Sprucing up for visitor Obama a mark of our culture

US President Barrack Obama will visit Kenya in about two weeks.

There have been many arguments about what he should and should not speak about, but we all acknowledge that these constitute a howling in the wind.

A lot of the emerging discourse focuses on what constitutes African culture and what is “foreign”, making it useful to interrogate this concept of “African culture” as it applies to Kenya.

At the outset, I must confess that I have always had trouble with this sweeping concept of African culture.

Work on this continent shows that the amount of diversity in cultures in Africa is far greater than the diversity available anywhere else in the world.

In other words, we can practically guarantee that any cultural attribute found anywhere in the world will be found in Africa as well.

Therefore, fulminating about African culture doesn’t provide much information to anyone really interested in learning anything about our cultures.

PANDEMONIUM

However, there might be common occurrences that can be truly characterised as Kenyan culture, especially with regard to what we do when we have visitors.

This is something a large number of cultural/linguistic groups in the country have in common. An imminent visit by a prominent person results in pandemonium of sorts.

Firstly, any visible thing that can be cleaned will be cleaned, or have its dirty side hidden and the clean side exposed. If this cannot be done, it will be moved into storage, out of sight of the visitor.

This applies to any unsightly object in the homestead, including people with habits considered to be unwholesome.

In some cases, children with disabilities and mentally ill people will be kept far out of sight until the visitor is long gone. They might even be shipped off to stay with distant relatives, especially if the visitor is staying for some time.

Secondly, everyone is exhorted to be on their best behaviour.

Annoying individuals are requested to put on a veneer of respectability, and particularly insufferable individuals are locked up temporarily until the visitor is long gone.

Finally, when the visitor arrives, a grand show is organised for his benefit. He finds only happy smiling faces everywhere he goes, with all people living in peace and harmony.

All the food will be of the best quality, the drinks will be specially made and even the furniture will either be new or covered in new upholstery.

There is even a Kiswahili saying, Mgeni njoo, mwenyeji apone, meaning the local resident is “saved” whenever there is a visitor!

We have been acutely reminded of this aspect of Kenyan culture in recent days, with ongoing “beautification” on all the routes the American president is expected to use.

Street children are being shipped out, and opposition noise-makers are being asked to tone it down for the duration of his visit.

Roads are being improved, hotels are being spruced up, and everyone is jumping through hoops to ensure that the visit is successful.

This particular Kenyan culture betrays the ruling elite’s disdain for the people they govern, so much so that they will spend more resources cleaning up for a visiting dignitary than on their own people.

However, since this is what also happens in our own homes, we can celebrate it as a truly Kenyan culture, with all its consequences for governance and accountability.

Prof Atwoli is associate professor of psychiatry and dean, Moi University’s school of medicine; [email protected]