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Utakuwa una lako jambo wewe Mkenya
Utakuwa una lako jambo wewe MkenyaA Kenyan journalist’s experience in Tanzania Last week, I took a trip from my work routine at Pulse Live Kenya to cool off in Tanzania.
A close friend has been working as an expatriate in Dar es Salaam for a couple of months and we decided to surprise him with a visit as we took time to recharge from our respective work stations.
It was meant to be a week of what we call boys being boys, exporting our Nairobi
“misbehavior” to a foreign city.
The trip turned up just fine but it also offered many points of reflection, some of
which I wish to share with Kenyans.
Growing up in Kenya, I would occasionally hear of the low opinion Kenyans had towards their southern neighbor.
Public infrastructure “A Tanzanian coming to Nairobi is more excited than a Kenyan visiting London,” I would hear.
It was therefore a surprise that Tanzania has much better quality of roads than Kenya.
The Nairobi Namanga highway is perhaps one of the bestvroads in Kenya but it does not match the quality that has been put up on the Tanzania side (Namanga to Arusha).
The two roads are just as smooth but unlike Kenya, the Tanzanian side is well marked with appropriate headlight illuminated markings.
A file photo of Kigamboni Bridge one of the major infrastructure development projects in Dar es Salaam Beyond Arusha, we moved further south to Moshi, to Lushoto, and eventually to Dar es Salaam – with the same experience of smooth, well- marked roads with very bumps.
While moving from Dar, we decided to use a different route via Bagamoyo and Tanga, and entered Kenya via the Lunga Lunga.
In all the nearly 1500 kilometres of highways in Tanzania, we had not witnessed a single pothole and not even a minor road accident.
The return to Kenya was a painful reminder of the numerous potholes that dot our roads but also something we had not yet put a finger on.
Roads in Kenya are very rough and rugged even when they are fully tarmacked – mainly because corrupt officials allow overloaded trucks to the detriment of the roads and safety of road users.
The highlight, for me, was the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Dar es Salaam,
popularly known as Mwendo wa Kasi.
Unlike the shoddy planning of BRT in Kenya, the Tanzanian one has picked up well and has well-designed and dedicated lane which other motorists cannot join - complete with several termini that connects the suburbs to the CBD.
The BRT project in Dar es Salaam makes a joke of the red line that was introduced
here in Kenya The BRT project in Dar es
Salaam makes a joke of the red line that was introduced here in Kenya Social Values Beyond the infrastructure,
perhaps the greatest lesson was on the Tanzanian shared national culture.
While heading out of Bagamoyo towards Tanga, our bus stopped for passengers to
buy provisions but left before a hawker could refund Tsh6000 (about Ksh300)
change.
As we relayed our sorries to the affected passengers, we noticed the hawker atop a boda boda, signaling for our attention.
The boda boda overtook us and proceeded to wait for ourb bus at the next weigh bridge (yes even buses are subjected to a weight check!).
He returned the change minus the boda boda fare – much to the shock of my friend and I who were sure the man had
closed his kiosk early!
Of course, it was a non-event to the Tanzanians who have inculcated a culture of high integrity in all the spheres of their life.
In the streets, we observed all motorists were stopping at a zebra-crossing even when there was no pedestrian crossing, and stopping at every red light even when the road was clear. Unlike in Kenya where the sight of an emaciated drunkard has become normal, there was none in Tanzania.
This is perhaps because most Tanzanians are able to afford quality beer – a bottle goes for as low as Sh70 compared to Kenya where government taxation have pushed beer prices to between Sh160 and
Sh300.
There is also Konyagi - the Tanzanian national drink that is manufactured through hygienic production of what is
referred to as chang’aa in Kenya.
Quality of life In terms of private-sector infrastructure, Kenya is far ahead of Tanzania.
There are little or no maisonettes in their city estates, their malls are a far cry from what we have here in Kenya – the Garden Citys and Two Rivers of this world.
However, I realized that there is a very small gap between the rich and the poor. If you ask me, there is little that a man in Kibera benefits from the Hub Mall in Karen – or in the big mansions that surround his ramshackle.
There are poor people in Tanzania but their relative quality in life is much betterthan their Kenyan counterparts.
Most f the rural folk have access to electricity and although there are slums in
Dar es Salaam – they are significantly less populated than what we have here in
Nairobi.
Tanzania has invested in its people’s healthcare and I observed several public hospitals in my safari – most admirable being the Ocean Road Cancer Institute – next to State House Dar es Salaam. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Cancer patients in Tanzania have a right to be treated for free, once they are diagnosed.
