While numbers may just be a representation of a numerical value of something, there are those that give them a deeper connotational meaning based on their belief system or their previous interactions with the same.
That is why you will hear some people talk of lucky numbers, ominous numbers and what have you.
In Kenya for instance, one can arguably say that numbers two, seven and 10 have a special place among the country's people going with the way they are used and the wider meaning attached to them. Let's look each at a time.
1. Number Two
Many Kenyans seem to augur well with number two going by the popular Swahili phrase 'mbili mbili'. For instance, in the bars, if you want to know that a reveller is loaded, they will be ordering two bottles of whatever they are taking each round.
You will also hear presenters on radio, say during a music request show, tell their listeners it is time for 'mbili mbili' meaning playing two consecutive songs from every artiste whose songs are lined up in the show.
2. Number Seven
The number is also commonly used by its Kiswahili name 'saba saba'. I need not explain more what 'saba saba' is all about. We all know that many attribute saba saba or July to the liberation struggle that sired multipartyism in Kenya in the 90s.
As such, number seven in Kenya, more or less the same is used to denote a fight for whatever liberation and other related things.
3. Number Ten
The mention of the phrase 'kumi kumi' wherever you go across Kenya is self-explanatory. Many use it to denote all types of cheap and killer brews that have had a toll on many especially youths, turning them into zombies.
President Uhuru Kenyatta once branded them as 'brews of death'.
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