Let's enjoy our uniqueness and learn to preserve it

By Kamotho Waiganjo

Without the benefit of travel, Kenya, and Nairobi in particular, can feel like a fairly depressing place. What with all the endless political noise, endless traffic jams accompanied by endless diversions and endless insecurity. Many Kenyans would give anything to live and work in Europe and America and we all know many well read Kenyans who having travelled to the west with dreams of success have settled into the odd job market, washing a car here, guarding a home there, unwilling to return and admit failure.

Despite increasing evidence that Europe and America is not all it is famed to be, the endless queues at the various western embassies are a testimony to the reality that many Kenyans still believe in the dream of the west. From cold London, I wish to share five routine things that beckon me back to Nairobi, any day.

First: The weather. By Kenyan standards Europe is always cold. On the odd year, there may be a warm summer but even that is equivalent to our normal July, the sun comes out but it is depressingly windy and sometimes rainy.

Woe unto you if you cannot afford proper heating, or are jobless during the tough winter months. On the average winter, scores of homeless people freeze to death on London streets. At least in Nairobi, the pleasant weather is one great equaliser, whether your abode is Kibera or Kitisuru.

Second: The colours. It is only when you get go Nairobi that the clash of colours uplifts you. Nairobi, and Kenya generally is a mix of screaming pinks and yellows, bold greens and reds.

Our gaiety, our zest for exuberance is marked by our colours. Compare that with London’s grey and black, with all the attendant gloom and doom, which is mirrored by teenage suicides, which continue to skyrocket despite the opulence.

The third depressing reality of London is the absence of boisterous laughter and animated conversations. It is always amazing that with all the blessings of efficient transport the average traveller in the underground looks miserable, hidden behind a newspaper or cell phone. Compare that with inefficient Nairobi public transport, which is replete with spirited discussions and feisty laughter.

Fourth: The lack of spontaneity. Everything in Europe is diary planned. Woe unto you if you decide to pay a surprise visit to a friend. Just popped by? Not in organised Europe. Everything is done by the book. And yet impulsiveness is the spice of life.

Finally: The speed of life. Unlike Nairobi, no one strolls, unless you are a tourist walking through Hyde Park.

All the beauty of London is rushed through there is not a moment for it to be enjoyed.

As Kenya develops into a middle-income economy, I pray that in our haste to be like the west, we will not lose any of the wonderful things that make Kenya the place to be.

One tiny confession though, I do love the West End shows, in that we have been outdone by London in gaiety.

—The writer is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya