100 years on, colonial alcohol prohibitions targeting the poor still in force on SGR

Standard Gauge Railway Nairobi Terminus. [File, Standard]

If I failed in steering clear of politics and politicians, I am happy to report I kept my commitment to return to the Coast for a ka-buroti, so I was on the SGR, yet again. And the trip was much smoother than the last time, perhaps because I was unencumbered by the demands of moving the whole clan.

To illustrate the logistics of putting together a meal, the menu was canvassed over a week as the list was made, unmade and remade, haggling over allergies and preferences and what-have-you. In the end, the chef settled on rice and cabbage, mambo kwisha! Anyway, I am not about to revisit trips from last year. What I wanted to narrate was my experience on the SGR aka Madaraka Express. On this week's trip, I was accompanied by a friend who puts one foot in another land most of the year, then spends the rest of the year plotting and planning for the next visit home! And he kept wondering, as we ambled up and down the SGR platform: Yaani, we couldn't build a simple thing like this?