KENYA-POLITICS: Anti-Asian Sentiment Slammed

By Moyiga Nduru Reprint | | Print |

Moyiga Nduru

NAIROBI, May 20 1996 (IPS) - Efforts to whip up anti-Asian feeling by a Kenyan opposition leader has been condemned from both within and outside his party.

“As a national leader aspiring to be president, (Kenneth) Matiba’s recent remarks on Asians might scare away international investors,” notes Chris Weira Gibabir, a top official of Matiba’s Forum for the Restoration of Democracy (FORD-ASILI).

Gibabir was distancing himself from Matiba’s populist demagoguery against Asians who he accused of elbowing Africans out of business in a press conference here last week.

“You just drive round Nairobi, and what you see is that all the shops are owned by Asians,” Matiba said. “You go to Mombasa, all the shops are owned by Asians. This has created a very serious situation where indigenous Kenyans think they have become second class citizens in their own country.”

In a 16-page paper, ‘The Asian Question,’ made available to IPS, Matiba accuses Asians of corruption ranging from graft, tax evasion and unscrupulous acquisition of land and citizenship.

“The issue of citizenship should be addressed more fully so that people do not acquire citizen status only to dominate the locals. Standards should be set so high so that not just anybody becomes a citizen,” he said. “This is because it is not unusual to find an Asian who doesn’t understand Kiswahili or even English claiming to be a citizen. Those who have got the citizenship illegally should have them revoked without reservation.”

Matiba, who heads one of the country’s three main opposition parties, also claimed that Asians distrust local banks and deposited their funds in Asian-controlled finance houses.

“To make matters worse, most Asians are known to keep large sums of money at home rather than banking it or banking it conveniently in the UK or Canada where most hold citizenship so that if the worst comes to the worst they can emigrate there. This hence denies other Kenyans capital when they seek loans from banks,” said Matiba.

Immediately after Matiba’s press conference, assistant minister of information and broadcasting Sharrif Nassir slammed his speech as “racist and unjustified” as well as a threat to national security.

For many Asians here, Matiba’s position has kindled fears of the repetition of the expulsion of 60,000 Asians from neighbouring Uganda in 1972, by strongman Idi Amin.

“The Asian community is badly shaken,” said Asian businessman Salim Talib. “I have been receiving telephone calls from many concerned Asians regarding this anti-Asian feeling.”

Talib, with others, have formed the Eastern Action Club (EACA), a non-profit minority rights’ group, to address the problems facing the Asian community in Kenya.

Noting that Matiba’s attack focused on Asian traders, Amin Gwaderi, chair of the Nairobi-based EACA says: “We assume that the criticism is not against Asian lawyers, doctors, engineers, secretaries, clerical workers, industrialists and so on.”

“It can be aptly argued, further, that criticism of persons engaged in certain economic activity cannot result in the condemnation of an entire race and would be a step in the direction of racial prejudice.”

Gwaderi notes that there are less than 70,000 Asians in Kenya — descendants of those brought over as labourers by the British in the last century — yet this 0.27 percent of the country’s 26 million population is said to be responsible for up to 80 percent of economic activity.

“This 0.27 percent creates employment, pays the majority of the taxes and anchors the foreign exchange earnings of Kenya. Why then is it perceived as a threat to the economy by misguided politicians?”

“They (Asians) have also invested, and continue to invest, heavily in the future of this country,” he pointed out. “That is why Asian businesses are sustainable and come to the notice of politicians. They are not liquidated for personal financial gains at a moment’s notice.”

Matiba, in repeating the well-worn complaints against the Asian community, has attempted to tap into the widespread anti-Asian feeling that exists here.

That sentiment resulted in an orgy of looting in 1982 during an attempted coup which brought the poor onto the streets who deliberately targeted Asian shops and businesses.

Matiba denies that he has threatened to expel Asians should he win next year’s general elections, but stands by his allegations.

“I’m well aware that Europeans and Asians will criticise Matiba. Let them say whatever they want to say. Facts are facts,” he said.