Identity and Diaspora

What does it mean to be Kenyan? Kenyans belong to more than 40 communities, speak over 60 languages and follow many faiths. Since independence, leaders have tried to build a shared national identity around symbols such as the flag, the anthem, Kiswahili and Harambee, while ethnic identities have remained powerful, especially in politics.

Colonial rule had treated people as members of separate 'tribes', and post-independence politics often rewarded ethnic loyalty. Yet there are strong forces pulling the other way: cities where people of every community mix, shared languages such as Kiswahili and Sheng, and a younger generation that increasingly identifies first as Kenyan. During the 2024 protests, young Kenyans described themselves as 'tribeless'.

Kenyans have also built communities abroad. In 1959–63, Tom Mboya's airlift sent hundreds of students to American universities, among them Wangari Maathai. Other students travelled separately but were helped by the same network: Barack Obama Sr. made his own way to the University of Hawaii in 1959 and was later supported by grants from Mboya's foundation. When his son Barack Obama was elected US President in 2008, Kenya declared a public holiday. In 1967–68, thousands of Kenyan Asians left for Britain after independent Kenya's 'Kenyanisation' policies restricted non-citizens' work and trade licences, prompting Britain to pass the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1968 to limit their entry. In the 1980s and 1990s, others left to escape political repression or economic hardship.

Today the diaspora, ughaibuni in Kiswahili, includes Kenyans in the United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, the Gulf states and across Africa. In 2024 their remittances, money sent home to families, reached about Sh674 billion (around US$4.8 billion), more than Kenya earned from tourism or tea. The 2010 Constitution allowed dual citizenship, and a Kenya Diaspora Policy followed in 2014.

Many of those leaving today are skilled professionals, especially nurses and doctors, who seek better pay and conditions abroad. Kenya's government has signed agreements, including one with Britain in 2021, to help unemployed health workers find jobs overseas. Critics call this a brain drain: Kenya loses people it trained at a time when its own hospitals are short of staff. Supporters reply that these workers send money home and many bring back new skills.

For children of the diaspora, identity can be layered: Kenyan at home, British or American at school, and connected to a particular community through grandparents and language. Many feel the tension of not being 'fully' accepted in either place. Others see it as a strength: belonging to more than one world.