KFC potato fury: Why my head is spinning

The national fury over Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) importing potatoes left my head spinning. We even celebrated when KFC announced they will start sourcing potatoes locally.

I am not celebrating for a simple reason; this fury is cloaked in hypocrisy. Let me start by confessing that I am not a fan of fries or chips. I ate enough potatoes when I was growing up.

That could give you a hint on where I grew up. Before you reach your conclusion, remember potatoes, also called Irish potatoes, grow mostly in highlands or temperate regions. In Kenya, we have Nakuru, Nyandarua, Meru, and a few other mountainous counties growing potatoes. In the US, they grow in Idaho. Do they grow in our Idakho in Kakamega?

So, why the national hypocrisy?

One, we did not know until now that potatoes used by KFC are imported? Tunakula tu? (We just eat the fries?) Even our leaders are not aware? Think again, potatoes imported from Egypt, a desert? Potatoes imported from the Netherlands; you know how far that is? How heavy potatoes are?

Two, why single out potatoes? We import many other things without raising any eyebrows. Many silently believe that consuming imported goods and services is a sign of sophistication and class.

We import cars, computers, motorbikes and other machines.

Their manufacturers do not source anything from Kenya, even fabrics for seats. What is in your kitchen or office that is not imported?

We import fish, fruits, soda, beer, drugs, and lots of other foods items. Check our high-end supermarkets.

Are you forgetting we are importing roads and railways? And vaccines? We import services too. We import medical services when we fly out to hospitals abroad. We do the same for education. I find lots of cars with foreign university stickers in our parking lots. We import holidays too when we travel abroad.

We import cultures too. Didn’t we celebrate Christmas recently?

Did I see a banner for Halloween around Westlands recently?

Academia is not left behind. Check out theses or research papers in our libraries, the references indicate we import lots of ideas.Even a thesis on witchcraft or traditional religion will have foreign references. A level system, 8.4.4 and even CBC are imported education systems. Check from which countries. We even import religions from the US, Europe, the Middle East, and lately from West Africa.

The language I am writing in is imported. It is only in Kenya where you get surprised if a PhD holder talks fluent and standard Swahili or mother tongue. It is preferred you talk English “through the nose.”

Lots of parents even in the countryside are ensuring that English is their children’s first language.

Wait a minute, even our political system was imported through the 2010 Constitution. We copied the US political system with governors, senators, chiefs of staff, and the Supreme Court. Ministers became cabinet secretaries. Our Constitution also borrowed from Nigeria and a few other countries. That’s why its implementation has been so hard.

The Building Bridges Initiative unsuccessfully tried to make the 2010 Constitution more “homely.”

Do a plagiarism check for our constitution to get the specific sources of its various ideas. We imported games from soccer to golf and scrabble. Which indigenous game do we play? Why didn’t we take our traditional games to the Olympics?

More poignantly, we import names. Does Kenya have a shortage of names? Some of the Kenyans attacking KFC are Jackson, Carol, Kennedy or Michelle.

They would prefer such names to Onyango, Wanjiru, Wandoe or Mutisya. Why should we single out one firm for importing potatoes in a country where anything and everything foreign is preferred, seen as a sign of class and some think economic growth? If KFC got a competitor called Molo, Timau or Nyandarua Fried Chicken, would we eat more potatoes or chicken or defect from KFC? Do we know where KFC sources other ingredients? Are we are punishing KFC for being sincere?

A photo taken in Moscow in 1990 showing Russians queuing to eat hamburgers when Macdonald’s opened shop in Russia captures the power of western brands and the extent they have captured our imagination.

I have heard on the streets that Kenya is not advanced enough because Macdonald’s has not come ashore!

Don’t we make fun of chips Njeri or chips mwitu which are more organic? Why all the fuss over potatoes when we have choices from nduma to ngwaci, cassava and yams?

The key issue is not KFC importing potatoes, but our obsession with western or eastern brands and looking down upon our products or services.

We can lament about KFC but until we are ready and willing to consume our own products and services, the status quo will remain.

I foresee Kenyans importing more goods and services using the excuse that they are of higher quality.

That includes mitumba. Media exposure, status, globalisation and waning patriotism are driving imports.

Remember President Donald Trump and America first? How many of us pay attention to the ‘Buy Kenya Build Kenya’ initiative? If we do not take care of our farmers, why do we think Americans or Egyptians will?If we do not take care of our strategic interests, why do we think others will? I know the plight of potato and other farmers first-hand right from childhood. Did it need KFC to expose their lack of market?

Beyond the importation of potatoes, who controls the food supply chains from the farm to the folk in Kenya?

Who makes money in these supply chains? Does it surprise you that no one wants to be a farmer in Kenya?

Ever seen a business card with the title “Farmer”? We are called teachers, wakili, engineer, etc. Why not mkulima? Let us be real my fellow countrymen. I lived in Kentucky for two years and another four in Mississippi. My views in this story are not influenced by that past.