Westen K. Shilaho's Political Power and Tribalism in Kenya breaks ground in providing a clear look at the salience of ‘tribalism’ as the central theme in competition for power in Kenya since shortly after independence. His account is quite readable and concise, well sourced to academic writing and journalism without being overburdened. It is also most timely, covering the time up through the August 2017 general election pending the opposition petition in the Supreme Court challenging the conduct of the vote.

Rooting the modern concepts of ethnicity in the Kenyan geography in the colonial British ‘divide and rule indirectly’ paradigm, Shilaho also identifies the pan-Kenyan nationalism associated with the independence project at inception. From the perspective of advocates of democratic development, things fell apart quickly. ‘Kenyan post-colonial politicians rationally mobilized along ethnicity for personal gain owing to their retention of the discriminatory and alienating colonial state. The centralized state, the lack of a regulated party system and the absence of political will to enforce the rule of law and the persistence of exclusive politics made the appeal to ethnicity almost inevitable.’

The book covers well the familiar story of the marginalisation of Oginga Odinga as one of a few politicians with some national policy/ideology orientation, followed by the assassination of Tom Mboya, the labour politician with US financial backing, leading to a fissure between the Luo and President Kenyatta's Kikuyu. Shilaho identifies the events of 1969 as the endpoint for non-tribal politics in Kenya.

Shilaho presents a convincing explanation as to why this basic paradigm has persisted. The aggregation of centralised power in the presidency by Kenyatta and continued under Moi and Kibaki established the president as the gatekeeper for tremendous resources. Almost all politicians came up under the one-party, single gatekeeper system. The growing middle class has defined itself by tribalism and consumerism ‘to the exclusion of shared norms’, promoting ethnic politics as a way of competing for the opportunities of modernity which were mediated by the State or by politicians who became Kenya's leading ‘businessmen’ through public office.

Shilaho bravely places the elevation of Mwai Kibaki as the first non-KANU president in 2002 as a democratic reversal. While the opposition NARC coalition presented a reformist campaign, and the first ‘free and fair’ election in Kenya was widely hailed in the West, in reality the leading politicians were tied to the past and Kibaki especially was ‘wedded to the ancient regime’. The Kibaki ascension would be a Kikuyu restoration, with the NARC splitting over Kibaki's denial of agreed power sharing. The leading politicians continued to exploit the State for personal gain for themselves and their cronies. When the coalition came apart over the issue of constitutional reform and the 2005 constitutional referendum, mobilisation on the basis of ethnic divisions and recriminations came to the fore. This set the stage for violent conflict over Kibaki's alleged re-election in 2007. Uhuru Kenyatta's rise with support from William Ruto in 2013 then becomes a continuation of Kikuyu-led ethnic coalition politics.