JAMILA’S MEMO: Chapati in one million ways

Tonight, my Memo is about chapatis and promises.

I know a thing or two about making chapatis. You need flour, oil, salt, and baking powder. I also know that kneading the dough properly and letting it rest before rolling it out makes for softer chapatis.

For many of us, growing up, chapati was a special occasion meal—aspirational, something to look forward to. Even today, not much has changed. Chapatis are still not an everyday meal for most families. In many ways, they remain a Victorian cake—a luxury rather than a staple.

Here in Kenya, ugali is our staple food—the true measure of whether a family is food secure. The price of maize flour for ugali is also significantly cheaper than that of chapati flour.

When thinking about food availability, our priority should be ensuring that families have ugali, sukuma, and githeri first before we talk about one million chapatis. On a typical menu of urgency, chapati is probably fourth on the list.

This hierarchy reminds me of promises, priorities, and project delivery.

Let’s assume the "chapati machine" is already out at sea. Over the past four days, we have witnessed a flurry of project launches in Nairobi, with billions of shillings at stake.

• Commissioning of Kamukunji Technical Vocational College
• Inspection of Bangkok Fresh Produce Market
• Launch of Nairobi Rivers Engineering Works
• Construction of an 800-bed dormitory at St. Teresa School
• Groundbreaking for 12 classrooms at Mabatini Primary School
• TVET college groundbreaking in Mathare
• Launch of last mile electricity connectivity in Mathare
• Classroom construction at TJ Kajwang’ Mathare North Secondary, Ruaraka Constituency
• Classroom construction at Gatina Primary School, Dagoretti North Constituency
• Classroom construction at Westlands Primary School
• Inspection of Kangemi Bridge construction progress

Launching. Groundbreaking. Commissioning.

In the past four days, promises worth billions were made. On Monday alone, the pledges were…billion. By Tuesday, promises were valued at…billion.. Wednesday, Dagoretti and Westlands residents were promised projects worth Ksh.3 billion. And on Thursday, it was Lang'ata and Kibra residents ambao waliahidiwa miradi ya mabilioni….

In this country, we are obsessed with launching for optics. It’s a camera moment—smile, click, flash, and repeat.

These are important projects that would greatly benefit residents—if they are completed. But the real question is: will they actually be finished?

In this country, past events have taught us that launching a project does not guarantee it will be completed and materialize.

And so, back to chapatis—there is a little omission I noted: what are we serving the one million chapatis with?