VZCZCXYZ0007
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNR #0424/01 0241134
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241134Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6954
INFO RUEHDS/AMEMBASSY ADDIS ABABA PRIORITY 9073
RUEHDR/AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM PRIORITY 5071
RUEHDJ/AMEMBASSY DJIBOUTI PRIORITY 4557
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA PRIORITY 1808
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2139
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 2101
RHMFIUU/CJTF HOA  PRIORITY
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

UNCLAS NAIROBI 000424 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PREL KE
SUBJECT: KENYA: ETHNIC MAKE UP OF THE GOK 
 
REF: A. ANDRE-AF/E EMAIL DATED 22JAN07 
     ¶B. 06 NAIROBI 05388 
     ¶C. 06 NAIROBI 05393 
     ¶D. 06 NAIROBI 05112 
 
Note:  Ref A contains data supporting the conclusions in this 
message.  Refs B - D are recent cables on ethnicity and 
politics in Kenya.  End Note. 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  Kenyans often accuse the Kibaki 
administration of stacking the government with fellow 
Kikuyus.  Our study of the top 198 government positions 
indicates that in fact Kikuyu representation is in line with 
their share of the general population.  However, Kikuyu 
ministers run the key Defense, Internal Security (police), 
Justice and Finance ministries.  Also, Kikuyus, their close 
cousins the Embu and Meru, and Bantu ethnic groups more 
generally, are grossly over-represented in senior, 
politically-appointed positions in Kenya's top 20 parastatal 
companies.  In sharp contrast, the Luo ethnic group is 
seriously underrepresented in government.  While there is a 
widespread tendency in Kenya to "favor one's own," it is 
important to remember that ethnicity does not always 
predetermine political positions.  End Summary. 
 
Bantu/Kikuyu Representation 
 
¶2. (SBU) The Kenyan media and public often claim that Kikuyus 
are over-represented in government.  Our study shows that 
this is not exactly the case.  Kikuyus account for about 22 
percent of Kenya's population.  They account for 24 percent 
of the top 198 positions in the Government of Kenya (GoK; see 
ref A).  These 198 GoK positions include the cabinet, 
assistant ministers, permanent secretaries, provincial 
commissioners and district commissioners.  In the top 20 
parastatals, however, the Chief Executive and Chairman 
positions, which are politically appointed, are held 
overwhelmingly by members of Bantu ethnic groups.  Whereas 
Bantus make up 67 percent of Kenya's population, they hold 84 
percent of these positions.  Kikuyus and the closely related 
and politically aligned Meru and Embu communities account for 
32 percent of the general population and 52 percent of these 
positions.  Bantu representation as a whole in the top ranks 
of GoK is in line with their share of the population. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Several of the parastatals, such as the Kenya 
Pipeline Company and the Kenya Ports Authority, among others, 
were notable loss makers when run by President Moi's 
appointees, most of whom were from Moi's Kalenjin community. 
Kibaki's appointees, disproportionately drawn from his ethnic 
group, have transformed these companies into earners for the 
GoK. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Comment:  During Moi's 24 year rule, there was 
systematic discrimination against the Kikuyu in government 
employment.  The end of such discrimination under the Kibaki 
administration has resulted in Kikuyu numbers at the top of 
the GoK reaching, but not significantly exceeding their share 
of the general population.  This reappearance of Kikuyus in 
government after a long absence may account for the public 
perception of "Kikuyu dominance."  Another factor for this 
perception may be the fact that Kibaki has placed his fellow 
Kikuyus at the head of the four most influential ministries: 
Defense, Internal Security (police), Justice and Finance. 
End Comment. 
 
