Pride

Why anyone should attempt to make me feel ashamed for being a Mkamba, or half-Kamba, half-Luo, defeats me. I am proud of my heritage, though I have done precious little to propagate it or to protect it. That ends now. 

I love the fact that we, and I mean my peoples from both communities, have our peculiarities; else how would we be identifiable from a crowd. As a Mkamba, my pronunciation may sometimes leave many others in stitches, but that will not detract from the force of my argument. As a Luo too, I may have difficulty navigating the terrain that is English pronunciation, but the extent and versatility of my vocabulary should leave you in no doubt that I am eminently comfortable comporting myself in the very best of the Queen's English. 

So what if many of my people from the rolling slopes of Kilungu swear by their local witch-doctor? His job is not just to dispense charms protecting my people from evil spirits, but also to dispense life-saving or life-enhancing portions that ward away ill-health and lethargy. Bar a few rotten tomatoes, I am the heir to a proud legacy. The Wa-Kamba were the original cosmopolitan people in this land, travelling thousands of miles for commerce. To protect their trade routes, they created a military tradition that to date is yet to be matched by anyone, not the Maasai and not the mighty Kalenjin. And of course, to reduce the chances of war, we had the best diplomats in pre-colonial Kenya. Even Kalonzo Musyoka could not screw that up with his stint as Kenya's Minister for Foreign Affairs. 

My cousins from the Lake have expanded the intellectual knowledge in Kenya for generations and they have set the bar high for what is intelligent. We are not merely clever; we are the gold standard when it comes to intellectual pursuit, surviving both Kenyatta's and Moi's attempts to water down the learning standards in our own back-yards. 

Gen Johnson Mulinge, Col Ronald Kiluta, Justice Philip Waki, lawyer Argwings Kodhek, Ramogi Achieng' Oneko, Justice Proj Jackton Boma Ojwang' ... remember these names, for they are proof positive that my peoples are truly great.