It's 5a.m. again and dead silent as is wont to be at this hour. Were this four years ago, the dawn silence would have by now been shattered by squealing children awoken from death-like slumber to go forth and pursue some semblance of schooling. The soft semi-rhythmic lowing of the cows as they were milked wafted slowly across the plains; now all but a distant painful memory.
The rain is at it again as it has been for the past few weeks. It's that time of the year again so we brave it out. In my day as a farmer, that sweet rain would have been music to my ears; the maize and beans would be gratefully chugging down the water from the heavens as the new set of seed in the barn would be eagerly awaiting its turn to be sowed in anticipation of a bumper harvest. Walking down memory lane can easily make the problems of the here and now disappear but for a while. Living in a reverie has its benefits but the doctor says it might on some level be clinical depression. The term doctor of course we use rather loosely; he's the only one with any sort of medical experience on the camp; he was a pharmacist before he found himself here so by default we called him 'daktari'.
The 'drip drip drip' of the puddle forming at the entrance complementing the 'pitter patter' of the rain on the tent shakes me back to bitter reality. I really need to patch that tent up before we swim off in our sleep. I'm not sure it can take too many more repairs before it falls apart but seeing as the Good lord has taken care of us thus far, he must have a bigger plan for us.
The children will up and about soon enough and their mother before them; she will probably be off to cook some porridge off the last of our rations from the government; their generosity has truly been astounding. This afternoon another batch of rations will arrive at the camp accompanied by an update on the efforts of the government to resettle us 'as soon as possible'. How often that tune has been played and how brilliantly it is wasted upon us, but I digress.
Joseph, from three tents down, has a transistor radio which we tend to sit around every morning listening to the news. As soon as breakfast is done and the children are off playing football or some other game, we gather around the radio to listen to the news. The main article was that of a bunch of 'waheshimiwas' had just returned from some court date in Europe.
Heralded as heroes, thousands had turned up to witness their triumphant return to the country.A massive power struggle ensued along the highway as gas guzzler clashed with the next one for road dominance. A 'mammoth prayer meeting' was the buzz word afoot. Apparently, after such a triumphant entry, prayers were a necessity to rejoice for not being locked up in the European jail and to pray for those in displaced camps all over the state. We all wondered why we had not got the memo to attend seeing as we were being prayed for; but of course we would not complain - prayers were the only thing keeping us going in these squalid conditions.
So we listened as the 'prayer meeting' wore on. The 'heroes' were called champions of justice and democracy; speaker after speaker extolled their virtues lambasting all that dared to accuse 'their son' of such heinous crimes - quite interesting how this 'prayer meeting' had panned out. As we sat there, some of us decided to do the maths on how much those trips to court had cost, considering approximately forty 'waheshimiwas' had tagged along to offer moral support to their angelic brothers-in-arms. I figure the airfare of each of these 'mheshimiwas' could buy a small plot of land somewhere to relocate a family from this tented hell-hole we called home; but such calculations only make one sink deeper into despair.
It being 'our prayer meeting' we held onto hope that at some point our plight would be addressed and more empty promises about how our welfare was been looked into would be made and for a second we could pretend to be happy. How wrong we were. The meeting came to a close and we were prayed for in earnest by all the religious leaders present and all dispersed. We did likewise, going to join the queue for the weekly rations. It's maize and beans again - the diet of the abandoned of the land.
It's night again. Once the sun sets, falling off to sleep is what keeps one in some semblance of sanity. As I lay my head to sleep, I wonder what the 'mheshimiwas' who just jetted back in would be doing (save for recovering from jet lag). Would they be wondering what I had to eat today? Would they wonder how we are sleeping in this torrential rain? Would they be thinking about me and mine?
All I can do is hope that they do.
Aluta continua.
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Saturday, 5 March 2011
Dear mheshimiwa...
Dear mheshimiwa,
It was another six kilometre trek to work today; I mean ideally, in 28 degree temperatures so early in the morning, a bus or matatu would make so much more sense than this infernal walking but alas. The recent increases in fuel prices have been translated to the passengers indiscriminately and without padding from the powers that be, it has become an impossible expense so walking is the last resort. So yes it was another six kilometre track I was saying, but I mean with all due respect, you probably don't understand the concept of a hot and dusty walk; I know, I saw you as you drove by in your air conditioned gas guzzler that I believe I paid for at some point.
There was talk of retrenchment at the factory today but The Good Lord stood by our side and we survived the attempt. As we indulged in air burgers and water, we heard on the little transistor radio that you absconded a debate session again (despite having a seating bonus as incentive). Apparently the meeting at the Hilton was of much greater importance than the debate on the price regulation of basic foodstuffs and commodities.
Five o'clock comes by rather fast when you are working hard and the six kilometre trek in the sun and dust is on the cards again; seeing as there will be no regulation of prices of foodstuff it would be best to save up some extra coins so that the family will be fed before they sleep. The chit chat amongst fellow stragglers makes the trek seem shorter. You waved to your 'humble' constituents as you drove by in that air-conditioned tax-payer fuelled vehicle; made a real spectacle of it as well what with shouting 'tuko pamoja' to us . We still wonder if you know how hard a day we have had trying to earn some coin for the payment of rent and food debt accumulated from kiosk owners all over the neighbourhood; truly 'tuko pamoja' must have really changed in meaning since the last time I checked.
