Kenya is not for beginners – another lesson I learned ‘kwa ground’. I migrated back to Kenya in 2020, reverse migration if you will – I had lived in Australia 13 years by that point, and after slowly and gradually losing a battle with the voices in my head, I tendered my resignation in favour of the unknown, unexplainable forces were pulling me back home.
To the untrained eye including my own, my choices made little sense. Worse still, it’s a severely impossible feat to attempt to explain choices resulting from voices that only I can hear.
In my case, what I can say for sure is that it was time. I had unlocked what felt like the final level in a career I loved deeply and that I miss often.
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I represented workers in the media, entertainment and arts industry as an employment lawyer, advocating for their rights for fair remuneration, fair contracts, safe working conditions and due process in the course of their employment.
I also moonlighted as a writer and was heavily involved in community work, but I had arrived at a crossroads – it was either I continue to pursue growth in my career and dedicate myself to my profession, or I hang up my gloves so to speak in search of my next adventure.
Spoiler alert: you only need one look at my sons to know that my decision to move back, including anything I have experienced since 2020, has been necessary if I get to be their mum in this and every lifetime beyond this one.
Relocating to Kenya presented a reverse culture shock that every now and then, continues to tap dance on my last nerve in certain moments like any task involving services from government agencies.
Having moved back to Kenya days before the Covid-19 pandemic brought the entire world to a standstill, I obviously had no idea how life would unfold in the most uncertain times.
My first real mental struggle was navigating the job market in Kenya. In Australia, I was accustomed to my CV doing all the legwork, whereas Kenya required me to partake in a kind of ‘tarmacking’ I had never done before.
It was akin to an endless humiliation ritual to attend meetings and interviews where bold promises were made but never fulfilled.
In some instances, meetings agreed to and booked in advance were simply disregarded without further thought or notice – none of it made sense to me.
Surely, my CV spoke for itself? Unfortunately, opportunities in Kenya come about mostly as a direct result of who you know – your networks are quite literally your net worth.
This kind of culture bestows God-like powers on those in positions to grant these opportunities, and that in itself is a beast that needs to be slain because it never accounts for merit.
What then befalls someone who had not lived in the country 13 years, and whose networks dried up outside the gates of high school?
– The writer is a Kenyan-Australian lawyer and podcaster in Nairobi
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By Dorcas Mbugua