Kenya, great country facing identity crisis

Even worse, if you asked a Kenyan to come dressed for a Kenyan-themed party they would not know what to wear.

When you see the slogan ‘Made in Germany’ or ‘Made in China’, something automatically crops up in your mind. You immediately know you will spend more on the German product and less on the Chinese one. You also make conclusions on the quality of the product and possibly how long it might last.

If you were asked to attend a British-themed party, you would appear in your top hat and black tuxedo with a bow-tie. If you were to attend an American-themed event, you would be torn between dressing like a cowboy, an astronaut or a sheriff.

Many of us are familiar with the line: “Home of the brave and land of the free” and would easily love to live the “American dream”. All these things are easily identifiable and relatable to us. Yet if you asked any Kenyan what the Kenyan dream is they would be as lost as a village chicken in the Nairobi CBD.

Even worse, if you asked a Kenyan to come dressed for a Kenyan-themed party they would not know what to wear other than Maasai shukas and beads. In a generation from now, it seems, Kenyan diversity will be lost and with it the Kenyan identity. I remember in primary school, when we performed folk songs, the girls would wear sisal skirts no matter the language of the song. I assumed, like many others in the school, that in all cultures sisal skirts are worn during such performances.

Kenya at 50 has not accepted its culture. We are neither British nor native. We are an amorphous hybrid.

The amorphous hybrid also does not have a collective dream. If you ask anyone what the Kenyan dream is, they most likely would tell you they aspire for a political career and a chance to loot public coffers. We have made our politicians our celebrities and a mheshimiwa is more recognisable in the streets of cities and in villages than our sportsmen, musicians and socialites put together.

As long as someone has a high office, we will sing and dance ourselves hoarse to show them how special they are; all the while ignoring those who run children’s homes, defend us in wars, keep our villages safe and walk with us everyday. A policeman who takes a bullet will get less space in our newspapers than a politician who engages in an extra-marital affair.

In our dreamless state, we are also supposed to somehow find a way of giving meaning to the term ‘Made in Kenya’. It is not enough that a product is made here. It must tell a story. That story must carry our products further. Does ‘Made in Kenya’ mean good quality at a good price or does it mean best quality at exorbitant price? Does it mean you can depend on the product a bit longer than a ‘Made in China’ or a bit less? We don’t know.

National anthem

If you asked the average Kenyan to differentiate between Mt Kenya and Mt Kilimanjaro in Tanzania they would fail miserably. Yet this is a symbol of our nationhood. How many stanzas of the national anthem can you sing? What is your favourite line of the anthem? What part of the anthem do we live out everyday?

Kenya, it seems to me, is a country in an identity crisis. We can count all the 50-plus million of us, with ID cards and birth certificates, but we will not answer who is Kenyan and what it is to be Kenyan. We will not count the pride that comes with being Kenyan and that is the count that matters.

We have great pride when our rugby sevens team beats other countries. We take pride when our athletes shatter world records. But we forget their names as soon as they arrive back home. Air Uganda and Air Tanzania are a pale shadow of Kenya Airways, the pride of Africa. We have one of the most democratic states, with freedom of speech which we use mostly to insult each other on social media.

We have amazing landscapes as high as mount Kenya and as low as the Rift Valley. White sandy beaches on one side and lake Victoria on another. In the north, we have the brilliant cultures of the Borana and Turkana, whose cultural dress most of us can’t recognise in a gallery.

We have a wonderful manufacturing industry. One that produces clothing for the top brands in the world. The world is clothed by Kenya and Kenyans don’t know it. We export brilliant teas and coffees but all we know are the wrangles locally. Kenya through lake Magadi produces essential chemicals for the manufacture of many a product, yet we can’t point out lake Magadi on a map.

The truth is we need to sober up and realise we are a blessed people living in a blessed land. We have a proud history that is not just about the Mau Mau war. We are a people that matter and we can take the name Kenya, give it meaning, tell it’s story and show her greatness, then may be our children will be proud that they were made in Kenya to live the Kenyan dream!

 

Mr Bichachi is a communication consultant. [email protected]