JAMILA’S MEMO: End bad manners now!

Wakenya, hebu njooni, tuzungumze ki home…We have just been fined by CAF and for more than one reason. Fans jumping over walls. Security officials not performing their duties. Crowd control gone wrong. And now, a warning: if this happens again, Kenya’s home matches could be moved to other countries. Imagine that, being told we cannot host our own games because we can’t keep order.

This isn’t just about football. It’s about who we are. It’s about habits. The truth is, what happened at Kasarani is not new, it is exactly what we do in our daily lives. For instance, it is the same culture we’ve perfected on the roads. Overlapping during traffic jams, pushing ahead only to stop a few meters later. Using sirens when we don’t need them. Refusing to queue for services. Always trying to get ahead, even when there’s nowhere to go.

If we are not careful, these bad manners will become part of our national character. We will start from the point of “Hawana nidhamu” and that will be how the world sees us. Nidhamu starts with the small things. Following a queue. Waiting patiently. Respecting the rails that are put there to guide you, not to slow you down. These measures exist so we can accommodate more people, more efficiently, without chaos.

Even in airports, queues are there to help everyone move smoothly. Why do we think we’re special enough to jump them? That same impatience and entitlement is what we carried into the stadium. Instead of respecting order, we forced our way in. And then we ask why CAF is fining us.

If there was a traffic equivalent of CAF, Kenya would have been fined millions already. Our roads are chaotic. Our stadiums have now inherited that chaos. And if we keep this up, AFCON which will be bigger, louder, and more intense could turn into a national embarrassment.

The sad part is, even our leaders are guilty. The same ones being lectured by CAF are the ones who arrive at work after driving on the wrong lane, using sirens unnecessarily, and ignoring queues. We are slowly becoming a nation that believes in using kifua, or brute force for everything.

And for what? A stadium has 60,000 seats why are we fighting to get in? Why are we pushing each other when there is enough space for everyone? This is not about time. It is not about space. It is about mindset.

If we want to be taken seriously as hosts, if we want to avoid more fines, and if we want to keep our home matches in Kenya, we must go back to basics. Let us start with the simple things: patiently waiting in line, respecting systems, following the rules meant for all of us. Believe me things will move faster, people will be safer, and we will avoid the shame of being blacklisted. Good manners cost nothing, but their absence is now costing us millions and a piece of our national dignity.

Si basi tufanye hivyo, ama vipi? That is my memo.