Kenyans and Holidays

I saw an advertisement for an 1/8th acre plot in vipingo to build a “holiday home” and honestly .., let’s speak on the ridiculousness of it.

Firstly, it is costly to run a holiday home and at the rate people are building them, demand will exceed supply. So what happens when the house becomes idle other than deteriorate?

Secondly, when we have cement everywhere, what do you expect to happen other than flooding? Especially when large swatches of land are cut down to micro properties? We are seeing it happen now and to act ignorant to this inevitability is stupidity.

Thirdly, if you are leaving your house – to go to a supposed holiday home – to cook for yourself, to wash the house and do laundry – are you really on holiday? You are not. Sometimes I think it’s a lack of imagination on what rest should be.

Capitalism has really lied to us. Let us open our eyes.

Kenyan Technocrats and Corruption

The current floods have brought forth some thoughts I have had regarding technocrats in Kenya.

Technocrats are individuals with technical training and occupations who perceive many important societal problems as being solvable with the applied use of technology and related applications.

Source: Wikipedia

Building is not guess work – there are standards to it. And right now, there are civil engineers at City Hall who have rubber stamped the construction of roads, bridges, drainage etc and yet they are below standard.

At the end of a day of soliciting bribes – they are quick to say “today I did so much work.”

Honestly it should be embarrassing to be an engineer because part of the issue is lack of standards. All one has to do if they want shortcuts is bribe someone, and after all corruption is the Kenyan culture. And when things go wrong – we all wonder – what happened?

We know what happened – someone cut corners.

Like seriously – for example – why is the expressway flooding?

And NEMA? A farce in all ways. It should be embarrassing to work there. A bribe collection agency.

Parasocial Relationships, Hollywood and Flawed Ideas on Romantic Love

Whenever a celebrity or otherwise random famous person goes through a break up or divorce, I am fascinated by the general responses to it.

I have been thinking about writing my thoughts on this for a long time and Chance the Rapper and his impending divorce is the push I needed.

Now, let us agree that the Hollywood machinery is in basically propaganda for the American imperialist project (word to Angelica Jade Bastien). The stories it tells through movies and also how they manufacture stories through the lives of personalities who work for them are meant to influence the rest of us to do specific things, want/buy specific things, believe specific things et al. The CIA funds war movies for Pete’s sake, where conveniently America always comes off as the good guy despite what we all know to be true.

Back to my point – We know actors/actresses who have been married and divorced many times. We know those who were pretty much forced to marry to kill any rumour of them being queer. We see them manufacture relationships to market whatever it is they are selling – films, music etc. So how are we looking at these people and seeing them as the standard for what romantic love should be and look like? Why do we think they know what they are doing? Is it because their lives are accessible to us? Is it because they have money and we conflate wealth with knowledge? Is it because what we deduce from their relationship is so simplistic that it makes it all seem easy? Is this what they call influence?

The very ideas we have on romance are internalised from what we consume; media or otherwise, not because it represents who we are and what we desire. How is it that we all seem to want the same thing? We believe flowers and diamond engagement rings to be the height of romanticism, men want women to be in the kitchen etc if not socialised in us? Why do we even believe romantic relationships to be the apex of relationships despite evidence contrary to this? We desire things without understanding why because we see everyone around us wanting these things so therefore we too must want them, right?

The nitty gritty of what makes ANY relationship work is something we often gloss over – communication, conflict resolution even self awareness. Because half of the time, we pick people who throw any attention our way without knowing who we are and what we like and hope that they fit into our lives. And then become indignant when it doesn’t work out.

Anyway it perturbs me that we hinge our understanding on love to relationships of famous people. Let’s do better.

Tenderpreneurs Should Be Shamed

I was watching these news items on tenderpreneurs in South Africa on Carte Blanche (First and Second) and it made me think about Kenyans and tenderpreneurs.

We live in a country where we laud tenderpreneurs. Why is that? Firstly, let us admit that Kenyans ridiculously love money, are greedy and are thieves. The level of corruption in and of itself proves this to be a fact.

The second reason is that Kenyans want to believe that even they, can one day become rich via overcharging government for services. And as long as they believe in this possibility – we will view tenderpreneurship as something to aspire to – even though it is theft of public resources.

Thirdly, we have made it seem as if God wants us to be obscenely wealthy by any means necessary despite the fact that the Bible is clear that God doesn’t approve of it. And so when tenderpreneurs steal and they’ll then say “it is God’s favour” they make it seem as if their money is legitimate – yet it is theft.

And on top of all these things, the other thing Kenyans love is the performance of wealth. That is why news articles will focus on the cars that people are driving, the watch the president is wearing etc without questioning the source of the money. In a country where someone’s worth is measured by acquisition of things, it’s no wonder we are dazzled by tenderpreneurs instead of calling them what they are – thieves.

And we allow it to happen. Because let us not forget that tendering to provide government with goods and services is paid for by citizen’s statutory payments. We are basically bankrolling them. Yet they walk around as if they should be heralded for business acumen, yet all they are, is thieves.

I wonder, if I was to check whether someone has a tender to plant trees on Thika Road, or even to paint lanes on Waiyaki Way – would i find someone who was paid to do work and hasn’t done anything?. So many things, even the simple, little things, that should be done don’t get done. A waste of such potential in this country.

The Car as Status: Senator Omatatah

Reading about how people were shocked that Sen. Okiya Omtatah does not drive a “luxury” vehicle is another example of how we see status and the value we put in material things. There is definitely a sense of importance we assign to people based on the car they drive – which is obviously ridiculous.

A person is not more worthy or valid because they drive a Mercedes Benz or any other luxury car despite what Capitalism has taught us.

