One of my favorite gospel artists, Todd Dulaney was in town the other day.What?! I don't think I have danced that much during a concert. It was truly an amazing experience. I also realized that Safaricom has too much money aki. Too much. They gave out about 70,000 bob in airtime plus two Samsung S8 phones in one night! Plus the event sponsorship! Cheii! Meanwhile, they can't let us redeem accidental bonga points in peace. Isorait. Muhimu ni uhai!
So the concert ends at about 10:30pm and we hang around till 11pm at the Citam Karen Sanctuary to let the crowd fizzle out. Kidogo kidogo we decide to request for taxis. Sema surge! So we decide, zi, we will take a matatu to town please. Meanwhile, it is freezing cold huko Karen. It had been raining and then Karen is leafy leafy suburbs, you get? Biting Cold! I still shudder to think that people huko majuu survive for months in below 0 degrees temperatures. God bless you.
Hapo outside the gate, there are of course cars exiting to different destinations. I consider borrowing lifts but the others look at me weirdly. Sigh 🤧 There was only one City Hoppa bus and the conductor is shouting, "Nairobi mia, Nairobi mia?" First of all we were still in Nairobi, not Rongai, angesema tu tao mia. Secondly, Nairobi gini? Mia! Issalie! One of us is ready to pay the a hundred bob to tao. The other two are unsure. Me I am sure silipi! Afadhali in an Uber or Taxify I will have enough legroom and will only be sharing oxygen with one other person, or three, ikienda sana. Haya. Now there are no drivers available. That bus fills up and leaves. A second one arrives and declares the same price, "Nairobi mia!"
Oh Lord! Bless us with cars! We beg.
It is now 11:30pm. We decide to board. Once inside, uchungu catches me seriously. Lol. Guys, I am not cheap. I just know how far an extra 50bob can take me in this life. Turns out I was not the only one. I begin chochaing the rest of the passangers that we need no pay 100bob to tao. That if we all decide this is hujuma and give the conductor 50bob each, there is nothing he will do. As long as one person doesn't crack and decide they don't want drama. There is always that one person. Kidogo kidogo, people we actually garner up the courage to step out of of the matatu in protest.
We are not boarding! Unless it is 50bob!
Ha! I have never been so proud of Kenyans in recent times. Of course there were about four people (traitors!) who stayed back, but they soon caught on and alighted. Sasa negotiations begin. The conductor stands his ground. We stand ours. He even tells us, while showing us a bunch of 1000bob notes that he already has money for his boss and that this trip was inconsequential. We are like, "Si uende basi!" We ask him why he is charging more yet it is obviously off peak hours and there is literally no traffic on Langata road. Ati ni usiku. Lol. Kwani the price of fuel doubles at night? Later, as we draw closer to a handshake, he goes down to 80bob. "Zi! 50!" We retort! Saa hiyo it's like 11:45 hapo. They deliberate kiasi with the driver and decide they will leave our butts to freeze out there. We are like, "Si muende!" Lol.
They don't. The driver just moves two inches forward and starts calling out again, "Nairobi mia!"
At that moment, one of the traffic marshalls at church tells us, "Guys, stop haggling with this one. Walk down to Galleria. You will find Rongai Matatus for 50bob. Anafikiria mnaokota hiyo pesa?" Sisi hao! As we leave, we notice another group walking towards the bus and we convince them to join us. They do. We walk to Galleria Mall stage, about 300m away. We were high on something alright. Six minutes to midnight. Nothing strange about a group of 40 young people walking around at that hour, sindio? We reach the Galleria stage and the weight of our actions begins sinking in. We are not panicking. We are just praying that Rongai town's 24-hour economy doesn't fail us. The concert was all about victory and we were certain of victory. Ha!
Lord please let this be a happy ending!
We didn't have to wait too long. A 14 seater matatu soon stops and declares tao ni 50. Tukasongeana. The rest of the guys wait for the next one. I hope there was a next one. Hehe. (Someone confirm) On our way to town, we see the City Hoppa stopping to pick passangers. We almost want to shout, "Don't pay 100bob! We didn't!" If they did, they would cancel out all our efforts towards ending the extortion tendencies in the matatu industry, one matatu at a time.
Seriously though, I am so proud of the brand of Kenyans I saw on Friday night.
Dear Kenyan who is almost giving up on this country, hang on. There are a few more who want to see a better Kenya. A Kenya where the next person appreciates the fruit of your sweat and helps you wipe the drops off your brow with fairness. There are a few more who know that a single person has the power to influence change, and that sometimes, people are just waiting for that voice of courage to call and lead them to action. You will suffer a few inconveniences here and there, but it will be nothing compared to the pride you will feel as change begins to waft in.
Bonus: The matatu that picked us up was from the Eleventh Hour Sacco. What a way to live up to its name! *Cues in Eleventh Hour tune by Betty Bayo* Tetenteten!
Have a lovely week, won't you? Remember to speak up. You will be glad you did!
