For
a woman to be regarded a lady it is said that she must act like one. True.
However, the environment must also nurture that kind of growth. As much as the
Nairobi city center is inevitable for work and pleasure, it fails to offer a
conducive environment for ladies. These streets leave no room for elegance and
etiquette. Only recently did City Hall send a delegation of hawkers, matatu
operators and bodaboda riders to a bench-marking trip in Kigali, Rwanda.
Did they learn anything? Is the county government able to bring on some order
and sanity to the streets of Nairobi?
Take
for example the state of our roads, most of them lack designated crossing
points and even where there is one, motorists continue to ignore the traffic
rules as they speed off to reach their destinations. As a result, here is what
applies when crossing the road: Look left and then run to the middle of the
road as the speeding matatu misses
your back by a whisker then look right before crossing the rest of the road. In
between however, one has to make do with the bodaboda that pop
in from any given direction.
The
other challenge is the crowded state of the city center especially on weekdays.
To walk from the Koja
bus stop to down town Afya Center, a
lady has to maneuver through a whole lot of people including pesky parking
boys, menacing street boys, beggars and unruly hawkers. As a result, ladies
firmly clutch on to their handbags for the fear of any eventuality.
It
is enough that our roads are stressful to maneuver so when rain is added into
the picture, a lady will shed tears. The unprecedented pool of water that one
has to jump over is unbelievable. No wonder ladies carry two pairs of
shoes-adorable high heels for office and rough shoes just for the streets. When
a lady finally makes it to the bus stop, she still has to push through the
matatu door in the disorderly bus stops. There is no order or comfort on these
streets and the city center and the public transport is a mess.
If
the Nairobi County Government truly wants to improve the city environment, then
they must look at the solutions from a lady's point of view. Let the county
find ways to de-congest the city and apply by laws that will enable a conducive
environment for all.
