The Ironies That Always Make Kenyans Shoot Themselves On Their Stronger Foot

That Kenya's economy is the 7th largest in Africa and the 3rd largest in Sub-Saharan Africa should get us all cheerful and proud. But the truth is that this information means little to the average Kenyan. Let me ask this differently. What is the average Kenyan's perception of life in African economies positioned at 35th and below? Perhaps no clue. Here is another question. Why do many powerful families in Africa have significant investments in Kenya while their Kenyan counterparts don't reciprocate stashing their wealth in those countries? We must be viewed as a stable and safe place to invest in.

One of our biggest ironies is in Kenyans appreciating the power of inbound and no outbound tourism. We love visitors but we are hardly sojourners ourselves. The wide gap between inbound and outbound movements leaves many as dependents of rumours and second-hand tales about other countries.

In combination with the freedom of speech and considerable levels of democracy enjoyed here, I can postulate that the average Kenyan is an empowered rumourmonger. It would take another rumourmonger to certify them as such but I won't disclose who I have in mind as the ideal certificate issuer lest I get sued for millions of shillings that I don’t have. The average Kenyans will confidently talk of places they've neither been to nor read about. They do it with such creative finality that the best way of making economic sense out of this is by encouraging them to write fiction. There is a huge fiction reading market and a chance for thousands of bestsellers.

But these citizens still have a point. Let us not condemn them unheard. We pride ourselves as the headquarters of the apex United Nations environmental body yet the stench emanating from the degradation of our major rivers can be detected from the moon. We talk on international platforms about environmental conservation but allow the big boys to dump their industrial waste into the rivers utilised by the very poor citizens whose votes we seek every five years.

Why kill our voters who double up as consumers of the products whose manufacturing contaminates our rivers? They are also the much-needed tax payers. And as we shoot ourselves on the stronger foot, we still wonder why majority are limping. And perhaps this is why our poor showing in international football persists, after all, how can we score goals on our weaker foot?

We talk science to look good but we are a lot that has perfected the art of killing ourselves slowly through the acts of selfishness that replaced selflessness the very moment we were told that we were the leaders of tomorrow. What joy is there in leading a dying population whilst hosting UNEP?

It is plain to see that the average Kenyan, the private sector old boys, the government honchos and global bodies have fallen short of expectations having collectively shot themselves on their stronger feet. Giving them all a walking stick will deplete our forests, so let us encourage them all to man up and walk the talk.