Dinner was the same old 'ugali na sukuma wiki' as it has been for the past few days; but you would not know about this now, seeing as you hosted another of those banquets for a bunch of other 'mheshimiwas' like you with what we paid you as salary for the last month. It's almost time to sleep now; and the usual sounds of the night are here to haunt us again. Howling dogs, drunken yobs staggering home, mugging victims yelling for help. So as the last line of defence, the dead bolts are fastened on the door and the bed slid in front of this. I don't expect you to know this, I mean with all those guards I pay for must be on duty at all times to make sure that your sleep is not interfered with.
The candle is almost done now so I must finish this letter. Yes candle (the cost of paraffin as it stands now is for the elite of this settlement we live in); seeing as that power company you assured me would be reliable has opted to ration my electricity yet again but their bills are always more than prompt and inflated. They should probably change their name to Kenyans Probably Love Candles as it would be more apt. Those and their cousins in the water department need to be flogged; seeing as we have to wake up at ungodly hours to get free flowing water. Perhaps its time you had that conversation you promised to have with them when you asked for my vote last time you were around here and promised to solve all our water problems. But I digress; of course you know nothing of a water shortage around here where we live.
The light shall soon be done, so I must bid you goodnight my mheshimiwa. Perhaps we shall meet on the road again tomorrow as I go to work and you to your office. Either way, tutaonana tu.
Yours sincerely,
That constituent you lied to..again...
It was another six kilometre trek to work today; I mean ideally, in 28 degree temperatures so early in the morning, a bus or matatu would make so much more sense than this infernal walking but alas. The recent increases in fuel prices have been translated to the passengers indiscriminately and without padding from the powers that be, it has become an impossible expense so walking is the last resort. So yes it was another six kilometre track I was saying, but I mean with all due respect, you probably don't understand the concept of a hot and dusty walk; I know, I saw you as you drove by in your air conditioned gas guzzler that I believe I paid for at some point.
There was talk of retrenchment at the factory today but The Good Lord stood by our side and we survived the attempt. As we indulged in air burgers and water, we heard on the little transistor radio that you absconded a debate session again (despite having a seating bonus as incentive). Apparently the meeting at the Hilton was of much greater importance than the debate on the price regulation of basic foodstuffs and commodities.
Five o'clock comes by rather fast when you are working hard and the six kilometre trek in the sun and dust is on the cards again; seeing as there will be no regulation of prices of foodstuff it would be best to save up some extra coins so that the family will be fed before they sleep. The chit chat amongst fellow stragglers makes the trek seem shorter. You waved to your 'humble' constituents as you drove by in that air-conditioned tax-payer fuelled vehicle; made a real spectacle of it as well what with shouting 'tuko pamoja' to us . We still wonder if you know how hard a day we have had trying to earn some coin for the payment of rent and food debt accumulated from kiosk owners all over the neighbourhood; truly 'tuko pamoja' must have really changed in meaning since the last time I checked.
Dinner was the same old 'ugali na sukuma wiki' as it has been for the past few days; but you would not know about this now, seeing as you hosted another of those banquets for a bunch of other 'mheshimiwas' like you with what we paid you as salary for the last month. It's almost time to sleep now; and the usual sounds of the night are here to haunt us again. Howling dogs, drunken yobs staggering home, mugging victims yelling for help. So as the last line of defence, the dead bolts are fastened on the door and the bed slid in front of this. I don't expect you to know this, I mean with all those guards I pay for must be on duty at all times to make sure that your sleep is not interfered with.
The candle is almost done now so I must finish this letter. Yes candle (the cost of paraffin as it stands now is for the elite of this settlement we live in); seeing as that power company you assured me would be reliable has opted to ration my electricity yet again but their bills are always more than prompt and inflated. They should probably change their name to Kenyans Probably Love Candles as it would be more apt. Those and their cousins in the water department need to be flogged; seeing as we have to wake up at ungodly hours to get free flowing water. Perhaps its time you had that conversation you promised to have with them when you asked for my vote last time you were around here and promised to solve all our water problems. But I digress; of course you know nothing of a water shortage around here where we live.
The light shall soon be done, so I must bid you goodnight my mheshimiwa. Perhaps we shall meet on the road again tomorrow as I go to work and you to your office. Either way, tutaonana tu.
Yours sincerely,
That constituent you lied to..again...
Thursday, 13 January 2011
A time is coming...
I am a Kenyan and proudly so; I love my country and rightly so - I mean who wouldn't? Have you seen what we have to offer in terms of scenery, wildlife, human resource, night-life and excellent weather? It's almost unfair how good we have it.
I love my country and would not hesitate to run to her aid should she come calling.
There is a major reconstruction of the infrastructure going on at the moment; Have you seen the roads being redone at the moment? Thika Road is going to be a wonder in the road system that has been; Mombasa road is brilliant from Nairobi all through to the coast and numerous other major road projects spread out all over the country. Thanks to the generosity of the Chinese government and their helping hand, the development goals of the infrastructural kind shall be all but achieved in all of 10 years.
