To curb tribalism, teens must stop speaking mother tongue

I am a proud youth of the 21st century and I like to move with times. That is why a recent article by human rights activist Boniface Mwangi on “the tribe-less generation” caught my attention.

Tribalism has become a cancer in Kenya and the article really opened my eyes to how tribe-less my fellow youth and I are today.

Unlike past generations, he said, the current teenagers are moving with changing times, and have shed off the tribal baggage.

Unlike our fathers, mothers, uncles and aunties, we rarely approach issues with a tribal bias. In cities, towns, and villages, we play and socialise without paying attention to our surnames.

Boni, as he is popularly known, mentioned that most of us teenagers do not even know our “ushagos” (rural homes), let alone our mother tongues.

I took a moment to ponder about this and, truly, I have never learnt to speak in my mother tongue. It’s disheartening to see young boys and girls being forced to speak in their mother tongue.

It is also quite comical to watch them fumble at the simplest of words as their uncles and aunts watch in utter amusement.

End tribalism

Sadly, in some homes, failure to master one’s mother tongue may at times lead to punishment and humiliation.

This should come to an end and parents should accept that our generation is different. The older generation considers our failure to learn mother tongue as unAfrican. But there’s no space for tribe in today’s fast-paced world.

The place of tribe is slowly being overtaken as the world becomes a global village. And this reminds me of an essay I recently worked on titled: “How the youth can help end tribalism”.

One of the ways I cited was that young people should not learn their mother tongues. I argued that, if speaking in our mother tongues makes us tribal, then there is no point of learning such languages.

I further said that we should not let ourselves be divided by age-old tribal differences.

This country is in our hands and we should mould it the way we feel is right for us and the generations to come.

The only way we can be united is if we diminish and eliminate all that which makes us different.

Isn’t it high time that we the youth united to reshape our lives and the future of our country?

Have a thoughtful week.

Patricia is a student at Mama Ngina High School.

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