This archive report was first published on 23 August 2019.
On August 19, a Nairobi newspaper published a headline that left many wondering: 'Mystery firm builds city on sewer land.' The question on everyone's mind was: what does this 'mystery firm' do or sell?
As a journalist, I've often encountered stories that could be described as 'rumors.' However, when I was a high school student, my teachers discouraged me from reading popular fiction writers like Peter Cheyney, who was known for his rapid-fire mystery stories.
But despite the warnings, I secretly devoured Cheyney's books, and they taught me a great deal of idiomatic English. Unresolved mysteries like the one from which Cheyney drew inspiration are abundant in the pages of daily newspapers across East Africa.
One such mystery is the 'mystery firm' behind the city built on sewer land. Is it a company that publishes easy mystery fiction, or one that makes and sells consumer goods that might be defined as mysterious?
Many observers of East Africa's industrial and commercial scenes have raised similar questions. In Kenya, for instance, which city is it that a 'mystery company' has built on sewer land? If such a city exists, it can only be Nairobi, as Kenya is not like the United States, where even a small build-up is called a city.
While it's possible that Kampala and Dar es Salaam have also been elevated to city status, I don't have information to confirm this. For now, I'll assume that Nairobi is the only urban build-up that has attained city status in our region.
— Philip Ochieng is a veteran journalist.
