Githae Githinji on Life in Kenya
Conversations with Tyler
Conversations with Tyler
4.8 • 2.4K Ratings
🗓️ 2 November 2023
⏱️ 45 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As a follow-up to the episode featuring Stephen Jennings, we’re releasing two bonus conversations showing the daily life, culture, and politics of Nairobi and Kenya at large. This second installment features Githae Githinji, a Kikuyu elder and businessman working in Tatu City, a massive mixed-used development spearheaded by Jennings. Born in 1958 and raised in a rural village, he relocated to seek opportunities in the Nairobi area where he built up a successful transportation company over decades. As a respected chairman of the local Kikuyu councils, Githae resolves disputes through mediation and seeks to pass on traditions to the youth.
In his conversation with Tyler, Githae discusses his work as a businessman in the transport industry and what he looks for when hiring drivers, the reasons he moved from his rural hometown to the city and his perspectives on urban vs rural living, Kikuyu cultural practices, his role as a community elder resolving disputes through both discussion and social pressure, the challenges Kenya faces, his call for more foreign investment to create local jobs, how generational attitudes differ, the role of religion and Githae's Catholic faith, perspectives on Chinese involvement in Kenya and openness to foreigners, thoughts on the devolution of power to Kenyan counties, his favorite wildlife, why he's optimistic about Kenya's future despite current difficulties, and more.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links, or watch the full video.
Recorded June 12th, 2023.
Other ways to connect
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Hey everybody, this is Sam, one of the producers of Conversations with Tyler. |
| 0:08.0 | This is part 2 of the bonus episode showing the daily life, culture, and politics of Nairobi |
| 0:13.9 | and Kenya at large. |
| 0:15.9 | In this episode, you'll hear from Gatai Gatengi, who is an elder working in Tatsu City, a |
| 0:20.8 | 5,000 acre mixed-use development just north of Nairobi. |
| 0:24.7 | In case you missed it, make sure to check out part 1 to hear from Harriet Marathi, a young |
| 0:29.1 | woman working in Tatsu City for a different perspective. |
| 0:32.7 | Now, onto the show. |
| 0:38.7 | Conversations with Tyler is produced by the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, |
| 0:43.9 | bridging the gap between academic ideas and real world problems. |
| 0:48.0 | Learn more at mercatis.org. |
| 0:50.8 | For a full transcript of every conversation, enhanced with helpful links, visit conversationswithtiler.com. |
| 1:00.1 | Hello everyone, and welcome back to Conversations with Tyler. |
| 1:04.6 | Today I'm sitting here in Tatsu City right outside of Nairobi, Kenya, and I'll be chatting |
| 1:09.8 | with Kitai Gatengi. |
| 1:12.0 | He's a businessman in the transport industry, and he's a Kikiu elder. |
| 1:16.8 | He's stationed at Tatsu City, where he's a chairman. |
| 1:20.4 | His roles as chairman include dispute resolution and also coordinating community ceremonies. |
| 1:27.3 | His most recent activity as the elder's chairman for the area around Tatsu City was planning |
| 1:33.2 | and coordinating the cleansing ceremony of a magumu tree being moved into Tatsu City. |
| 1:40.6 | Kitai is 58 years old. |
| 1:42.8 | He is from the Agikiu community. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Conversations with Tyler, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Conversations with Tyler and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.