Patriot’s Diary # 16: It’s a holiday every other day!

Kenya is the land of holidays, even if there isn’t any great event, we all look forward to a chance to just get away from work and the daily hustle to just , well, have fun! We all love partying in this country.

When the president is making a speech we all keep our fingers crossed for that grand announcement, declaring a public holiday. The list of public holidays that we have isn’t really that unique to most states. Here is what we have.

New Year, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Labour day on May 1st, Madaraka day on June 1st , Idd Ul Fitr (end of Ramadan), Moi day on 10th October, Kenyatta Day on 12th October , Jamhuri day on 12th December, Christmas day and Boxing day.

I think the highlight holidays that we all look forward to are the religious holidays in April and October; that is Easter and Ramadan. The dates vary each year but we all wait in grand anticipation! I think Diwali should also be thrown in the calendar so we can celebrate all religious holidays together…you know one Nation, indiscriminate!

Kenyatta day and Moi Day are days set aside to pay tribute to Kenya’s first and second presidents respectively. Though in recent times Moi day has been a day set aside to reflect and share with the less fortunate members of our society. Kenyatta day is now a day set aside to pay tribute to the country’s freedom fighters who sacrificed and faced persecution for our liberation. There are debates on renaming Kenyatta day to Heroes day, but that still hasn’t happened.
Then we have Madaraka day where we celebrate Kenya’s internal self rule and Jamhuri day is a celebration of our independence.

So that is the gist of the basic structure of our public holidays. What the average Kenyan, me included, looks forward to are the usual declarations; such as Obama winning the election. The following day was declared a public holiday, and then there was the national census day in August this year that we got off. As I type today, I have my fingers crossed that another huge event will take place that will merit a presidential declaration!

I can’t stop chuckling at the thought, I know… I am an opportunist. We all are, being spoiled with so many holidays that I have to admit I don’t really commemorate. I just see it as another day off.

I think it’s because the national holidays are so routine and plagued with boring speeches at one National Stadium. True, there were some things that I enjoyed as a child like the several choir performances. Watching the armed forces meticulously dressed, marching in step past the president in succession; the police, army, prisons, scouts and girl guides and other paramilitary organizations. I loved it. But the monotony just sucks the life out of the celebrations.

You are better of just catching up with friends and dancing your way through it all. Or like I did yesterday, sleep in and just vegetate. I love Kenya, I love our public holidays! I await the next declaration!

Patriot’s Diary # 15: Experience the Brand

Kenyan isn’t just a name it’s a brand. It’s a label you were on your forehead wherever you go. You can’t run away from it. It’s up there with Nike, Oprah, Coca cola, whatever major global brand. Kenya is iconic. It’s one of those countries that even to the most ignorant people on the face of the earth, would have remotely heard of, whether good or bad.

With a brand there is an experience attached to it. Singling out the Kenyan experience is hard, because there is so much to it. I think for some people when you throw the word ‘Kenya’ out there, you’ll get responses like, Jambo, Rafiki, Safari, Maasai, Post Election Violence, Lake Victoria, Waangari Maathai, Maasai Mara, Paul Tergat and for the fanatics; Obama or even Mufasa. So with all the iconic names, phrases and places, what is brand Kenya? I don’t know, it’s hard to pinpoint it.

All I know is that I am proud to say that I am Kenyan wherever I go. I say it loud and proud and I like seeing the responses that that elicits from people. People either become inquisitive or just react with glee or suspicion, acting out on their stereotypical pre-conceptions.

My mother always taught me that I needed to be an ambassador wherever I went. It doesn't matter if I am in a multinational classroom or outside the borders of my country; I am and remain the first-hand brand experience of Kenya.

I won’t lie to you that I always stood loud and proud that I was Kenyan. I did go through the ‘I am leaving this country and never returning’ phase which progressed to profuse denial that I was Kenyan. There are a lot of Kenyans who feel the same way now, as I did. And I believe the same sentiments of spite of your country is familiar to other Africans in the Diaspora . Why? Well it is clear we have been sucked into the imposed brand recognition of damnation and propagate it ourselves!

It’s easy to say that the past 14 posts of the Patriot’s diary are wishful. But it is not wishful, purely because it is what I see and experience each day. I can choose to react and attack and point out what’s wrong. But one thing I have always asked myself, out of all the nationalities in the world, why was I born Kenyan? God knew why, all I can say is that it is something special; a treasure.

