By GEORGE OLWALO
Residents of a constituency in Migori County were shocked when a peasant farmer’s stolen cow was found hidden in a room on the second floor of a politician’s storied house.
When its owner woke up in the middle of the night for a routine inspection and found the cow missing, he let out a piercing scream.
His neighbours turned up to find out what was amiss. Told of what had befallen the man, they set out to hunt for the missing cow, dividing themselves into four groups with each party going in a different direction.
But by morning, the trail remained cold. The party that was to search the nearby villages decided to turn back and report their findings.
Hoof prints
While they were on their way back, one of them saw fresh hoof prints leading to a prominent politician’s home. Earlier, they had dismissed that home as the least likely place to search for a stolen cow.
The man who saw the hoof prints, however, convinced his colleagues that they should search the politician’s home, though some were initially reluctant to accompany him. They knocked on the politician’s gate and one of the politician’s sons opened up.
When they told him what they were looking for, he quickly led them to the cattle enclosure.
His father, who was asleep, was woken up by the many voices in his home.
The mheshimiwa could not understand why people were crowded around his cattle enclosure.
“Can any one of you tell me what is going on?” he bellowed.
The team’s spokesman went to him and told him they were looking for a lost cow. The politician was hurt and angrily reminded them that he should be the last person to be suspected of stealing a cow.
Tongue-tied
But while he was admonishing the search party, a hawk-eyed man saw a cow hidden in one of the rooms on the second floor.
Bravely, the man brought the politician’s attention to what he had seen. Convinced that the man was daydreaming, the politician led the way to the said room. Surprisingly, when he opened the room, the party came face to face with the lost cow.
The politician stood tongue-tied for minutes. When he finally started talking, he asked for his son, the one who opened the gate. But the fellow was out of reach, his phone switched off.
With resignation, the politician said, “I have nothing to do with this. I was away for two days and I only back came in the wee hours of the morning.”
Sneaked
To prove it, he led the party to his car, which was still covered with mud. Though his alibi sounded convincing, and the party believed his son who had sneaked away was responsible, they stayed put.
A source revealed to Crazy Monday that the politician handsomely greased the palms of the search party to keep the issue under wraps.
Naturally, the incident has become a major news item in Migori town and its environs, with those in the know accusing the politician of poor parenting.
