The Kenyan Middle Class: The Silent Enablers Of National Decay And The Rot That Afflicts Kenya

The Kenyan middle class is a peculiar breed. Armed with degrees and diplomas, driving posh cars, and sipping lattes, they find solace in loans rather than holding the government accountable for how their taxes are used.

“A bird that rests on its perch doesn’t see the storm coming,” says an African proverb. And indeed, while they take loans to fuel their lifestyle, oblivious to the misuse of their hard-earned taxes, they fail to see the greater storm building from unchecked corruption. The solution, you ask? Well, perhaps a middle-class march to Treasury or Parliament would work, but alas, that requires time off work — which they simply can’t afford because their loan repayments are due.

Speaking of unaffordable luxuries, let’s talk about education. The middle class, in their infinite wisdom, has abandoned public schools for private institutions, where a “good education” costs a kidney or two. And if they run out of kidneys, there’s always a loan to patch things up. Instead of demanding better public schools through their tax contributions, they shield their children in the private system. “When the axe entered the forest, the trees said, ‘The handle is one of us.’” While they invest in the private sector, they forget that public schools remain neglected, and eventually, their own fate as citizens is intertwined with that of the public systems they ignore. But hey, at least their kids get an international curriculum, right?

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The same trend spills into healthcare. Why would a Kenyan middle-class citizen stand in line at Kenyatta Hospital when there’s an elite private hospital offering five-star treatment for the flu? Even if it means mortgaging their ancestral land, private hospitals are the place to be! Forget about demanding that public hospitals serve their purpose — the middle class prefers to beg, borrow, or fundraise for hospital bills while silently cursing the same system they fail to fix. “A man who uses his teeth to borrow salt forgets to ask for water to cook the meal,” a proverb wisely reminds us. Indeed, they borrow for treatment but forget to ask for accountability.

For those lucky enough to afford tickets and visas, leaving Kenya entirely is the next best option. Forget improving the job market here. Kenyan middle-class professionals are scattered in every corner of the globe, building someone else’s economy while leaving the job market at home in shambles. And still, they cry about unemployment. “You cannot climb the same tree twice,” warns an old saying, but the middle class is content to leave Kenya’s job market desolate rather than demand job creation policies at home.

Politics, though, that’s where things get mundane. Who has time for such trivial matters when there’s English Premier League to watch? “The stomach does not appreciate what the eye sees,” but for Kenya’s middle class, the eye is fixated on foreign entertainment while corruption and bad policy quietly eat away at their nation. Politicians count on this distraction to pass the most absurd laws in broad daylight, while the middle-class cheer for goals scored by teams they’ll never meet.

Even when it comes to serious issues, like crime or corruption, the middle class believes they are above it all. They might casually throw a glance at the rising crime rates but quickly brush it off — it’ll never happen to them, right? “The death that will kill a man begins as an appetite,” they say, but the middle class’s appetite for apathy grows stronger by the day, leaving the nation to rot from the inside out.

Their sense of entitlement extends to the roads, too. Traffic laws? Who needs them? Owning a black Prado or a white Mercedes is the ultimate pass to overlap, ignoring the plight of the common mwananchi stuck in endless traffic. “He who refuses to obey cannot command,” but in Kenya, the middle-class commands without obeying. It’s an unspoken rule on the highways, a reflection of how privilege distorts social order.

And let’s not forget the noble art of bribery. When the middle class is caught breaking the law, a quick bribe to the police suffices. Why go through the judicial system when a few thousand shillings can make the problem disappear? “The path is smooth, but don’t let it fool you; the jungle is nearby.” By constantly bribing their way out of trouble, the middle class contributes to the decay of justice, not realizing they too will soon be at the mercy of the corrupt system they’ve enabled.

The middle class’s fascination