I hope Kenya will rise up to the challenge and take up its leadership role in the region, not just in enabling the private
sector, but also uplifting citizen welfare by investing in the soft elements of public
well-being.
An open minded kenyan non biased and truth tellers,ugonjwa wa kupindisha ukweli ni ugonjwa mbaya sana, you see a reality and facts the you bend it tukitengeneza tabia ya kunyoosha mambo tutasonga sana mbele.Utakuwa una lako jambo wewe Mkenya
You are completely misleading and trying to go out of point. This man categorically and knowingly chose four to five basic indicators and compared them between Kenya and Tanzania.A question must be well defined before it can be answered in a meaningful way. Oftentimes, perspective matters a lot.
The same reason that would make someone say Kenya is a better country than Tanzania, say, its long standing free market tradition, would give another pause and cause him to say Tanzania, due to its stint as a socialist economy, has evolved to be a society with some semblance of desirable equality at a level that Kenya cannot claim to have.
The author passingly hinted at that.
So, before applying some litmus test in order to test acidity, we must agree on what is blue and what is red.
Lest we confuse the issues when you call red blue and blue red, and I call red red and blue blue, and we both see blue, and mean blue, but you call it red, and I call it blue.
He has been criticized as having visited only a small corridor of the country and making wide conclusions.You are completely misleading and trying to go out of point. This man categorically and knowingly chose four to five basic indicators and compared them between Kenya and Tanzania.
Those indicators which he chose, are the one which can be easily seen and are the basic important for well being of every human being, things like Hospitals, roads, electricity, water, housing and food.
This man had no intention of doing any research or any comparison, his intention was to visit his from in Dar, therefore his sampling method was very much random, there is no bias at all, good thing is that he used two different roads, Nairobi to Dar via Arusha and Moshi, and his way back used Dar, Tanga, Mombasa to Nairobi.He has been criticized as having visited only a small corridor of the country and making wide conclusions.
Therefore, even within those indicators, a clear and adequate sample space is crucial.
Else, one could be accused of cherry picking areas of interest.
This is where my point comes in. We must agree on definitions and metrics before delving into questions at any depth.
Because it is very easy to shroud any hastily arrived at conclusion under subjectivity.
You can agree with him only if the granularity presented is deemed sufficient.This man had no intention of doing any research or any comparison, his intention was to visit his from in Dar, therefore his sampling method was very much random, there is no bias at all, good thing is that he used two different roads, Nairobi to Dar via Arusha and Moshi, and his way back used Dar, Tanga, Mombasa to Nairobi.
He covered at least 1500Km in Tanzania side alone, this distance is big enough to know conditions of Tanzanian roads. Also through this distance anybody can understand the conditions of lives in the villages.
One thing you should understand is that, what he wrote, was his observation based on his short stay in Tanzania.We can agree with him by 98%, because we know both countries.
Yeye ameona hivyo.Nimesema mara nyingi Mkenya yeyote anayeingia Tanzania na kugeuza ndani ya siku chache lazima atoke na misifa maana usipokua makini Watanzania ni wajuzi na wasanii sana kwenye kuficha mapungufu yao, lazima uishi nao kwa muda ndio uanze kuona yote nyuma ya pazia.
Hii ripoti ya huyu jamaa hata sijaisoma yote maana imesheheni makosa mengi sana kwa wale tunaijua Bongo hatuwezi kuisoma yote. Kicheko sana kusema ati Watanzania wote huheshimu alama za barabara, kwamba hamna barabara zenye mashimo Tanzania, Watanzania wote ni wakarimu, Watanzania wote ni waaminifu, hata hiyo BRT huonekana nzuri sana ukiwa nje unapiga mapicha, lakini thubutu kutumia usafiri wake ndio ukome......Yaani hamna haja ya kusoma yote maana amenikumbusha nilivyokua natiririka misifa ya Tanzania wiki ya kwanza kuishi huko.
A Kenyan journalist’s experience in Tanzania Last week, I took a trip from my work routine at Pulse Live Kenya to cool off in Tanzania.
A close friend has been working as an expatriate in Dar es Salaam for a couple of months and we decided to surprise him with a visit as we took time to recharge from our respective work stations.
It was meant to be a week of what we call boys being boys, exporting our Nairobi
“misbehavior” to a foreign city.
The trip turned up just fine but it also offered many points of reflection, some of
which I wish to share with Kenyans.
Growing up in Kenya, I would occasionally hear of the low opinion Kenyans had towards their southern neighbor.
