My village

[KenyanPlato]

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I was just doing a blog article on facebook about multiculturalism in my Village

We have these communities living and working in my Village.

Gusiis
Bukusus
Ugandans
Turkanas
Merus
Kambas
Rwandese (Tustis and Hutus)
Luos
 I think this diversity makes my villagemates very tolerant. During PEV my village elders met and sent out a communication requesting that all communities in our village be protected. Those that wanted to leave were granted safe passage and the community made sure they were delivered to their home villages.

What is the community make up in your village?

[Njuri Ncheke]

I was just doing a blog article on facebook about multiculturalism in my Village


We have these communities living and working in my Village.

Gusiis
Bukusus
Ugandans
Turkanas
Merus
Kambas
Rwandese (Tustis and Hutus)
Luos
 I think this diversity makes my villagemates very tolerant. During PEV my village elders met and sent out a communication requesting that all communities in our village be protected. Those that wanted to leave were granted safe passage and the community made sure they were delivered to their home villages.

What is the community make up in your village?

In my village its 100% merus. I would understand in kiambu its very diverse and multi cultural i dont understand how you can live with different kabilas at shagz. I heard kabete maidens love to gawa sana to this kabilas

[KenyanPlato]

Njuri
It is all about market economy. Labor demands make this diversity to exist

[Njuri Ncheke]

Njuri
It is all about market economy. Labor demands make this diversity to exist

I agree to some extent but thats now the cons of that. To be honest i love my shagz most meru region tharaka nithi included have a 85-100%  Meru occupation. You will find kabilas in the tiwns but NEVER villages. This is critical as we can plan things discreetly thats why tharaka nithi can have 100 % voter turnout because no other kabilas live there to snitch, the only meru area you will find with some non meru is imenti timau area where some Kikuyu bought land but very few. I just love meru and my village NO OTHER KABILAS our land ownership laws have protected us from having foreigners and especially in the 1929s where kikuyus tried to penetrate our land! I understand why Kalenjin and masaaihave that deep resentment for kikuyus coz if mko ndani ya shagz where will they go

[RV Pundit]

Our village - mostly Gusii ( a lot ) - a few Luos and random other tribe. Gusii are preferred tea pluckers. When PEV - then everyone takes care of their workers - normal people organize themselves and sneak their workers out - you drive them for like 100kms and drop them at  border. Others had them dropped at police station. We have 5 gusii boys (now big men) who are more like our family. They came like 3-4yrs old, speak fluent kipsigis and well - anyway during PEV we stayed with them. Their mother had left our home to work in another family and she was in police stations with many other suffering.Anyway you'll find many gusii who have stayed for so long - and many born there - they basically are kipsigis. One such is called Jonah - he was like chokora in our small town - and now he is basically local - he forced his way to kipsigis circmuscion, has bought land and married locally - he speaks so fluent - i don't think anybody can call him Gusii. The richest family in our village are basically gusii - that came around 1920s with AIC church - and but now they are fully Kalenjin - have bought a clan - although in the past  - their cows would be stolen once in a while.

The Luos don't easily assimilate because of circumcision thing...but they are many...that have lived all their lives in our villages.

Gusii are either plucking tea or selling changaa. Luos are either plucking tea or doing tailoring or repairing shoes or cars - or well selling CHUNGU KARANGA.

we side by side with tea estate so lots of tribes

I was just doing a blog article on facebook about multiculturalism in my Village

We have these communities living and working in my Village.

Gusiis
Bukusus
Ugandans
Turkanas
Merus
Kambas
Rwandese (Tustis and Hutus)
Luos
 I think this diversity makes my villagemates very tolerant. During PEV my village elders met and sent out a communication requesting that all communities in our village be protected. Those that wanted to leave were granted safe passage and the community made sure they were delivered to their home villages.

What is the community make up in your village?

[Njuri Ncheke]

  God saved us from such calamities. You wonder why merus have that heavy unadulterated accent? Its because they just mingle with merus from birth to death, merus rarely leave meru land. Even the educated cant shake the accent because all life even in school kimeru was the language. Even in towns in meruland, merus will just speak kimeru to anyone they come across and if you speak English or swahili they quickly know that you ar not one of them they will call you mkabila. Have had friends complain how merus about this. I myself coz of my upbringing i like speaking in different languages and sometimes merus think am a mkabila but i never mind they will gossip and insult me in my back. But in towns lost of others kabilas exist but they learn kimeru fast.

