Word: luo
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Distasteful or not, tribalism is a key to many African problems-a point that was made all too emphatically in Kenya last week. President Jomo Kenyatta, who with his fellow Kikuyu has ruled the country since independence in 1963, threw Opposition Leader Oginga Odinga in prison and banned his Luo-dominated party...
Kikuyu and Luo, first and second largest of Kenya's 46 main tribes, have long controlled the country's politics. Initially, neither Kenyatta's Kenya African
National Union (KANU) nor Odinga's Kenya People's Union (KPU) were organized along strictly tribal lines. One of KANU's brightest stars, for example, was Tom Mboya, the brilliant young Minister for Economic Planning-and a Luo. In recent years, however, both party memberships have become increasingly polarized. Mboya's assassination last July widened the rift. A Kikuyu was found guilty of Mboya's murder, and ugly rumors persist that high-ranking KANU leaders instigated the slaying. At Mboya's funeral, Kenyatta's car was stoned. Fearful of further Luo unrest...
Angry Warning. Kenyatta and a milelong KANU motorcade, fresh from rousing receptions in KANU territory, drove into Luo-dominated Kisumu in western Kenya. Almost immediately, signs of hostility were apparent. As a gesture of welcome, local officials had banana trees planted along the road. When Kenyatta drove past, however, cattle and goats set loose by Luo farmers were placidly munching the bananas. At a mass rally to dedicate a $3,500,000 Russian-built hospital, tension sharpened. As Odinga stood by, KPU hecklers shouted "Dume" (pronounced du-may and meaning "bull"), the party's slogan, and KANU backers retaliated...
...oath. "The government of Kenya is under Kikuyu leadership, and this must be maintained," goes the pledge. "If any tribe tries to set itself up against the Kikuyu, we must fight them in the same way that we died fighting the British settlers. No uncircumcised leaders [for example, the Luo] will be allowed to compete with the Kikuyu. You shall not vote for any party not led by the Kikuyu. If you reveal this oath, may this oath kill...