72. Kenya National Assembly Official Record (Hansard), Parliamentary Debates, July 14, 1999, p. 1327 and October 24, 2001, p. 2713. Lochery, Rendering Difference Visible, 616. ), total: 11.1% (2020 est. 23. Morgan, "Ethnic Geography of Kenya," 79. Yet devolution also led to new power struggles. UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Fact Sheet, Kenya (01-31 December 2017). Many are in refugee camps in Kenya and Yemen, from where they recount stories of horrific abuse. In contrast to the above-mentioned groups, however, their ambiguousness has a more severe impact. This paper deals with the first two categories, Kenyan Somalis who have a well-founded claim to Kenyan citizenship. 82. )geothermal: 46.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est. A prominent figure of the Muslim Association of Nakuru, for instance, spoke about our Somalis as opposed to Somalis when talking about conflicts in the Muslim community (interviewed September 2012). McIntosh, Autochthony and Family, 265. )refined petroleum consumption: 116,400 bbl/day (2019 est. These discourses about Kenyanness carry a notion of citizenship in a broader sense.Footnote44 It is not only a matter of nationality, but also of belonging to, and participating in, society. Interview with Mzee Jamal, November 2010. 51. . )investment in fixed capital: 18.9% (2017 est. Accessed March 6, 2018. http://www.unhcr.org/ke/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2018/01/Kenya-Operation-Factsheet-December-2017-.pdf. On the massacre see also TJRC, Final Report 2A, 221367, and Sheikh, Blood on the Runway. 78. One Imam in Nakuru,Footnote97 for instance, who was born nearby Garissa, went to a local state primary school and then to different Islamic educational institutes on the coast, in Garissa and in Nairobi. )-$4.792 billion (2020 est. )permanent crops: 0.9% (2018 est. ), production: 0 cubic meters (2021 est. )$4,600 (2019 est. In 2013, presidential elections coincided with the new county-level elections, intensifying this feature of Kenya politics. ), municipal: 500 million cubic meters (2020 est. The heterogeneous Somali population in Kenya can roughly be categorized into four groups. 49. )imports: 822,000 metric tons (2020 est. note: data are in current year dollars$17.717 billion (2020 est.) Talking from the current perspective an old man in Nakuru spoke about the early 1960s: In July [1960] Somalia was declared independent, in October I went there. Daily Nation, Security laws illegal, declares High Court, 23 February 2015. http://www.nation.co.ke/news/politics/Security-laws-illegal-declares-High-Court/1064-2633342-jw2qp1/index.html. This term can be seen as a derivation from a Somali greeting (Carrier, Little Mogadishu, 81), but also as originating from the english term warrior in contiuation with colonial representations (Abdi, Accidental Citizens, 27). Already the debate around the census results showed that even if there is a move towards unity in diversity in Kenya, Kenyan Somalis still have to struggle to be part of this idea. It is Kenya that does not want Somalis in Kenya.Footnote10, Even in colonial times, the Somali population of British East Africa was treated differently from other inhabitants. )solar: 1% of total installed capacity (2020 est. ), $11.825 billion (2021 est.) Afrobarometer Data, Kenya, R3R7, 2005/062016/18. Political competition linked to the re-introduction of multi-party politics as well as tensions between local communities and refugees over environmental degradation, jobs, and access to servicesFootnote34 led to several violent conflicts. Research Reports. But counting ethnic affiliation also created opportunities for the negotiation of belonging to Kenya. )arable land: 9.8% (2018 est. 100. The Ogaden contains oil and gas fields, but development has been hampered by instability in the region. 13. Her mother grew up in Garissa in northeastern Kenya. 24. By around the 9th century, the mix of Africans, Arabs, and Persians who lived and traded there became known as Swahili ("people of the coast") with a distinct language (KiSwahili) and culture. Simultaneously, Islam can serve as a means for claiming entitlement for higher positions in Kenyan society, a significant argument in consideration of actors with an overtly Christian commitment standing at the core of Kenyan politics. note: data are in current year dollars$9.709 billion (2020 est.) Lind et al., Killing a Mosquito, 1516. There is a kind of national excitement coming with the elections they can be regarded as a national ritual in which the residents of Kenya fully participate.Footnote63 This is also the case for the northeastern region, despite the low voter registration in these counties, standing at 32.25% in Wajir, Mandera and Garissa,Footnote64 compared to 66% for overall Kenyan.Footnote65 Although Carrier and Kochore do not explain this low registration, it appears to result from a mixture of factors, from the complicated registration processes in remote areas, difficulties in acquiring identification documents for Kenyan Somalis to flawed population estimations. 57. Abdhullahi, in contrast, mostly stayed away from other Somalis, with the exception of business endeavours. )from consumed natural gas: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est. Kenyan Somalis have become a stronger part of the Kenyan political sphere, as well as of the Kenyan economy, yet they are still marginalized in terms of legal recognition of their citizenship. 45. At the same time Kenyan Somalis complained about being overrun by the Rer [reer, Somali for clan or group] Somalia.Footnote37, In the cities outside of the northeastern region, the situation for the Somali population likewise changed from the 1990s onwards. Lochery, Rendering Difference Visible, 617. )tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est. The first and biggest are the inhabitants of the northeastern region of Kenya, bordering Somalia and Ethiopia. I argue that many Kenyan Somalis are ready to take this possibility up, if they have the chance to do so. 0-14 years: 36.45% (male 10,447,425/female 10,349,611)15-64 years: 60.26% (male 17,196,347/female 17,185,035)65 years and over: 3.28% (2023 est.) 8. 12. Even the existence of Somali heroes, as seen in the Westgate Mall AttackFootnote100 or initiatives against that image (#KenyaImNotATerrorist)Footnote101 do not seem to change this picture. Created in 1994, 3 it has an official population of 4.5 million, 4 predominantly ethnic Somalis, Ethiopia's third largest nationality (around 6.2 per cent), and "roughly one-third of the widely . 4. )imports: 0 cubic meters (2021 est. The government was unable to respond adequately to the attacks. the report brings us up to date on a 20 year-old insurgency waged by some Ogadeeni members of the larger ethnic Somali population in parts of the Ogaden region, which stretches across south-eastern Ethiopia and the borders of Kenya and the Somali territories. His family did not know that Abdullahi lived a very different life, going to clubs and only very rarely to the mosque. 90. People can be constructed as others and as not belonging to the nation-states community, even if formally they are entitled to.Footnote6 Following Yuval-Davis, citizenship in this text is situated in the wider context of contemporary politics of belonging which encompass citizenship, identities and the emotions attached to them.Footnote7 These diverging daily experiences of citizenship were especially debated in literature on immigration,Footnote8 but this discussion can also be applied to the context of Kenya. 92. Amina, a young woman in her early 20s, was born in Nakuru. Islam is also one of the elements dividing Kenyan Somalis from the Christian majority. ), lowest 10%: 1.8%highest 10%: 37.8% (2005), 3.42% of GDP (2021 est. Janet McIntosh argues in her article about white citizens of Kenya, who, similar to Kenyan Somalis, have a conspicuous minority status, that even though the Kenyan government stated that all Kenyans are indigenous,Footnote80 this phrase implicitly only refers to Kenyans of African descent, linking national belonging to race. Ambiguous citizenship, as a concept, not only hints at the changing politics of the Kenyan state concerning its Somali citizens and the manifold ways in which Kenyan Somalis react to it, but it also takes into consideration the various roles Kenyan Somalis play in society. Amina dresses like any other urban (Muslim) girl in Kenya, she typically wears Somali attire (often hiding her Arsenal shirt underneath) and a Kenyan bracelet. )other alcohols: 0.03 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est. Ogaden's recent history is also clouded by conflict that has killed thousands. The Nubians of Kibera Revisited: Detribalized Natives, Slum Dwellers, Middle Class? Did you know that with a free Taylor & Francis Online account you can gain access to the following benefits? There had been warnings that were not taken seriously concerning the attacks on the Westgate Mall (2013), the coastal town Mpeketoni close to Lamu (2014), as well as on the Garissa University College (2015).Footnote69 Moreover, when the Kenyan security apparatus reacted, it did so in an incoherent and chaotic way.Footnote70 Instead of improving coordination between the multiple security agencies, political actors responded in the same manner as before by blaming terrorism on Somali refugees in particular and the Somali inhabitants of Kenya in general, externalizing insecurity by utilizing the image of Somalis as ambiguous citizens, ignoring that many of the attackers were neither Kenyan Somalis nor Somali nationals.Footnote71. In a similar vein, Somalis emphasize their cultural belonging to Kenya when presenting themselves as citizens. Lochery discusses citizenship as being graduated.Footnote5 Using the example of the screening exercise of 1989, when all Kenyan Somalis had to get registered, she demonstrates how institutions negotiate and produce citizenship, resulting in graduated access to rights and protection. Interview with Mzee Jamal, Nakuru, November, 2010. These clashes revived the discussion over what it means to be Kenyan, yet who is imagined as belonging to the nation, and to what degree, remains a situational matter. 