Nairobi News

I am an evangelist of clean living. I have never taken alcohol. I have never done drugs or smoked cigarettes. I avoid junk food as much as I can. I don’t party on weekend nights and I prefer to curl up with a good book or a movie.

On weekends, I go for a run or a long walk with my boyfriend and I try to go to church as often as I can.

But most of all, the greatest boost to my clean living is my ability to stay off social media. I am not on Facebook — those Facebook pages with my name are idle imposters. I am on Twitter, but only because I think Twitter is more intelligent. More importantly, I am not on Instagram.

Now, I thought I had hit the final nail on the Instagram coffin until I learned about ‘The Rich Kids of Instagram’— Kenyan chapter.

You must be wondering what on earth I am talking about. Rich Kids of Instagram — the Kenyan chapter is a group of spoilt, rich brats who show off their parents’ wealth on social media.

These are basically children with rotten minds and morals alike, who have taken it upon themselves to document their opulent lives on social media. It is very sickening.

My friend allowed me a peek into one of these Instagram accounts and I am telling you it is a dizzying cacophony of vanity, conceit and peacocking at its best.

HOLIDAY DESTINATION

The razzmatazz on these Instagram accounts is nauseating. I will tell you about one young woman; the daughter of a celebrated businesswoman. From designer bags, to designer shoes. To holidays abroad. Expensive wine and food, her Instagram account is an embarrassment to all the hard work and persistence exhibited by her mother, who, by the way, I really admire.

Then I am told there is this young man; the son of a certain governor who openly boasts about how daddy will bankroll his holiday to some God-awful holiday destination.

I am just getting started.

Oh, and there is this daughter of a certain ‘flamboyant’ senator who recently posted pictures of herself holding a gun and iced the cake with #thuglife. What the hell is going on here?

I don’t care if your mother is a billionaire, your father a scandalous governor or a ‘flamboyant’ God-forsaken senator.

I don’t care if you drive a Bugatti or a high-end Mercedes Benz or if you own a Hermes bag. I know you are surrounded by minions who praise you and thank you for posting those pictures because you ‘inspire’ them.

You are probably surrounded by ‘friends’ who think you are God’s gift to them, that you are their inspiration and they love you. Not me.

I will be the one to tell you the truth. What your broke little boyfriend won’t tell you, or those sycophants who like every Instagram post you upload do not have the courage to tell you.

NO CLASS

First of all, to be in your 20s and still depending on mom and dad means only one thing — you are a loser. They didn’t do a good job raising you and you are a failure. You are a loser and a failure and that is pathetic.

That money you are flaunting is not yours. That car, that pair of shoes, that bag and that holiday you are flaunting on social media, was not paid for by the sweat of your brow. Mommy and daddy started their small business in some warehouse, it grew to a million-dollar company and it is not yours. You may inherit it, but it is not yours.

So stop the ‘inspiration’ and ‘self-expressing’ nonsense, come down your high horse, sit down and let me school you.

I have said here so many times before, that money will buy you all the stylish things in this world but money can never buy you class. Simple.

There is no class in flaunting what mummy and daddy bought you. In any case, we all know that the rich kids are the dumbest children, the weakest in class and the bottom feeders when it comes to academics. So let’s not lie to each other that you are brilliant or smart.

Even with your expensive education in international schools, you still cannot think on your feet, fend for yourself and survive on your own. Otherwise why would you need daddy’s money in your late 20s?

So don’t try and show us that you are this hardworking entrepreneur who owns a company. Calling yourself an entrepreneur is a defilement of the very spirit and true meaning of the term entrepreneurship.

BOTTOM FEEDER

An entrepreneur is not an egotist stooge that gets a grant of a few million shillings from mummy and daddy and a credit card to finance his excessive spending. You are not an entrepreneur you are a bottom feeder.

I know a lot of you will say that I am ‘hating’ probably because my folks are not wealthy. You are right. My folks are not wealthy.

In fact, some people perhaps think of them as ‘struggling’. I have lost count of the many times I was sent out of school for school fees in secondary school but I got a job at 19 and paid my college fees. And Daystar doesn’t come cheap.

So that is why I am not going to sit here, as people bastardise inspiration, hard work and persistence.

Those rich kids of Instagram — Kenyan chapter, need to realise that we are not interested in what they have acquired from their parents’ wealth, some of which is acquired in unscrupulous means, I may add.

We are not interested in seeing a photo of a car whose log book does not bear your name or shoes and jewelry not bought with your own money.

The truth is, the really wealthy people do not show off their wealth on social media or anywhere at all. They keep quiet. Success is their noise. So shut up and start working!