The Paradox Of Kenyan Middle Class

[Sanaa-]

Originally Posted by H20

Froggy really captures the Kenyan middle class today.( Naona unakwachu hii story vipoa). The typical Buru, South B,C , Madaa characters whose idea of success is owning a second hand car with a large speaker in the boot and stickers of Man U, Arsenal or Chelsea on the tinted windows. They behave like they know it all, from the best deals in town to who knows what.

These fellas normally have no health insurance, social security, a piece of land, stocks etc. A number have jobs e.g bank tellers, sales, exhibition shops in town, etc and they may be given credit for that (nay their parents because we also know they are the most unruly in high schools) but they now exhibit that superiority complex that froggy is talking about. Now why front? The chics lets not even go there coz we have their vibe somewhere else. But funny how they are humble once they come overseas.

A middle class chap will floss for people in so called low class areas such as Jeri, Mahadu, Uhunye, Isich, Githu and others forgetting they themselves are way below the social ladder, if they can be measured against Parki, Lavi, Runda and the like. Nowadays they can hardly hold together even among themselves, and backstabbing and petty feuds that are over a decade old are not uncommon.

The true middle class was the one of yester years which had community values and not illusionary concepts of success as its tenets. My 2 cents.

Kwani people of middle class stole from you? Don't be a playa hater.

[msema ukweli Kabisa]

Very interesting discussion and very mature esp if (type R) some of us keep of associating the observation to tribes.
I have spent most of my adult years in the US so I will try and refrence my experience to Kenya, Almost simmilar in a weird way.

Most kenyans come with 1-20s over here and some are lucky to have parents and permenent residency, The years spent in college are hell for most as most guys work full time to raise tuition and pay bills. Some are lucky to have scholarships and some loans. But we go through school admiring everybody who drives nice cars and can afford to eat out and drink out.

America is a credit based society, so most of us folishly end up getting credit cards and cars while still in college and end up defaulting and messing up their credit. Some of us are patient and wait until we finish them most of us get jobs that average entry level like 40k, if you are in a cheaper town most can start living the "life"
well then you get a nice apt, nice car and your disposable income is way higher, technically you are just lower middle class

And as usual people keep on living. Some are wise to invest back home and here and get some nice future waiting. Some keep on spending getting more credit cards and changing cars ever 2 years and 10 years later they are still with no savings, same apt but in serious debt

[patt]

If froggy's assessment is right, i find that middle class bracket (40,000-200,000) very big.

MUK you can say that again.

[Delylar]

If there were more discussions like this on mashada, Kobia would have less traffic on the sidelines. Back to topic.
There's a middle class community in the so-called shags areas that's rarely taken into account but they live well beyond their nairobian counterpart. Part of what is considered the middle class has alot to do with the status image. Whether the city image is the standard that should be strived for is debatable but so far it's the bar that most people have set for themselves.
I'm not sure what the hype about Buruburu and the likes is but they ceased being all that somewhere in the early 90s. With the rise of unemployment that gradually reduced the intake of Hall 15 members/alumni and the emergence of the nyayo era club members, it was no longer the hardworking citizen that made it into these neigborhoods but the one with the most $$$ regardless of what was in their value system.

[H20]

Originally Posted by Sanaa-

Kwani people of middle class stole from you? Don't be a playa hater.

Nah sanaa. am just telling it as it is

[H20]

Originally Posted by Type R

If you use wealth alone to define the classes, you're headed into a rut.

We have thieves from Goldenberg, Anglo Leasing, the Mafia in Sicily/Italy, the Yakuza in Japan, druglords from Jamaica, New York and Colombia, porn tycoons from the Internet ... are these people middle class?

Middle class is also defined in terms of values. These are people who believe in quid pro quo as a mark of honour. They ensure that work for what they get. Let's break that down: -

"They work..."
They believe in the value of what they do. They are committed to it, they believe that work is essential to life, they are proud of what they do. Work can go from simple routine tasks like working at McDonald's to highly sophisticated economic management, scientific and engineering theories, etc.

The lazy, non-creative trait disqualifies from the group. Thieves, opportunists (our MPs, for example), fraudsters ... even if they have enough money are not true middle class.

...for what they get.
The middle class ensures that it gets a fair return for it's labours. This has two aspects: -

* don't get underpaid. Middle class is always on the guard against getting ripped-off. The Kenyan middle class is ripped off, that's why we are buying mitumba cars, mitumba clothes from other middle classes. That's why we are fleeing Kenya in Brain Drain droves.