5. Intersectionality, Citizenship and Contemporary Politics of Belonging. 77. Some perceive Somalis as doing better than other Muslims in Kenya, economically and politically.Footnote41. )hydroelectricity: 32.6% of total installed capacity (2020 est. Our background is more or less the same. However, fellow Kenyans at times treat him essentially as (ethnic) Somali. )methane emissions: 37.65 megatons (2020 est. The Ogaden is a plateau, with an elevation above sea level that ranges from 1,500 metres in the northwest, falling to about 300 metres along the southern limits and the Wabi Shebelle valley. 110. )wine: 0.04 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est. 71. 112. Aminas father came from Baidoa, Somalia, and married her mother in Mombasa in 1990. 29.6% vs 36.1% 2.22x higher real GDP growth rate? less than 1, total subscriptions: 65,085,720 (2021 est. )transmission/distribution losses: 2.724 billion kWh (2019 est. 10. AIAI's goal was to establish an Islamic government in Somalia and the Ogaden region of Ethiopia. McIntosh, Autochthony and Family, 265. 38. ), degree of risk: very high (2023)food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fevervectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and Rift Valley feverwater contact diseases: schistosomiasisanimal contact diseases: rabies, total: 1.68 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est. Kenya is a source of emigrants and a host country for refugees. 113. )imports of goods and services: -25.5% (2017 est. These fears were at the core of two discussions I was present at, taking place during the Coast Regional Peace Summit, Mombasa, 2011 and among Kenyan participants of a Conference on Refugees and Forced Migrants, Kilifi, 2016. Abdullahis parents and siblings identify as Muslim and as Somali in contrast to him. . 98. ), English (official), Kiswahili (official), numerous indigenous languagesmajor-language sample(s): The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. Who this term refers to, and if it means insider or outsider, depends on the circumstances.Footnote109 The diverse images of Somalis in Kenya, resulting from different historical trajectories, are aggregated in a meta-image of the ambiguous citizen. note: data are in current year dollars$11.471 billion (2019 est. See Registration of Persons Act (Laws of Kenya), Revised Edition 2015, paragraphs 6, 9 and 14. Kenya has experienced dramatic population growth since the mid-20th century as a result of its high birth rate and its declining mortality rate. The establishment of Jubbaland in 2013 cemented the return of Ogaden political relevance to Somalia. )subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 1 (2020 est. Ceuppens and Geschiere argue that, in many African countries, ideas of national citizenship have been pushed aside by notions of autochthony with their implicit exclusion of strangers (allochthons) since the early 1990s.Footnote4 In Kenya, autochthony discourses play indeed a role regarding questions of who can vote where, but not concerning the overall notion of citizenship. One main step in this process was drafting a new constitution.Footnote42 The idea of Kenya as a nation of diversity was, however, not only a political project, but also fostered in popular culture in music (eg. Since Kenyas independence in 1963, the question of how to incorporate the heterogenous parts of its society has been a vital issue. The adjusted numbers published later are still considered dubious by many.Footnote53 Weitzberg has shown how problematic census results were already in colonial times.Footnote54 For nomadic populations, underreporting was observed frequently, as the census logic is linked to a sedentary lifestyle. 11. 65 In 1948 and 1962 enumeration in Northern Province was not done by household because of sparse population and logistical difficulties. Thirdly, there are SomalianFootnote2 refugees (officially, they numbered about 285,000 people in December 2017).Footnote3 The last, and smallest, group are the relatively affluent Somalian returnees, who migrated from Somalia to Europe or North America in the 1990s and later returned to East African urban areas. 88. Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. 25. This was mainly the result of the shifta conflict of 1963 to 1967, in which inhabitants of the Northern Frontier District attempted to secede from Kenya. 109. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Somalia ranks as fourth-lowest in gender equality 41 . A. Abdullahi, Kenyan Somalis are Treated Like Second-class Citizens, Daily Nation, 12 April 2014. http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Kenyan-Somalis-treated-like-second-class-citizens-/440808-2277348-pj74alz/index.html. )2.83% of GDP (2019 est. Lewis, The Ogaden, 578; But cf. In the multi-ethnic state of Kenya, there are other groups as well who are ambiguous citizens including Asians, Whites, Nubians and Arabs for whom two main dimensions along which Kenyanness is constructed come into the foreground: a racial dimension and a cultural dimension. Kenyan Somalis are not the only ambiguous citizens of Kenya. It was terrible, I became crazy. The report argues . Register to receive personalised research and resources by email. My thanks go to James Carrier, David OKane, John Eidson and Keren Weitzberg for their fruitful comments and to Fatma A. Hassan for her help during fieldwork in Kenya. 101. http://kenyaimnotaterrorist.tumblr.com [accessed 21 April 2016]. )municipal solid waste recycled annually: 447,608 tons (2009 est. Almost 40% of Kenyans are under the age of 15 as of 2020 because of sustained high fertility, early marriage and childbearing, and an unmet need for family planning. )proven reserves: 0 cubic meters (2021 est. During the screening of Kenyans of Somali descent in 1989, those considered as belonging to an indigenous lineage were issued pink screening cards.Footnote25 All others were effectively declared non-citizens, losing everything linked to Kenyan citizenship status (such as property).Footnote26 Kenyan Somalis were, as during the Wagalla massacre,Footnote27 on both sides of this event in both cases a small Somali political elite used the events to weaken their economic and political rivals.Footnote28 Even though not all Kenyan Somalis were registered, the pink screening card would be a requirement for obtaining an ID years later. Furthermore, some elements of this meta-image are linked to Somalian refugees the increase in numbers as well as the idea of economic strength, the latter concerning a small, but visible, minority. HRW, Death and Disappearances, 16; Lind et al., Killing a Mosquito, 14. 27. 240.71$ billion vs 190.97$ billion 18.01% fewer people living below the poverty line? 39. McIntosh, Autochthony and Family, 257. Mohammed, from the Dhadhaab (or Dadaab) camp in Kenya, described to Ogaden Online (OO) 1/12/2012 how he was captured by the Ethiopian military, accused of being a supporter of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and mercilessly tortured. )consumption: 8.243 billion kWh (2019 est. (male 855,757/female 1,017,829), total dependency ratio: 70.2youth dependency ratio: 65.3elderly dependency ratio: 4.8potential support ratio: 20.7 (2021 est. Since her parents separated, there has been almost no contact between the father and his four daughters. Register a free Taylor & Francis Online account today to boost your research and gain these benefits: Ambiguous citizens: Kenyan Somalis and the question of belonging, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Department Integration and Conflict, Halle (Saale), Germany, Accidental Citizens: Etherealizing Securitized Identities of Somalis in Kenya; Contesting Representation, Identity and Belonging, Marginal Actors? 16. 99. ), 54.2% of GDP (2017 est. In such families, members can often understand Somali, but do not speak it properly. For example, R. Warah, Census data on Kenyan Asians raises more questions than answers, Daily Nation, 5 September 2010, http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Census-data-on-Kenyan-Asians-raises-more-questions-than-answers-/440808-1004396-v1yqaw/index.html; See also Jerven, Poor Numbers, 73. It also evokes the oscillating political treatment of Kenyan Somalis by the state, and the manifold ways in which Kenyan Somalis react to it. )5.11% (2019 est. Lonsdale, Soil, Work, Civilization, 308. ), fresh water lake(s): Lake Victoria (shared with Tanzania and Uganda) - 62,940 sq kmsalt water lake(s): Lake Turkana (shared with Ethiopia) - 6,400 sq km, Atlantic Ocean drainage: (Mediterranean Sea) Nile (3,254,853 sq km), population heavily concentrated in the west along the shore of Lake Victoria; other areas of high density include the capital of Nairobi, and in the southeast along the Indian Ocean coast as shown in this population distribution map, recurring drought; flooding during rainy seasons, volcanism: limited volcanic activity; the Barrier (1,032 m) last erupted in 1921; South Island is the only