lemmie go 5months ago…………………..<< im in Zambia at a mall , its a Saturday and there is an open market. i see the Masaai lesos and i head towards them, very excited i ask how much it is , apparently the lady there is not the owner so she shouts to a lady 5m aways “Mama Ruth, hizi leso unauza ngapi” (Ruth’s mum how much are you selling the leso’s. Then mama Ruth responds “ukibargain na yeye usipitishe $30” (bargain with him but don’t go below $30) .. im so excited and she can tell from my smile that im Kenyan, i clearly know how much we buy such back home………fast forward ..>Reality is that all Kenyans LOVE their country weather they complain or not, the love is there. go to another country and a voice behind you just mentions Kenya or even hear people speak swahili and you will have turn your head to see what’s up or who are they.
so as i sit on my balcony , lovely weather it is on a Sunday afternoon dressed “my new baby” in the closet (Kenyan Tshirt) ,thoughts of how much i love Kenya make me smile you’d think im a mad man. I stand and decide to take a walk to a close mall which is 1km away from my place with my phone and some earphones playing some serious Kenya’s throwback, a playlist that has never found its way to the trash on my laptop.just after getting out from the gate i find my gate keeper i call him “soldier” and ask him what he loves about Kenya and believe you me , i think he is the one man that even money cannot take him away from Kenya he talks so passionately about how he loves Kenya, moving on , the urge to get peoples thoughts about Kenya becomes s strong and on my to and from the mall i stop a few to get their view.
ok lemmie just highlight some of the things that Kenyans love about their country .my soldier said just because “he can survive” and im like “what do you mean” he says ” im legally a kenyan , i can talk swahili, in no way can i sleep hungry iff all goes hard about life my family is just a phone call away, ” na life ikiwa ngumu sana narudi ushago food ni mobe” he is an interesting guy and tells me how he hates Kenyans who hate their country.as a Kenyan he asks me if i can buy him a ka small lunch and since im broke i promise him when i have money i will.
from the street i get different views, i talk to a Kenyan who is back home after living in the USA , he tells me after of how he saw opportunities while living in diaspora he leaves me with this statement “Kenya is the only way” ok while you thinking about that, i meet another fella just got back from London, he tells me how he loves the Kenyan weather he says Kenya has Enviable weather lots of sunshine, no storms, biting winter, heat waves just friendly one, he tells me of how he has to come back to Kenya when its winter in london.
moving on … Kenya is one of the biggest tourist destination in Africa, i mean National parks and wildlife they are all over i sometime think i can have my own park behind my back yard, the list is endless we have our Coast line this where you’d find people from all various walks of life during the holidays, to cultural diversity #Diverse tribes they are 42 i guess but i see all as Kenyans and when i comes to out cultures heheheheh i dont need to say much, that you can tell from food, clothing, dance, language hey im sure you heard of different nights (Ramogi,Mugithi,kale…etc )
so i get my phone to check my twitter timeline and a Kenyan topic is trending #Shakesspreregenge and i laugh my heart out ,,,guess what, Kenyans are so creative ,make a joke now on media and your joke will be the talk of the week, when it comes to social media , Kenyans are simply TREND SETTERS. *Phone vibrates* thas’ts
MPESA finally i can get my soldier something to eat on my way back.sometimes i wonder how we survived without mpesa, do you? i mean ,the one thing that changed the situation between me being broke and having money is my phone..waiiiiiiit i just remembered once i was in a hurry and a friend of mine made this joke “Tuliza uone thika road ikiisha” “relax so that you may see thika road finished” **translated directly* guess what its just that i obey traffic rules and love my life i dont speed, id be in thika within 30minutes on a good ride what i mean is , its now a Thicker Road.
The list is endless, but there is one thing the world loves about Kenya………teren ..teren ***glash Smash or Ikibamba wapi nduru** its Our ATHLETES .ok tell me some of the famous athletes names lets go….Rudisha,Jelimo,yego, danford brothers to double world champion, Ezekiel Kemboi ..the list is endless and i think ill be joining the list soon.
but with all this said and done , there are some things Kenyans should change ,first of all is our driving habits they will overlap the traffic, cut across three lanes on the new Mombasa road and abuse anyone who dares to cross their path. what I find most unusual is those drivers that will not give you one inch of space to enter a slow moving trail of traffic, even if you are clearly indicating that you are going in the opposite direction. Or better still, those that refuse to make eye contact with you when you are begging to be let into their lane, they adopt a stiff neck, sura ya kazi and eyes dead ahead .corruption is another issues well its all about do you know somebody “i got a guy” or “i got connection” its no longer i”i have qualifications.the list is endless., kitu kidogo aaarg! there are so many!
I charge you my fellow Kenyans, to wake up and Realize how God has given you a very nice country, im more than convinced that ineed God put Kenya together for a reason, the past events are just but to take us to the next level that god has for us (he has big and better,great things planned for us Jeremiah 29 :11) i Charge you to love one another, love , appreciate ,speak and act positively about Kenya.
KENYA NI YOURS NA MINE