If you are in social media you must have stumbled upon such a poster maybe on Facebook or on whatsapp and maybe you wondered “Wharathese”. Well, I got your back, I have taken liberty to ask around and get to the bottom of this so that we can all be on the same page. In the words of Lawrence Amadi an elite student of Egerton University who loves peace and co-existence here is a brief of what Beyond My Tribe is all about;
“It’s a movement targeting the literate lot of voters to educate them on a political shift from partisan voting to a manifesto based voting…. Making people associate with manifestos rather than politicians. It’s an online campaign that hopes to materialize by the end of the year to interpret manifestos to citizens, provide dialogue platforms for manifesto discussions”
Amadi being a young man is as visionary as this campaign seems.From my interpretation of this campaign, it’s a call to all Kenyans from all walks of life and different corners of this great nation to shun negative ethnicity and foster developmental leadership. The youth of this country are tired of tribal politics where you grow up thinking you must vote in people of your tribe.
In this archaic thinking, Kenya can be viewed as one big cake that every tribe must have a chance to taste. This will bar effective leadership and development since instead of voting for that leader with a good manifesto that will increase the economic presence of the country and improve the living standards of Kenyans we do vote people from our tribe who may not even be the best for such a position in such a time.
Kenyan being a revolutionary country, elite Kenyans are being asked to come forth and think beyond their tribe. Kenya enjoys the diversity of 42 tribes. If view in positive light, this gives a chance to appreciate each other’s tribe and learn from each other rather than view some tribes as inferior. Our education system, though it may seem insufficient to some people, teaches us correlation.
Once you join an educational institution you are treated as a student regardless of you race, tribe and background. All resources are shared among students equally. It has come a time to apply what we learn t in school. As the general elections approach, let’s come together as Kenyans and vote in Kenyan leaders who are visionary and with a reasonable manifesto. Let’s think as Kenyans. I will think Beyond My Tribe, will you??