other historically active volcano, the Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa; glaciers are found on Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest peak; unique physiography supports abundant and varied wildlife of scientific and economic value; Lake Victoria, the world's largest tropical lake and the second largest fresh water lake, is shared among three countries: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, Kikuyu 17.1%, Luhya 14.3%, Kalenjin 13.4%, Luo 10.7%, Kamba 9.8%, Somali 5.8%, Kisii 5.7%, Mijikenda 5.2%, Meru 4.2%, Maasai 2.5%, Turkana 2.1%,non-Kenyan 1%, other 8.2% (2019 est. )103.41 (2017 est. ), exceptional shortfall in aggregate food production/supplies: due to drought conditions - about 4.4 million people were projected to be severely acutely food insecure between October and December 2022 reflecting consecutive poor rainy seasons since late 2020 that affected crop and livestock production; prices of maize are at high levels across the country due to reduced availabilities and high fuel prices inflating production and transportation costs (2023), municipal solid waste generated annually: 5,595,099 tons (2010 est. )exports of goods and services: 13.9% (2017 est. 66. The intriguing conflicts which have been smoldering for a long period in the Horn of Africa erupted as Somalia invaded Ethiopia's Ogaden Province through subversion and direct aggression in an. Changes in identification over time are also indicated by the Afrobarometer data concerning ethnic versus national identification. [9] History [ edit] Pre-colonial era [ edit] Similar living experiences can also result from internal migration, often for educational reasons or because of work. Although some of these instruments potentially open new spaces for the socio-political involvement of the Somali inhabitants of Kenya, those spaces are constricted by securitization discourses persistent othering of Kenyas Somali communities. These Highlands are unique in that their elevation does not gradually increase, but rather shoots straight up immediately from the flat land below. Although Kenya in 1967 was the first Sub-Saharan country to launch a nationwide family planning program, progress in reducing the birth rate has largely stalled since the late 1990s, when the government decreased its support for family planning to focus on the HIV epidemic. In the violence following the elections 2007, he was almost killed in a targeted attack, which he blamed on economic competition based on ethnic categorization. 107.53 million vs 49.36 million 49.74$ billion higher GDP (PPP)? While the issuance of identity papers is the states main instrument for making citizens, that state has further tools for placing people inside or outside the category of citizens. For Somalians, Kenyan Somalis are Somali sijui, Somali who do not know (neither Somali language nor culture), brothers and sisters, but not real Somalis. Collective punishment, however, persisted in the North Eastern Province. According to Human Rights Watch in 2008, the Ogaden is the largest Darod clan in Ethiopia's Somali Region, and may account for 40 to 50 percent of the Somali population in Ethiopia. Kenyas Somalis, however, occupy the most ambiguous situation of all. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. Members of the Ogaden clan primarily live in the central Ogaden plateau of Ethiopia (Somali Region), the North Eastern Province of Kenya, and theJubaland region of Southern Somalia. Interviews with Mzee Jamal and with Nabiil, Nakuru, October 2010. )$8.297 billion (31 December 2020 est. Interview with Ibrahim, Nairobi, September 2010. Ogden is a city located in Weber County Utah.It is also the county seat of Weber County.With a 2023 population of 86,942, it is the 8th largest city in Utah and the 399th largest city in the United States. administered Somali territories of northern Kenya and Somaliland. )biomass and waste: 1.2% of total installed capacity (2020 est. Meanwhile, the situation in neighbouring Somalia worsened, starting with the Ogaden war (1977-1978). ), number of registered air carriers: 25 (2020)inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 188annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers: 5,935,831 (2018)annual freight traffic on registered air carriers: 294.97 million (2018) mt-km, total: 16over 3,047 m: 52,438 to 3,047 m: 21,524 to 2,437 m: 2914 to 1,523 m: 6under 914 m: 1 (2021), total: 1811,524 to 2,437 m: 14914 to 1,523 m: 107under 914 m: 60 (2021), 4 km oil, 1,432 km refined products (2018), total: 3,819 km (2018)standard gauge: 485 km (2018) 1.435-m gaugenarrow gauge: 3,334 km (2018) 1.000-m gauge, total: 161,452 km (2018)paved: 14,420 km (2017) (8,500 km highways, 1,872 urban roads, and 4,048 rural roads)unpaved: 147,032 km (2017), (2011) none specifically; the