The fact that I am of a certain nationality means that I belong somewhere. The fact that I belong and I am someone is something to celebrate! You too are a brand, a beautiful wonder that everyone needs to experience.

I don’t try to be something that I am not, I am proud of who I am, after all, I am Kenyan! But my mission is to demystify what and who Kenya is. We have historical tragedies and mistakes and governance issues that people are curious about. I don’t believe in being dismissive about it. I accept it’s a reality but I advocate being part of the positive change.

In Kenya, the government has paid an arm and leg to build a ‘Brand Kenya’ to boost the economy through tourism. And I’ve just realized, instead of re-creating ‘Brand Kenya’ as the iconic tourist destination, not to down play that. But maybe the brand isn’t the wildlife and scenery. The brand is the people.

We are the endorsers of the brand! We are Kenyan. Shake my hand, walk past me on the streets, buy chewing gum from a hawker, take a bus ride across the city and endure a preacher in the bus. You just experienced the brand; Kenya.

What I love about brand Kenya is you don’t have to create a notion of its experience. All you need to do is be around a Kenyan! I don’t need an endorsement deal to get rich. All I need to do is wake up in the morning and interact with people, and let others experience me. I know it may sound vain, but the truth is brands are there to be experienced. I am Kenyan, and I am the proud brand!

Community based Slum Upgrading

By saving 20 Kenyan shillings (approximately 30 US cents) a day, residents in one of Nairobi's informal settlements managed to raise 1.5 million Kenyan shillings (approx. 20,000 US dollars)
And now they are living in their own homes.

Patriot’s Diary # 14: Kenya, a land of wealth

Kenya’s known for a lot of things, her natural resources, her culture, her food and yes of course her athletes. Our soil is the bosom of our nation. It yields so much; minerals like salt, limestone, gold and fluorspar, horticultural produce like flowers, fruits and notably our premium tea and coffee.

This country’s soil is rich and ripe. There is so much more in our fields, guava fruits, potatoes; sweet and Irish, green grams, maize (corn), sugarcane, kales, cabbages and other greens. I can get fresh oranges, pears, plums, bananas, arrow roots, beans, rice, wheat, coconuts, pineapples, cashew nuts, sisal, and cotton. The list goes on and on. This is from my soil, my country, and I take great pride in that.

You may ask, why it is people are starving, impoverished and in distressed. That is a valid question; you may know the answer; corruption, inequitable distribution and maybe pure idiocy. Not all is well, but I believe it is important to recognize that I am fortunate to live in a nation where I can get fresh food, fresh milk and not rely on powdered and processed food. Right now I want to enjoy the great things, so that I can then learn how to take care of them. Being a good steward of what you own or have, only comes from appreciating what that object, person, product does or is.

The womb of this nation has borne a strong work force, a vast education of cultural, school and street smarts. It doesn’t matter who you will interact with, weather it is a CEO with a Phd in Philosophy or a janitor who knows how to make profits from his local kiosk sales. There is vast knowledge and initiative.

We have entrepreneurs. There was a story some years back, of a Kenyan in a remote village who was constructing a plane similar to the one the Wright brothers built in 1903. It may seem like old news, but the fact that someone will spend time and effort to do that is a sign in itself of greater things. I have seen stories on Kenyan news of a teenager in Kisii, a town in western Kenya, who created a radio powered by hydroelectricity, teenagers starting up radio stations from their huts, and young entrepreneurs revolutionizing the entertainment industry in Kenya. The list is endless. That is Kenyans within Kenya.

A lot of economies and industries have Kenyans behind them, be it a Southern African country, a flower farm in Afghanistan, a Kenyan Cocoa farmer in Ghana. They are everywhere. Like any corporate tycoon who wants to spread an empire and maintain their grip on economies. Kenya is like a giant that is unaware of its grasp on global economic clout.

We have professors bestowing knowledge on other citizenry. We are rich with entrepreneurs, diligent teachers and professors, amazingly gifted doctors and nurses, architects, aeronautical engineers, entertainers and dedicated service men and women in uniform serving in other nation’s armed forces. Even though we are spread across, Kenya has a stamp across the globe. All we need is to nudge each other in the right direction, because Kenya is a wealthy empire, an empire I am proud to be part of and striving to steer toward reaching its potential, maybe not just its potential but it’s destiny!

