One man’s meat is another’s poison

Muwado Ad by BadidiTech Holdings

Penning my journal. Back decades ago as I worked in KQ Cargo, I received an intriguing consignment in jKIA to forward to Lusaka. They were window & door grills fabricated in Kibera! It was consignment from the Zambian Embassy.

The Ambassador had completed his tour of duty in Kenya and the state of Zambia was taking care of the cost of diplomatic cargo to forward his personal effects back home.

I was bonked, one man’s meat is another’s poison. Why on earth would anyone want to airfreight something so bulky, heavy that could be easily fabricated at home. I poked the official in why in my curiosity?

He candled that in Zambia people live in houses without grills! Crime is low, and welders are rare. Truth is stranger than fiction, I then wondered why he wanted to air freight grills for personal use? He quipped…

“After spending 5 years on mission in Kenya, am used to living with house with grills and can’t imagine living without them. It’s difficult to get quality grills in Zambia, so I have decided to fabricate mine here. My house will be a novelty.”

Down the wire, in time I would in later years visit Zambia, and truth be seen, the homes there didn’t have grills. The Zambians are courteous perky people & very hospitable mollycoddle, and I felt it’s the closest country to Kenya’s cultural soul.

Believe me, though stranger than fiction, a Kenyan will feel at home in Zambia more than any other country in East Africa. They loved their frothy Mosi beer and nyama choma (must say Zambian beef is much more tender than Kenya, guess it’s due to the breeding & diet.

The one murky thing about Zambia is it’s immigration, they view Africans from other nations as a cash cow. They’ll do everything to squeeze money from you, a nightmare.

If you have a wicked sweet tooth, beer in Zambia is served chilled and is served as a soft drink, & everywhere in sea. I was popped to see some ladies @ 0800am on a Monday morning sipping it with straws! The language gassed sounded like our Luhya kith & kin. Everyone in Zambia lived in towns. The bucolic greensy rural swathes were depopulated of people.

I drove the beast of all machines, a 4×4 Toyota Land Cruiser from Tunduma the border town with Tanzania to Lusaka, a distance of 1000 kms, & was shocked that Zambia has vast lands without souls. There were no petrol stations too, fortunately the Land Cruiser was built for this, had 2 tanks which managed the stretch. Kenya & SA are the 2 countries I know with big towns that pepper its mass, most African countries have not more than 3 big towns.

Down the memory, the place that still etches my mind is the Victoria Big Falls, a spectacle that I will carry to the grave. They say life is about experiences, if you haven’t forked the Big Falls, you haven’t a clue of the true majesty of Africa. I spent an unforgettable night in a tented camp next to Big Falls, how beautiful. Elephants are in the vicinity too. Best time to visit is during the April rainy season.

If you have any spare change, visit the Big Falls. An 8th wonder, it knifes the border of Zambia & Zimbabwe. Great place for a honeymoon!

Crossing over to Zimbabwe, I visited a massive lodge with elephant tusks dangling its ceiling in pendant. Which blithering bloody idiot would think of this??? Felt queasy in unease, why on earth would mankind unabashedly slaughter hundreds of elephants to decorate a lodge?

Now let me gear back to the Zambian Ambassador who became Kenyanized. Here he lived afraid for his life. I don’t fault him, in Kenya we accept & believe insecurity is part of life, & we limb unable to take any radical maneuver to overcome it.

I have suggested on social forums that we need to create a national DNA registry of all citizens & DNA taken before IDs can be issued, but get mocked that it will be abused by the state, & it will be a threat to our privacy. What hyperbolic gibberish hogwash! You cannot convict criminals without hard evidence.

DNA provides evidence that can lead to prosecution of violent crime & rapes. It’s is easily traceable, if we had a DNA bank of all citizenry, we can match it to culprits.

To cry out loud insecurity increases the cost of doing business, kills & mains productive people, deters investors and chases customers. We are walking wounded, insecurity snuffs out life.

Walk on eggs, most Kenyans already live caged behind grills in their own homes. Our skilled welders have made an industry out of insecurity, & compete to make the “most beautiful funky grills”. How macabre!
#okwirimy journal, my thoughts, my walk…

Written by

Dan Okwiri

Afrohemian, Aesthete & Raconteur. Bonitas, Scienta, Disciplina.

Follow

Did this story move you? Every gift goes directly to Dan Okwiri — writers on Muwado earn from reader appreciation, not algorithms. Even $1 makes a difference.

Gift Once Gift Monthly