As Kenyan politicians fuel the fires of tribal rivalry for their own ends, the Independent on Sunday coverage suggests the light of anarchism emerging faintly. While voting has indeed been along tribal lines and some Kenyans have responded to incitements to tribal hatred, reports suggest a number of them are fed up that ordinary people are reaping the whirlwind of the power-hungry politicians machinations. It’s not the politicians, fat and rich on the proceeds of nepotism, who are losing their homes, families, businesses and lives – it’s working Kenyans, many living on only a dollar a day as it is.
Kenyan politics has been riven with corruption for years, now it seems more and more ordinary Kenyans are deciding that the enemies are not their neighbours from different tribes, but their rich, machiavellian and dishonest ‘leaders’. The philosophy of anarchism – that giving power to leaders, rulers and politicians leads to tyranny – is writ large in Kenya at the moment. If you give people the right to rule you, you invite them to grow rich and powerful at your expense. The ordinary Kenyan people have the power to break the cycle of poverty and corruption in their country, and the fact that many neighbourhoods and families are from mixed tribal backgrounds may give them the will and the tools.
It is often said that anarchists must have a lot of faith in human nature, no one has yet explained why the belief that no one is fit to rule over anyone else requires faith in human nature.
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