Patriot's Diary # 13: Kenya, the land of opportunity

My friend told me the other day that Kenya is a land of opportunity. I looked at her a bit baffled and said that I didn't think so. But after today it just popped out and yelled." I am Kenya, Your opportunity.
Most of the time we walk around huffing and puffing about what could be better in this great land, when the answer is pretty simple. Stand up and seize the opportunity.

I had wanted to be a journalist for so long and it just scared me when I got to work in a media house and realized that I could live my dream. I dilly dallied for close to two years. I wanted to make a subtle entry into TV journalism. Yeah I know, how subtle can that be? I was just jittery about all the unknowns and the prophecies of doom. It's not like a meteor would land on me from space in the middle of the shoot. But the truth is, I felt that something of that magnitude would happen.

I was in a comfort zone,seated behind a desk, getting bored by the day. But the first to yell and talk to the TV reporters about lousy stories, cool angles that I thought their stories could take. Whenever I was asked why I hadn't joined the TV news team, all I said was, one day I will. The opportunity was staring me in the face, but I just didn't want to see it.

A good friend and a respected reporter; Abdi Osman, was a great audience to field my ideas and he really encouraged me. So slowly by slowly, more like my best friend was hounding me about it. She's my accountability partner as well, I realized it was time to quit the talk and walk it. That's how Africa's Solution Now came along and slowly by slowly I gained the confidence to do the right thing. Seize the opportunity to live my dream.

Abdi guided me to check out the BBC training website which I did.I did some exercises on the site and was fired up and ready to rock the camera. I spoke to the managing editor and got a camera to shoot my first news story. I prepared a script to get me going and as a guide for the shoot. I rehearsed my sign off in the house, God knows how many times. I was ready.

On the shoot today, as I had been forewarned and learned from the BBC training website, not everything goes according to plan. The shoot was more like a new plan, because most of the things that I had planned went down the toilet. But the beauty of it all is I enjoyed myself. I am in a queue to edit my story now. I am ecstatic and all I can say is BRING IT ON! Kenya's and Africa's stories need to reach out to Africans and build them and that's what's I am going to do.

I don't know how it works in other countries, but from my own experience, it doesn't seem to matter where you live on the globe, if you look at your country, take pride of it with all it's flaws, the opportunity is there, just look at it. I kid you not, I know of a Kenyan who owns a flower farm in Kabul...yes the capital of Afghanistan and has a thriving flower export business.

Opportunity is around you everywhere, look around you, what do you feel in your heart that you want to accomplish? Take the first step, however scary it seems and go for it! Because like your country, my home is a land of opportunity.

Patriot's Diary # 12: It's in the roots

Today I attended a meeting that I honestly had no intention of attending. It was my best friend who convinced me to. I left that meeting with so much; part of which gives me a reason to celebrate my country.


One of my friends said something and I thought deeply about it. He mentioned tradition. I thought of my family instantaneously. From our naming systems, our food, our relationships with the elderly, how to farm, cook meals and even funeral ‘feasts’; there is a cultural system in which all Kenyans are born into. I don’t appreciate everything about our traditional practices. There are some traditions I consider outdated and just crude. But there are some things that I admire and wouldn’t change for the world.



I am from the Luo community; we are known to name our children the most preposterous and agonizing names known to human existence. Some children are, as you may have guessed, called Senator after now President Obama. So you’ll finda child’s first name is Senator Barrack Obama, then you’ll have a middle name and the surname. Ridiculous I know. It embarrasses me at times, but it makes life all the more hilarious.



In my family all the children have two English names, a Luo name and our paternal grandfather’s name, which is not unusual. Not in the case of my family, but normally the first born girl is named after her paternal grandmother, first son after the paternal grandfather and so on. It is a naming system that serves to preserve the family lineage. I was named after my maternal great grandmother. I have been told great stories about her. She was an amazing woman with a big heart and an adorer of her grandchildren.



My mother is a great story teller, an ability that was passed on to her from her parents and grandparents. I have heard amazing tales of my great grandmother,she was a woman who grew up illiterate; was educated in a mission church as an adult, was a great business woman, great cook and nurture. Her life's tale fascinates me, I think of what it would have been like living during her time. Would I have beena s bold beautiful and strong as she was? Mygreat grandfather fought for the British in World War one. He was a man with a great sense of humor, loved to have fun and would walk like Charlie Chaplin to entertain his grand children.