[KenyanPlato]

That is a narrow way to look at it. Actually the kikuyus are beneficiary of this ability to move and settle anywhere. So we have no reason not allowing others settle. Attitudes in my village have changed and now it iseasier to find kisii laborer marrying a local

[RV Pundit]

ours is not cosmpolitan like say nakuru or uasin gishu - we only deal with mostly workers - but in other places it kikuyus in this corner, kalenjin there, gusii there - you have to speak Kiswahili. Btw who pluck your tea? Fellow Merus? We have poor kispisgis from Bomet and Narok - with brown teeth - but for reliable workers - we prefer Gusii - Luos prefer to stay in estates - because they get nice houses there.

God saved us from such calamities. You wonder why merus have that heavy unadulterated accent? Its because they just mingle with merus from birth to death, merus rarely leave meru land. Even the educated cant shake the accent because all life even in school kimeru was the language. Even in towns in meruland, merus will just speak kimeru to anyone they come across and if you speak English or swahili they quickly know that you ar not one of them they will call you mkabila. Have had friends complain how merus about this. I myself coz of my upbringing i like speaking in different languages and sometimes merus think am a mkabila but i never mind they will gossip and insult me in my back. But in towns lost of others kabilas exist but they learn kimeru fast.

[KenyanPlato]

God saved us from such calamities. You wonder why merus have that heavy unadulterated accent? Its because they just mingle with merus from birth to death, merus rarely leave meru land. Even the educated cant shake the accent because all life even in school kimeru was the language. Even in towns in meruland, merus will just speak kimeru to anyone they come across and if you speak English or swahili they quickly know that you ar not one of them they will call you mkabila. Have had friends complain how merus about this. I myself coz of my upbringing i like speaking in different languages and sometimes merus think am a mkabila but i never mind they will gossip and insult me in my back. But in towns lost of others kabilas exist but they learn kimeru fast.

I met Munya when he assistant minister of security under kibaki. His accent was so thick. He. English was just terrible. I sed why he left usa after graduating. With that accent he wouldnt survive

[KenyanPlato]

One Gusii man lived 30 years in my village. He was employed by my neighbor. When he got sick and later died we offered to ship his body to his family. However the family asked we burry him because he had lived most of his life in my village. My neighbor burried him will all respect she would accord her own kids

[Njuri Ncheke]

ours is not cosmpolitan like say nakuru or uasin gishu - we only deal with mostly workers - but in other places it kikuyus in this corner, kalenjin there, gusii there - you have to speak Kiswahili. Btw who pluck your tea? Fellow Merus? We have poor kispisgis from Bomet and Narok - with brown teeth - but for reliable workers - we prefer Gusii - Luos prefer to stay in estates - because they get nice houses there.

Merus pluck their own tea plus all other farm work. Am surprised you dont know that they are avid farmers each family takes care of its land and defends its aggressively We DO NOT HAVE migrant labor your style punda or kenyaplato. Merua are self sufficient thats how our culture is, i think other reasons is distance of meru region also makes area not accessible say from other parts of kenya. The only kabilas you would see employed but kitambo sana were samburu turkana but that was strictly for herding and northern parts only. Somalis are there also but miraa is there thing. In short we don't have migrant perment residing in rural areas in meru

[RV Pundit]

Lol. My room-mate was Meru in first year. Very nice tall guy from Imentis. He used to tell me about Kiraitus, Ringeras, Ikiaras(Lecturer at UON then) and etc. Then they were in opposition in DP.  He had fellow villager at Moi university student who was friend with Munya - then a law lecturer there. That fellow villager would come to our room with miraa and a bottle of soda..and he would make a hole on top. I had never seen anything like that. I never saw people chew miraa except on long-distance buses - and I didn't expect university student to do that.

