The party was holding preliminaries for the local government elections that will be here soon. Don’t ask me which party because there is only one in Bongo. I knew that one I manage to secure my candidature; automatically I would be the next mwenyekiti. The more I thought of it the more I got excited. I was soon dreaming of all the allowances during my tenure. Then the ‘poshos’ for the Mwenyekiti baraza. Just imagine the fines for wife beating, overflowing pit latrines, wandering domestic, and wandering domestic animals. I could see myself leaving poverty just weeks after the elections. Besides, I believe I have that patriotic character to serve Bongo and its people
But first I must get elected as the party candidate. To begin with I sought my beloved wife a.k.a mama watoto’s opinion. “I say mama nani; how do you find the idea of me becoming the next mheshimiwa of this area. I mean the old mwenyekiti should retire now, he has been there for as long as I can remember”
Mama Watoto stopped her knitting suddenly as I she had seen a ghost. She gave me a long stare, and then she asked mockingly, “una hela wewe? What has money got to do with this? I shot back of course of all the people she knew my resources were very limited. If I was to be elected as the next chairperson that would be my first legally recognized job since the disintegration the old East Africa community in 1977. You need money to convince people to vote for you,” my wife told me. “But that is corruption! People should vote on merit, au sio?” “It’s not corruption, it is trade. You give them kitu kidogo, they give you their votes. Nothing is free in Bongo.
At the kijiwe the chaps told me the same thing, money pesa ….. As I delved more into the issue. I discovered the days of ujamaa leaders who had only brains without money were over I mean those who were mwalimu’s blue eyed boy’s. However, even with ills associated with it I had to take this opportunity because I was increasingly becoming desperate and out of the million jobs JK promised this one offered the best remuneration of all. To raise the funds I was compelled to pawn the only sofa set we had to get the campaign rolling. A neighbour of mine volunteered to be my manager in my Endeavour to become the next chairperson
“Unlike the past elections for post, this time it promises to pay back handsomely; inalipa. Can you imagine that the wenyeviti will even have a six-figure salary?” my neighbour emphasized. Our campaign first hit a snag when ‘most of the would be voters never had party membership cards or because of carelessness they had lost them. This meant that if I wanted their vote I would have to by them new ones. Others just confessed that they weren’t interested in party politics but if I would find them membership cards, they would gladly vote for me as a friend; mwenzetu. I was shocked to discover that new cards were not only a winning weapon but also a lucrative trade around the party election seasons.
But first I must get elected as the party candidate. To begin with I sought my beloved wife a.k.a mama watoto’s opinion. “I say mama nani; how do you find the idea of me becoming the next mheshimiwa of this area. I mean the old mwenyekiti should retire now, he has been there for as long as I can remember”
Mama Watoto stopped her knitting suddenly as I she had seen a ghost. She gave me a long stare, and then she asked mockingly, “una hela wewe? What has money got to do with this? I shot back of course of all the people she knew my resources were very limited. If I was to be elected as the next chairperson that would be my first legally recognized job since the disintegration the old East Africa community in 1977. You need money to convince people to vote for you,” my wife told me. “But that is corruption! People should vote on merit, au sio?” “It’s not corruption, it is trade. You give them kitu kidogo, they give you their votes. Nothing is free in Bongo.
At the kijiwe the chaps told me the same thing, money pesa ….. As I delved more into the issue. I discovered the days of ujamaa leaders who had only brains without money were over I mean those who were mwalimu’s blue eyed boy’s. However, even with ills associated with it I had to take this opportunity because I was increasingly becoming desperate and out of the million jobs JK promised this one offered the best remuneration of all. To raise the funds I was compelled to pawn the only sofa set we had to get the campaign rolling. A neighbour of mine volunteered to be my manager in my Endeavour to become the next chairperson
“Unlike the past elections for post, this time it promises to pay back handsomely; inalipa. Can you imagine that the wenyeviti will even have a six-figure salary?” my neighbour emphasized. Our campaign first hit a snag when ‘most of the would be voters never had party membership cards or because of carelessness they had lost them. This meant that if I wanted their vote I would have to by them new ones. Others just confessed that they weren’t interested in party politics but if I would find them membership cards, they would gladly vote for me as a friend; mwenzetu. I was shocked to discover that new cards were not only a winning weapon but also a lucrative trade around the party election seasons.
The district party secretary made it very clear that it was his time to harvest. The greet cards had become a very scarce commodity. Whoever wished to have them must help him with the ‘fare’ to the headquarters to get them. I paid the loot for the fare to the HQ but the delays dragged on for weeks. I later on discovered that the secretary had his own candidates in mind. We wouldn’t get enough cards to win. We cracked our heads and came up with a novel trick or printing our own cards and sharing the spoils with the party mwenyekiti, who would stamp and sign them for a fee each and magically they would become genuine
The trick worked superbly. I gave a card to any mwananchi who dared smile at me. On Election Day, I was buoyant that victory would be mine. The election process went on so smoothly. I wouldn’t wait to get the results. The election supervisor took his position at the prodium. I was surprised to hear my name being read first.” Usually winners aren’t the first to be mentioned,” I thought. May be this is a new arrangement. “He got one vote”
No comments:
Post a Comment