Of matatus, daily commute and lessons from a walking nation

Students along Jogoo Road walk to school on Day Two of the public transport crisis. Kenyans are still smarting from a week that started with postponed meetings, stalled business and the stale smell of death as the authorities clashed with what Senegalese writer Sembene Ousmane calls God’s Bits of Wood – the hoi polloi – over the rising price of fuel. And though things eased somewhat towards the end of the week, there were all sorts of conspiracy theories as to why the organisers called off the strike before its objectives were met. This led to a perplexing situation where the same people who argued their lives had ground to a halt started complaining about a strike ended before its initial objectives were met. Trust Kenyans to weave lots of conspiracy theories into any space where there is lack of clarity.