Thika Town Is Slowly Becoming Nairobi's Paradise.

 

Did I ever tell you that Thika Town is among the world-fastest growing economies? Did you know that a 24-hour concept is slowly but surely creeping into Thika Town? I thought you should know.

 

Wandering round the streets of Thika Town during the day at times gives you that false impression of an inactive and stale place. But that is where you go wrong. Everything abruptly changes at sundown. Hundreds of young hawkers throng the CBD, jamming all the busy streets displaying their wares on the floors. From Thika Arcade all the way to Whiteline Hotel turns into a beehive of activities. Walking through the streets all over sudden becomes a challenge due to the human traffic involved. The noises coming from these make-shift 'shops' is deafening. 

 

The shocking thing about this is that majority of those who take over our evening to sell their stuff are not Thikarians. 90% of these hawkers commute daily from Nairobi, especially from Githurai, because they have identified and taken advantage of the business opportunities in Thika Town. As Thika's own hawkers get intimidated and shy away from the aggressiveness and the prices offered by the Nairobi guys, these Nairobians grab this opportunity to make the best out of Thika's rich economy. A few of 237's hawkers who brave on end up selling their stuff in the periphery.

 

Veteran 237 hawkers avoid the duel by dashing in and out of various food joints, bars and entertainment spots to take advantage of the patrons who frequent this places. However, there are those smart Thikarians who run businesses in the stalls within the town's buildings, who seize the moment to trade their merchandise to Thika people who by this time are running helter-skelter to catch the next matatu back home after a hard day's work. 

 

The other group that form the largest cliente are the thousands of students who have joined Thika populace from our outskirts to join our numerous middle-level colleges. A walk through the streets revealed that one would get almost anything from these open-air night traders. Be it clothing, jewelries, shoes, fruits & vegetables, electronics, name it. We also came across several make-shift 'hotels' that offered drinks and meals to those who had no time to cook at home and more so the matatu crew who these days operate 24-hours to and from Nairobi City. 

 

Nairobi's entrepreneurs have also taken over other sectors of our economy especially in real estate, electronics, car bazaars and so on.

 

The sector that is now transforming Thika Town to a 'Nairobi Ndogo' is the entertainment industry. Thika boasts of numerous bars and discos within the CBD. Nightlife in Thika Town is bustling to say the least. Thika's character changes after the sun goes down as many Kenyans rush to their favorite joints to enjoy many interesting sights, sounds and entertainment. Thika has a thriving nightlife scene. Anyone who has been to Thika Town at night will bear me witness of the great number of people heading to Thika joints for coffee and light beer. From any area around Town you will be treated to reverberating music coming from different corners which were rather quite during the day. Infact, the real party starts at 9pm every night.Thika is slowly turning into a round-the-clock economy and if we are not careful, this riches will be taken over by outsiders as we watch. 

 

The emergence of Thika as the new business frontier in Kenya is calling for a real awakening of our local populace to arm themselves economically by being innovative, outgoing and aggressive if at all they intend to take advantage of the business opportunities that are emerging within Thika itself and the surroundings. It really hurts to see Thika youth laze around Mogoka bases as visitors take over the economy of this town. This will not happen by sitting on the fence and waiting for somebody to pity you and lift you up. 

 

It won't happen if all the youth look up to are the politicians to hold their hands. It will only happen if we wake up from slumber land and seek those opportunities. It calls for aggressiveness and thinking out of the box. It calls for those inhabitants of Thika Town who are well off to sacrifice and give back to the society by lifting their own into some economic stability. 

 

The culture of Thika's '' (ours) and the jealousy characterized in most inhabitants of Thika should be buried katika kaburi la sahau.It is the high time we woke up and reclaimed our town economically.