Some stories seem ridiculous like my grandfather wrestling a leopard. Maybe it’s true maybe it’s not. But one thing I am sure of, is that the Africans of his time were stronger, had a bigger build and healthier. My genes tell me so; I am 5’9” and the shortest in my family.



I wonder at times if any one in my family’s history was what I would call ‘an African sellout' . One who sold his neighbours for spices or sugar, into slavery? It is something I think I will find out. It is a question that lingers in my mind a lot. It saddens me what became of the African American, Caribbean and other Africans lost in the slave trade. Their entire ancestry was brutally stripped from them.


That realization makes me appreciate my fortune; knowing where I come from, my ancestry. It is tangible, through my name I know who I am, where I am from and what traditions I need to pass on to my children, children’s children and my children’s’ children’s’ children. Be it a name, how to cook a traditional meal, how to dress, how to respect their elders, adulthood or even take care of a home. I have a duty to ensure the longevity of my heritage, my tradition.



The world we live in may see this as ‘not being with it’. But the question we should all ask ourselves is why should we loose who we are for a fad that will be gone tomorrow? Who I am isn’t just a name. When you call me, you are acknowledging that I am not just another random person, but a representative of a rich tradition, part of rich African history and story to celebrate for ages.
I am grateful each and every breathing day that I am part of such great ancestry, swhich makes this country so great!

Patriot's Diary # 11: It's Kenyan if it's a Bargain

In Kenya everything is about bargaining, whether its fare to commute to a destination, buying a shoe in a store or even buying fruits from a market, everything is a bargain.

The fascinating thing about it is, you can be seated in a matatu (minibus) to the same destination but passengers pay different fares. Because it’s all about how well you manage to convince the conductor, that that's all you can afford. It does not work all the time, but you are never penalized for trying your luck.

Then there is the ‘don’t speak fluently when shopping for second hand wares’ rule. Opening your mouth and speaking English may be a reward in other sectors, but when you are shopping for second hand wares, the language of sale is Kiswahili or Sheng (colloquial Kiswahili). If you speak English it equates having a lot of money or just being clueless about the cost of things. In short a lack of street smarts. I learnt that the hard way. I was talking to someone on the phone in English while I was looking for a pair of jeans. There was a lady who had shopped ahead of me and I overheard her ask the price of a pair of jeans I was eyeing. It was six hundred Kenyan shillings.

Now my megaphone voice gave me away. By the time I got off the phone and asked the price of the same pair of jeans it had gone up by fifty percent. Let’s just say it was a long haggle to get the price down. But like I said, everything’s a bargain! I got MY price.

I have even bargained my way to a cheaper price for roast maize (corn) on the side of the road. There was a guy who sold half a cob to me at 7 shillings and I only had 5 shillings in coins and I got it!

There’s the bargaining and then there is the Kenyan culture of entitlement to free things. It’s free, it’ll be given to you, but when the supplies run out its chaos. When I was a sales promotion person; aka the annoying sales person in a store who convinces you to buy commodities you don’t care about.

There was one promotion I did where we walked around with huge bags stuffed with close to 1000 samples of FREE toothpaste. I know a sample is free, but I need to drum in my point. The mission was to get consumers sampling the new brand of toothpaste. Initially people were skeptical about what we were giving out. So we’d walk up to individuals on the busy street and hand them a single box and tell them that it’s a new sample. Some said no, others just thought we were giving them empty boxes and that there was a catch.

Slowly people began warming up to it and we became the center of attention in Nairobi's CBD. Soon enough we were swamped from all ends; people yanking on the bag straps, others reaching out and wrestling each other to get closer. It’s all for the love of free. People were shouting to get my attention, a couple of winks from gentlemen. People called me ‘Aunty’, ‘siste’, others exclaiming out loud ‘Aki aunty pia mimi’ (aunty, sister, aunty me too). It was scary, but I stood my ground and waltzed off from the scene with my empty bag; my mission was accomplished.

I think the classic sign of the love for free is the late night calls when we all know Safaricom, Kenya’s largest Mobile telephone provider, slips up. I would be called at 3am to let me know of the ‘free’ calling period. I too would exploit it to just call and tell the other person that they can call for free. People would call all night and call all the random people in their phone book just to utilize the ‘free’ window. Well that’s changed now. When that happens and you do call, the next time you top up your phone credit, it is charged, so free does not exists, well at least in that context.

Unbelievable or not, that is just the tip of the iceberg. If you really want to know more and really experience a good bargain? Kenya’s the place to be. I love this country!