Jaba is khat’s (miraa) highly potent variant that is now undeniably being enjoyed everywhere. From touts “skylarking” at drop points to elites seated in high places , it’s indeed being chewed by people from all walks of life.
Perhaps, a coping mechanism? A hustle? A culture? A cover-up? That red-eyed MP? High. That overly alert DJ? Twigs.
That talkative boyfriend with 1K ideas and zero implementation? “Story za jaba, kweli kila Tawi na hadithi yake!” Chewing to stay woke, to feel wise, to talk big, to kill boredom, to build castles in the air and somehow—to feel like gods. But the biggest high? THE HYPOCRISY.
Jaba: Kenya’s unofficial national herb
Forget tea. Forget coffee. Jaba has become one of Kenya’s modern ideal cash crops. From Embu to Mandera, from Isiolo to Mombasa, this magical twig is moving faster than Ruaka relationships.
By now if you’ve never seen a jaba base operational at 3 AM, you haven’t seen life! There, conversations are deep and sleep is pretty much non-existent!
Men of all ages and some very undercover women all with puffed cheeks, green tongues, and eyes wide open, seated like philosophers debating politics, conspiracy theories, and why Arsenal won’t win the English Premier League yet again!
The transport system runs on Jaba
Dashboards of trucks and buses on Kenyan highways will always have two things: a faded family photo and a bag of muguka.
That lorry in front of you in traffic with a “God is able” sign? There’s a jaba party at its cockpit! It keeps watchmen alert, drivers wired, and university students dangerously focused burning the midnight oil.
Jaba: Holy hustle or Haram drug?
Let’s be honest: it is both messiah and monster. In Meru, it’s sacred. It pays school fees, builds churches, funds campaigns, and buys land.
Young farmers with only ¼ an acre are now driving German machines. But in Mombasa and Garissa? It’s labelled a “drug of destruction.” While in some hoods, youths are chewing it like it’s facing extinction.
The great Kenyan cover-up
You see, everyone is chewing but everyone is lying. HR managers who “only chew when stressed”? Lying. Politicians who ban it in public, send their bodyguards to buy in private? Lying. Closet chewers and open judges, that’s what we’ve become as a country!
Side effects they don’t want to talk about
Let’s chew some hard truths. Sleeplessness, addiction, erectile dysfunction, paranoia are some of the common side effects yet… we chew. Because in this economy, it is cheaper than therapy and faster than prayer.
Jaba has built homes and burnt some
It has both fed and wrecked some of our lovely homes. There’s a child who goes to private school because daddy sells it while another cries every night because the dad is chewing his financial responsibilities away! A blessing and a heartbreak.
So what’s the way forward, Kenya?
Let’s stop pretending jaba is going away. If it’s a drug, let the government regulate it. If it’s a cash crop, support the farmers. It’s now part of us, let’s talk about it openly.
No more chewing in the dark and condemning in the light! That’s the real national sickness.
Finally mbáité: It’s about time we asked ourselves: Are we chewing a leaf or are we chewing away our morals, our minds, and our future? Is jaba a lifeline or a ticking time bomb?
By Kamaru Mathenge
