Kenya officially gets the 44th tribe

Kenyans of Asian origin now constitute the 44th tribe in the country, following a formal recognition by President Uhuru Kenyatta in a Gazette Notice No. 7245 published on Friday, July 21.

In a statement by Acting Interior Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred Matiang’i, the move has been taken after several petitions to the presidency from the Asian community in the country, most of who were born and have been residing in Kenya way before independence in 1963.

However, Matiang’i called upon the new Kenyan tribe to integrate with the rest of the country for cohesion and national development.

“The government is committed to promoting national cohesion and integration and that is why it has taken the move to include the Asians as one of our tribes. Now we don’t have to treat you as foreigners. We embrace you as our brothers and sisters. We will include you in all our country’s procession,” said Matiang’i.

This comes ten months after the Makonde Community was also admitted into the role of Kenyan communities when it became the 43^rd tribe.

The Makonde community, who are originally from Mozambique, in Kwale County had been stateless for long but were officially recognized as the 43rd ethnicity in Kenya on October 13, 2016.