There
is something shameful about a mature woman with a family to support
sitting in a busy street selling barely edible vegetables from a mat,
one eye out for the Council askaris who prey on her and treat
her as a malingering social parasite that should be eradicated. There is
something shameful about a mature man with a family to support spending
his working day screaming for passengers at a bus stage, keeping an eye
out not just for the Council askaris who think he is a menace
to society but also for certain elements of the criminal underworld who
will shave off a few percentage points of his daily take. There is
something shameful about able-bodied young men and women selling sweets
on public service vehicles because alternative sources of livelihood are
unavailable or they do not have the right papers to access the ones
that are. This is a shame that all Nairobians must bear. But when you
listen to the likes of Evans Kidero, Jimnah Mbaru and Philip Kisia
extolling the virtues of a twenty-four hour economy and the
mechanisation of security, you get the sense that an arrogant Nairobi
elite simply does not get it.
KTN did us a service by televising a debate of prospective governors of Nairobi from the halls of the up-market Strathmore University. Residents of Nairobi who have the privilege of affording a television set and the electricity to power it were treated to three experienced men expounding on their plans for the Green City in the Sun. They all spoke of their plans to "invest" for the future of the city. They spoke of their plans to sort out the perennial problems faced by the residents of the city. All their plans sounded good; the one-liners kept their audience rapt with attention. They all failed to articulate a future for the city in which a rising tide would lift all boats. They kept their eyes firmly on the promised land in which they, and they alone, occupy: a land for the wealthy, by the wealthy and of the wealthy. This is a Nairobi where 60% of its people have no place and no say over.
Evans Kidero brightly pointed out that Nairobi has over 800 villages that operate as social microcosms in which the daily grind is just that: a grind. But his plans, as his colleagues', has no bearing on the facts on the ground. The Mama Mbogas, makangas and sweets vendors of Nairobi have somehow managed to survive in an environment where the law is applied harshly against them without the "right-thinking members of society" batting an eyelid. They have managed to feed and clothe their families, house them, educate their children and keep their health up as best they could without the likes of the three gubernatorial contenders ever bothering to find out how they thrive in such a hostile environment. If they did, they would discover that all these people want is safety and security as they go about their daily lives; if there are opportunities to be seized, all they ask for is an even shake. These Nairobians all have tales of harassment at the hands of their city, some so harrowing one might think they were made up. No one is talking of how to remove the unfair, unflinching arm of the city off their backs and letting them get on with the business of living their lives because no one knows of the weight of that iniquitous hand.
If there are roads to be built, this Nairobi would also ask for pavements to be built too. If water and sanitation services are to be improved, this Nairobi would only ask that they get their fair share of the water and that their drainages and sewage pipes remained unblocked during the rainy seasons. If more police were to be hired, this Nairobi would only ask that there were adequate lighting in their villages that they can walk home unmolested. If investors were to be lured to invest more in Nairobi, this Nairobi would demand that the labour law of Kenya be applied fairly and stringently such that they were safe at work, secure in their rights and capable of supporting their families. Messrs Kidero, Mbaru and Kisia seem not to realise this, if they ever did.
Nor it seems does KTN. Strathmore is a fine university with an enviable record of accomplishment. It is also the wrong venue to talk about the problems that bedevil the City of Nairobi. It may be a short distance from the sprawling hovels of Kibera, "Africa's largest slum", but it is in a different world altogether. As the place to lay bare the problems of the Other Nairobi, it is just about as accessible by the denizens of Kibera as the De La Rue mint is to the general population. If they wanted to have an open and frank debate on the future of Nairobi, they would have been better off finding a venue in Kibera, Mukuru kwa Njenga, Mathare or Korogocho; places where the vast majority of Nairobi lives and works. They did not; they should not be surprised that on Election Day, Nairobi may instead plump for Ferdinand Waititu, who had the good sense to keep away from the place. Ivory Towers have their place in the scheme of things; but in a city where the vast majority will never set foot in one, they are symbols of the oppression they suffer at the hands of the men and women who claim to understand their problems, but do not.
KTN did us a service by televising a debate of prospective governors of Nairobi from the halls of the up-market Strathmore University. Residents of Nairobi who have the privilege of affording a television set and the electricity to power it were treated to three experienced men expounding on their plans for the Green City in the Sun. They all spoke of their plans to "invest" for the future of the city. They spoke of their plans to sort out the perennial problems faced by the residents of the city. All their plans sounded good; the one-liners kept their audience rapt with attention. They all failed to articulate a future for the city in which a rising tide would lift all boats. They kept their eyes firmly on the promised land in which they, and they alone, occupy: a land for the wealthy, by the wealthy and of the wealthy. This is a Nairobi where 60% of its people have no place and no say over.
Evans Kidero brightly pointed out that Nairobi has over 800 villages that operate as social microcosms in which the daily grind is just that: a grind. But his plans, as his colleagues', has no bearing on the facts on the ground. The Mama Mbogas, makangas and sweets vendors of Nairobi have somehow managed to survive in an environment where the law is applied harshly against them without the "right-thinking members of society" batting an eyelid. They have managed to feed and clothe their families, house them, educate their children and keep their health up as best they could without the likes of the three gubernatorial contenders ever bothering to find out how they thrive in such a hostile environment. If they did, they would discover that all these people want is safety and security as they go about their daily lives; if there are opportunities to be seized, all they ask for is an even shake. These Nairobians all have tales of harassment at the hands of their city, some so harrowing one might think they were made up. No one is talking of how to remove the unfair, unflinching arm of the city off their backs and letting them get on with the business of living their lives because no one knows of the weight of that iniquitous hand.
If there are roads to be built, this Nairobi would also ask for pavements to be built too. If water and sanitation services are to be improved, this Nairobi would only ask that they get their fair share of the water and that their drainages and sewage pipes remained unblocked during the rainy seasons. If more police were to be hired, this Nairobi would only ask that there were adequate lighting in their villages that they can walk home unmolested. If investors were to be lured to invest more in Nairobi, this Nairobi would demand that the labour law of Kenya be applied fairly and stringently such that they were safe at work, secure in their rights and capable of supporting their families. Messrs Kidero, Mbaru and Kisia seem not to realise this, if they ever did.
Nor it seems does KTN. Strathmore is a fine university with an enviable record of accomplishment. It is also the wrong venue to talk about the problems that bedevil the City of Nairobi. It may be a short distance from the sprawling hovels of Kibera, "Africa's largest slum", but it is in a different world altogether. As the place to lay bare the problems of the Other Nairobi, it is just about as accessible by the denizens of Kibera as the De La Rue mint is to the general population. If they wanted to have an open and frank debate on the future of Nairobi, they would have been better off finding a venue in Kibera, Mukuru kwa Njenga, Mathare or Korogocho; places where the vast majority of Nairobi lives and works. They did not; they should not be surprised that on Election Day, Nairobi may instead plump for Ferdinand Waititu, who had the good sense to keep away from the place. Ivory Towers have their place in the scheme of things; but in a city where the vast majority will never set foot in one, they are symbols of the oppression they suffer at the hands of the men and women who claim to understand their problems, but do not.
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