African-Americans Seeking to be Kenyan Citizens Land in Nairobi

30 African-Americans and African-Britons recently left the United States and the United Kingdom to settle in Kenya and are hoping to become Kenyan citizens.

The group, which landed in Nairobi on Wednesday, says racial discrimination and mass shootings in the US in the recent past made them move, according to The Standard. 

The 30 are drawn from the United Kingdom and different parts of the US including North Carolina, Texas, New York, Virginia, Missouri, Florida, Alabama, Nevada, Mississippi, Virginia, and California.

The team was led by Kea Tiffani Simmons, an African-American who has already invested in property in Juja, Kiambu County. 

“We are tired of being blacks in America. We are tired of living in fear of being shot because of the color of our skin. We are tired of being called Americans,” Simmons is quoted by The Standard.

The 37-year-old is the founder of the World Views Organization and has been visiting Kenya since 2012. Simmons said she has already adopted a Kenyan name, Wakesho Akinyi, and has applied for Kenyan citizenship.

“My second Kenyan name, Akinyi, means born in the morning. It reminds me of how good it feels to wake up in the morning and feel no discrimination or profiling based on race,” she mentioned.

Simmons described Kenyans as warm and friendly, saying this was the reason why they chose to settle here. 

“The Maasai are the last samurais,” she noted.

Pat Headly, a 65-year-old British-Jamaican says Kenya is the best place for any African-American or African-Briton to settle.

“Some of us live in the UK not by choice but because of black history. Having lived in the UK for 55 years, I can tell you with certainty that the experiences I have had have not been flattering,” he stated.

The engineer by profession says he has invested in Uganda and plans to venture into the real estate sector in Kenya.