Always, among the local population, there are various ways and verbal phrases to better define the generic 'mzungu', i.e. the white man who is not properly a 'mtalii' (tourist) or a 'mgeni' (guest). Especially those who, over the years and generations, have become part of the community and behave as well or badly as Kenyans.
On the other hand, ever since the time of the Indians who arrived in the late 19th century and began to integrate into the country, with customs, ways of living and working that later became part of the everyday life of East African society (so much so that a few years ago, the then President Uhuru Kenyatta celebrated the Indians' entry into the nation's 47 tribes), Kenya has always welcomed and to some extent dealt with foreign populations, some of whom would take root in the country.
It was natural, therefore, to make the necessary distinctions, for instance, between 'British', which inevitably still sounds a bit colonial, and 'Kenya Cowboys', i.e. the former (or sons, now grandsons) landowners, farmers or cattle breeders, who took over the highlands north and north-west of Nairobi and created much of the heritage on which Kenya's agricultural production, trade and exports still thrive today: tea and coffee plantations, fruit and flower plantations and supply chains linked to the use of meat and dairy products.
With the advent of tourism, from the 1980s onwards, another kind of 'mzungu' arrived from Europe, and in the coastal regions especially from Germany and Italy, who then decided to stay in the country, partly because they often found themselves with no other choice, for emotional or economic reasons (two aspects that often, particularly in Africa, coincide).
These westerners are called 'Kenya Kimbo'. Recently, a semi-serious study published by The Standard newspaper, traced the history of the KKs. But first, one has to go back to the etymon, to why they are called that.
Kimbo' is a vegetable condiment similar to our margarine, which is mainly used for frying and is competitively priced compared to seed oil and even palm oil, which is usually used by ordinary people for cooking any food. In Kenya, as we know, olive oil was introduced late in the habits of the Italians, as the British have always preferred to cook with butter or, when necessary (for frying) precisely with seed oil. Stuff for the rich, used as a condiment on restaurant tables and in the salads of wealthy people. Kimbo is not only affordable, it is also completely white. That is why calling a 'mzungu' who has adapted to the 'poor' Kenyan life, as this product, not only makes one smile, but also sounds very apt.
Who are the Kenyan Kimbo, of whom one hears more and more today between Nairobi and the main Kenyan cities and the coast?
According to the Standard, they are those whites who 'although they arrived in the country rather loaded, were swindled or lost money to their wily Kenyan lovers while enjoying the exotic life'. But this is a generalisation, and the author of the article himself admits that one can also define Kenya Kimbo as simply those 'mzungu' who are now naturalised Africans because they have lived in Kenya for years and are even 'more local than the locals'.
And indeed, the KKs 'know how to haggle, so much so that one would think they want to "buy things for free". Like elephants, they never forget and scold the shopkeeper who thinks he is cheating them, quoting the amount - down to the last penny - of what they intend to buy, having probably frequented the shop before'.
They are the exact opposite of nabobs, or shiny newcomers, who pay attention to promotions and discounts in grocery shops, so much so that 'if they loved ugali, they would probably be the first in line to buy flour at 90 shillings a kilo' during special offers.
They do not spend on unnecessary luxuries and prefer to travel by matatu or bodaboda instead of wasting money on taxis and tuktuk. They often eat at 'vibanda', the local stalls where dysentery and salmonella are usually at home for Westerners (but not for trained stomachs and intestines like theirs), and buy clothes from 'mitumba', the local stalls where second-hand clothes are piled up. They don't buy mineral water but boil the undrinkable water from the aqueduct, they don't drink European-style coffee but tea from the kiosks, having breakfast with 'mahamri', the local 10-cent doughnuts. Their controlled budget? Two euros a day (today, so 300 shillings). According to the Kenyan journalist, the Kenyan Kimbo has more or less the same problems as the semi-poor Kenyans, 'the lack of money and the need to earn a living', and they hang around pubs in the afternoons looking for someone to buy them a drink and somehow change their fortunes. They often live by gimmicks (e.g. how do they never return to Europe even though they do not have Kenyan residency?) or spend all their savings on residence permits (because, it is worth saying, there are also honest Kenyans Kimbo, especially among pensioners) even though the author of the review does not go easy on them: 'to legally stay in the country, foreigners must have a passport, a visa or even a work permit. But for Kenya Kimbo, most have outstayed their welcome and, unable to return home with their new status, prefer to stay here, albeit illegally. Others have had their documents confiscated by their lovers who use them as a source of extortion'.
The KKs know that 'their best days are in the past and they can be caught boasting: "If these people had seen me two years ago, when I had money, they would not have spoken to me like this", cultivating gossip as a high form of culture and communication, gathering in groups to criticise the new KK who has joined their ranks. Others act as intermediaries for new foreigners who want to invest in the country. They mumble a few words of Swahili, sometimes they even intersperse dialects from the area where they live. But times have not been rosy for them anymore, times have become hard for everyone, even for them who 'know the art of corruption: they can work with government officials, from the police to immigration officers'.
Such an unflattering portrait also reveals a hint of racism, along the lines of "what good is a 'mzungu' if he is not rich?"
Thus concludes the Kenyan press's learned disquisition on the Kenyan Kimbo: 'They are hardened survivors. Whether it is the leaky roof or they have been kicked out of their homes because of the accumulated rent, they would rather sleep in their cars as long as they have one. And if they cannot afford the ticket to return home, they will just wander forever, pretending to go trekking to 'keep fit'.