On Wednesday, Quest faced the reality of the Nairobi city traffic menace which in 2017, study rated it as the second-worst city in the world on traffic congestion.
Kenyans, responding to the tweet, urged city dwellers “not to air their dirty linen in public.”
Other disgruntled netizens blamed Governor Mike Sonko for the long hours spent on traffic while a group took the opportunity to compare Nairobi with other cities.
CNN journalist Richard Quest who is currently in Kenya has been looking on his bemusement after realizing that roundabouts in Nairobi have traffic lights but policemen control traffic.
The roundabouts have new traffic lights; which are usually switched off. Instead A policeman directs the traffic flow. The jams are extraordinary. #nairobi #kenya pic.twitter.com/qfklKJLEVY
— Richard Quest (@richardquest) October 24, 2018
Unlike other instances when the famous Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) put anyone who paints Kenya in bad light to the sword, they were a bit more welcoming and agreed not to worsen the situation by telling the journalist about all our problems.
They all admitted that the country was facing a myriad of challenges but washing their dirty linen in public was not the way to go.
Hope you noticed that police officers at the round abouts, appear unfit with round pot bellies. Swithced off traffic lights increases chances of receiving a bribe from motorists. Kenyans generally dont trust technology, because technology eliminates corruption.
— Robert Fungo Matanda (@rfungom) October 24, 2018
“The shame you feel every time a visitor tweets something that’s not working in Kenya then Kenyan children compete to give them a list of other things that are not working.
Wacha Za ovyo hata wewe, wewe ndie uko fit???, Muone
— Chahiru Albert Sote (@ChahiruS) October 24, 2018
“If we visited your shags & made such a comment, would you pour out your family issues? Who is your mother?” asked Sam Gichuru.
The shame you feel every time a visitor tweets something that’s not working in Kenya then Kenyan children compete to give them a list of other things that are not working.
If we visited your shags & made such a comment, would you pour out your family issues? Who is your mother?
— Sam Gichuru (@SamGichuru) October 24, 2018
Another netizen posted a photo of blocked drainage but he was urged to keep it on the low.
“Wacha kuchoma. Unaharibu bwana.”
The hawkers collect cash and pay to the police men so that they hold traffic, this allows the hawkers extra time in the traffic to sell their wares. Quest means business, Jam means business pic.twitter.com/Pc5A9fhhaz
— chaos (@kibee) October 24, 2018
Richard Quest is in kenya to document a non-stop trip covering a total of 13,713km that will connect Kenya and the United States of America on Sunday for the first time in history.
The aeroplane will leave the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and land at the JF Kennedy Airport 14 hours later.