Kenyan London

For east London’s Kenyan ex-pats, staying abreast of community news in London as well as events back home is key

It may not form London’s largest African population, nor is it the most visible, but a tight-knit Kenyan community has eased into London life in the past 15 years or so (owing to political
instability at home in the mid- 1990s). About 80 per cent of the UK’s Kenyan population lives in the capital, the majority residing in east London, particularly in Barking and Leytonstone. Swahili and English are most widely spoken, along with Gikuyu, Luo and Kalenjin.

For community news, Voice of Africa Radio (www.voiceofafrica radio.com, 94.3FM in east London and Sky Channel 0192) and websites such as Kenya London News (www.kenya londonnews.co.uk) are popular. But by all accounts, the community website Mister Seed (www.misterseed.com) is the closest thing that diasporan Kenyans have to CNN. Deaths,
marriages, christenings and church notices sit alongside news stories, immigration advice and proverbs.

It has grown exponentially since the eponymous webmaster started it as a social diary in 2000. Around the time of the last Kenyan election results in December, Mister Seed claims to have received as many as 1.5 million hits per day.

Despite the close nature of the UK Kenyan community, Mr Seed says the recent outbreak of
violence back home has impacted on the community here, making the role of advisory groups, such as the Harrow-based Kenyan Society of London (020 8861 5703) and Sacoma (020 8554 9444) in Ilford, even more vital.

The majority of UK Kenyans are churchgoers and there are a number of services across the
capital in Swahili. The longest established is St Anne’s Lutheran Church (Gresham St, EC2, 020 7606 4986), which holds a monthly Swahili service, while the Barking branch of the Calvary Charismatic Baptist Church (269a-279 Barking Rd, E13) is among the most
popular of the weekly services.

Not only can you pray like a Kenyan, you can eat and party like one too. Exceline Exotic Dishes (175 Mare St, E8, 020 8525 9222) is a Ugandan-owned east African restaurant and
catering service that has back-home favourites like chapoos (pan-fried white flourchapatis), spinach with groundnut sauce and emolokony (cow foot in hot sauce), alongside east African beers like Tusker, Bell, Club and Serengeti.

The Thatched House (Ripple Rd, Barking, IG11, 020 8591 2721) is a popular Kenyanowned
pub that’s a favourite with ex-pats and locals alike and fills up at the weekend with Africans from many countries. Here you can enjoy a Kenyan beer while eating nyama choma(barbecued meat – goat in this case) or kienyenji (mashed maize and green vegetables) and listen to the latest east African sounds. Down the road, the Nigerian-owned Club Afrique (see Nightlife listings, p10) is another place to be seen for young Kenyans.

West African restaurants generally serve Kenyan dishes, and at the alcohol-free Biazo’s (307 Hale Lane, Edgware, HA8, 020 8958 8826), you can get ugali (a dough-like maize staple served with meat or fish).
Tamara Gausi.