When possessing too many books could be dangerous for your mind

The Standard columnist, and author, Dr Peter Kimani.

“Why do you have so many books?” the opening question was delivered with surprising aggression. In my regular posture, I’d have asked if bearing many books is a crime, but since I had travelled Business—which doesn’t happen often—I maintained that dignified air that comes with such privilege.

“Why shouldn’t I have many books?” I said calmly to the attendant who greeted me at the Arrivals lounge at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, last week. It had rained earlier, so puddles of water that the CNN journalist Larry Madowo had popularised on social media.

“These are so many books!” the female interlocutor persisted. Once again, I retained my calm and explained to her I wrote books for a living, and I was returning from a festival where most of those texts were gifted by fellow authors, in exchange for my own. In any case, I added, looking and sounding professorial, I teach, so books feature prominently in my life.

“What’s the value of these books?” the attendant pursued. Hmmm. What’s the value of knowledge, I wanted to say, but I realised such philosophical contemplations would be a waste of time, especially after the second line: “Even if you buy a kettle to make coffee for use at home,” she went on, “You’d still be required to pay an importation tax on it,” she declared.

That’s when the Business traveler and professor’s hat came off. Who thinks book writing is akin to making a cup of coffee? Out came the battle-hardened scribe. I am paying no tax for books for my own use, I said. I want to know which law you are invoking to waste my time here. After all, isn’t there a law permitting importation of items for personal use?

The tax agent wasn’t able to answer those questions. The true cost of our ignorance is that a less informed populace will be shaken down, and left very shaken by the extortion racket that’s JKIA.

The attendant said she would consult her boss. She sauntered away and returned momentarily: “We’ll let you go because now you are aware of the new tax...”