only significant inland waterway is the part of Lake Victoria within the boundaries of Kenya; Kisumu is the main port and has ferry connections to Uganda and Tanzania, total: 25by type: oil tanker 3, other 22 (2022), major seaport(s): Kisumu, MombasaLNG terminal(s) (import): Mombasa, Kenya Defense Forces (KDF): Kenya Army, Kenya Navy, Kenya Air Force (2023)note 1: the National Police Service maintains internal security and reports to the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government; it includes a paramilitary General Service Unit and Rapid Deployment Unitnote 2: the Kenya Coast Guard Service (established 2018) is under the Ministry of Interior but led by a military officer and comprised of personnel from the military, as well as the National Police Service, intelligence services, and other government agencies, 1.2% of GDP (2021 est. In the late 19th century the Ogaden was claimed by both Ethiopia and the Italian protectorate of Somaliland. With his brothers, he plans to start an agricultural business. Fifty years of abuse and neglect is too long to endure. The term furthermore encompasses the diverse roles in which Kenyan Somalis can find themselves: as marginalized citizens in the northeastern region, as high-ranking politicians, as businesspeople in the metropoles and as urbanized (lower) middle class Kenyans. The region has an estimated population of about 4.5 million. 62. 67. )101.302 (2018 est. ), Kenyan shillings (KES) per US dollar -109.638 (2021 est. See Balaton-Chrimes, Counting as Citizens.. Kenyas persistent rapid population growth strains the labor market, social services, arable land, and natural resources. Somali Entrepreneurs in Kenya Have Transformed the Informal Retail Economy in Substantive Ways, MPI for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, in Association with Cityscapes Magazine, Territorializing Ethnicity: the Imposition of a Model of Statehood on Pastoralists in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia. 55. Formula Narratives and the Making of Social Stratification and Inequality, The Ogaden and the Fragility of Somali Segmentary Nationalism, Killing a Mosquito with a Hammer: Al-Shabaab Violence and State Security Responses in Kenya, Between a Protracted and a Crisis Situation: Policy Responses to Somali Refugees in Kenya, Rendering Difference Visible: The Kenyan State and its Somali Citizens, Soil, Work, Civilisation, and Citizenship in Kenya, Autochthony and Family: The Politics of Kinship in White Kenyan Bids to Belong. We use cookies to improve your website experience. Both the increased visibility of Somali politicians in Kenya, even in areas with a non-Somali majority population, and the growth of the Kenyan Somali population, according to the 2009 census, have intensified anxieties about Somalis taking over Kenya. In Nakuru, Somalis have their own mosque, which is not part of the local Muslim Association, and also their business activities mainly take place within Somali networks. The position of Kenyan Somalis is, to speak in Yiftachel terms, situated in gray spaces, between the whiteness of legality or approval, and the blackness of eviction or destruction. Both of them, as good Muslims, did not go out to bars, but instead played video games in the evening and enjoyed Somali music. Walaal means sister or brother in Somali and is, similar to warya, a reminder of difference. )101.991 (2019 est. For the first time it was possible to be counted as Kenyan, and about 600,000 people did so.Footnote50 In one letter to the Daily Nation, the author described himself as belonging to a group of urban detribalized or de-ethnicised Kenyans, growing up in neighbourhoods that are characterized by diversity and jamaa wa mtaa (family of the street): We may be a minority, but we represent the future.Footnote51 Furthermore, smaller ethnic groups tried to gain recognition by the state, which in the case of Nubians, for example, meant being finally accepted as Kenyans.Footnote52, The census count of Somali inhabitants of Kenya was also controversial. The practices around the issuance of identity papers, the discrimination through vetting processes, as well as the forgery of papers, led to hopes that the introduction of biometric databases could make the registration and recognition process more transparent. Although some Kenyan Somalis are part of the socio-economic and political elite of Kenya, they remain trapped in the position of ambiguous citizens, not part of the nation, but also not outside it. Overall NFD population is 2.2 million. When applying the population growth of Kenya (3.2%), a conservative approach ignoring the high number in children in many Somali families, to the census figures from 1962 (about 270,000 counted as Somali), one should have expected to count about 640,000 people.