Did Uhuru see beyond roast beef?

President Uhuru Kenyatta at a butchery at Kenyatta Market, Nairobi. (Photo: Courtesy)

Last Sunday, I had lunch at Kenyatta Market. The next day, President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived in this nyama choma corner for lunch.

Because of past experiences, I was delighted by the fact that the church next to the market now offers secure parking at a fee. That is where I parked before walking to the stall where the Kamba meat roasters have seen me come and go for years.

Those familiar with the market will tell you three key things you must know. One, it is a crime den, so you must be on the lookout. Your side mirrors, lights and window panels will surely be stolen if you don’t pay 'protection' fees to the ruffians who hang around the market. They also occasionally break into cars using all manner of tricks to steal belongings such as handbags and computers.

You park your car on their terms and the best way to ensure security is to give them the job of washing it. Now, the water they use tells another story of deprivation in our society. There is simply no running water, so they use dark brown water, probably from the sewer. But still, they must surely be holders of the world record for using the least water to make a vehicle sparkle!

The other risk is that the market sits on a pile of dirt. This is discernible from the fact that outside, there is a corner where street families live. They light fires and warm themselves as the rest of the world munches on nyama choma and eats its way to scary lifestyle conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.

The market itself is a monument of poor hygiene, with no running water and toilets squeezed in between the meat roasting points. I don’t want to spoil your appetite but the scent of ammonia (from your chemistry lessons, you must know where this is coming from!) dancing in your nostrils mixed with the aroma of roast meat is something else altogether.

The market's open drainage also doubles up as a urinal at night...

It would also be true to say it is the base of pestilence and disease so when you are eating, multi-tasking comes in handy because you must fight off flies and keep talking to your friends at the same time.

And come to think of it, I have noticed that the meat cutters move from fresh to roasted meat without washing either their hands or the knives they use!

By the way, only God knows where the water stored in plastic containers comes from but still, life goes on and we eat to our fill and are even considerate enough to take the bones and other ‘unchewables’ home for the dogs and cats.

The market is also 'fully-loaded' as Mwangangi, my roaster, calls it. From the women who stand at the entrance with horse or human hair and who can literally force your partner to get her hair done, to boutiques, spare-part dealers, tire suppliers, wines and spirits shops and every other business - legal and illegal - in Kenya.

In short, by visiting the market named after his father, Uhuru was walking into the arena that captures everything that is wrong in Kenya.

Yet the market is also a tribute to the ‘unbwogable’ entrepreneurial spirit of Kenyans; so hard working and eager to get on with their lives without the indignity of borrowing and begging.

You can see this clearly from the outside where vegetable and fruit vendors, shoes and clothes sellers do booming business under small wooden contraptions in the name of sheds.

These are the people the President encountered as his security cleared the way for him to visit the chosen stall that is said to enjoy some kind of VIP status.

The day before I was at the Eldoret-Kitale-Maili Tisa junction where from the road I could see the mud-walled and grass-thatched buildings where the Deputy President ate chicken and the whole area exploded in some form of celebratory gossip as if he ceased being human once he took up office.

And not long ago, members of the opposition were in Burma Market, kwa Mama Baby, where mouth-watering chicken is served. They too, wanted to demonstrate that they are in touch with the reality of the lives of the common man and woman.

The question we must always ask is what else they do, apart from giving generous tips, to ensure that these hardworking Kenyans operate in a better business environment? Let me put it this way; I was so disappointed that the President did not order a water and sanitation programme for Kenyatta Market.

And don’t tell me that this is the work of the county government. No, the President is the President. Period. There must be a token step he can take to show he cares. Otherwise you will understand why his critics are accusing him and Ruto of mocking the poor and engaging in PR stunts just for votes’ sake.

The poor would be ill-advised if they took literally the 'Tuko Pamoja' slogan for they long crossed the billion and probably even the trillion line.

But the must important issue is the hope that when our leaders occasionally slip into the enclaves of poverty, disease and pestilence, they can see the footprints of corruption, bad policies and inept leadership that have characterised governance over the years.