Kenyans peculiar habits come with consequences Published Thursday, May 17 2012 at 00:00
By Luke Anami During the Biblical times of Noah, God warned the people of an impending flood, but only Noah constructed an ark. Biblical teachings relate that, while Noah was building the ark, he attempted to warn his neighbors of the coming deluge, but was ignored or mocked him. The rest of the people decided they could climb the highest hills and trees to survive. But that was not to be! They were all swept away. You have heard it before. People warned of looming disasters, but no one heeds the advice. We line up to get a free drink, we sign up for free checking accounts, and we’re happy to get a free gift with the purchase of our next car. We love free stuff, even though we all know and understand that free is an illusion. After that free drink, we pay for the next three. The bank is making money by investing what we put in that checking account. The car dealer can afford to give away a small gift because the profit on the car is large. But none of this seems to bother us — free things still have a certain allure. But is the concept of free taking us down a dangerous road? Hell’s Gate park The floods devastating swathes of Kenya during this rainy season are no different. Heavy rains continued to pound the country resulting in deaths due to floods. The Weathermen once again warned people living in flood-prone areas to move to safer parts to avert disaster. In its monthly forecast, the Meteorological Department warned agencies that deal with disasters to be on the lookout for heavy flooding and mudslides. “We are at the moment experiencing a lot of rains especially in (around) Lake Victoria, Mau Escarpment and Mt Elgon, which may lead to floods,” said the Senior Assistant Director, Mr Samwel Mwangi. Despite warnings from the Met, not many people heeded the advice. Only a few weeks ago, six bodies were recovered from Hell’s Gate National Park in Naivasha where a leisure tour turned tragic on a sunny Sunday as deadly floods swept seven people to their death. In the same location, near Mt Longonot, residents have noticed huge gashes/gulches in the ground with warnings of an impending volcano eruption. But despite the caution they sat put. Instead they want the government to relocate them. Many Kenyans have been swept away by floods, but the real question is why they succumb to natural disasters even after being warned in advance. What makes an adult of sound mind ignore valid advice to dice with death? Is it that our warning system is faulty or that Kenyans do not take them seriously? “We have cases in Kisii where people have been warned but they seem not to heed the advice. It is very sad,” Fr Vincent Mukokho, a Catholic priest says. “More often people do not take such warnings seriously until they get injured or die before they awaken from their slumber.” Just like majority of Christians attend church, many are known violate the teachings moments after leaving church! While on a tour of the Masai Mara, a bus ferrying journalists drawn from Kenya and Uganda to the famous park got stuck inside the park. Two male lions were sleeping barely 400 meters away from where we got stuck, probably after a heavy night meal. But trust Kenyans, they were all over the place laughing, cracking jokes much to the chagrin of the Maasai tour guide. “Please try as much as you can to stay inside the bus. These small bushes could be hiding a rogue buffalo. The lions are also not far away so don’t make noise” Ole Siriani pleaded with journalists-turned-tourists, but few headed his advice. Luckily they were no causalities. “We have this feeling that unless it happens to me, then it will not have happened,” says Fr Mukokho. “People take danger seriously sometimes when it happens to them as individuals.” Kenyans have very peculiar habits. Even in the face of death, they rarely heed any advice. For instance, residents around Mt Longonot were busy saying the Government should come and move them. “There is a general feeling among Kenyans that the government should do this, or should do that in the face of disaster. It simply means the people are not willing to take responsibility. They want someone to bear the costs,” Edwin Wanjawa, a Sociologist says. “Citizens should be able to differentiate between responsibilities of an individual and those of the state.” He gave an example of IDPs who during the night they went back to their homes and only re appear in the shacks during the day in the hope that they will get free things. Wanjawa attributes this kind of behaviour to the love of free things. “Everyone loves to get stuff for free,” he adds. “The culture of free things is to blame for some of our actions, often with disastrous results. As much as the State has responsibilities, there are things we can do for ourselves. This goes beyond all spheres.” He said when people say ‘Serikali itusaidie’ it is a euphemism for a call to someone else to take away the cost. The bottom line is there is no free lunch. The free on the web is not free either. We are receiving the services in exchange for our time and attention, in exchange for the opportunity to be advertised to. He warns that a culture where consumers think that increasingly more and more services should be free is not healthy. Free blankets, money to put up another house, free government land to relocate to aside! Why do we repeat mistakes we have been warned about? Free is very expensive When former Safaricom boss Michael Joseph famously remarked that Kenya is a nation of individuals with peculiar habits, he stirred a hornet’s nest. The reaction was fast and furious although Joseph had neither committed a crime against humanity nor stepped on toes of Kenyans who dared not know him as the region’s top earning corporate guru. He had simply observed that Kenyans have peculiar habit of making mobile phone calls at the same time and in the process jamming the network. A very modest observation. When Kenyans die in disasters, it has become the template response: “Tunaomba serikali”, never mind that it is the Cabinet ministers, MPs, ordinary citizens alike who are the first to come with such a call, making it difficult to differentiate who is the government and who is the ordinary citizen here. Recently there was a free for all fight for hippopotamus meat. Residents of Lanet in Nakuru County scrambled for a share of a hippo killed at ADC Farm by KWS officers on Thursday. KWS officers shot the animal, killing it to the pleasure of the residents who immediately armed themselves with pangas and knives, ready to dismember it. SINAI FIRE Some took home as much as 20kg of meat, depending on how strong an individual was, others managed a kilo or less. Never mind that the meat was not inspected. Luckily there were no reported cases of sickness or death. The love for free things is definitely a driving force. The Sinai fire tragedy, much as it was caused by a leaking oil pipeline, what explains the Kenyans desire to rush for jerrycans to partake of the deadly liquid defeats common sense. And so are other tragedies that have occurred before such as Sidindi fire, Sachangwan petrol tanker. 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