Uganda ladies driving Kenyan girls out of town

By Sammy Jakaa

Young Ugandan ladies have become hot cakes in Kenyan hospitality industries especially in Western Kenya.

Hotels and bars are slowly eliminating Kenyan ladies from customer services and replacing them with their Ugandan counterparts.

In most hotels, bars and restaurants in Western Kenya, you will be welcomed by the famous Ugandan polite phrase ‘Njebale’ meaning how have you been?

Almost suicidal

Others, who are deeply-rooted in their culture, will greet you while on their knees as a show of respect in line with the Buganda culture. The natural hospitality these ladies portray charms customers and entrepreneurs are utilising them to the maximum.

Patrick Opita, a bar owner at Malaba says it is suicidal for them not to employ Ugandan ladies in hotels and bars as most customers prefer being attended to by them.

He says Kenyan men, who are his main customers, believe that their Kenyan ladies are often rude and lack public relations skills hence they will avoid such pubs.

“It is almost suicidal not to employ Ugandan ladies in the pub because you risk losing all customers. It is true that Ugandan ladies have natural public relations skills, which are very essential in this kind of According to him, the girls are also respectful and often stay in one job for a longer time than Kenyan ladies making them a preference for most employers.

The County Weekly caught up with one Ugandan lady, Saida Nagudi a restaurant attendant in one of the biggest clubs in Malaba town who says courtesy is their natural thing. Saida says their culture demands that a woman respects men and always wear a smiling face to visitors, adding that it was a normal thing back home.

Nagudi, 21, says they prefer working in Kenya because Kenyan men appreciate their courtesy since, in Kenya, it is very unusual for a lady to treat customers well.

“Most of us like working in Kenya because we feel appreciated. In Uganda, it is normal to kneel for a man and they don’t see it as a sacrifice as Kenyan men do. It is good to feel appreciated,” said Saida.

She says Kenyan ladies often view them as primitive when they express politeness to customers and that they at times call them traditional.  Saida however says their skill of handling customers make them the most preferred by Kenyan hotel and pub employers.

 

Love their job

Tracy Kanziga, a Ugandan waitress also says they derive gratification out of seeing customers feeling comfortable and that is why they do all they can to treat them well.

According to her, a customer has a variety of options and that they have an obligation of not only attracting customers but also retaining them. She adds that Ugandan ladies often love their jobs and always give it their all unlike Kenyan ladies who, in most cases, force themselves into working because of lack of an alternative.

“We serve our customers well because we love our job and also we feel we have worked well when customers leave our place happy and satisfied,” she said.

Men on the other hand claim they prefer Ugandan ladies because they feel at home when they are served by them.