• We ask that you be human and think of other Kenyans. A little road courtesy won't hurt
Last week, I made arrangements to meet one of the donors who support the work of Haki Africa. I was to travel to Nairobi from Mombasa on the afternoon flight, arrive around 1430 hours and proceed to the meeting, which was to be at 1630 hours.
Since nowadays Kenya Airways domestic flights are always almost on time, I was confident of arriving in Nairobi on time and using the two hours comfortably to get to the meeting venue in Upper Hill.
As I had hoped, the flight was on time and even arrived a few minutes earlier than expected. I proceeded to the taxi waiting area at JKIA and in a few minutes got into a cab. As we began to leave, we were directed by a traffic officer to use the back side of the airport to exit.
When we reached the exit, we met a long queue of vehicles. I asked the driver what was happening and he told me the President was about to use the airport so traffic was being diverted.
I told myself, “…okay, I’ll be held up a bit but I still have two hours to get to Upper Hill and that's not so bad”. I will make it, I convinced myself. I was going to sign a contract of a few million shillings. The meeting was therefore important to me, to Haki Africa and, of course, the beneficiaries of the project who are the poor people and vulnerable communities in various parts of the Coast.
To my horror, it was an hour before we actually exited the airport and got to Mombasa Road. All this while, no vehicle was moving and the President's motorcade was nowhere. On reaching Mombasa Road, we could see that traffic towards town was so heavy but the other side of the road towards the airport was clear in anticipation of the President's motorcade. I asked the taxi driver how often this happens and he told me during the week, it had happened several times.
When the President eventually passed and the traffic opened up, it was 15 minutes to my meeting time. Before we could even move, it was bumper to bumper and when I finally made it to the meeting venue, I was 45 minutes late.
The donors left after waiting for half an hour. I did not get to meet them. I did not sign the agreement that day. All because the President was using a public facility thousands, including myself, had to be inconvenienced to allow him, one person and his entourage, to use the roads.
So are we all equal before the law? Article 27 (1) of the Constitution says "Every person is equal before the law". So how equal is the President to the common man, particularly on traffic laws? Yes, we acknowledge that he is the Head of State and has far more important business to follow up on. But as he goes about his business of serving us, must he inconvenience multitudes? Should the head of state have traffic held up even when he is still showering in his bathroom? Can the traffic police do better to inconvenience the public less?
Better still, can State House work on an airstrip or helicopter pad that the President can use either to charter flights or even helicopters to take him to the airport and other nearby destinations? If private persons, including politicians, can afford choppers, surely State House can do the same for the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kenya.
Should the President and his traffic controllers get to read this article, we request that you be considerate. It doesn't harm to think of that matatu tout who needs to do the rounds to put food on the table for his family.
We ask that you think of that poor farmer who must deliver his produce to the supermarket before it closes. We ask that you consider the sick person who might need to make it to hospital in an ambulance to save his/her life. We ask that you be human and think of other Kenyans. A little road courtesy won't hurt.