* don't get overpaid. The middle class will not rip-off society, unlike the crooks in the upper class who have no qualms about creating payments structures whereby they earn in far excess of what they do. Number one on this list are our road contractors, who earn billions for building us potholes. In a country with a true middle class spirit, a contractor who earn$ million$ will ensure that the road is worth million$. This is true in Dubai, Thailand, Malaysia but in Kenya, Kenyatta/Moi created another crookish culture.

On the other hand, we have the poor who are always expecting handouts, they are thieves, some don't want to work unless under pressure, they have no creativity, etc.

Once you understand "quid pro quo," you understand the middle class essence.

Type R your analysis is too academic that it fails to merit basic understanding of the essence of the middle class Nairobi as lived and experienced by a select group in Kenya. As Froggy and other mashadites who are privy to the sociology of this nascent sub group may attest, the Nairobi middle class is a complicated mix of
-value systems (u could just drag along your tribal stereotypes here- ,),
-hip hop influence with its intermittent phases from break dance, tupac/biggie rivalry cum fatal deaths, bling era, to the current genre; reggae-was and still is used as a means of escapism and inspiration by the lower tier groups and for the upper groups reggae as a means of identifying with commonness-whatever that is (methinks its rebellion),
drugs- mostly bhang and khat,
alcohol from cheap illicit drinks to the supposedly decent drinks,
8-4-4:
the mboch effect
economic meltdown of the 90s and early this decade and last but not the least
bad national politics.

The product of this nasty mix is what would almost pass for a confused generation. One that has the guts to religiously display their patriotism to foreign soccer teams in fanatical ways while doing nothing to support local teams. Usually with one ass raised, a flashy mobile on one hand, and a set of car keys (unashamedly with a bmw or shinde logo emblazoned on the holder although the ride is a reconditioned Toyota) on the other, they will crave for attention wherever they go. At the pub they will talk/ (that there is the Kenyan way of saying one is just too full of himself)/ As for those who lack cars- and they are many coz this group is notorious for laziness, they will still exhibit more or less the same complex.

Type R, granted your analysis of this potentially useful segment deserves credit for usage of academic terms that may have left some floating. It may in fact make a good read for policy makers and sociology students. But if you want to study the social paradox of the Kenyan middle class you need not delve deep into jargon such as "quid pro quo". Some of the places to start are:
Monday to Friday: City Centre: Commercial. Here they may be seen alighting from matatus playing loud music from Buru, Langaa, Madaa, B, C and others heading to work, college, or off to some serious "plot". The working class is neatly dressed and the University/College students don trendy gear. They exude over confidence in their walking styles and when in groups will usually gesture animatedly. I guess they are usually saying: “Sasa nakuaaambia.......bla bla ablaa”

Friday aftee, Sato : Tacos, Ibiza, Simmers, Westi: Now nightlife always has this way of revealing people's true characters. Now this is where u see the madness of middle class jamaas. Weekends these guys cannot be stopped. Enyewe even millionares cant talk at a middle class guy especially after he's been paid. Others stick to local bars (especially Buru and Nairobi West) watching live football amid cheers, alcohol and women.

Investments: zilch. Ok sawa the reconditioned Subaru and Toyota for some.

Lingua franca: swa-english.examples: that guy letead for me ujinga.. I chapad him mpaka he called his boys. or the most common. That jamaa has colouuuur. He bouuuuuught for uuus enouuugh booooze. Or
i raruuuuuuad that maaaaama. Its just so sickening. The precursor of this latest lingo was the sheng language whose usage is now a preserve of a few middle class inhabitants.

Froggy I think the upper middle class (the likes of Karen, Parki, Westi ) is not fairly bad considering those communities were not largely affected by the aforementioned variables
My 2 cents though.

[chotadipo]

Originally Posted by Type R

True middle class values substance, not illusions. Money is therefore a means to substantial improvement in life.

True middle class values health, security for self and family, non-harmful fun.

The upper class may convert the pursuit of money into an end, bigger banks accounts, money they'll never spend even if they wanted to.

Kenya failed when it adopted the kyuk attitude of valuing money for its own sake. Our social comfort went down as roads deteriorated, but this was OK since people were "making money." Our security went to the dogs, people are mugged in the City Centre at lunchtime, but this is OK because "people are making money." In fact, the government and Parliament forgot their roles and began "making money." Even the police mount roadblocks specifically during rush hours - 7-9am, 5-7pm - to maximize on bribes. None of these return value for money, now even in Kenya, even if you have money, life is qualitatively lower than if you had that same amount of money in Dubai, Malaysia or Hong Kong.

Alcoblow = money. The true value of alcoblow should be saving lives and reducing financial cost and other burdens of accidents. But in Kenya, we corrupt everything!