Also, if politicians are servants of the people, as they ought to be, then Sen Omtatah has shown that he is one. And if you do not know who he is, please do your googles.

And truly, we as the citizens, should consider his decision to drive a Nissan keenly. Based on his history, I think it would actually be a surprise if he used his position to drive a big car. But also, Moha Jicho Pevu surprised us with his about turn once he got political power.

Finally, something I wonder is why do we think we know better than the senator the kind of car he should be driving? I am sure if he wanted a luxury car, he has the ability to procure one – and yet hasn’t.

An Unhinged Rant

Kenyans are Christians by name only.

I saw that the president said that he has been given authority by god to lead the country and make decision blah blah and let us call a spade a spade – it is using fear as a tactic. And he knows it, that is why he said it. The use of fear is not new in Kenya – it is very reminiscent of Moi era days who was his mentor anyway so this is not surprising.

Therefore by this logic – we truly can blame Kenyan Christians for a lot that is wrong in this country. Because shouldn’t your prayers be about making things better for the country? Or what exactly are you praying for? The increased wealth of politicians via corruption? Can you convince non believers that god wants us to suffer? Because it seems like it is so.

Also, tribalism is another fear tactic. People will kill because politicians have told them one tribe will do this or that. And I try to understand why – it is about power and greed. The two things that reign supreme in this country. And then because of the inherited cowardice, we often don’t question the nonsense spewed by politicians.

Also, I can’t understand how someone who considers themselves a christian can be a tenderpreneur – just lying and accumulating wealth through evil. Because tenderpreneurship at its core is evil. And I know at the end of the day, people may not want to hear this, but there is no ethics in being a tenderpreneur. We should shun tenderpreneurs.

Bad Surgeon, Medical Ethics and Duty of Care

Watching Bad Surgeon as a general population that needs healthcare is truly something.

We live under capitalism and how this affects the healthcare is evidence that the blind faith we have in healthcare providers is unwarranted. It is the expectation that doctors and other healthcare providers in general have a duty of care to patients. We know very often that this isn’t the case, even as shown in Bad Surgeon.

Personally, I have had to change my gynaecologist many times because I either found them creepy (a Dr in Nairobi Hosp Doc Plaza), one lady at UHMC who didn’t take my cramps seriously and said I was exaggerating and also two dudes who kept insisting I should have kids even though that isn’t why I was in their offices.

I even had a doctor say I needed to get an MRI and I refused to do so and they ended up agreeing that it wasn’t necessary. I mean. An MRI at Aga Khan is Kshs 50,000 and sometimes insurance will refuse to pay.

I think working under the assumption that doctors inherently are caring and are therefore looking out for the patient as opposed to the money aspect is delusional at this point. We cannot be hearing that hospitals have given their health workers targets and then continue to believe that our best interests are being looked into.

And the biggest shame about this whole thing is that we need doctors. To survive. And yet.

Kenyans Obsession With Land

Imagine buying land, getting permission from government to build on the land, apply for electricity and water (all which need proof of ownership) only to later be told that the land isn’t yours.

That is Kenya for you.

Everywhere we see advertisements about land being on sale. What someone will do with a 100 x 100 in Gilgil while living in Nairobi makes no sense to me. But somehow the obsession with land continues.

I get it but also some of it is because of the laws of the country. We are allowed to bury people in ancestral land for example while in other countries you can only bury people in cemeteries.

People who stole land after colonisation have shown that it is possible to become wealthy with land but truly I don’t know how we think it works the same right now. On top of that there is a lot we are losing in how much we are subdividing land.

I think part of it is how we have accepted the American ideal and dream of a house and white picket fence etc. Because historically land wasn’t thought of how we do now. It was for the most part communal. Now we are killing each other for land.

On top of this, there are so many scams that happen on the premise that Kenyans are obsessed with land. Gakuyo, Lesedi, Banda Homes are just a few. It has happened so many times and will continue to happen and this is not victim blaming but also………..

The Facade of Progress

I don’t know what the president expects Kenyans to do when he spouts statistics

Telling us GDP grew means nothing

If items we are purchasing are more expensive

If we are paying more taxes and yet not getting government services. Believe it or not races are not meant to get for salaries yet it seems normalized to accept how much politicians are paid.

We have to feel the change in our pockets, we have to see the change and I can tell you, right now – I just see greedy politicians using Christianity as a cover for evil.

And also trying the scare tactics are very reminiscent of Moi era days. Are we going to accept silently this ridiculousness????

Capitalism, Resolutions and Status Quo

It is insidious how capitalism keeps us navel gazey with goals and resolutions. Always focusing on self and often the same type of goals year in and out: weight related(fitness), finances, et al.

Capitalism gives us the tools with which to whip ourselves and promises to also have the solutions. What a lie.

If you think about it, resolutions which are mostly individualistic by nature are tedious. Repeated over years. Will we always be works in progress? Unfinished people who need to buy their way to complete beings? All it does is maintain the status quo. It keeps us in a bubble of an illusion of comfort but all we are doing is coping with our existence in the world. How sad.

Chipping at ourselves year in and year out and yet it doesn’t get better. Hamsters in a wheel. Because the world sucks and no amount of these individualistic goals will change that.

Surely we must imagine a better world for us all.

And that is why I think we need to think outside the box. See things as part of a system, the connection between. Change our mentalities. Have more productive conversations. Kill celebrity culture. Stop being enamoured by wealth. Hold government accountable in big and small ways. Kill the idea that there are private solutions to public problems.

Be part of communities that dismantle the status quo, that helps each other. The realisation that without community what we are doing is low key meaningless.

It sounds lofty probably but at this point we have to do things differently, right?