A DAMNED KENYAN GRADUATE

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December 2013 saw many Kenyan university students graduating. Many conferred the power to read and do all things that pertains to reading. The smile in their faces said it all.

The graduation becomes a celebration, an emotional one (apart from the ceremony organized by the uni especially the public ones-it’s usually a miserable flop). Family members from grandmother to the distant cousins becomes part of these auspicious occasion. Those living under the rock, are fast shocked by the skimpily dressed college girls. They go an extra mile to mention names like- perverts. It is hard to convince such a person it is the way of life. Not mentioning, that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Majority come for the obvious reason of celebrating a first family degree. The very first course towards Middle Class. For others it is adding to the family title of a learned generation. A comrade struggles for 4, 5, or even 6 years for that elusive paper. However, it soon dawns; a degree is a family affair and not an individual achievement. A degree belongs to the whole community.

When all was said and done, reality checks in, a comrade realizes there is a thin line between fantasy and reality when tarmacking takes its course. The former classmate occasionally calls to inquire the life progress-prevails, while feigning consolation and assurances-‘things will fall into the right place’.

Not long, a lucky graduate secures an internship with a dream company. A 15k stipend will be a great contract, this call for a celebration. The party is briefly interrupted when one realizes the amount is taxable- Uncle Sam too needs to pay bills. HELB too will want to soak in that 15k pool in the name of a salary.

Rumors spread faster

By now the rumors albeit exaggerated, will have reached the village, that a comrade is employed at a blue chip company. The news throws the village into a frenzied celebratory mood. Aunt Truphena will be quick to mention how her prayers have been answered after a week-long of constant prayers and fasting. She will demand her share of the pie.

Family problems seem to bulge when a comrade gain employment. Yours will not be an exception. That distant cousin who sacrificed their meager earnings to attend the graduation with an expensive gift will want a special favor to sponsor one of their many children to college. There is pressure left right and center. The employer will cede to the HELB and KRA pressure and you start to realize why the economy is unbearable. That’s a damned life of a Kenyan graduate with an extended family.