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Genesis of Abagusii Grudge Against the Narc Government
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- Published on Wednesday, 18 July 2007 01:30
Except for the Abagusii, who are nursing a grudge against President Kibaki. Many Kenyans have wondered why the Abagusii did not join Narc. What the hell are they doing out there alone, while their Luo, Kipsigis and Maasai neighbours, and all other Kenyans are grinding their frustrations in Narc?
The Abagusii have nursed, grudges against almost everyone, in the last four centuries. It is a tale, which must be told, and retold. But that President Kibaki never ever travelled to Kisii to thank them for their huge support during the 1992 and 1997 elections is their latest grudge.
The Abagusii claim in their traditions that at the beginning of time they were the same people with the Kikuyu, Meru, Akamba and Maragoli. They claim, and I support their claim, that at the end of the 15th century the ancestors of the Kikuyu broke away from them around Mount Elgon, and travelled into central Kenya. In deed, the idea that Gikuyu and Mumbi, the ancestors of the Kikuyu, simply appeared from nowhere around Mount Kenya looks extravagantly fake.
In a little while the Abagusii migrated into a trap, around the Nyanza Gulf. From about 1640 they were under the Luo pressure to move. They tried to move eastwards, but found that direction blocked by the Nandi. They next decided to move south-eastwards, but again found the Kericho area blocked by the warlike Kipsigis. Under pressure from the Kipsigis, they then decided to move south, into the Trans Mara Plains, but again found that direction blocked by the Maasai.
In their attempt to break through the Maasai, they ran into a huge military problem. At the battle of Nyangararo the Maasai thoroughly thrashed them, and in a panic-stricken frenzy, scattered pell-mell in a headlong flight into the Gusii Highlands, where they got surrounded by the Luo in the west, the Maasai in the south and the Kipsigis in the east.
The Abagusii have lived in this Nilotic enclosure since the 18th century. Although they have traded and co-existed with their neighbours, cattle rustling and constant conflicts over land and boundaries have remained their historic problems.
When the British arrived, the Abagusii regarded them with suspicion. And when the British attempted to erect their station at Getembe, Kisii town, the community attacked the lone British officer, G.S.A Northcote, with sharp spears. The British mounted a huge retaliatory raid, made up of Luo, Kipsigis and Maasai levies, and after defeating and burning down their huts, walked away with Abagusii livestock.
Between 1908 and 1952 the community embraced the Mumbo cult, which was a traditional anti-British and anti-Christian religion. For this, the British hauled many of their young men into the first and second World Wars, to teach them a lesson.
As independence approached, Oginga Odinga persuaded the leading Abagusii nationalists, James Nyamweya and Lawrence Sagini, to join Kanu. For three decades, the Gusii lived sullenly in Kanu, but when the multi-party era arrived they remembered their historic bothers, the Kikuyu. In 1992 and 1997 they voted heavily for Kibaki, but they claim Kibaki never reciprocated, never visited them to say thank you, and never cared.
Thus, when the recent 2002 General Election were called, the Gusii decided to be on their own. Led by the gallant Simeon Nyachae - the offspring of Musa Nyandusi, the leading colonial Abagusii chiefly prince - the Gusii broke from Kanu and joined Ford People.
They had fought many brave wars against their enemies, so they were not afraid to approach the elections alone. We have mentioned the battle of Nyangararo against the Maasai. In the early 19th century, they also fought the fierce Battle of Nyagoe Forest, against the Luo of Kabwoch.
But of all thesewars, the Battle of Sao Sao against the Kipsigis was the most remarkable. Fought around 1890 against constant Kipsigis raids for cattle, land and women, the Abagusii thoroughly defeated the Kipsigis, pushed them way east, and thus opened up the eastward space for grazing and farming. The Battle of Sao Sao also marked the continuing respect between the two, and opened the way for the recent collaboration between Simeon Nyachae (Gusii) and Kipkalia Kones (Kipsigis).
But today the Abagusii feel isolated, and alone in the Southern Highlands. They appear embarrassed to make a move to join Narc. True, they chose to approach the 2002 elections alone, but what is important for our peace in Kenya is togetherness, in the face of dwindling resources. It is this peace and togetherness that is also keeping Narc together.
Some rogue politicians in Narc have asked the grumbling LDP leaders to pack up and go. They fail to realise that we are better off fighting within one kraal. If leaders disperse and begin to fight from without, they could easily set the Narc kraal on fire.
Whatever President Kibaki is doing in State House, he should at least make a state visit to Kisii, and while there attempt to bring the Abagusii into Narc. Kenya would be better off with Simeon Nyachae in the Narc cabinet.
Remember, the Abagusii have a grudge against the President, and it is only Kibaki who can dissolve that grudge.
Professor Ochieng' is a former permanent secretary in the office of the president.
