Kenyans need to understand that same old choices beget same old results

We Kenyans are an interesting lot. Despite the fact that we live in a tropical country, the weather is one of the most interesting and captivating topics of our conversations.

It has been colder than usual in the past few weeks so we can be forgiven for acting like we live in a -10 degree climate.

On the two days in the middle of the biting cold when the sun came out in full force, we groaned and whined about how hot and uncomfortable it was. The weather gods must have decided we are a hard bunch to please because winter is back, coffee houses are operating at full capacity and vendors of all things woollen are smiling all the way to the bank.

Speaking of coffee houses, there’s a particular chain that I tend to visit, though more for reasons of locational proximity than actual affinity.

Sometimes the service is good, and sometimes it is wanting. But bad experience or not, we keep going back because we know what to expect – the menu hardly ever changes other than the frequent increases in price, the internet connection is sort of sporadic and you will almost always get exasperated at the wait to be served or for your bill.

All great reasons not to go back, right? Wrong. I will explain why in a minute. It is hard to talk about service though, without telling a story I once heard from a company executive. A group of corporate magnates was on a trip abroad visiting an organisation they wanted to partner with.

Right from the main entrance of the world-class high security offices, they were met by a friendly, very professional gentleman who observed all protocol, but in such a courteous manner that it did not feel like an imposition. As he ushered them in, he engaged the guests in tidbits of the company’s heritage, its unique story and all the innovative ways in which they were serving the world.

The guests were particularly impressed and expected the gentleman to be part of the team they were meeting; he seemed to carry the values of the organisation perfectly. The whole visit was one that left them with no doubt that if the deal went through, this was definitely the firm they wanted to work with. The last leg of their reconnaissance was a visit by the other group to Kenya. A rude awakening awaited them. Security guards stopped them at the entrance and kept them standing outside for almost half an hour in the way that we are all so accustomed to, almost treating them as if they were a nuisance. Of course, the Kenyan team was embarrassed and the bad welcome tainted the rest of their interactions.

Back to the coffee house. Despite three very good reasons why I should boycott the joint and find an alternative with better service, I keep paying patronage for reasons of convenience, mostly because I do not want to get out of my comfort zone. So I suppose I deserve the bad experiences.

An 18th century philosopher said every nation gets the leadership and government it deserves. In a perverted kind of way, we keep doing to our country what I keep doing to that coffee shop. By continuously choosing to frequent it, I endorse the bad delivery and then I sit there with my friends and whine about underwhelming service. Sounds familiar?

As long as we continue to go to the polls and cast our votes for the leaders who spew rhetoric and say what we want to hear, but do not really espouse those values just because we want to stay in our comfort zone, then whining about impunity, corruption and blatant disregard for Kenyans is just that - whining.

I would like to think that I deserve to live in a country where my personal security, that of my family and legitimately owned land and other assets are not under constant threat. Where I can build a home without fearing an unfortunate turn of events may drive me into displacement and poverty.

Where the dockets entrusted with security do not rely on knee-jerk measures and expending of fallacies in a bid to shift responsibility.

A country where avoidable upheavals such as famine and unscrupulous acquisition of public resources can be averted before they happen. One where there is equal opportunity and not where the gap between the haves and the have-nots keeps yawning wide every day.

I deserve to live in a country where the ruling class are predominantly concerned with improving the lives of the citizens, whether or not they belong to a favoured community, where the leaders are not obsessed with enriching themselves or protecting their wide-ranging interests at the expense of you and me.

As unpredictable, interesting and ambitious lot that we are, what do you think you deserve and what are you going to do about it? Tell me.