This archive report was first published on 15 August 2019.
Hustling is not a new phenomenon in Africa, but its status has been elevated by economic realities. In traditional societies, hustling existed at the periphery, with some members of the community working hard to make ends meet.
According to Elinor Ostrom, who won the Nobel Prize in economics for analyzing how traditional societies managed their resources sustainably, communal ownership of land made it easy for European colonialists to acquire it, marking the start of modern hustling.
Today, the relationship between the affluent and hustlers closely mirrors the relationship between chiefs and their subjects in colonial times. This has led to the entrenchment of capitalism in African countries, despite its apparent contradiction with traditional systems and communal ownership of assets.
Traditional hustling still exists among some communities today, but it's being supplemented by modernism. The illusion that hustlers can become 'sonkos' or members of the upper class has created a hardened class system with minimal leakage from one class to the other.
It's time for taxation, welfare systems, and public education to shift citizens from hustling to 'sonkolism' or middle-class status. However, this approach has not worked as expected in the West and in Kenya, leaving us to wonder why hustling has become a way of life.
