Today I had a very rich conversation with a member of Wayyu minority group in Kenya. This is a minority community whose population is estimated to be 3,100 people only. However, this number is debatable considering that some people have reported to have been pressurized by the enumerators to identify under one of the majority communities in their county.
The Wayyu minority group of people are found in Marsabit, Tana River, Kilifi and Isiolo counties in Kenya. They are basically scattered across the country.
Participation in Politics
Political candidates of the Wayyu minority group whose names I withhold have indicated that when they vie for elected positions in one of the counties they were intimidated, harassed, called derogatory names and their convoy was stoned. To make matters worse, a lady who contested for the seat of Member of County Assembly was one called a prostitute just because she contested. This should not be the case!
Members of one of the majority group are told not to attended social events such as funerals organized by the Wayyu people. My informant told me that sometimes back a chief from a majority community who dared attend a Wayyu event to celebrate their award of a community code by Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) was murdered and his body was burnt. Since this is an ongoing case, I will not discuss it further because this will be against the sub judice rule. Basically, I am saying that “the matter is under judicial consideration.”
The leaders of some Wayyu minority group in Kenya were forced to free their homes because the majority ethnic group had threatened their lives.
Elsewhere, the Wayyu minority group has accused one of the county government of practicing inequality and discrimination by not employing members of the Wayyu minority group and not allocating bursaries funds to Wayyu Community students. Even National Government Constituency Development Fund (NGCDF) is not different.
The representative whom I talked with indicated that one of the counties where they reside holds an annual cultural festival where Wayyu minority group is not invited nor recognized as a community despite having been allocated a code by KNBS. This is not in the spirit of the objective of the establishment of the annual cultural festival. It was established to promote peace, harmony and unity.
Discrimination from access to water
In one of the counties, Wayyu minority group used to share water from a borehole. After the discrimination reached its apex, the wayyu minority group pastoralists were denied access to the water point. Efforts to report to the county administrators was in vain.
Watta to Wayyu name Change
The Wayyu minority group were initially known as Watta. This is a derogatory name which means poor or thieve. Hence, scholars from all over the world met in Addis Ababa and one of the social anthropologist provided a perfect name for the the community: Wayyu. The social scientist knew that before the members of this community were nicknamed ‘Watta’ their correct name was Wayyu. It is unfortunate that still there are members of this community who do not know that their rightful name is Wayyu and not Watta as they have been made to believe over the decades.
Wayyu in Ethiopia
It is now illegal to use the name “watta” in Ethiopia to refer to members of the Wayyu community. I was shocked to learn that, if you use that reference, you will be jailed for five (5) years and pay a fine of 50,000 Birr (Ethiopian currency) – (I write more about this in another article).
Religion
According to my informant, members of the Wayyu minority group enjoy freedom of religion. There are those who practice Christianity and others are Muslims.
History of the Wayyu minority group
Wayyu people are reported to have originated from South West Asia. They are are part of a group called cushites. They arrived in Kenya from the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia and Somalia) at around 14th or 15th Century.
In fact, my informer hinted to me that the majority communities in the areas where members of the Wayyu minority group live, use different names to refer to the Wayyu. For instance, the Wayyu living in Lamu county are referred to as Boni by the Swahili communities and the Somali community called them Aweer. The latter name – Aweer- was coined by Somali and it means poor, hunter and gatherer.
The Giriama people refer to the members of the Wayyu minority group as Walanguro – people who eat hedgehogs. They Wayyu people want to leave in peaceful coexistence with other communities in Kenya just like the Wayyu in Moyale.
Until their discrimination comes to an end, the Wayyu minority group will always believe that: “democracy is the dictatorship of the majority over minority.” This can change in our lifetime. Now, I urge you to use the comments section below to promise me that you will fight discrimination everywhere when you see or experience it.
Go right ahead and leave a comment or question below.
