MWALIMU ANDREW: Why clueless Bensouda should be thankful to me, the deputy!

Were it not for the fact that she had such a great deputy in the name of yours truly, I doubt things would be smooth for our female HM. ILLUSTRATION | JOHN NYAGA

What you need to know:

  • I strongly believe that if I stopped working as I do, for even just a month, the outcry here would be so bad that if she is not transferred, then she may have to run this school from far away, most likely from her home.
  • This school is very lucky to have a deputy who is very disciplined in life.
  • Mwisho wa Lami is a very clean school. I supervise the clean-up.

Were it not for the fact that she had such a great deputy in the name of yours truly, I doubt things would be smooth for our female HM of this school, Mrs Skastina Majani, whom everyone knows as Bensouda.

In fact, I strongly believe that if I stopped working as I do, for even just a month, the outcry here would be so bad that if she is not transferred, then she may have to run this school from far away, most likely from her home.

For those who have eyes but can’t see; have ears but can’t hear, and to whom common sense is not so common, let me take his opportunity to enumerate to you some of the things that I do to keep this school operating optimally; and things that have kept Bensouda on the job.

Cleanliness – Any development–friendly person visiting Mwisho wa Lami Primary will admit that unlike many other schools, which have mountains of dirt everywhere, Mwisho wa Lami is a very clean school. This does not come by itself. Every morning, I wake up early and go to school to supervise the clean-up of the schools. Following my firm instructions, the prefects have a rota that indicates who does what every day. This ideally should be the work of the Teacher on Duty, but I can tell you that, except me, the variety of teachers sent here by TSC are the lazy variety. They think that anything outside the classroom is not their job. I would never mind this if they were doing something great when inside the classroom. Unfortunately, they don’t deliver in class, as I always have to get involved as well.

Academics – People will tell you that we are one of the greatest schools in Mwisho wa Lami and its environs. We may not be having another school to compare with in this village, but we are clearly the best. Indeed, even in the whole county, unlike many schools that I know of, we have never been last in KCPE. Or as some people say, we have never touched the tail. Once in a while we come second or third last, but never have we touched the tail. And as long as I remain the deputy of this great school, never will we be last, This amazing performance doesn’t come on a silver palter. We work hard for it. Personally, I do not depend on Kuya, the so called Director of Studies.

In fact, other than sitting in the Director of Study’s office I do not understand what else he does. Because I do almost everything. Actually I do everything: from drawing the school time table every term, assigning teacher classes, coming up with remedial classes, taking care of the library and fundraising for books, and ensuring that teachers are actual teaching. But I leave all the credit o Kuya, whom I have heard severally tell his callers how he is working hard to maintain our high academic standards.

Discipline – This school is very lucky to have a deputy who is very disciplined in life. Those who know me will attest to you how disciplined I am in life. And how discipline has made my life, both in an outside of school, very ordered. But I am not mean to stay with this God-given talent of order alone. I have to share with other people. I thus came up with a very strict behaviour regime that everyone in the school has to follow, particularly for the students. They all know what time to arrive, when to go out for lunch and come back, and when to go for games.

The only challenge I have is in regards to noise-making. You see, I can’t be in every class, and since my teachers are always in the staffroom, majorly due to laziness, the classes can be very noisy. Not only do I have to walk around ensure that students don’t make noise,  I also have to watch over teachers, who spend most of the time in the staffroom, doing nothing other than, you guessed right, make noise!. The only time teachers go to class is when Bensouda is around. Luckily for them, Bensouda is becoming so rare in school. So much that when she is around, we refer to her as the visiting headmistress!

Cartels – Like most organizations, Mwisho wa Lami, too, has cartels that try to control everything. You may not see them or feel them, but they actual do exist. You all saw how the tender to dig two new pit latrines was fought over, or that time when two trees fell off and the school had to sell them for timber or firewood, or even during the pre-Matiang’i days when schools had to buy books. The cartels would do everything to ensure one of them got the tenders.

They must be regretting that I teach in this school, and that I am committed to ensuring that things are done right. As a frequent drinker at Hitler’s, I not only know the Mwisho wa Lami cartels, I’m also part of them – albeit on the positive side. I can, and I do handle the likes of Alphayo, Rasto, Hitler and Nyayo with such dexterity that the HM doesn’t have to worry about the cartels. I help them to understand that for the school to be successful, we must always give tenders to the best qualified person. Most times I manage to ensure this is done, but in rare cases, the cartels win. Even where they won, I ensure the work goes to the better cartel.

Recruitment – Being the HM of Mwisho wa Lami requires a strong person who can do quality hiring. You have quite some lucrative recruitments to do. You need to appoint a school cook, a school watchmen, a few BOG teachers, and can also influence the appointments of nursery school teachers. There are also prefects to recruit. This are powers that need to be used judiciously. And Bensouda is lucky to have me around to help her navigate this dark forest.

It is me who has ensured that there is a balance in clan representation for school employees – and prefects. Therefore, instead of pushing for my transfer to a far flung school, Bensouda should be thanking me every day for making her work quite easy. If I was sure that I would take over her office if we were to impeach her, that is something I would make sure happens.

Many people argued with me when I pushed for the appointment of Anindo as our cook – with many saying that I had been bribed. Nothing can be far from truth. Nyayo, her husband, may have given me something small to say thank you; but that was mush later on. And those who see her great work will admit that I was spot on in appointing Anindo.

The other people I appointed was the watchman.  I was not a fool to have gone for someone from outside Mwisho wa Lami but from our clan. The greatest threat to school property is having someone from Mwisho wa Lami at the gate. Had we hired someone internally, like Alphayo and Nyayo were pushing to get the jobs, lots of school property would have been carted away.

You just need to look at the high quality BOG teachers that I hired; and the high calibre prefects that I nominated to see how good I am at recruitment. Bensouda would never get it right.

Bensouda is lucky to have me around as her deputy. I fully understand the dynamics of the people living in Mwisho wa Lami. Through delicate manoeuvering and negotiations, I have helped her to expertly navigate this to the extent that, except once in a while when they are induced with drinks, the parents of Mwisho wa Lami, and the entire community at large, are fairly happy with Bensouda being the HM of this great school.

Therefore, instead of pushing for my transfer to a far flung school, Bensouda should be thanking me every day for making her work quite easy. Were it not for me, she would have been sent away from here long ago, and would only remain in charge if working from her home. If I was sure that I would take over her office if we were to impeach her, that is something I would make sure happens.