I believe (maybe I am wrong), that in many cases in this country and especially when it comes to government action, we give our attention to the wrong target. Rather than addressing the problem, we attack the symptoms or sometimes miss the mark completely. And then we are happy we have done away with the enemy. A lot of the times, we have missed the target by a big margin. Think, for example, of the many times instead of fighting crime we go for the 'criminals' even when we cannot prove we caught them committing crime. Or the many times the small 'fish' are fried as the big ones swim away into the depths of freedom. Many are the times too that we have used palliatives because we would rather avoid surgery or procedures that will cure the illness. Instead of addressing the issue of what is ailing us and seeking for the cure we would rather get rid of the pain.
In this case I am talking of the ban that has been slapped on speaking 'vernacular' in the public offices. The language has become the problem and if we get rid of it, we shall have rid this country of tribalism. Get real! The ban reminds me of the dreaded 'monito' system in many schools. Don't ask me what the word means because I have no clue. I hear it is still in operation in many schools, even as I write. For the few who may not have heard of, or experienced the 'monito', I can try to explain what I know about it. What happens is that in many schools, in the name of ensuring that children are educated, English must be the only and only language spoken in school. In many schools, and my granddaughter has recounted the experience of being caught in the act, Kiswahili is not allowed as a language of communication in the classrooms, except of course during the Swahili lesson. So there is this thing, resembling what security people give drivers as they are allowed into a gated institutions or estates, which a student is given if they speak vernacular. And for having been given the 'monito' you deserve punishment, including 'caning', which still exists due to the same problem of evading dealing with issues. That is a topic for another day. The long and short of it, students fear the 'monito' and the punishment that comes with it.
Again we have missed the whole point. Speaking your mother tongue is the most natural thing you could be doing as a human being and is the best means of communication, which you feel most comfortable with. The language one learnt as a child, which connects one to family is not the culprit. It is important in one's life. Let's get real! I am not saying that we make assumptions that everybody understands it. Nor do I mean that we should have the bad manners of using it to back bite others. But I don't want to feel guilty because I speak Kiembu nor should I be apologetic because I speak one of the 'native' languages, at all. But please in case you had forgotten, do remember education is English and English is education, in our part of the world. For others, it will be French, Portuguese or Spanish. But for us; excuse us, it is English.
Anyhow, let us go back to the banning of vernacular. The rationale for this decision by our 'honourable' gentlemen and ladies is to fight tribalism and surely this will ensure we don't fight each other again after voting - which is just a year away. By communicating in English we shall be putting an end not only to that 'ugly' habit of speaking vernacular in the presence of others who don't speak that particular one, but also to fighting against each other in the name of tribe. What better way of fighting tribalism than getting rid of this habit. That way, we shall have saved Kenya the embarrassment of being associated with tribal clashes and post election violence. Phew!
Maybe one comforting factor for those banning the speaking of vernacular is that these languages are going to disappear soon and very soon indeed. I can almost hear people sneering at that but it is a reality. The so called vernaculars are going slowly to extinction because they are not being taught any more and soon too they will have no important role to play in our society. What do I mean by this? Our languages are not growing because they are not taught in school nor at home. They may be used to explain or translate orally what is being taught in English at the primary school level but contrary to what the policy states, nobody teaches how to write and read them in the early grades, which limits vocabulary and mastery of the language. Children cannot count nor deal with numbers in their vernacular. In the absence of interaction with their grandparents and other experts in the language, due to time spent in school and lack of opportunities and ways of passing on culture and language to future generations through story telling and other traditional media, then vernaculars have a very slim chance of survival. Parents too don't think the mother tongue is important in their children's lives as English improves their opportunities in life. Of what use is the vernacular?
If you don't believe me, listen to yourself - if you speak vernacular, and count how many English or Kiswahili words you put in a sentence. Not because there is no such word in your mother tongue but you have forgotten. And if that is not true, listen to the FM radios that broadcast in vernacular and I must say for those ones at least I understand (Kikuyu and related languages), English is soon going to replace the so called vernacular.
So dear MPs and others, no need to worry. The so called vernaculars will be a thing of the past. And all of us will be civilised, rid of any traits of tribalism.
