The Somalification of Nairobi?

[Nin-Yaaban]

The Somalification of Nairobi

Written by a somali

27th November 2007

 

The Somalification of Nairobi

 

And the Nairobification(And somewhat Kenyanification) of Somalis....

 

Home is where the heart is they say, my heart is divided and split between my ancestral home and my adopted home. Kenya is home and so is the USA; I am torn between two homes. I missed Minneapolis when I was back in Kenya am missing kenya now that i am in MPLS. I wish the distance wasn’t that far .Oh well, I hope to make up my mind one of these days.

 

Anyway, i was talking about Nairobi and how it’s been somalified. Theres roughly about 1.7million Somalis in Kenya today; of this number a good number of 700K of these millions probably reside in Nairobi and the number is fast increasing. Nairobi is undoubtly not my home, although it?s become home to thousands of Somalis, well to do and really commercial Somalis. Sometimes I wondered if there were Somalis left in Somalia and anywhere else Somalis live in this world, I mean Nairobi has become little Somalia, it's becoming a Somali city, and when I say Nairobi, I don’t mean Eastleigh(Islii) and the Somali dominant boroughs, I am talking about downtown Nairobi and the larger Nairobi area. Entrepreneur rich Somalis have taken over the central business district of Nairobi and transformed those formerly Indian owned shops into stalls full of affordable clothing for all east Africans(yes, Uganda Tz and Burundi Rwanda and the new Sudan included).

 

Estates that were formerly owned by Indians and Kenyans have been demolished and in came new modern houses, owned and operated by Somalis. Old Nairobi estates are being demolished, Most of these homes are owned by Somali expats in the UK and us and the larger Diaspora. Nairobi has been somalified. Kenyans have been somalified, Somalis have been kenyanised. The trend is not about to stop. Matter of fact it’s on an upward surge, a non stop build up. Pretty soon Somalis will be CEOs and CFOs of large Kenyan companies. They are buying shares and stakes in large Kenyan corporations from cell phone companies to small corps to buses. Nairobi has become the city that has the richest Somalis anywhere in the world. Not even Mogadishu and the UK and US have that many millionaires in one area!

 

You cannot tell anymore the difference between a sujuu (native Somalis) and mlendos aka soo galotis (refugees). Of course non Somalis can never tell the difference between a sujuu and a non sujuu one, but even I could not tell the difference. The sujuus speak flawless Somali(Finally!), the mlendos rap in the latest sheng and Swahili, the kenyatis now speak Somalis. Theres a new found mutual respect between the Mlendos(Fugees) and the Sujuus. An understanding and a business relationship. The sujuus have realised that somalis are here to stay and that they must respect the shrewdness and their business prowess.The Mlendos have accepted that the need the sujuus to survive.In came a symbiosis like relationship(Hopefully this will last forever).They finally saw that they needed one another.

 

Somalis have gone beyond Eastleigh; they have now started moving to downtown Nairobi that is because Eastleigh has become too small for their vast growing pace. Also because eastleigh is unsafe and the roads and the sanitations are bad. Indian shop owners of the early 90s are being forced out (Business wise) by young and very business minded "Walalos" or "Waryaas" as the kenyatid fondly call us. It’s beautiful i tell you folks.One time in downtown Nairobi, this kenyati taxi driver was calling on me. ?Kaalay abtii, taxi ma rabtaa!? I laughed and I ended up taking him. He impressed me really. He knows his clientele. Schools are full of young vibrant Somali kids, uniform and all topped with a cute hijab. Somalis will be Somalis though?, I saw a bunch of youngsters speaking loudly(in somalis) in downtown Nairobi in a fish and chips cafe(Yummy,i miss it).

 

Gone are the days where Somalis were harassed by Kenyan police. That is because the police commissioner is a Somali. He issues a staring order not to ever arrest a Somali. No more "Leta kitambulisho"(Bring your ID) and the money extortion. Of the 2months I was there, never was I ever asked for my I Compare that to the previous years when I was in a fight with Kenyan police almost every night. (They expect me not to roam in the night, hey I was a night crawler, still was on my vacation ) So for those worried and afraid of Kenyati police, NO NEED TO WORRY!! .Nairobi is now owned by Somalis waryaada. Even Some Somali words have even been incorporated in the local street sheng language (sheng is the combination of English, Swahili and native languages). I was shocked when I heard Kenyans speaking Somali words. The Kenyans have accepted Somalis (about time, we liberated them from Indians) and they appreciate it for real. It’s something that is unimaginable. The rate at which the Somalis are investing in Nairobi is really a trend that’s somewhat worrying; in the sense that traditional greater Somalia towns are being ignored (including Nfd & ******ia.).But in the world of global business, I think one need not to worry.

 

Nairobi was fun;I really enjoyed it so much.

 

I need to go know. I have not edited this piece, so if it doesn’t make sense, oh well.

 

See you anyway.

[OdaySomali]

Thanks for telling us about your experience there. Good stuff.

[Nin-Yaaban]

I didn't write that.

[OdaySomali]

lol ok post source if you would mind.

[Nin-Yaaban]

Ok. I got it off this BB board. http://www.mashada.com/forums/general-discussion-life-opinions-advice/54690-somalification-nairobi.html

[Yunis]

^Good thing you added a question mark after that ridiculous title. I couldn't read on after 'Anyway,'

[Nin-Yaaban]

Yunis;891887 wrote:

^Good thing you added a question mark after that ridiculous title. I couldn't read on after 'Anyway,'

That's to show that 'Somalia iyo Kenya' ineey isku dhex jiraan oo aanan kalam maarmeen. Waxa hada socdo, markeey dhamaadaan, ma maleeynayo ineey wax saas u weyn is badali doonaan, ganacsi ahaan.