Roommate chronicles: The good, bad and messy

In many of Kenya’s urban areas, sharing a house or apartment with a roommate is like a rite of passage for many young people who are either university students or young professionals.

As they try to live comfortably while managing the high cost of living, sharing a house can also become a good experience characterised by laughter, personal growth, and at times long-term friendships.

To some, however, it is a bad experience riddled with conflict and frustration. Such is the case of Marion, a 24-year-old graphic designer, who moved in with her campus friend immediately after school.

“At first, everything was going great,” she tells Citizen Digital, but after three months, her roommate began dating a man who would visit and stay over for days.

“The guy proceeded to practically move into our apartment; he didn’t contribute to any bills in the house, and even once wore my robe. When I raised the issue with my roommate, she said I was being jealous and selfish.”

Eventually, Marion got into a heated argument with her roommate in front of their neighbours and moved out.

It was the same experience for Patrick, a 25-year-old who lives in Nairobi’s Kileleshwa neighbourhood; he decided to give up on the idea after failing to keep up with the lifestyle of his female roommate, a popular lifestyle influencer with a huge online following.

“In the beginning, I was very excited and thought it would be vibes on vibes, but little did I know that my house would turn into a full studio with lights, cameras everywhere, very loud music,” he says.

Patrick says their apartment was characterized by TikTok Live sessions in the middle of the night, and that at times, it forced him to stay at work longer or spend time at his friends’ and parents’ houses to avoid his roommate.

“It got to my limit when one time, I woke up to drink water and walked into the kitchen shirtless, only to end up on an Instagram Live as her boyfriend. I snapped, and she had to leave because I could not keep up with the chaos,” he narrates.

Shawn, a university student, says he left his shared house because of persistent loss of personal belongings, which his male roommate kept denying involvement in.

“This guy was a thief, a liar, and would not contribute towards house supplies,” the 24-year-old recounts. “At first, it was small things like a missing chain or a watch, and then it progressed to my phone.”

“I found it hidden in his suitcase. He denied stealing it when I asked him, and he almost hit me when I confronted him about it. I decided to move out for my peace,” Shawn says.

For 25-year-old Margret, she swore off living with roommates again after she almost ended up back in the village because of a quarrel with a woman she shared a house with.

“I remember an argument we had because of electricity tokens; she refused to pay, and it turned into a full-blown argument,” the Kiambu-based university student narrates.

“She later called my mother and lied that I had become a drunkard and a drug user. My mum almost sent me back to the village! I was so angry that I threw her things out in the middle of the night and chased her away.”

Yet for others, like Kimutai, a medical student, sharing a house with his male friend was an altogether different story.

“I met my roommate through a WhatsApp group we were in. Both of us were fresh graduates, eager to make ends meet,” he recounts.

At first, he says living together was not easy, and they would argue about household chores.

“But with time, we made it work. It built our friendship, and I stood with him during a really hard breakup and helped him out when he was jobless,” the 29-year-old says.

“Now, we are best friends, and I was even the best man at his wedding.”