The Bahatian

That mama mbogas are a hardworking lot is no contention. Some can invade markets as early as 3a.m to get the best of fresh products for their roadside stalls or to supply where they have landed lucrative contracts. A story is told of a banker who was surprised by the amount of money a thriving mama mboga used to deposit each other week. On questioning her closely, it is said he realized there was much money to be made out there than sitting in an expansively furnished office donning a suit and a tie daily - that he too ventured into green grocery business.   However, a close look at some of mama mboga run sheds returns a different narrative. Not all can fit the bill of the above highlighted example. Some of the makeshift sheds can be said to be fronts for illegal activities than genuine businesses. It behooves one's mind to learn, for example, that a mama mboga runs a green grocery business netting a daily profit of less than Sh300 but lives in a rental unit charging a mon...

Mr Mkulima is a farmer of renown this part of our village. He is a noted hardworking man no wonder praiseworthy names have been ascribed to him as titular honours. The one we've come to associate him with is that of Farmer Number One.   Before each planting season, he sets the precedent that other farmers emulate. If, for example, he begins clearing his shamba the residues of the last harvest, farmers likewise follows suit. This is irrespective if the rains are a month or two away. When you hear the villagers say that Mr Mkulima can forecast rains with an accuracy that can baffle the local weatherman, you better take cue and prepare your land accordingly.   That Mr Mkulima is an indisputably hard worker is reinforced by the fact he rises early and can be seen most of the day tending to his crops. Despite the fact most of farmers here owns pieces of land less than an acre in acreage, Mr Mkulima beats them hands down when it comes to harvesting. The much each farmer ...

  Dennis Thuita dropped out of Technical University of Mombasa where he was pursuing a degree in building and civil engineering. The latter was not an accredited course, which saw him forgo his studies and instead focus on being an artist. The early twenties artist doesn’t regret the path he took despite criticism from several quarters that he is wasting away ‘doing nothing’ instead of working in a white collar job. Art to him is like any other career that puts his food on the table as well as in meeting his other financial commitments. His tools of trade are ivory papers, pencils, brushes, canvases, acrylic and oil paints. Why the art?   I would be an engineer today or in another career field that is deemed ‘normal’ for a graduate and not being an artist. Art is something I have engaged in for so long and which has been part of my life. It is something in me – an innate skill. Back then when I was a pupil at St Lwanga Primary School in Bahati, Nakuru, I woul...

  Against the backdrop of the debate whether Nyandarua County headquarters should be in Nyahururu or Ol Kalou town, it is imperative the latter is showing much in terms of growth and investors confidentiality. A host of storied buildings are coming up on every other corner of this one street town as investors, particularly real estate developers, flocks in.   The main town street, unfortunately, is not paved, and when contrasted with the recently cobblestoned matatu terminus, makes for an ironical observation when it rains as being the muddy strip connecting the town to the tarmarked main roads (Ol Kalou-Dundori and Ol Kalou-Nyahururu-Gilgil routes).

Philip Mainge Wanjohi is a lover of written word and an advocate for establishing of libraries at ward levels to foster a reading culture. The man in his seventies is rooting for every ward in Kenya to have what he terms as Community Library Services, CLS, which will promote an interest in reading at grassroots levels, seeing that many jobless youths are wasting away in rural areas engaging in unproductive habits like gambling and drugs.  You are an advocate for library services at the ward levels countrywide to foster a reading culture, why are you championing this? I have read over 2000 books on various genres and the impact they left on me is immense. I was an avid book worm at the Kenya Library Services, Nakuru branch, for many years, and having read a great many books, I realized reading is informative and educative and our young generation of today should embrace reading, not only in classes for purpose of passing examinations like in set books, but as part of rec...

Chidi Nwosu is a self-published Nigerian poet with his works appearing in different journals and anthologies. The man who is in early fifties divides his time between Mozambique and Zimbabwe (currently residing in the latter) where he works as an entrepreneur. Not a single day passes without him posting a poem or two, as part of his pastime, on social media forums and sites like the Free Poetic Universe and others. Here, he gives his take on poetry and why he chose this path. You have this passion for poetry and no day passes without you posting a poem or two. Why love for poems over other literary genres? My love for literature started way back in high school. I later went to the university and studied English language and literature for my first degree. Among other genres of literature, I find poetry easy to read, grasp, interpret and write. I like the condensation of words in poetry; using too few words to say much, unlike in prose. It may also be because I am a natur...

Today’s modern parents have become too soft and lenient with their children. Discipline is no longer meted out as harshly as in the days of yore no wonder many parents are bringing up spoilt children. There is also the notion that pampering the kids is the best way to bring them up.   And with many of today’s couples working, it is clear some do not have time to be with their children unless on the weekends or on rare occasions. Young children from as few months old are increasingly being dropped at daycare centres and picked up in the evenings. Others are left at the hands of the nannies or house helps.   No longer do we see families at meals together with meals being eaten at separate times depending on the time individual family members’ gets home. That the family set-ups are slowly disintegrating and going the way of some in the Western nations is not in contention.