Insights
Who Am I? | Why We Must End Identity Politics in Africa | Emmanuel Awori
We are the generation that will challenge identity politics, and we are already doing this through intermarriage (Acholi, Musoga, etc.). We are the ones to free ourselves from the shackles of identity politics and embrace our unity as Africans.
LéO Africa Institute Communications Team
Contributor
Sometimes I don’t know who I am. When I travel to Kenya, I am mistaken for Ugandan, and when I’m in Uganda, people think I’m Kenyan. According to the Ugandan government, though, I am Ugandan, but I could also be Kenyan.
In the 1800s, somewhere between Uganda and Kenya, an elephant hunter was killed while laying a trap for one. At the time, the culture was that his widow would be inherited by his brother, but being a 7ft strong willed giant of a woman, she refused. She became an outcast with her only child, which would turn into a blessing as two of her 17 grandchildren would go on to dominate East African politics in the early 2000s. One as an MP, Minister, and Presidential candidate in Uganda, and the other as Minister and Vice President in Kenya. I happen to be the grandson of the Presidential candidate, Hon. Aggrey Awori, and a Liberian lad,y Dr. Thelma Awori, in Swahili this is called “mchanganyiko”. You can see why sometimes I don’t know who I am.
I’ve always had an identity crisis. Identity politics is something that my family and I have always been victims of. It makes me cringe whenever anyone plays that card. My grandfather, who told me never to enter politics, and I faced a similar dilemma. In 2001, while he campaigned for President and I for Guild President in 2016, we were both challenged by one thing: identity politics. For him, it was about identifying his grandfather’s grave; mine was about whether I was Ugandan or not by proving that I had a National I.D. I was challenged to show my national I.D like my competitor had done, and to be honest,t I did not have it.
Grandpa wasn’t so lucky; he didn’t win the election, but I happened to win mine, and during my time in office, I made sure that equal opportunities were created for all students regardless of their origin. You see, we are married to the idea that we are Ugandan, Kenyan, Tanzanian, Nigerian, Egyptian, Rwandan, and so on, and yet many of us, like myself, have direct links across these same borders.
Do I still question who I am and where I belong? I always struggle with it every day, but even as I pursue this leadership journey, this journey of collaboration and African unit,y I’d like to rally all of you and tell you that we are the ones. We are the generation that will challenge identity politics, and we are already doing this through intermarriage (Acholi, Musoga, etc.). We are the ones to free ourselves from the shackles of identity politics and embrace our unity as Africans.
Asanteni sana, Shkran, Mwebale nnyo, Murakoze. Thank you.
