This is us: The unspoken beauty of being Kenyan
Opinion
By
Faith Wekesa
| Oct 01, 2025
A rider came to my place of work the other day with some documents I needed to sign. I knew it would be the usual hurried exchange: Pick the documents, skim through, scribble my signature where required, hand them back and watch him zoom away. Instead, I got schooled on everything I had forgotten about us.
Dressed in the right gear, he greeted me so warmly I was taken aback. As I signed, the wind picked up and without hesitation, he moved to shield me so I could work comfortably. When I was done, I thanked him, expecting him to hop on his motorbike and zoom into the city’s chaos. Instead, he said “you first, madam,” while gesturing for me to go ahead. I was floored!
I walked back to the office replaying that simple yet profound encounter. Because this is us. This is the side of Kenya we often forget to speak about.
They are the VIPS who hold the lift open for you when you are rushing to get in. They are the motorists who slow down and flash their headlights to let you to cross a busy street then acknowledge your little wave with a cheerful honk. They are the ladies at the supermarket who allow you to jump the queue because all you have in your hand is a bottle of water and a deadline to beat. They are the mama mboga who, without being asked, offer tips on how to make mboga kienyeji because for them, it isn’t just another sale but a chance to share the beauty of sisterhood.
Everywhere, each day, they show up with a ray of warmth that remains undimmed, regardless of whatever unsettling things are happening on the outside.
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Perhaps, what embodies this Kenyan spirit can be summed up with what happened this past weekend when TikTokers came all out to support a young lad called Kaluma. He has been sharing his everyday life while nursing his ailing father. Without a politician rallying them, without a preacher threatening damnation and hellfire, without a thought about what may be in it for them, Kenyans simply showed up for one of their own.
Watching Kaluma overwhelmed on the podium and struggling to make sense of what had just happened will remain one of the most magical moments this country has witnessed. One TikToker said "I am going through a lot as we speak but, in this moment, I felt it was important for me to come and help Kaluma”. If this isn’t magic, I don’t know what is.
It is the same spirit that moves us to celebrate our athletes. We flood our timelines with their photos in jubilation even when we know we have no share in their reward. We set our clocks to cheer them on, willing them forward for the gold. And when they win, we celebrate their triumph for it is ours.
We are Kenyans. We own our space with pride because there is only one Kenya. We get disappointed sometimes. We are heartbroken by the few who fail, time and again, to grasp how special a people we are. But this is us.
We mourn with strangers and want the best for the person next door. We raise funds when we are barely surviving for people we do not know if only to lessen their burden. We celebrate love when it visits people we only know online. We call out bullies and criminals in the hope of building a better country. When the vulnerable among us are in danger, we become the country’s intelligence network, amplifying their plight, demanding justice for them. We go all out to celebrate our peer’s children when they hit milestones our own have yet to reach, dancing ourselves lame because their joy is ours just like their children are our children.
This is us. A people bound together by empathy, resilience and a brotherhood we defend so fiercely. And nothing, not hardship, not disappointment, not politics, should ever take away the magic of being Kenyan.
Ms Wekesa is a development communication consultant