Nilotic/Luo & Kalenjin Representation 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Nilotes, particularly the Luos, are 
underrepresented in the senior ranks of the GoK.  Whereas 
nilotic ethnic groups make up about 30 percent of Kenya's 
population, they make up only 21 percent of the top 198 
positions in the GoK and only 16 percent of the top 
parastatal jobs.  The Luos, considered political rivals of 
the Kikuyu, account for 14 percent of the population, but 
staff only 5 percent of the top positions in government.  The 
Kalenjin, who greatly benefited in government employment 
under Moi's patronage prior to Kibaki's election in 2002, now 
account for only 9 percent of top GoK jobs.  They make up 
about 11 percent of the population. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Luo representation in the GoK was much greater in 
the first Kibaki cabinet.  However, once Raila Odinga left 
the government in 2005, nearly all his fellow Luos followed 
him.  Odinga commands a very loyal following among the Luos. 
The few Luo politicians who did not quit government in 
solidarity with Odinga, such as Foreign Minister Tuju, are 
expected to fare poorly in the politics of their native 
Nyanza province. 
 
Cushitic/Somali Representation 
 
¶7. (SBU) Cushitic ethnic groups make up only 3 percent of 
Kenya's population, yet they account for 10 percent of the 
top GoK positions.  Somali Kenyans represent only 2 percent 
of the population, but hold 8 percent of top GoK jobs. 
Several Somali and Borana (Oromo) politicians benefited from 
Kibaki's decision to "poach" members of parliament from the 
official opposition KANU party to staff jobs abandoned by his 
erstwhile Luo allies. 
 
Other Ethnicities 
 
¶8. (SBU)  Less than one percent of Kenya's population is made 
up of members of the diminishing South Asian origin and 
European origin communities along with the coastal Bajun/Arab 
community.  Two Kenyan Arabs hold jobs within the senior 
ranks of the GoK, one as an Assistant Minister and the other 
as a District Commissioner. 
 
Gender & Religious Balance 
 
¶9. (SBU)  Of the GoK's top 229 jobs, only 7 percent are held 
by women.  Among these are the Ministers of Justice and of 
Health.  Kibaki has announced the goal of women staffing 
one-third of government positions.  The GoK has far to go to 
meet that goal, but it does have more women in top jobs than 
the Moi administration did. 
 
¶10. (SBU) Kenya's religious demographics are roughly 80 
percent Christian, 10 percent Muslim and 10 percent other 
(mostly traditional African religions).  Of the top 229 GoK 
jobs, 90 percent are held by Christians and 10 percent are 
held by Muslims.  Koigi wa Wamwere, Assistant Minister for 
Information, who practices the traditional Kikuyu faith, is 
the only representative of the "other" religious category 
within the senior ranks of the GoK. 
 
Comment: Ethnicity Remains Key to Kenyan Politics, 
But Does Not Always Determine Political Positions 
 
¶11. (SBU) While there continues to be a widespread tendency 
in Kenya to "favor one's own," it is important to remember 
that ethnicity does not always predetermine political 
positions.  Polling data indicates that increasing numbers of 
Kenyan voters are rising above the traditional attachment to 
ethnic politics and embracing truly national politics. 
 
¶12. (SBU) Within the senior ranks of the GoK there are a few 
well known cases of individuals refusing to don the 
straightjacket of ethnically predetermined political 
loyalties.  Foreign Minister Tuju, a Luo, is one such 
example.  The Chairman of the Human Rights Commission of 
Kenya, Maina Kiai, is another.  He is an ethnic Kikuyu, but 
has not shown a pro-Kibaki bias in his leadership of this key 
institution.  In fact, he is regularly branded a Kikuyu 
"traitor" for his outspoken critiques of the GoK's human 
rights lapses.  Exactly the same charge is made against 
former Permanent Secretary of Governance and Ethics John 
Githongo, a Kikuyu who spurned appeals to ethnic loyalty and 
went public a year ago with damning evidence of grand-scale 
corruption within the ranks of Kibaki's inner circle. 
 
¶13. (SBU) As a historical aside, it is worth noting that in 
the latter years of Jomo Kenyatta's life, when Kikuyu 
chauvinists around Kenya's first president were frantically 
(and unsuccessfully) searching for a way to retain the 
presidency for their community after Kenyatta's eventual 
demise, Kibaki himself was publicly branded a Kikuyu traitor 
and placed on a death list for his support of the ethnic 
Kalenjin Vice President, Daniel arap Moi. 
RANNEBERGER