Early this week I visited a national monument in Nairobi which I had written about in 2016. The purpose of my visit was to inspect the building and find out whether any changes had taken place since my last visit four years ago. As I entered the building, I met a gentleman who politely asked if I needed help. Upon informing him the purpose of my visit he quickly retorted that I need not proceed any further because nothing has been done since, if anything the condition of the building had continued deteriorating, pointing to a leaky ceiling in the foyer.
The gentleman then proceeded to engage me in an unsolicited harangue on how the concept of maintenance is completely alien to African culture. He posited that since Africans were largely migratory, they did not have a sense of permanence as they moved from place to place in search of pasture for their animals and food for themselves. In the event, Africans did not build permanent structures nor did they see the need to maintain their temporary ones. By his reckoning death was final and there was no afterlife in African culture therefore there was no need to preserve anything. He went on to state that even in the upmarket neighbourhood where he lives today, he found it impossible to rally his neighbours together to maintain potholed roads and street lights, notwithstanding that many of them are senior government officials and executives in the private sector who should know better.
