Letter from the city of Belgrade, Serbia

Travelling is more exciting and fulfilling when visiting exotic places, less talked about, less written about; the road less taken, to quote poet TS Elliot.

This time it was Serbia, an independent country that was once part of Yugoslavia and headed by Josip Broz Tito for almost four decades till 1991-1992. Other countries that emerged from the breakup of Yugoslavia include Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Slovenia and disputed Kosovo.

The lasting image of Serbia is the Balkan wars in the 1990s as the former Yugoslavia broke up violently. But the Serbians, I found, are quiet, peaceful and very welcoming. There are few countries I have so felt at home more than Serbia—I even asked about the price of land and dowry.

The snow-peaked Alps interrupt the two-hour flight from Paris. Then farmlands, rivers and factories welcome you to Belgrade. I kept asking why such big pieces of land have not been subdivided into plots over the centuries.

Air Serbia lands you at Belgrade airport, also called Nicolas Tesla airport. No ‘international’ in the name that is so common in Africa. Tesla is one of Serbia’s most famous sons, an engineer and inventor who pioneered the generation, transmission, and use of alternating current (AC) electricity. He did most of his pioneering work in the USA. There is a museum named after him in Belgrade. A visit to a military museum in a former Roman fortress was very fascinating.

Belgrade (Beograd) looks like any other European city, like Vienna or Bonn with classical buildings, with narrow alleys and street parking. New Belgrade, a section of the city, is modern with high-rise buildings and home to investors; I saw Huawei, Microsoft and KPMG.  The new Belgrade looks like our Westlands or Upper Hill.

Like the Nairobi River, the Danube and Sava rivers pass through Beograd, creating waterfronts and bridges that add to the beauty of the city.

The country is upper middle class and you can sense growth and confidence on the streets. Cranes are busy at the waterfront (not that one!) with high-rise apartment blocks overlooking Sava River, and its bridges. The Sava River meets the River Danube at Belgrade. I was told some apartments go for as much as 8,000 euros (Sh1.1 million) per square metre.

At the waterfront, they have their Galleria! It seems Nairobi is like any other global city except inequality and some disorder.

There is an efficient public bus and tram system and no matatus. Serbians love walking. I noted big housing complexes within the city (affordable housing?). Serbians look very healthy; I did not see obese people. Their food is healthy too, with lots of vegetables and salt.

Belgrade looks amazingly relaxed compared to Nairobi. A very safe city. I did not see a single policeman except at the parliament building, which is not fenced and has no restriction on taking photos.

Serbia is welcoming and seems to have been throughout history. It was once part of the Roman Empire for almost 800 years. Some parts such as Vovojdina were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Serbia was later under the Ottoman Empire for another 500 years. Britons were in Kenya for only 68 years!

Fertile land must have attracted the conquerors. This subjugation must have made Serbians very patriotic, you sense that from their discussions. Several monuments in the city celebrate men who led Serbians to freedom. Why did we stop building monuments in Kenya? Nothing to celebrate? Belgrade is a city of monuments, and they keep all monuments from the Roman period to the present. A good policy, I would add.

One Serbian man suggested that Slavic women are the most beautiful in the world. Could that be another attraction? I need more than a week to test this hypothesis.

Beyond agriculture, which contributed 6.46 per cent of the GDP in 2022 (Statistica), industrial production is a leading economic activity. Big factories break the monotony of farmland as you near Belgrade. Key trading partners are Germany and Serbian neighbours including Hungary and Romania.

Serbia has been a candidate to join the European Union since 2014. Is her closeness to China and Russia slowing the access? But Serbs on the streets seem to feel they are shall lose their identity under EU laws.

Any lessons for us from the Balkans?

Despite going through empires, communism and WWII, the Serbs kept their identity. We have a similar problem in Kenya. Every tribe wants to keep its identity. How can we harness this identity for national good? Uganda’s President Museveni allowed the kingdoms back. We are unlikely to get back our kingdoms.

One easy strategy to mute tribalism is growing the economy. Affluence got through the right way, is the best antidote to tribalism. Surprisingly, while our differences bother us, the lack of diversity bothers the Balkans!

Serbia has utilised her strategic location between the east and west to attract investors and grow her economy. That includes Chinese. Have we utilised our strategic location between north and south, east and west? Along the ocean? Have we looked inwards more than outwards?

With the academic visit over and sightseeing, it was time to come home and follow the Deputy President’s impeachment case. My next visit, hopefully, is Croatia’s city of Dubrovnik along the Adriatic Sea. Or should I visit Russia, the home of other Slavs? We must never stop expanding our frontiers of experience and enriching our lives—against financial constraints.

A bit of a show-off, if I may. In New Belgrade, we visited a restaurant owned by tennis star Novak Djokovic. Beside his photos and trophies is a heap of tennis balls he once played with. I carried one home as a souvenir.

Before I sign off, most names in Serbia seem to end with ‘vic’ —Nikitovic, Petrovic, Jovanovi, Petrovic...I am now Irakivic.