The ‘43rd tribe’ in Kenya resulting from intermarried couples is fighting for recognition in the country and be captured in the subsequent national population census.
Intermarried couples across Kenya formed an organisation in 2007 and called it the Inter-Tribal Marriage Association and Campaign Youths. The group brings forth mixed marriages agitations. The organisation has since been renamed the Intermarried Couples Nest (ICN).
ICN’s chairman, Pastor Hodari Wagalla, said that children from intermarried couples make up the country’s 43rd tribe, which should not be considered to be from either the father’s or the mother’s tribe.
“I have studied the national population census report and it shows that Kenya has 42 tribes only. This excludes children from intermarried couples,” Wagalla said.
A legal battle is looming after the organisation vowed to lodge a complaint in the courts to be recognised as the 43rd tribe in the country.
In 2010, the group wrote to the Ministry of Planning demanding an apology for not incorporating mixed marriage children. The organisation accused the ministry of recklessness in a general blanket categorisation of the children in specific tribes of either of their parents in the 2009 population census.
ICN has consistently and strongly insisted that children from intermarried couples should not belong to any ethnic group. Wagalla said that in the next population census, the relevant ministry should categorise mixed marriage children in the results.
“We hope that our grievances which we have raised with Ministry of Planning and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission will be considered and implemented. Failure to this, we will take legal action,” Wagalla said.
Currently, ICN has more than 320 members from across the country and 120 from Nakuru.