By Bethsheba Achitsa
Published September 29, 2008

Nairobi women always want to look trendy and glamorous. And perhaps this is more evident in the choice of their footwear that varies from one woman to another depending on their age, their social class and their taste for fashion. While some prefer flat shoes, others improve their slinky walk with exaggerated high heeled ones. Still others enjoy sport shoes. BETHSHEBA ACHITSA reports.

Times are bad and many women within Nairobi would rather walk home if it is near their work place instead of spending their hard-earned cash on inflated matatus fares. For those whose homes are far, they walk to venues from where the fares to their homes and places of work are not so high.

However this practice of walking to and fro is putting ladies to disadvantage mainly because the kind of shoes they wear let them down. The footwear cannot endure the long distances covered and their soles peel off during those crucial times. Imagine a smartly dressed lady with a high-heeled shoe on the right foot and a flat one on the left. It’s not that she is losing her mind but because someone did not do their job  right. That’s not much of a fuss because a cobbler at the end of the road could come to their rescue. But as the shoe peels off they always fall down and have to either get back home and change or get to the nearest boutique and buy new clothes.

Each day several women fall victim of poor quality shoes and don’t be surprised as you walk along the busy streets of Nairobi and encounter this woman who is walking barefoot. You can imagine of the hard looks she receives from many people. Poor her, she might have to walk home barefoot since the government in its new legislation policy,  has sent people who  would have come in handy during this moments of agony out of reach.

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Can anyone appreciate a woman who is smartly dressed in a pink suit with colored sport shoes on her feet? What an awful outfit. No one would dare walk with her; all would mock and jeer at her. If closely checked the soles are either fixed with glue that cannot endure the heat generated during walking. The companies that manufacture women’s shoes should not just be after money but should give women quality. Women are willing to part with their money for anything they fancy.

However as much as women would want to look smart, they need to consider various factors.  It’s essential to dress appropriately for the occasion. Therefore if they have to walk they need to consider the shoes to wear so that they never regret for the rest of the day.

Though women have to consider various factors, this does not absolve the shoemakers, usually Chinese, of blame. Whoever makes ladies shoes must make something that fully satisfies their needs and gives them quality.