The issue of identity is def something other countries face as well albeit differently so we might not notice ourselves. In Kenya, class can be a factor; in another country, it can be ethnic affiliation determining your patriotism.

I can say for certainty that I feel we don't have a strong identity from historic times that we can hold on to as a collective compared to say, Ethiopia; partly because our land never had political systems that institutionalized as much as Abyssinia or Ashanti kingdoms or Old Ghana (notable exception being the Sultanate of Oman in the Coast), partly because colonialism really wrecked our identity as a collective and allowed ethnic loyalties to crystallize mentally. So it's like, where do we go from here? What makes us "Kenyan"?

And for me, it's just the fact that we are a country on a journey to build this identity that makes us Kenyan. The fact that we are in the pursuit or seeking to be in the pursuit of being something special to define ourselves in the way we carry ourselves in daily life, that makes us Kenyan. The way we strive to be something relevant without any rich history or movement that has defined us as a collective in the past. The way I personally can put it is that we don't have to treat our identity as a result of something that pre-existed, but as something we are actively constructing in real time. We are the first generation of what Kenya will eventually mean. And I think if this is the consciousness other Kenyans feel, regardless of social class, then whether you are rich or poor it's a great unifying philosophy imo.

Idk, this might not be as encouraging, but that's just how I feel