MWALIMU ANDREW: Drama as Kizito and Alphayo fight

When I predicted here that Kizito would lose in the General Election, no one took me seriously. ILLUSTRATION| JOHN NYAGAH

What you need to know:

  • Most voters could not remember the many times Kizito had helped them, but compared what he was giving – usually Sh50 – with the Sh200 his main challenger was giving.
  • And you will all remember the day he kept teachers waiting at Kasuku Hotel for hours, only to come late and complain that the teachers had eaten more that he had budgeted for, and never gave anything except for a few t-shirts.
  • That is the day he lost the teachers’ vote. Needless to say, Kizito lost the nominations, but still went ahead to vie as an independent candidate.

When I predicted here that Kizito would lose in the General Election, no one took me seriously. If you remember, Kizito, a close friend of my brother, left a relatively well-paying job in Nairobi to contest for an MCA’s seat. But what really happened depends on whom you are listening to.

“I realised the MCA is an important seat that needed serious people like me to come and pull our people out of poverty,” he told me one day. “This job requires a seriously educated person with high morals and integrity.”

While his education was in no doubt, there are question marks about his morals and integrity. The marriages he is accused to have broken during the campaign season are many. Sources will tell you that Kizito did not resign from his job. He stole some money from his employer then ran to come hide in the village. No wonder he can never go back to Nairobi.

 “He never wanted to contest but after he found himself with quite some idle money, he decided to contest,” said Saphire. At the time, I could not comment for I was a beneficiary of the funds as I was helping him register voters,.

That was earlier in the year. Kizito was generous and used to treat us well. He would give money to church harambees, buy drinks at Hitler’s and would  help anyone in distress. But his opponents came in just before the nominations, with real money. With more money, most of his opponents outsmarted and outwitted him. Most voters could not remember the many times Kizito had helped them, but compared what he was giving – usually Sh50 – with the Sh200 his main challenger was giving.

And you will all remember the day he kept teachers waiting at Kasuku Hotel for hours, only to come late and complain that the teachers had eaten more that he had budgeted for, and never gave anything except for a few t-shirts. That is the day he lost the teachers’ vote. Needless to say, Kizito lost the nominations, but still went ahead to vie as an independent candidate.

“I was rigged in the nominations but I can assure you the people are with me,” he told anyone who cared to listen. But there was one problem – he did not have money. To raise money, he started selling whatever he could. Earlier in the year, he had bought four motorcycles which he had given to some boda boda boys to run on his behalf. He also bought an old Probox that he was using for campaigns, and a plot at the market.

He started selling these to raise money for campaigns. A week to elections, he had even sold the car, and only one motorcycle remained. Were it not for the intervention of my brother Pius, he was planning to sell the plot at the market centre to Lutta. He also wanted to sell his posho mill but never got anyone to buy it.

You do not need a calculator to know that Kizito lost with a landslide at the General Election. Despite the confidence he had, he did not manage even 20 votes. Obviously, he was quite upset as his agents alone were over 25; and he spent long hours in his house brooding and crying and sleeping.

He seemed to have gotten over the loss a few days later, and when we met at Hitler’s, he was in high spirits.

“Don’t worry about me,” he said after a few drinks. “Sisi tumejipanga.” When he was challenged to say more, he informed us that he would be nominated to the county assembly.

“Lots of parties want to nominate me so that I can help the county make good laws as no one is as educated as I am here,” he said.

“I am also considering running for the Speaker’s position. I have not seen anyone who can do a better job than me as Speaker,” He went on: “Don’t be surprised if I’m even nominated to either houses of Parliament.”

It was quite admirable how Kizito had various options in life when some of us have only one: to go to school every day and wait for peanuts every end month.

But a few weeks later, all MCAs were nominated, all MPs and senators were nominated and the speaker of our county assembly was elected. And nowhere did Kizito’s name feature.

“This is a corrupt country,” he said when we met at Hitler’s. “These parties are actually controlled by thugs,” he lamented and added that they had taken his money and promised to nominate him but never came through.

I asked him about the Speaker’s positions. “Hiyo iko na wenyewe,” he said.

 “Don’t worry about me, I will be fine,” he said. “There are so many things to do and I assure you I won’t be idle.”

And thus his frequent trips to the county office started. He had separately indicated that he would be seeking to be appointed to any committee or board. “Even if it is to be chairman of the cattle dip committee or village elder, “I need something to give me visibility.”

His trips to the county office seem not to have yielded a lot and in the past few weeks, Kizito has been a frequent visitor at our school. We did not know what was happening until the other week when Bensouda came to introduce him to the staffroom.

“Colleagues I would like to introduce Kizito, who becomes the chairman of the school Board of Management with immediate effect.”

She asked Kizito to make a few remarks.

“I know although many of you supported me, I did not win the elections,” he started, but I’m not sure anyone in the staffroom voted for him. “However I am happy to come here as the chair of the Board and I believe this school will gain from my expertise and wealth of knowledge that I bring on board.”

No one asked which expertise he had. But since then, Kizito has been coming to school almost every day, and he usually goes around to check if teachers are in class.

Until last Friday. He arrived in school and went directly to the HM’s office. As they were talking with Bensouda, Alphayo, Nyayo and Rasto all arrived at the same time. They walked straight to the HM’s office. Within minutes we could hear them shouting at Kizito and Bensouda.

“Who removed me as chairman of this school and why?” asked Alphayo.

“Tulikataa huyu mtu kama MCA mbona umemchukua hapa? Asked Nyayo. “Nani alimpigia kura?”

Bensouda tried explaining that she appointed Kizito as he was the only person with a Form Four certificate but no one was listening.

“Hiyo mambo ya Form Four toa hapa,” said Alphayo. “This is our school. You were in Nairobi when we were building this school,” he added.

“Are you a parent here”’ asked Nyayo. “Kama hauna mtoto utakuwaje chairman?” While admitting that he was not a parent, Kizito reminded them that even Rasto was not a parent of the school.

“Niko na wajukuu hapa,” he said. “Enda ile shule watoto wako wako usituharibie riziki yetu,” Nyayo slapped Kizito and Kizito responded with a blow to Nyayo’s face. Bensouda ran away shouting as the three descended on Kizito. Were it not for the quick intervention of Mr Kuya, the three would have mercilessly beaten Kizito. When he got an escape, Kizito ran away. With Bensouda also having left, the three camped at the HM’s office and said they won’t leave until they are reinstated as the bona fide BOM officials. It took long to convince them to leave the school, but they promised to come back tomorrow. Bensouda will have to sort that mess herself!

 

[email protected]/mwisho-walami