Public infrastructure “A Tanzanian coming to Nairobi is more excited than a Kenyan visiting London,” I would hear.
It was therefore a surprise that Tanzania has much better quality of roads than Kenya.
The Nairobi Namanga highway is perhaps one of the bestvroads in Kenya but it does not match the quality that has been put up on the Tanzania side (Namanga to Arusha).
The two roads are just as smooth but unlike Kenya, the Tanzanian side is well marked with appropriate headlight illuminated markings.
A file photo of Kigamboni Bridge one of the major infrastructure development projects in Dar es Salaam Beyond Arusha, we moved further south to Moshi, to Lushoto, and eventually to Dar es Salaam – with the same experience of smooth, well- marked roads with very bumps.
While moving from Dar, we decided to use a different route via Bagamoyo and Tanga, and entered Kenya via the Lunga Lunga.
In all the nearly 1500 kilometres of highways in Tanzania, we had not witnessed a single pothole and not even a minor road accident.
The return to Kenya was a painful reminder of the numerous potholes that dot our roads but also something we had not yet put a finger on.
Roads in Kenya are very rough and rugged even when they are fully tarmacked – mainly because corrupt officials allow overloaded trucks to the detriment of the roads and safety of road users.
The highlight, for me, was the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in Dar es Salaam,
popularly known as Mwendo wa Kasi.
Unlike the shoddy planning of BRT in Kenya, the Tanzanian one has picked up well and has well-designed and dedicated lane which other motorists cannot join - complete with several termini that connects the suburbs to the CBD.
The BRT project in Dar es Salaam makes a joke of the red line that was introduced
here in Kenya The BRT project in Dar es
Salaam makes a joke of the red line that was introduced here in Kenya Social Values Beyond the infrastructure,
perhaps the greatest lesson was on the Tanzanian shared national culture.
While heading out of Bagamoyo towards Tanga, our bus stopped for passengers to
buy provisions but left before a hawker could refund Tsh6000 (about Ksh300)
change.
As we relayed our sorries to the affected passengers, we noticed the hawker atop a boda boda, signaling for our attention.
The boda boda overtook us and proceeded to wait for ourb bus at the next weigh bridge (yes even buses are subjected to a weight check!).
He returned the change minus the boda boda fare – much to the shock of my friend and I who were sure the man had
closed his kiosk early!
Of course, it was a non-event to the Tanzanians who have inculcated a culture of high integrity in all the spheres of their life.
In the streets, we observed all motorists were stopping at a zebra-crossing even when there was no pedestrian crossing, and stopping at every red light even when the road was clear. Unlike in Kenya where the sight of an emaciated drunkard has become normal, there was none in Tanzania.
This is perhaps because most Tanzanians are able to afford quality beer – a bottle goes for as low as Sh70 compared to Kenya where government taxation have pushed beer prices to between Sh160 and
Sh300.
There is also Konyagi - the Tanzanian national drink that is manufactured through hygienic production of what is
referred to as chang’aa in Kenya.
Quality of life In terms of private-sector infrastructure, Kenya is far ahead of Tanzania.
There are little or no maisonettes in their city estates, their malls are a far cry from what we have here in Kenya – the Garden Citys and Two Rivers of this world.
However, I realized that there is a very small gap between the rich and the poor. If you ask me, there is little that a man in Kibera benefits from the Hub Mall in Karen – or in the big mansions that surround his ramshackle.
There are poor people in Tanzania but their relative quality in life is much betterthan their Kenyan counterparts.
Most f the rural folk have access to electricity and although there are slums in
Dar es Salaam – they are significantly less populated than what we have here in
Nairobi.
Tanzania has invested in its people’s healthcare and I observed several public hospitals in my safari – most admirable being the Ocean Road Cancer Institute – next to State House Dar es Salaam. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Cancer patients in Tanzania have a right to be treated for free, once they are diagnosed.
I hope Kenya will rise up to the challenge and take up its leadership role in the region, not just in enabling the private
sector, but also uplifting citizen welfare by investing in the soft elements of public
well-being.
Nimesema mara nyingi Mkenya yeyote anayeingia Tanzania na kugeuza ndani ya siku chache lazima atoke na misifa maana usipokua makini Watanzania ni wajuzi na wasanii sana kwenye kuficha mapungufu yao, lazima uishi nao kwa muda ndio uanze kuona yote nyuma ya pazia.
