This archive report was first published on 20 July 2019.
Kenya's founding has been marked by a crisis of identity, with the nation struggling to cohere a national character. As a result, Kenya exists as a state but not as an idea. This is a question that has puzzled scholars and citizens alike: why is Kenya not an idea, and how can we make it an idea?
Published on July 20, 2019, by Makau Mutua, SUNY Distinguished Professor at SUNY Buffalo Law School and Chair of Kenya Human Rights Commission, this article delves into the complexities of Kenya's legitimacy crisis. Mutua argues that the Kenyan state is largely illegitimate, citing the country's history of violence and coercion. However, he also emphasizes the need for intellectual leadership and a great elite to legitimise the state.
The article highlights three key challenges in legitimising the Kenyan state: admitting that the country is a fractured society, re-engineering the sense of belonging and citizenship, and guillotining the culture of corruption. Mutua also calls for a towering political figure to lead the nation towards a more robust Kenyan identity, one that subsumes tribal identities in a larger, nobler identity.
Ultimately, Mutua argues that Kenya's viability as a nation depends on creating economic opportunities for its youth and giving citizenship meaning. He concludes that the only way to build an irreversible state is to forge Kenya as an idea, not just a geographical location.
