Fatal Arrest

By Kipkogei Kirwa

Fatal Arrest is a play that revolves around the sorry state of African politics. The play is set in Kiringiti, a fictitious African state. The nation is characterised by a barbaric rule and tribal bigotry where ignorant masses are treated to malicious treachery whilst being subjected to dictatorship and weary games of their tribal numbers being used to keep their oppressors ever in power. The tyrannical leaders are ready to wipe out anyone who stands between them and their selfish machinations for power. Though the play is dealing with a political topic, it has cleverly roped in other pertinent thematic issues that ail the contemporary society. Read this fast paced play that mixes humour with heart pounding drama and mouth gaping ironic twists that characterise this ever shocking life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kipkogei Kirwa
• Release date: Mar 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224475919

Kipkogei Kirwa

Kirwa is a teacher of English and Literature in Kenya. He is a writer who is interested in humanist philosophies. He has a distinction in Master of Arts in Applied Linguistics from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Nairobi, Kenya.

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Characters

Hon. Ekirapa Tumbuktu Sitting Minister of Finance and a current presidential candidate

General Jillo The General of Kiringiti’s Armed Forces

Hon. Mariko Bilbil The leader of the official opposition

Prof. Jango Hon. Tumbuktu’s advisor

Mr. Ayomide  Hon. Tumbuktu’s advisor

Hon. Isimba Mashetani A sitting member of parliament and a presidential candidate who is a preferred choice of the sitting president

Mrs. AntoninaTumbuktu   Hon. Tumbuktu’s wife

President The leader of the sovereign state of Kiringiti

Hon. Matayo Mondiko A Deputy Party Leader of the Party of Change (POC) party

Inspector General The head of Kiringiti Police Force

Hon. Galgalo A politician who defects to Party of Change (POC) from Democratic Party of Kiringiti to come and represent minority tribes at POC

Doctor A medical doctor at Kiringiti National Hospital

Hon. Makaburi A politician who defects to Party of Change (POC) from Bunduki Party

Malkia Hon. Tumbuktu’s daughter

Rufus Hon. Tumbuktu’s son

ACT ONE

Scene one

Reasonable Reasons

(Honourable Ekirapa Tumbuktu’s residence situated in the outskirts of Komora, the capital city of Kiringiti. Around the residence are high walls with electric fence mounted, large bungalows and numerous drives full of first-class cars. At various locations in the compound, armed forces can be seen patrolling the compound cautiously. In Hon. Tumbuktu’s sitting room, Honourable Tumbuktu, one of Kiringiti’s renowned politicians who has publicly declared presidential candidature in the oncoming general elections, is relaxing in his favourite armchair. The surrounding ware in the room smells of extreme affluence right from the imported carpet to expensive carvings and sculptures draping the walls; imported leather sofa sets, golden tables and a 72-inch ultra-thin flat screened TV set. The coziness around the room gives an obvious impression that the owner is of the upper-class. Clad in his Italian made tuxedo suit, and in a laxative mood, Tumbuktu watches the midday news on a local TV channel. With him are two of his close allies whom he has invited to be part of what he has termed as a very serious discussion that could affect the face of politics for a length of time in the nation. They await an important visitor who has requested an appointment. The country is about four months to national elections and the visitor is also one of the most influential presidential candidates).

Hon. Tumbuktu: There is a lot of euphoria in politics lately. One can never be sure of winning a seat fairly and squarely if he or she doesn’t tilt toward certain voter inclinations.

Prof. Jango:   (Clearing his throat laboriously) I agree with you Honourable. There are certain common factors that voters look at inevitably like where the candidate originates from and the kind of promises the candidate is offering.

Hon. Tumbuktu: There is an inexplicable wish for overnight changes that citizens of especially the lower class have.

Prof. Jango:   I think poverty brings with it an incurable disease of believing one can get wealthy overnight, and be employed instantly at the whims of their favourite candidate.

Mr. Ayomide:   I have once heaves dropped on the talk of some who thought that the nation’s currency could become suddenly powerful to the point of ten cents buying an S-class Mercedes Benz when their favourite presidential candidate wins an election.

Hon. Tumbuktu: (Laughing hysterically as he leans back on his chair) You have definitely struck the point gentlemen. You didn’t eat books for nothing. (Sitting upright and changing to serious face) That’s exactly our nation’s political dogma.

Prof. Jango:   Yes, it exactly is. Don’t also forget what has become a current necessity as you campaign; this thing of inclining your talk towards the issue of becoming a messiah to your tribe. Talk of the mistrust that you have towards the other tribes, talk of the imminent danger that hangs upon your kinsmen if the other brother from the other mother wins the top seat.

Hon. Tumbuktu: With that, your tribesmen will drink from the pot of your talk unquestioningly. For sure, it is hard nowadays to garner a hundred percent of your base’s vote if you don’t pit your kinsmen against the rest.

Mr. Ayomide:   Exactly, exactly dear Honourable. How can one weave his way up this nation’s political ladder without such antics? Currently, politics is turning into a sport that requires the speed of a tornado. A false promise after another, propaganda on top of more propaganda, lie after lie. An option to that is called losing.

Prof. Jango:   (Laughing thunderously with the others) A king pin in Kiringiti has a different definition that you will not find even in the most advanced dictionary: He/she is a bargainer and the masses are the bargaining tools.

Hon. Tumbuktu: Yes.... yes, tell the masses you will provide piped milk and harness solar energy from the moon if they give you the strength and you will surely drink from the abundance of their vote.

