Nyuki hapigwi busu (A bee is never kissed) – Kenyan Proverb.
I love Kenya; I am a mad patriot. The name itself is famous in its own calibre. The word ‘Kenya’ was originally given by Lord Salisbury, a British colonialist whose conservative government founded the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEACO) in 1888. It was later redefined as Kenya from ‘Kenia’.
Kenya gained independence in 1963 and later became a republic in 1964. In that same year, the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta became Kenya’s first president. Kenya is part of the African Union, Commonwealth and East African Community – comprising of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.
The capital city of Kenya is Nairobi and Nairobi means the ‘land of cool waters’. The city is the most populous in the country, followed by Mombasa and Kisumu. Kenya has a total of forty-seven counties and more than fifty tribes. The official languages of Kenya are English and Kiswahili, same to our fellow neighbouring countries, Tanzania and Uganda.
There are five types of ‘city neighbourhoods’ that define Nairobi and Kenya as a whole. Firstly, the tenement city; serves the lower paid wage workers, dubbed as the ‘respectable poor’. Secondly, the gentrified city serves the well-paid professionals and managers from big companies. Thirdly, the luxury city serves well-to-do businessmen and women, they are separated from non-members of their class.
Fourthly, the suburban city serves the lower middle class such as the better-paid blue-collar and white-collar workers. Lastly, the abandoned city is the ghetto or slums where the permanently unemployed live.
The gap between the rich and the poor is very wide, thus causing people from rural areas to migrate to urban cities such as Nairobi, looking for employment.
The current fourth president of the Republic of Kenya is His Excellency, President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta. The first youthful president who associates with the poor and the rich, the young and the old as well. He is also the son of the first president of Kenya.
Kenya is the only country with a unique flag in the whole African continent. The Kenyan flag has four colours, two spears and a shield on it. Each colour and symbol has a meaning. The black colour signifies the people of Kenya. The white colour signifies the peace prevailing in our country. The red colour represents the blood shed during the struggle for independence. The green colour signifies our land and its agricultural potential. The spears and the shield represent our readiness to protect the country from external attacks.
There are lots of good things about Kenya which when written might literally fill over two thousand pages. These beautiful attributes are tourism, culture, sports and games and so on.
Oh and I almost forgot, the former president of the USA, Barack Obama and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o are Kenyan nationals! We also host highly trained Cuban doctors! Indians are also considered as one of the tribes of Kenya!
Visit Kenya and enjoy what we call the ‘Magical Kenya’.
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Tell us: Are you patriotic to your own country?