What businessmen returning from rich nations must know

The reality of resettling back home

Many people do not understand that settling back in a country like Kenya from an extended stay in a developed country like the USA. is hard work and can turn into a career of sorts.

-R.L.O, Humphrey Fellow, University of Missouri 1999-2000

One of the hardest experiences my family and I had to bear was relocating to the USA for a one-year leadership development programme and returning home. The erroneous assumption we made is that this process comprised only minor hitches that we could overcome within weeks of arrival on either continent.

Nothing could have adequately prepared us for the wrenching transitions.Not even counselling and pre-departure briefings on the Kenyan side as we left for the USA nor the re-entry seminars.

We discovered upon our arrival in California that life in developed countries can, if one is not careful, lull a person to complacency arising from the sheer predictability of daily activities.

You apply for an ID and if successful, it’s posted to you within a week. If you pass the driver’s test (which you book online) you will have a scanned copy as you leave the Department of Motor Vehicles and a licence in your mail the next week.

Buses operate on a strict schedule (which can be annoying for those used to Kenya’s matatus). Distances are measured in terms of time, for example “20 min away” represents a distance of 10 -15 miles travelled in moderately heavy traffic. In Kenya, commuting from the CBD to Westlands can sometimes take longer than travelling from Westlands to Naivasha.

In the US, traffic lights function and motorists obey. I marvelled till got my first and only fine of $197 (Sh16,745) for a minor traffic offence. Then I understood that the tree of strict obedience to traffic codes is watered with hard-earned cash.

Returning to Kenya after a year was jarring. Right at the airport, I was greeted with the customary “umelete nini kutoka nje? (Have you carried for us gifts from abroad?).

Replacing my driving licence took from December 2, 2010 to June 19, 2011. It wasn’t the delay that was annoying, it was having to line up at the Kenya Revenue Authority headquarters for four hours on three occasions to extend the provisional licence as I waited for processing.

Having said that, I also observed the tremendous progress that Kenya made in my absence; the superhighways in their construction stages, the rigorous interviews for public servants and the vibrant development in the real estate sector.

The leader of family business who is determined to return home from a developed country does Kenya proud and should be commended.

Kenya is in need of their skills, expertise and, more importantly, their perspective on the little things that make countries work. Many local businesses would be transformed if they adopted some of the systems that are considered ordinary in developed countries.

‘Stop’ sign