This thread should be titled the TRAGEDY of the Kenyan middle class. We do everything for money, but because we do not create value, our money becomes valueless unless we import. But we can't import security, we can't import health, we can't import financial stability, so we head to countries with these things...

You have captured it correctly. This is truely what fails us africans. It is why we cannot build decent societies in terms of infrastructure or value system. Money should be a means to an end, not an end to itself. A good example is property. When it comes to property location is the in thing. If for example Ruai or mlolongo was planned properly and the respective county councils followed by-laws to the letter, first bringing in water, sewage and electricity ssytems, world class middle class neighbourhoods would ahve emerged from such areas. But lo and behold, you find beautiful bungalows or town houses built on such plots but with impassabel roads, no water or sewage system and it becomes hard to comprehend how a guy would call such an estate middle class when it lacks basic scoial amenities to qualify as such.

We Africans are good at turning good estates into slums. Ask your parents how Buru Buru was in the 70s and early eighties or even visulaise Buru buru without the extensions or unplanned shopping and recreational centers and you will see method, purpose and character in them. That is what defines middleclass.

[Type R]

What crazy boo expresses below are values: -

* cleanliness and hygiene
* personal space and privacy
* social organization

All these add up to the quality of life.

However, Kenya has been dominated by people (Kenyatta era, Moi era) who only had one value: -

* MONEY

It seems illogical to want money for its own sake, especially when nothing is done to improve the quality of life. BUT THAT IS KENYA FOR YOU!!! These people were so sick they took the money (billions)out of Kenya. (Daniel, that money is now helping the Swiss quality of life, while your family members break their cars on potholed roads!!!) The only country that I know is worse in this respect (valuing money at the expense of the quality of life) is Nigeria. Other rich countries in Europe, the Americas and Asia have managed to strike a good mutual relationship between the search for money and the quality of life. But in Kenya, we kill one to get the other.

Originally Posted by crazy boo

Very educated discussion. However, I thank God I was not born or live in Nairobi or its suburbs. Everytime I went to Nairobi it was either one of the following

1.Filthy mess from the air to the people.

2. Congestion- People all over the damn place...oh and in "town" where people shared this freaking thin walls with yards the size of American houses or smaller.. People need to back off Nairobi for a sec. Its insane living in such an environment.

3.Too much class. The people in Buru Buru to be precise, actually brag more about living in "tao" as compared to others in more affluent neighborhoods akina Lavi and the rest.

4. Complicated life period

I am thankful for my parents to bring us up in so called "shagz"...lol.. Peaceful, countrylike living, no rent, best of the best, clean air etc etc...


Finally I still don't get how new grads would pay shs 20,000-30,000 p.m in rent. I guess that's how my dad and others got their fortune.

[Type R]

Excuse me if "quid pro quo" was too academic. Anyway, with the internet, you can find things out in seconds.

The middle class person wants to contribute positively to society and wants society to reward him/her fairly. That give-and-take is the spirit of middle class-ness.

The spirit of contribution to society leads people to business, science, technology, civil service, security, entertainment, arts, sports, infrastructure, etc etc.

The most horrible example are our MPs. They contribute nothing positive - not even debate the annual budget, just come on TV insulting one another, and then reap millions. This is anti-middle class spirit, and worst of all, they do not have even one microgram of shame.

I have heard Kenyans criticized for our boozing culture, but honestly, I have no problem with it.

Support for English league soccer. This took place over several years and is a display of frustration at the failure of local league soccer, so don't blame the victims (ManU fans, etc at Simmers, Choices, etc).

Local league soccer failed because Kenyans have poor administrative/managerial skills, which may be a result of a lack of public spirit. We are just mean selfish individualistic egotistical brats who cannot manage hard-working talented players. The cancer has reached the women's volleyball team. This is true even in business. We need to face these weaknesses head-on and deal with them as if we were fighting a water buffalo.

[froggy]

I find it hard to think about "middle class" without thinking about "income"

I think the income bracket is to some extent dictated by education level, and, to some extent dictates behaviour.

I have worked some in Germany where I lived in a poor working class neighborhood of Stuttgart, and I can tell you, Its cleaner than most of the middle class estates I have lived as I get shuttled from one Kenyan town to another. Middle class thinks like middle class - whether its Milimani in Kisumu, Ring Road in Nyeri or, yes, Buru Buru, the trend is the same: Lets show off to the lesser mortals.

Germans have more money than kenyans, but spend it much more frugally. A middle class german will shop at Aldi's (thriftstore chain) Look for the gas station with the Billig tanken (fill up cheap) and queue up for the sale at aisle 6. Here, who wants to be seen shopping at Ukwala even if its cheaper than Nakumatt?