Dr Abdinasir Amin
August 12, 2011
I would like to react to Prof William Ochieng’s opinion piece in theDaily Nation of August 9 titled: Should Somalia be Allowed to Join East African Community? Most Decidedly.
I liked Ochieng’s refusal to pander to the stereotype of the Somalis as “the other,” as those who are “quarrelsome and brutal terrorists.”
It’s not easy being branded a Kenyan, a Kenyan-Somali or a Somali of any other origin.
You are guilty of everything from terrorism to public nuisances like spitting on the sidewalk.
It is hard enough getting national identity cards and passports, navigating the numerous road blocks and prejudiced policemen as we visit our rural areas in northern Kenya and dealing with overzealous immigration officials at JKIA.
Newspaper columns have of late accused the Somali community in Kenya of all manner of ills.
The public stereotype of the Somali needs to be challenged. It’s said we sit around all day eating miraa and have huge amounts of “unexplained” money.
I have news for you: we are a hard-working people and have been traders for generations.
We have been trading with the Arabs, Indians, Indonesians, Chinese, you name it, long before Chief Kivoi.
My father worked every day of his life (except for 1.5 hours on Fridays to attend the Friday prayer) for 50 years sellingmandazis and tea to educate us and our large brood of relatives.
His father before him tended his camels every single day till his death.
I am concerned by the increasingly strident tone of the reports, accusations and innuendos.
As Edward Said observed in his seminal work Orientalism and Covering Islam, the leap from dehumanising a people to committing all manner of crimes against them is a very short one.
Once you have dehumanised someone, anything goes. My plea to fellow Kenyans is; give us a break; we are Kenyans.
Dr Abdinasir Amin,