Lonsdale has suggested (in his masterly Wealth, Poverty and Civic Virtue in Kikuyu Political Thought) that political tribalism is driven by elite interests. One substantial piece of evidence in his favour: despite the fierce ethnic mobilisation that has coincided with electioneering in the past, Kenyans, it seems, have generally been able to restore normal interethnic relationships once all the sturm and drang has passed. Elite competition having taken its course, ethnic identities relax into shapes which allow everyday life to continue. Not so - or, at least, not so much - this time.

ODM supporters at a rally, DeMosh@ Flickr

I'd like to suggest a reason why this is. Moral ethnicity in Kenya has been corrupted by political tribalism. If moral ethnicity determines standards that one has to meet to be a member in good standing of a given ethnicity, some of those standards are now borrowed from the repertoire of political tribalism. So, for example, Luo friends of mine were called bad Luos (and worse) for not voting for or supporting the ODM, and Kikuyu friends were called traitors (and worse) for not voting or backing the PNU- and allied parties (or, as in my case, abstaining).

It has become necessary now, that we face the fact that our ethnic identities are presently constituted mainly by the political activity they permit. This really shouldn't come as a surprise - not a lot is left of most lived Kenyan ethnic identities after language and politics are removed. (Maybe Muslims are a partial exception. This election has seen the birth of a Muslim 'tribe '; recapitulating the venerable history of that process in Kenya: competing elites strike deals with state power to deliver support by creating a unified, exclusive community out of a plurality of them. If, like me, you buy this story, then Muslims are the only tribe in Kenya defined by religion.)

Objection: political tribalism hasn't really corrupted moral ethnicity; the present mess is the aftermath (and continuation) of what has been a semi-permanent political campaign (since 2005); so what we're seeing now is the tail end of a particularly severe bout of ethnic mobilisation by our rulers; we can expect a return to the relatively benign inter-ethnic status quo ante once things calm down.

Reply: I don't think so, mainly on account of the magnitude and viciousness of recent violence. As I've said elsewhere, both these are new to independent Kenya (Yes, I do know about the Wagalla massacre and the 1982 coup attempt, and the myriad outbreaks of ethnic conflict in the Rift Valley and at the Coast,thanks).

President Kibaki with Nelson Mandela

When the tribe is under attack, virtue consists in defending it. That judgement is relatively independent of political context. The results are easy to spot: there's a genuinely new form of ethnic hatred afoot - the sort of cold, implacable, unashamed kind that, I'm embarrassed to admit, I once thought only Rwandans were capable of.

The transformation thus is as follows, in the past, (well, for many of us) even overt attention to ethnic difference was shameful because it was inconsistent with both our internal and external moral codes. Now, however, we unashamedly express ourselves hatefully because our corrupt internal moral codes allow - sometimes even demand - it

What does all this have to do with boycotts? Antiguamente, Kenyans were able to resume normal interethnic relationships in virtue of sheer proximity. It is hard to believe all the bad things politicians say about the other (and even harder to allow them to determine your sense of belonging) when you're buying mboga from them, or getting or giving them a loan, or having a beer with them, or trying to get them to sleep with you.

Work has been the crucial site for these sorts of interethnic negotiations: I was amazed, a few days after the violence began, how unrancorous talk - even political talk - at some private firms was, even while horrific images were pumped out on TV. It is precisely these interactions that in the past have enabled us to stuff the ethnicity genie back into the political bottle. The introduction of the adversarial stuff into workplace interactions ought, so far as is possible, to be avoided. Applause for the alleged sacking of non-GEMA employees at Brookside should not become a test of genuine Kikuyuness.

 The economic boycotts are already ethnicised - plans to boycott Equity couched in terms of bringing down the Kikuyu bank, or plans to boycott Spectre described in terms of doing harm to Luo interests aren't far to seek on the Kenyan web. The boycotts, and their ethnicisation, began quite early on; ODM is only formalising and extending a process already informally in progress.

It is a disastrous step. We need actually to spend time in each other's company to rebuild the trust necessary for reconciliation - segregating ourselves at work or play is guaranteed  to fatally stunt that process. Spending time with those and only those one agrees with leads to the whole group becoming radicalised; and, in these times, that can only mean an increase in rage and hate. So, if you know anyone who's planning to sack employees from the other side, or refuses to rent a house to someone from the other side, or is intending to boycott a bank because it's owned by the other side...ask them to please to stop, in the name of Kenya.