Hii ripoti ya huyu jamaa hata sijaisoma yote maana imesheheni makosa mengi sana kwa wale tunaijua Bongo hatuwezi kuisoma yote. Kicheko sana kusema ati Watanzania wote huheshimu alama za barabara, kwamba hamna barabara zenye mashimo Tanzania, Watanzania wote ni wakarimu, Watanzania wote ni waaminifu, hata hiyo BRT huonekana nzuri sana ukiwa nje unapiga mapicha, lakini thubutu kutumia usafiri wake ndio ukome......Yaani hamna haja ya kusoma yote maana amenikumbusha nilivyokua natiririka misifa ya Tanzania wiki ya kwanza kuishi huko.
Wivu mbaya sana jirani.....Hehehe! Wala sijapinga ni kweli kuna mazuri Tanzania, ila ukikaa huko siku mbili na kugeuza utaimba sifa za Tanzania maana mlivyo wajanja wa kuficha.
Alichoandika huyu jamaa kikitafsiriwa kwa Kiswahili Watanzania wengi wataishia kuchekelea pembeni.
Nahisi atakua anatafuta kandarasi kama aliyopata yule dada yetu Mumbi kwenye Youtube, maana kwenu huko ukiimba mapambio ya misifa unakua na uhakika wa kuteuliwa, hata wana habari humu JF siku hizi ni full mapambio.
Hehehehe!! Haya basi wacha na mimi nijiunge kwenye kuimba misifa ili twende pamoja
Tanzania barabara zote zimenyooka hamna mashimo sehemu hata moja
Tanzania wote wakarimu
Huibiwi Tanzania maana wote waaminifu....naifkiri mkulu alikosea kusema kuna baadhi walikua wanaiba mafuta kwenye lile janga
Umeme umeunga kwenye nyumba zote
Huduma za afya zipo kote
Subiri nikipata nafasi nitatafsiri misifa yote hadi mpate raha anayopata mtu anapojipiga nyeto....hehehehe
Where is your Swahili?A question must be well defined before it can be answered in a meaningful way. Oftentimes, perspective matters a lot.
The same reason that would make someone say Kenya is a better country than Tanzania, say, its long standing free market tradition, would give another pause and cause him to say Tanzania, due to its stint as a socialist economy, has evolved to be a society with some semblance of desirable equality at a level that Kenya cannot claim to have.
The author passingly hinted at that.
So, before applying some litmus test in order to test acidity, we must agree on what is blue and what is red.
Lest we confuse the issues when you call red blue and blue red, and I call red red and blue blue, and we both see blue, and mean blue, but you call it red, and I call it blue.
What you fail to understand is that, this is not a research or formal collection of data, whereby someone needs to use scientific approach, then you can agree or disagree scientifically. How can you challenge scientifically while the method used is not scientific one?.You can agree with him only if the granularity presented is deemed sufficient.
Others have objected. Deeming that granularity insufficient to warrant such wideranging conclusions.
Any agreement or disagreement is not meaningful if even the measuring granularity is not agreed upon.
It is like disagreeing or agreeing using different measuring units that have no conversion rate.
Why do you need consesus in standards to have meaningful comparisons only in scientific circles?What you fail to understand is that, this is not a research or formal collection of data, whereby someone needs to use scientific approach, then you can agree or disagree scientifically. How can you challenge scientifically while the method used is not scientific one?.
We all know different methods of conducting researches, or formal way of collecting data, these have got their principles and laws which govern those procedures, if someone decides to use these, the he/she is obliged to use those what you are suggesting here, other wise if he/she decides to use informal means of collection, then his/her observation remains to be informal conclusion/observation which should not be challenged scientifically.
My Swahili went to Turks and Caicos for summer vacation.Where is your Swahili?
If not seen please do it in Sukuma....
Usijisumbue bure watz tumeshajua mnapoishi wakenya !!! Inashangaza kumsikia mkenya akisema haya maneno" KENYA YETU" Kenya inawenyewe ,tena ni wakikuyu ,tena siyo wakikuyu wote, tena wakikuyu wenye Kenya yao hawazisi laki 2,Kenya watu wanaishi kwenye Estates na Apartments sio kama huku bongo tunaishi kwenye mapango na matundu ya njiwa au juu ya miti
The fact that he tries to explain what he saw in TZ vs KE, it can easily challenged by a person who also visited these two countries and did the same observation voluntarily, and volunteered to share his/her opinion unprovoked. Not through scientific means, because the whole exercised was not scientifically prepared.Why do you need consesus in standards to have meaningful comparisons only in scientific circles?
If this is not a research or formal collection of data, and the author claims it is neither, why are you criticizing it as if it is?