Kenya should support, not criminalise, resourceful people

What you need to know:

  • Fortunately, or unfortunately, when something doesn’t work, we either sit down and bear it and bury our heads in the sand until it changes, or doesn’t
  • I don’t know if the county commissioner was frightened by our Honourable Head of State’s declaration
  • Also, there is the small fact that John wasn’t selling train tickets but providing a delivery service

In true Kenyan fashion, John Wasonga saw a need and chose to make money from it.

His business idea was an informal over-the-phone arrangement to deliver tickets to wherever he was sent, mostly because there was an opportunity that, once again, the powers that be had not catered for.

In my previous blog, I talked about the need to make ticketing more convenient.

To purchase these tickets, you had to go all the way to the train station in Syokimau (or in Miritini, if you are in Mombasa) to buy them. Recently they introduced an M-Pesa option, but I haven’t heard of anyone who has actually used it. Personally, I don't trust the system enough to chance showing up at 8 am in the morning with a plan only to be told that the M-Pesa ticket is invalid.

Why? Because the Standard Gauge Railway has not yet streamlined its information centres. When you call the numbers, they might not be picked up.

In the rare chance someone answers, the person gives contradictory information concerning the tickets, which is why we ended up going to the train station on two separate times, unnecessarily so, because of conflicting information.

The point is, getting tickets for the SGR train is hard.

CHALBI DESERT

An enterprising Kenyan saw this hardship and decided to provide a service that would help many: going to the station, buying and delivering tickets, at a fee of course, to save Kenyans the trouble.

Because this is the Kenyan way, isn’t it? Fortunately, or unfortunately, when something doesn’t work, we either sit down and bear it and bury our heads in the sand until it changes, or doesn’t.

It’s the ‘accept and move’ on philosophy, the kind that washes over us every time we feel enfeebled by the pointlessness of our politics or the salaciousness of another even more unbelievably large-scale scandal. It’s what we do.

We can do something different, though. We can build our own way out of the mess and create something that makes life easier for the Kenyans in trouble, you see?

If there is a matatu strike, we carpool. If vegetables aren’t fresh or they're being injected with chemicals to make them bigger and last longer, we start growing them in our back yards.

If a supermarket has shelves emptier than the middle of the Chalbi Desert, we start sourcing from neighbours and sharing tips on where butter or tissue or other deals can be found. It’s the Kenyan way.

Shortly after putting together his plan, John was arrested for, according to the County Commissioner for Mombasa, overpricing the train tickets.

WHIFF OF DISOBEDIENCE

I don’t know if the county commissioner was frightened by our Honourable Head of State’s declaration on how severely those who tamper with the SGR will be treated, – specifically, that anyone who uproots the rails will be hanged (let’s discuss the fact that that statement is completely illegal another day).

That probably put the fear of God in this poor guy, who maybe wanted to act fast before a finger was pointed at him, in his own county.

Because, you know, we have already seen what happens when you follow the President around like a wife, and he doesn’t like it. How much worse would it get if there was a whiff of disobedience, with the threat of a non-existent hanging process hanging (ha!) over your head?

Also, there is the small fact that John wasn’t selling train tickets but providing a delivery service. Last time I checked, if you’re not doing your job, you shouldn’t be mad if someone else does it and profits off of your failure.

Delivery isn’t illegal in Kenya, is it? Or will we need marriage certificates to prove…something or the other?

John Wasonga was released, eventually. Which is a good thing, because now he can continue to try and make a living in a ridiculous economy where most of his country, and most of that railway, for the next couple of years, anyway, doesn’t belong to him.

Twitter: @AbigailArunga