Why you might consider getting into Kenya in a motorbike and avoid flying into JKIA

Flying into Kenya is a whole different drama every time I do so.

Kenya Airways is the ''Pride of Africa'', so I'm told. But it sure doesn't feel like it, not for Kenyans.

In fact, it feels like Kenyans are the ones being taxed for the dying profit numbers. Case in point? The fact that Kenya Airways tickets – and Jambojet ones as well – are always higher than other airlines flying into the same destinations. And they're expensive, but they don’t have better planes or offer better service.

I wonder what that's about. According to two sources within Kenya Airways, Jambojet aircraft used old KQ planes painted over. That must have been true two years ago when I last flew Jambojet - the planes were creaking and I wondered why the pricing was not commensurate with the quality of the plane. The Jambojet website, however, now says that the airline operates a new fleet of aircraft averaging about a year old and wholly owned by the airline, so hopefully, no more creaking?

INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT?

Don't even get me started on how often there is a fire at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. For heaven's sake, we already had that one huge fire we should have learned from. We're an international airport, for Pete's sake! Why aren't there better measures in place to stop small fires? What standards are we upholding that even grant us that international airport status? Just because we have a flight going straight to New York doesn't mean that everything else on the ground, literally, is ok.

Because it's not. We (I say we, because it is obviously tax payer money. Whether you fly or not, you have paid for an airport that you may only use a few times in your life) paid 16 billion shillings (mostly from the World Bank, but who do you think is paying that back?) for a spanking new Terminal 1A which is, if you compare with other international airports, isn't a lot to write home about.

Why do I say this? I know it sounds like I'm looking down on my country, but I really feel for that amount of money we should have gotten a better deal – and I honestly believe we can do better. So this is more of a disappointment rant, rather than a we'll-never-be-good-nough rant.

HYGIENE

I will admit that the toilets are much better in Terminal 1A. Remember the old toilets that you couldn't even get into with your baggage, and they smelled from high heaven? And so there was no point going into the bathroom without baggage because someone would steal it or conveniently add an extra illegal package to your suitcase? So yes, the toilets are better, but the swankiness is not.

The cleanliness is not at the level of an airport that is supposed to be the financial and economic hub of East Africa, surely.

CUSTOMS

And then there's the issue of customs. I think I need to sit down with a tax lawyer who can explain to me why Kenyans are taxed so much and yet gain so little.

So, you go visiting abroad, or on holiday. Because you're on holiday, you might buy a trinket or two while over there. Rest assured, when you come back into your country, there is going to be a customs official asking you what you bought and why you bought it, how much you bought, and deciding how much it cost then taxing you for it.

But...but why is this a thing? You already spent money on the ticket that you were taxed for.

As soon as you leave the airport, you will start paying taxes again, whether in an Uber you take to get home, or the fuel you buy to get there (which will be higher than when you left). You paid tax for this item in that country, unless you bought something duty free at the airport. Why are you being taxed, more often than not again, exorbitantly, as if it is within the custom official's rights to decide a tax for you?

What nonsense is this, and where are our roads, our free education, our better terminals, our better, affordable healthcare, for which they collect this money? What exactly is the point of all this tax??

CORRUPTION

Unless of course, you use one of the guys in neon safety vests who come up to their targets sinuously, saying things like, ''You know, they are really checking people today, if you just slip me something small, I can walk you through because I work here...''

Yes, Kenyans, this is where we have gotten to. And I admit, I do, I was tempted. Not because I had any excess shopping, but because I know the type of power customs officials have, and which they can use to make your life miserable and your night very long. This is why most people pay bribes, isn't it?

A lot of the time, we're just trying to simply avoid the drama and the trumped-up charges that always seem inevitable. I was tempted. Did I take him up on his offer?

After a five-minute-long internal back and forth, I decided not to, because I was already riled up at having to pay anyone or anything in the first place, as if I had left on a luxury trip.

Either you're paying for having the audacity to procure a souvenir, or you're paying a seedy-looking chap to let you through with it. I was infuriated that I even had to panic about going through customs in the first place, as if I was a criminal! I had done nothing wrong but leave the country, which it would seem like our laws are ardently trying to make Kenyans do anyway.

We don't see where the money is going. Why should I pay more? I took my chances, decided to defend myself if need be, and walked into the 254.

Twitter: @AbigailArunga