Bring lost glory back to Nairobi, city in the sun

A city is the window through which visitors get a glimpse of a country. The daytime excursions, the nightlife, the food, the demeanour of the locals, all create a lasting impression on visitors. Ideally, a city is a boiling cauldron where the hottest cultural mix is daily served. Growing up upcountry, we always looked forward to that first trip to Nairobi. Those who returned from the city after going there to work or study, wore an aura of sophistication and finesse uncommon among the villagers.

Poems, books and even songs have been sang about cities. Singing her love for New York, Madonna says other cities make her “feel like a dork… I love New York.” Mbilia Bel sang about her beloved Nairobi.

In the Bible, cities were a statement of pride. God’s displeasure for man’s sinful ways led to the destruction of many cities. The famous city of Sodom and Gomorrah and Babylon suffered this fate and many more. “I will lay waste your cities… and you will become a desolation. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” God warns in the book of Ezekiel. There are no less than 30 warnings.

No doubt then that cities should be given greater consideration. Those charged with Nairobi have tried and failed to wake it up. Yet unless you are a hothead with the heart for some adventurism and a dose of drama, visiting Nairobi throws up so much that some can’t wait to hit the road out of the city.

Meja Mwangi’s 1979 book, ‘The Cockroach Dance’, could as well have been written about the Nairobi of 2020. The squalid conditions, the crime, the hectoring street hawkers and the exploitative landlords have turned life in the city into utter misery. It is a constant dance with death for most residents.

Dusman Gonzaga, the main character in the book exemplifies the misery and the hopelessness of many entrapped in an exploitative cycle. Frequently, the good, the bad and the ugly collide. What Nairobi needs truly is a cultural rebirth to re-engineer the whole mechanics of the city. From the simplest to the complex of things. Like learning to love the city. It is true, most of the time, cities tell us more about a society and its people than anything. Societies rise and fall with their cities. Thus to know about Nigeria, look at Lagos; to know about China, Beijing; the UK, London; France, Paris; US, New York. Working in the city should be pleasurable and worth the high costs of housing, water, transport and other amenities.

Like all cities, Nairobi offers opportunity (social, economic political) that cannot be found in say, Kabartonjo or Merti. The rest of the country hitch their wagon to Nairobi. Yet its promise is constantly undermined. In truth, Nairobi hasn’t changed much in spite of all the effort put in. For many in the city, the struggle is real.

Nairobi has made Kenya the regional Switzerland; the return on investment on property is unrivalled, the medical, education and hotels and conferencing facilities in the region are world class; skills and labour and technology are premium. Yet in it, misery and affluence lie side by side. In spite of the property boom of the past 10 years, so much remains the same.

Swanky skyscrapers jutting into the city skies belie the eyesore underneath it and the misery of its occupants. Nairobi makes anyone revolt at unchecked capitalism; where the end justifies the means.The feeling is that in spite of putting in so much into the city, most of its dwellers get back so little or nothing at all. That calls for tough love.

Great cities ought to have reliable and affordable housing, public transport, power, water and sanitation and good security. Isn’t it ludicrous that many Nairobians spend up to one-third to a half of their earnings getting to work? What if this money was saved or invested?

In Nairobi, to enjoy an uninterrupted water supply, one must bribe the water company officials, or better still, sink a borehole; faced with erratic power supply, they buy generators; to be secure, one must hire private guards and deploy the latest security gadgets around their compound; if they wish to go to work comfortably “in one piece”, they have to buy their own cars because public transport is unsafe, unreliable and agonising.

The eight soldiers matching into City Hall had better have better plans for the city’s four million souls. Actually, waking up the giant from slumber is not rocket science. Fixing things like transport, water, housing and security will go along way to bridge the gap between the millions of poor people and the minority that patronise shopping malls.

Mr. Kipkemboi is The Standard’s Associate Editor Partnerships and Projects. [email protected]