorporate in our national curriculum something called nationhood through a Bill that has been approved for publication. We need to start preparing people to be good, responsible citizens from kindergarten all the way to university. We teach them the ethos that make a great nation,” he said.