As a developing state, we have quite the list of problems mainly stemming from lack of funding; our road infrastructure is under overhaul thanks to our development partners; security forces are struggling to keep the lid on crime mainly because they are ill trained and ill equipped to put and end to crime once and for all; teachers are working over time to educate the masses in not so conducive environments; doctors continue to dispense medical advice from not so well equipped hospitals; and most recently, people and their livestock are starving to death in the arid areas due to a famine that has plagued the country;however, as a people we still smile and persevere and call it the price of development. It shall all be right at some point as this continues - one of these days, we shall no longer be a developing state in need of so much financial aid from our development partners and we shall stand on our own two feet.
Bearing all this mind, it therefore defies all sorts of logic that our esteemed government (that we employ as a reminder!) has decided that despite all these pressing urgent problems, the Kenyan taxpayer is rich enough to afford 4.7 Billion shillings worth of legal fees for the now infamous Hague-6 - the same six mainly responsible for the planning and execution of the insanity that rocked our beautiful state at the end of the last election period. Yes dear Kenyan, you shall have to dig deeper into your already depleted reserves of money and pay for 6 proposed criminals to get out of jail free; how lovely we are as Kenyans. How best do we explain this to our development partners as they continue to fork out billions and directing them in our direction where we suddenly found the billions for the most ridiculous of causes.
I love my country as I said before and would do anything for her if she asked me to. However, I sometimes wonder about her people and constantly remind myself that I too are one of them. As of the last census,there was 40million of us. 40million individual minds; 40million hard working individuals; 40 million people who love their country; 40million in need of hope. Yet we continue to put up with the buffoonery that is the political elite of our lovely state. 40million of us are herded around like a bunch of retarded sheep by 225 alleged leaders. 40million vs 225; methinks those odds are skewed in our favour.
A time is coming when we shall achieve the potential this land has; a time is coming when politicians shall act like the employees they are supposed to be to us and do their duties properly; a time is coming when politicians shall regard citizens as individuals and not individual votes; a time is coming when priority shall be given to the needs of the citizens and not he pocket of said politicians; a time is coming when Kenyans will awaken and ask to stop being taken for a ride by self-serving individuals; a time is coming when politics shall be mature and not a tool to divide but to unite; a time is coming mr. politician when I shall ask for my country back; a time is coming.
I love my country and would not hesitate to run to her aid should she come calling.
There is a major reconstruction of the infrastructure going on at the moment; Have you seen the roads being redone at the moment? Thika Road is going to be a wonder in the road system that has been; Mombasa road is brilliant from Nairobi all through to the coast and numerous other major road projects spread out all over the country. Thanks to the generosity of the Chinese government and their helping hand, the development goals of the infrastructural kind shall be all but achieved in all of 10 years.
As a developing state, we have quite the list of problems mainly stemming from lack of funding; our road infrastructure is under overhaul thanks to our development partners; security forces are struggling to keep the lid on crime mainly because they are ill trained and ill equipped to put and end to crime once and for all; teachers are working over time to educate the masses in not so conducive environments; doctors continue to dispense medical advice from not so well equipped hospitals; and most recently, people and their livestock are starving to death in the arid areas due to a famine that has plagued the country;however, as a people we still smile and persevere and call it the price of development. It shall all be right at some point as this continues - one of these days, we shall no longer be a developing state in need of so much financial aid from our development partners and we shall stand on our own two feet.
Bearing all this mind, it therefore defies all sorts of logic that our esteemed government (that we employ as a reminder!) has decided that despite all these pressing urgent problems, the Kenyan taxpayer is rich enough to afford 4.7 Billion shillings worth of legal fees for the now infamous Hague-6 - the same six mainly responsible for the planning and execution of the insanity that rocked our beautiful state at the end of the last election period. Yes dear Kenyan, you shall have to dig deeper into your already depleted reserves of money and pay for 6 proposed criminals to get out of jail free; how lovely we are as Kenyans. How best do we explain this to our development partners as they continue to fork out billions and directing them in our direction where we suddenly found the billions for the most ridiculous of causes.
I love my country as I said before and would do anything for her if she asked me to. However, I sometimes wonder about her people and constantly remind myself that I too are one of them. As of the last census,there was 40million of us. 40million individual minds; 40million hard working individuals; 40 million people who love their country; 40million in need of hope. Yet we continue to put up with the buffoonery that is the political elite of our lovely state. 40million of us are herded around like a bunch of retarded sheep by 225 alleged leaders. 40million vs 225; methinks those odds are skewed in our favour.
A time is coming when we shall achieve the potential this land has; a time is coming when politicians shall act like the employees they are supposed to be to us and do their duties properly; a time is coming when politicians shall regard citizens as individuals and not individual votes; a time is coming when priority shall be given to the needs of the citizens and not he pocket of said politicians; a time is coming when Kenyans will awaken and ask to stop being taken for a ride by self-serving individuals; a time is coming when politics shall be mature and not a tool to divide but to unite; a time is coming mr. politician when I shall ask for my country back; a time is coming.
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