Walking abroad, motorcades at home: The glaring contrast of Kenyan leaders behaviour at home and away

But the adage has for aeons been an outlandish principle for mankind as "the grass has been greener on the other side", far from home, far from Kelly's conviction.

In the modern world, African political leaders have loved East and West, and home has only been an abode for rest. A sojourn of sorts. And their demeanour has always betrayed them.

The contrast between how these political leaders adore developed nations, taking to social media to show how they are walking down well-paved, clean streets, yet they hardly stroll down the dilapidated streets in their African states.

Overseas strolls to local motorcades

Kenya's President William Ruto has been an avid proponent of this concept as his travels abroad, mostly to the United States, have attracted public ridicule.

He recently travelled to the 80th United Nations General Assembly in New York and has been seen walking along the streets with just a few members of his team.

Save for his prominence, one would even mistake him for just a well-off Wall Street elite performer going to broker a fresh deal across the street.

Back home, he cannot afford to set foot in the Nairobi CBD on foot, nor can his delegation.

He boxes himself inside the State House walls, and the only time he steps out is inside his car, veiled inside his 20-plus motorcade.

Traffic is always disrupted as roads are blocked for hours just to let the man from the hill pass across town. Always in a hurry.

The contrast has sparked uproar as a user online said, "Let them accept the challenge. Same team as in the New York photo, no motorcade, no security, no police," said the user on X. "No blocking traffic, no jamming networks, no chase bikes, no crowd of politicians."

Politicians follow in tow

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, who is also attending the summit, has also taken similar walks with his aides.

Cabinet Secretaries Hassan Joho (Mining) and William Kabogo (ICT) were also seen sharing a light moment along one street in New York without any security guard in sight.

These scenes cannot be witnessed back in Kenya as they have never walked down the dirty and dusty streets of Nairobi just outside their administrative offices.

On September 18, Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale took to his X account posting a selfie photo with the caption, "At Bloomsbury Square in Central London walking back to my hotel at the end of today's meeting."

He was swiftly cornered on why he would glorify the European nation while the county he represents still remains an eyesore and bears no admirable infrastructural development.

"You are Senator for Kakamega, a county drowning in mud, dust and hunger. Yet your greatest achievement is a selfie in London. If Kakamega looked like Bloomsbury, maybe this photo would mean something. But NO, you keep your people poor so that your trips abroad can make you look like a king among beggars. Very sad," X user George Njoroge said.

In April 2023, former Trade CS Moses Kuria was caught running to catch the 4 am train from Washington, DC, to New York for the Kenya-US Business Roundtable.

The incident was simply seen as a public stunt, as many opined that Kuria cannot even afford to run after a commuter train in Kenya, let alone board one.

Kenyan leaders have been questioned on why they cannot replicate the development they glorify, why they travel and sit comfortably in an underdeveloped nation they so much term an economic powerhouse.

Walter Kelly would be damned knowing that his adage has not been true for many, owing to the lack of competence amongst those entrusted with political power, choking the reality of making home the best.