Mpingana Dax

The debate among young people about okutunga keumbo (building at, often your parents’, village home) is necessary, but it is also too often cheapened to shebeen-level arguments. In many African traditions, particularly for those of us who originate from rural communities, young men and women carry enormous expectations. After graduating, you are expected to build your parents’ home back in the village, your own house in the city where you live (apparently renting is for unserious people) and - lo and behold - your own traditional home in the village. All this while building a career, acquiring movable assets such as a car and furniture, and perhaps starting a family of your own. Your salary, however modest, is expected to stretch across all these societal obligations. Anything short of this invites labels such as evaya (coward), ongholwe (drunkard - even if you don't touch fermented brews), or accusations that you have forgotten the values of hard work instilled in you back home. Society essentially places a template of expectations in front of you and, without saying a word, demands that you tick every box. The result? Many young people spend their most productive years servicing inherited expectations rather than building sustainable personal wealth. They remain trapped in a cycle of construction, obligation and financial pressure, with little room to invest, save or secure their own future. In other words: get born, go to school, get a job, build at least three houses (your parents’ home, your own in the city and your traditional home in the village), and die. That cannot be a sustainable approach to life. Respecting one's roots and supporting one's parents are noble responsibilities. But they should not become an intergenerational financial death sentence that leaves the next generation perpetually building houses instead of building wealth. We need to strike a balance between cultural responsibility and burdening ourselves into bottomless financial graves. Sorry for my long layman ramblings!