Kenya’s nomadic boy is a prisoner of hollow heroism

Last year the Kenya government through the Interior Ministry embarked on a major peace campaign. The target groups were communities and leaders from pastoralist counties of Turkana, Baringo and West Pokot. 

At the heart of this campaign was the thinking that political incitement coupled with resource-sharing gaps contributed immensely to the bloodbath in this sub-region. And so the campaign sought to demystify these factors.

Visibly, some normalcy has been achieved. To this day, the calm experienced over there can be attributed to this campaign. Business is flourishing.

But going by past experience, this calm should not be taken to mean that long-lasting peace is here to stay. Mistrust and suspicion continue to colour people’s daily engagement. This is a historical fact that even the government knows. It is just a matter of time before tribal-inspired killing sprees pop up. That is, if mistrust will be left to reign unchallenged.

Pessimism aside. While the aforementioned factors cannot be wished away, one issue still stands untouched. The nomadic boy – the formidable tool of war – needs to be saved from himself. He is energetic but headless. He is a wanderer with no clear mission. A creature with one fixed mindset – his way is the way. He is full of himself to a point of erroneously thinking he can reconstruct the planet at any time and on his own terms. 

Tragically, he is aided by an equally shortsighted social structure that rewards bravery through the lenses of violence. Women are not far. They are number one victims of this skewed thinking.

This is how it unfolds. It is no secret that pastoralist women, though playing crucial roles, are nothing but submissive spectators.  

A simple experiment puts this truism to light. The sight of a woman driving out there elicits a crowd of onlookers seeking to know 'how a woman can do men's things.' 

Well, this is not to wholly portray the sub-region as Kenya's backwater. Some positive points abound – many of them. The under-capitalized energies of its young people is the issue at hand. The resourcefulness of the sub-region plus its strategic position cement the hitherto sidelined view that Nairobi will no longer enjoy the monopoly of economic progress. 

Kenya's northern frontier is the ultimate frontier that will position Kenya globally. You must believe this.

Let's get our assignment right. Hopes – though backed by abundance of resources – won’t materialize to economic success if this nomadic boy and his fruitless backers still wallow in the valleys of intellectual darkness. A reengineering of his mind is inevitable.

And this is what I propose. Shove this pampered nomadic boy out of the way. Elevate a woman and poison the oasis that gives life to hollow heroism. 

There is this interesting thing about nomadic men. They believe death is the only "proof" of defeat. That he who lives must prove his existence by outsmarting his rivals. 

I know at the base of this ethno-philosophical foundation rests very good intentions. It was meant to foster commitment and follow-up of obligations.

Reality, on the other hand, tells me a different story. Those wars, christened as cattle rustling, are partly necessitated by the unbreakable attachment to this foundation.

How can we make good use of this belief? The answer is the woman.

We have already noted that a woman stands at the opposite end of the all-male nomadic social structure. The inferior side. That a courageous, money-spewing woman evokes some sort of mystical power that pushes men into a role-rediscovery mode.

A significant number of aid agencies dealing with Kenya's nomads tend to focus on education, health and women empowerment. Good. Their achievements cannot be underestimated. On the same line, it is worth noting that their scanty knowledge of pastoralists’ social makeup has denied the nomadic woman this rare chance of projecting herself as the trusted tool of change.

Take the case of these NGOs distributing school uniforms. They ship these things from outside the sub-region as though local residents are unable to stitch them. Mark you, these guys will stop at nothing to convince you that their endgame is to empower societies.

Which begs the questions: Is the nomadic woman immune to empowerment? Is she unable to learn to stitch uniforms for her kids and earn extra coins from that? How difficult is it to think outside the box and provide robust answers to the people?

This is not just to the NGO world alone. Even local authorities are as headless as our nomadic boy.

I have this to tell them: They ignore nomadic woman at their own risk. She is the only trusted counter-weight to the nomadic boy. She personifies peace and prosperity. She is the seismic force that will recalibrate our nomadic boy’s mindset. 

Economic power to the nomadic woman!

Twitter: @mlemukol.