When 2002 election were held - poor Merus suddenly became important - broke Kiraitus, Ringera, Ikiaras - became important and my roommate was doing great. The Moi university dude was house hunting for Munya who had been elected Tigania Mp. Munya I doubt even had a car in 2002 and certainly knew nothing in Nairobi

I met Munya when he assistant minister of security under kibaki. His accent was so thick. He. English was just terrible. I sed why he left usa after graduating. With that accent he wouldnt survive

[RV Pundit]

Poverty must be that serious in meru to be self-sufficient in tea plucking. Tea plucking is not a joke -

Merus pluck their own tea plus all other farm work. Am surprised you dont know that they are avid farmers each family takes care of its land and defends its aggressively We DO NOT HAVE migrant labor your style punda or kenyaplato. Merua are self sufficient thats how our culture is, i think other reasons is distance of meru region also makes area not accessible say from other parts of kenya. The only kabilas you would see employed but kitambo sana were samburu turkana but that was strictly for herding and northern parts only. Somalis are there also but miraa is there thing. In short we don't have migrant perment residing in rural areas in meru

[Njuri Ncheke]

That is a narrow way to look at it. Actually the kikuyus are beneficiary of this ability to move and settle anywhere. So we have no reason not allowing others settle. Attitudes in my village have changed and now it iseasier to find kisii laborer marrying a local

When it comes to these issues forgive me, but i woupd love them not to change at all, the wont change in meru countryside, how would i live in town next to luos kisiis kalenjin kikuyu etc then i get to village and meet them there too. Uongo boss

[RV Pundit]

They are not really residents - but mostly workers - living in workers quarters. Most families have worker quarters -but the workers are mostly like 2nd class citizens of the village.

When it comes to these issues forgive me, but i woupd love them not to change at all, the wont change in meru countryside, how would i live in town next to luos kisiis kalenjin kikuyu etc then i get to village and meet them there too. Uongo boss

[Njuri Ncheke]

Punda at times you are very shallow, Merus are bantus, gifted with fertile soils and land, the nature of the bantu is to till the land, bantus are very hardworking, my dad even at this age you will find him going around his lands weeding never resting and so far so forth, its nothing to do with poverty, merus are also conservative people they prefer doing stuff like that. Honestly i like this culture it has prevented us being saturated with other kabilas. You wonder why kikuyu never managed to penetrate meru? And why kenyatta appointed a meru angaine as first land minister??read
https://mambo.hypotheses.org/963

[RV Pundit]

Njuri you somewhat remind me of Anthropology friend of my roommate who had finished at UON and got a  scholarship abroad or some big job. It was one of those useless degrees but the guy had scored a first class and made something of it..he use to tell me not despise all the useless degrees...we were like among selected few with medicine, engineering, actuarial science,Architecture, law and we saw BAs and BSCs as NOTHING .

[RV Pundit]

Overpopulation is normally the problem. Too many people in little land. That breeds poverty. That see many bantu Gusii or Luhyas all over as workers.

Punda at times you are very shallow, Merus are bantus, gifted with fertile soils and land, the nature of the bantu is to till the land, bantus are very hardworking, my dad even at this age you will find him going around his lands weeding never resting and so far so forth, its nothing to do with poverty, merus are also conservative people they prefer doing stuff like that. Honestly i like this culture it has prevented us being saturated with other kabilas. You wonder why kikuyu never managed to penetrate meru? And why kenyatta appointed a meru angaine as first land minister??read
https://mambo.hypotheses.org/963

[Njuri Ncheke]

Njuri you somewhat remind me of Anthropology friend of my roommate who had finished at UON and got a  scholarship abroad or some big job. It was one of those useless degrees but the guy had scored an A and made something of it.

Mmmh interesting some Similarities. Do you know the last permanently residing kikuyus in meru were expelled from Meru in 1920s? To prevent them from laying any claim to any land. Kenyatta himself was on record telling them he couldn't help them. And now they are your neighbors side by side in your village.

[RV Pundit]

Technically the land that we claim belong to Maasai - but we were in the process of overruning the Maasai before the British interrupted and declared them Idle land. More like Timau

Mmmh interesting some Similarities. Do you know the last permanently residing kikuyus in meru were expelled from Meru in 1920s? To prevent them from laying any claim to any land. Kenyatta himself was on record telling them he couldn't help them. And now they are your neighbors side by side in your village.