Ethnicity and Leadership in Africa: the ‘Untypical’ Case of Tom Mboya

Abstract

This article seeks to relate a biographical case-study to some ‘liberal’ and ‘radical’ ways of thinking about ethnicity. The Kenyan political leader Tom Mboya, who was active in labour and political affairs from 1951 until his death in 1969, was widely regarded as genuinely non-tribalist in his politics. Yet he exercised successful leadership within a political system characterised very strongly, according to a great many observers and participants, by the play of ethnic forces. His would appear to be a strikingly deviant case, and hence may be seen as a useful point of departure for a reconsideration of ideas about ethnic factors in political leadership.

Sixty years of research on leadership in Africa: A review of the literature

“…He justifies this conclusion in the following manner (Tindigarukayo 1988: 621):As many as five post-Amin regimes were unable to establish the supremacy of civil political institutions over the military, and they also failed either to acquire popular legitimacy or to restore political order in a country that had been ravaged by eight years of arbitrary tyrannical rule.During the 1980s, the discourse on political leadership is further expanded by research that reflects on African values and symbols in political leadership. The contributions by Hayward (1983) and Goldsworthy (1982) are, ironically, both by authors from outside the continent, but set the stage for a theme that will inform that leadership discourse until the end of the 2000s. Hayward describes the relation between leadership legitimacy and leadership authenticity, and in our view provides a nuanced reflection on two of the most important issues in the discourse on leadership in Africa.…”

“…The contributions by Hayward (1983) and Goldsworthy (1982) are, ironically, both by authors from outside the continent, but set the stage for a theme that will inform that leadership discourse until the end of the 2000s. Hayward describes the relation between leadership legitimacy and leadership authenticity, and in our view provides a nuanced reflection on two of the most important issues in the discourse on leadership in Africa.…”

“…The same line of thought, namely that leadership authenticity requires leaders to draw on their particular resources, can be found in the contributions on leadership and ethnicity. In the review's first article on ethnicity and leadership in Africa, Goldsworthy (1982) uses the Kenyan leader, Tom Mboya, as a case study to show how ethnic affiliation can create inclusive and authentic leaders. Mboya is sketched as ethnically tolerant, and he uses ethnicity to structure the political situation in a constructive manner.…”

Ethnic Coalitions of Convenience and Commitment: Political Parties and Party Systems in Kenya

“…was regarded as the political heir of Kenyatta, under mysterious circumstances in 1969 (Goldworthy 1982) and the detention of Oginga Odinga after his breakaway from KANU under the umbrella of the Kenya's People's Union (KPU) led to a sense of betrayal among the political elite of the Luo community (Geertzel 1970:7-11). In the run-up to independence, KANU's Luo elite had boycotted the first African-led government until Kenyatta had been released from prison.…”

Vanguard or vandals: youth, politics, and conflict in Africa

“…However, while the counter-public of the lumpen youth including the Riika ria forty fits in Fraser's subaltern classification, the counter -public of the elite youth, like Kubai, Kaggia or Tom Mboya, was not subaltern. David Goldsworthy (1982aGoldsworthy ( , 1982b, Tom Mboya's biographer, has eloquently narrated the long-drawn-out generational rivalry between Mboya and Oginga Odinga. In an earlier comment o n the OdingaMboya rivalry we made the argument that:…”