Last month, while in an Uber heading home, the driver and I started discussing how surviving in Kenya has become difficult because of the rise in the cost of living. He explained to me how he had never contemplated leaving Kenya before — but if the opportunity arose he would leave without hesitation.
My friend also shared a similar story of hopelessness, he was curious about how ordinary Kenyans were still surviving in this economy. He did not understand how the country was boasting of economic growth yet he was not seeing the money from the growth because he was still struggling to get by.
Listening to these stories and watching the news each day which consists of; politicians poli-tricking around the country, numerous corruption cases, police brutality, businesses shutting down or retrenching staff, rise in unemployment, citizens dying because of systemic failures in the health sector, and the circulation of contaminated basic foodstuffs — reinforce that Kenya is moving from bad to worse. Yet, somehow as Kenyans, we don’t seem to be moved — or maybe we are but we don’t know what to do or we are blind to the problems because of our tribal allegiances.
I am over the bora uhai stage (of importance is life) — I want to do more — do something that will change the course of leadership in the country. I would love to shut down the streets of Kenya with millions of other Kenyans chanting “Enough is enough”! or “Kenyans have woken up!” but the truth is, many other Kenyans have not reached their enough is enough moment.
However, countries like Chile give me hope because millions of Chileans have been able to organise and mobilise themselves to fight the rise of metro fares, high cost of living, income inequality and corruption scandals. Unfortunately, organising and mobilising like Chile requires a majority of Kenyans to be on the same page — and I don’t think we’re all there. I am sure that one day we will think of leadership beyond our tribal lines and wake up wanting a better Kenya that works for all of us. I don’t know when this will happen — but I know if your house is on fire, you have to look for ways to put out the fire, you cannot sit and wait for the rain to put it out. This is not the perfect analogy but hopefully, you will understand my point.
