On November 21, 2018, a Kenyan bookseller used a personal account to push back against the familiar claim that “Kenyans don’t read,” arguing that the real problem is not a lack of readers but the way books are sold, shared and valued.
The writer, who co-runs Rugano Books, said the business operates entirely online, which creates two immediate hurdles: customers hesitate to pay delivery fees, and many are reluctant to buy from a store they do not yet know. In her view, that trust gap is one reason some buyers prefer walking into a physical shop even when the final cost may be similar.
She also said the business is still far from being “Amazon yet,” and that many potential customers refuse to order because they have never heard of the store. The piece frames that hesitation as part of a wider challenge facing independent booksellers in Kenya.
Beyond retail, the article points to the country’s publishing culture. The author says there are many Kenyan writers self-publishing every day, and argues that the industry will grow if more people are allowed to produce books outside the “traditional and archaic methods of publishing,” except in cases involving school texts and set books.
One exchange described in the column involved a local author who complained that his or her book was not stocked. The bookseller says the author then blamed the situation on the idea that Kenyans do not read, a claim she dismissed as vague and lazy. She argued that if people truly did not read, the absence of a title on the shelf would not matter in the first place.
The article then turns to piracy. The writer says a customer admitted to already having a PDF copy of a book, prompting concern about how casually digital copies are shared. She links that behavior to broader discussions in WhatsApp groups, including the circulation of Michelle Obama’s Becoming.
She also cites Joe Khamisi’s Looters and Grabbers as an example of the damage caused when readers share books instead of buying them. According to the column, Khamisi was losing money because the book was being passed around, and later began selling it himself on WhatsApp at a subsidised rate.
The central message is blunt: sharing a PDF of a local author’s work takes money out of the writer’s pocket and weakens the creative economy. The author closes by insisting that Kenyans do read, write and buy books, and urges readers to support local writers rather than repeat the stereotype.