Prof. Jango:   With the kind of polarisation that needs to be done to clinch a presidential seat, the sad thing is that there is always a high possibility of a bloodbath if things go South for one’s supporters, that is, if a win goes to the closest opponent. Another unfortunate thing for them is that even if one they support wins, very few of the myriad of promises they are given ever come to pass.

Hon. Tumbuktu: Indeed, politics is a dirty game good professor. It is the masses who pressure us to do this to them. You are cock sure not to win votes through any clean sheets.

Mr. Ayomide:   Save your sympathies and justifications gentlemen. Who doesn’t know there is no other way? There is an emerging matrix to new politics in Kiringiti and the rest of the developing nations.

Prof. Jango:   What matrix might you be referring to Mr. Ayomide, I don’t think of any other apart from the old tricks we have just mentioned.

Mr. Ayomide:   When you go a notch higher in the game of politics, you need to greatly consider the two main tribes; the civilised elite and the ignorant poor.

Hon. Tumbuktu: Well said.... very well said Mr. Ayomide. There lies the greatest vote strength that cuts across the political divide. We don’t have to care a hoot about the vote of the former, as a matter of fact they are as scarce as wells in a barren land.

Mr. Ayomide:   A presidential candidate should aim at the latter which carries along almost three-quarters of the population scattered evenly throughout the state. The promises the candidate gives to the lot have to be well-researched and overly exaggerated.

Prof. Jango:   You have hit a point good Ayomide. As we start off this game, a political pattern has struck my mind. We should aspire to take the plan of an inverted pyramid.

Hon. Tumbuktu: How is that Prof?

Prof. Jango:   As your advisors Honourable Tumbuktu, there are many things that need to be keenly considered. It should be clearly noted that we have four major tribes and the rest are minorities. So at the tip of the inverted pyramid we start with our tribal blogs and sell a messiah narrative.

Hon. Tumbuktu: What do you mean by messiah narrative?

Prof. Jango:  I think we have just said one owes to make as if you are saving your tribe from imaginary harm, from aliens who might snatch from them whole of the national cake, from the fear of the unknown that can be brought by one whom you don’t share a mother’s language with...

Hon. Tumbuktu: (Leaning forward as a sign of stimulated interest) Over with that point. That’s a usual tactic. Then?

Prof. Jango:   Then at the middle of the pyramid, infiltrate to the minority tribes and as the triangle expands on our way up, we reach opposing tribes having changed the narrative to suit the big two tribes Mr. Ayomide talked about: The elite rich and the ignorant poor.

Hon. Tumbuktu: What narrative about the rich and the poor?

Prof. Jango:   We pit the poor against the political class. We tell them even their own leaders though rich have let them down and forgot that they should also make citizens rich; that it is time they reject them and elect a person who shall change their state of poverty.

Mr. Ayomide:   What I understand is that the tip requires less effort and then as you go up the inverted pyramid, the volume increases, to mean increase in intensity of what has to be done.

Prof. Jango:   You are up to speed Mr. Ayomide.

Hon. Tumbuktu: (Frowning and fidgeting in his chair) I get you too, but at the tip of the pyramid is what worries me most. I know that my main opponent, our grand enemy, holds two of these major tribes. I hold one but of course with the greatest population. Honourable Isimba Mashetani holds one with an equally large population.

Mr. Ayomide:   (To Hon. Tumbuktu) I wish it were possible that this issue would become as simple as one plus one because of the imminent danger that is approaching you and Hon. Mashetani if the opposition chief wins this presidential election.

Hon. Tumbuktu: (Cursing) God forbid! Only God knows what can happen to us and the president if that vagabond wins. We have to do everything within our power to ensure that by all means, he fails. The goodness is that the current government, which we have served so loyally, for these two presidential terms will hold on to us tooth and nail. If a mistake were to happen...my goodness (he reflects looking up seemingly lost in thought, in a feeble voice) the gallows will be our ultimate end.

(a telephone on the wall rings. A servant from the other room rushes to receive it)

Servant:   Master, Hon. Mashetani at the gate.

Hon. Tumbuktu: (With a mischievous smile) Finally the goon arrives. Tell the guards to let him in.

Servant: (Bowing) Yes master.

Hon. Tumbuktu: (To his two advisors) As a seasoned politician, I can smell what he is coming for a hundred miles away. It’s this one plus one thing. Now gentlemen, you are the best minds that I know of in the whole republic. I rely on you in any decision that will be made. Use the best of your knowledge to muscle everything to my ultimate advantage. Analyse every aspect, weigh the......

(The doorbell rings)

Hon. Tumbuktu: (Almost in a whisper) How fast! (Walking to open the door himself) Welcome Honourable.

(Honourable Mashetani comes in with his entourage which includes three gentlemen. His bodyguards, armed to the teeth, remain outside.)

Hon. Tumbuktu: (Laughing thunderously as he points to a sofa set opposite his armchair both of his hands stretched out) Welcome gentlemen.

Hon. Mashetani: (Affording a wide grin) Thank you, comrade. The pleasure is mine. (He sits with his entourage).

Hon. Tumbuktu: (Pointing at the TV) We were watching the midday news and the local media seem to be already changing gear towards its usual drunken stupor at such times... The usual weapon...I mean tribal numbers.

Hon. Mashetani: You know; the sparrows always sing to the tune of their masters. The hypocrites always slander us by branding us tribal bigots but of course tribal matters