Kenya is a State not a Nation

Ordinarily, it's difficult to draw the distinction between a nation and a state. But in practical outlay and functionality there is a great difference between the two terms. Primarily a state consists of four building blocks i.e. population, government, sovereignty and territory. Any entity can be deemed a state if it achieves these four systems and structures. This, therefore, means that a state may lack any sense of homogeneity and still remains to be a vibrant state.

Nationhood on the other hand is a whole different ballgame. It's possible to be a state without nationhood and vice versa. Nationhood emphasizes commonality, mutuality of feelings, spiritual and by extension political identity. Hence nationhood is grounded in higher ideals for which every man and woman derives meaning and identity.

To quote Prof. Zimmer, "Nationality, like religions, is subjective; statehood is objective; nation­ality is psychological, statehood is political; nationality is a condition of mind, statehood is a condition of law; nationality is a possession, statehood is an enforceable obligation; nationality is a way of feeling, thinking and living, statehood is a condition inseparable from all civilized ways of living."

Going by these distinctions the ancient Roman Empire drew it's nationhood from it's quest of defining and conceptualizing the law, jurisprudence, and political categories. The Greek nation had its legacy in defining the philosophical categories. The Hebrew nation with it's law and the prophets drew it's nationhood from its moral history and theological identity. The Great Britain was grounded in defining social categories under such notions of gentlemanliness, Victorian modesty and notions of class as a socio-cultural construct. Theoretician Alex de Toquiville would describe the newly founded United States of America in 1776 as one for whom destiny had charged with the responsibility of reconciling law and liberty; that which is legal vs that which is merely lawful.

Given this challenge, achieving Statehood is the easy part, nationhood is a harder nut to crack and that's where we are at as a country. The legacy of colonial racism, tribal stereotypes, arbitrary boundaries and the tactless British withdrawal has left many colonies breaking up and others engaged in endless wars and internal turmoil under the banner of Statehood.

There's no doubt that Kenya is a state but not a nation. Nationhood in this country still remains the domain of our tribal identities. Principally state-nations can be crafted under the prospect of looming terror (external aggression) or the high noon of nobility(great leadership, spiritual awakening or booming economy). To understand tribalism you need to understand the politics of identity (not synonymous with American-type identity politics). Identity is about survival and at its basic politics is about who gets what(resources).

In times of scarcity such as that which is being occasioned by corruption and nepotism in this country a sense of primal survival instincts kick in and everyone retreats to their most basic identity which will(at least in theory) guarantee survival and self-preservation and in Kenya that is our ethnic identities. On the other hand, in times of unbridaled hope and optimism like 2002 during the Narc wave, people's sense of nobility rises, their survival isn't at risk and the hope allows them to make alliances that transcend their primal(ethnic) identities.

Needless to say, negative ethnicity will always be a factor as long as corruption remains an issue, resources are scarce and power is hoarded. It's not a stretch to pin tribalism as more of an outcome of unemployment than a problem stocked by politicians.