Bamaarn wrote:The_Patriot wrote:What do you want to know of East Africa?
Particularly Kenya?
For example, I would like to know if the Swahili are considered those marginalized. Do they side with the opposition in local and national elections?
Swahili is a language spoken from Barawe (Somalia) all the way to Mozambique (was in the past under Mas Bin Biq before the Portugueese over ran it) along the east coast of Africa
The language has a lot of different dialects and some just became a splinter language like the comoros island speakers.
Waswahili are a hybrid of the local bantu population living at the east coast of Africa and the Arabs from Yemen and Oman ,some persians and some Indians.
Majority of them live in Tanzania and the Swahili people just like Amharas would range from a pure Arab looking yemeni to some that have bantu features but adopted the Swahili culture.
In Kenya The Waswahili live in the coast province along side their maternal relatives the Mijikenda and Taita. The people of the Coastal region are marginalised and deprived as without them Kenya would have been landlocked.
The Coastal region in Kenya was among the 1st regions to develop in the region yet today even though Mombasa is the second city there is less much activity like as in Nairobi.
Tourism is the backbone of the Kenyan Economy and most tourists flock to Mombasa.
So yes they are marginalised but the thing is the Swahilis having been traders for centuries are still wealthy.