Facing Mount Kenya, squaring up to some home truths and broken promises

 Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua during a trek along Mawingu Trail on the slopes of Mt Kenya on March 18, 2023. [DPCS]

I was in the village early this week, communing with clansmen in a wake without a bonfire. It wasn't very cold and the night was young. Now, I have to qualify that my village is in the city, so to speak, and it's also home to the newly minted pensioner, former Prezzo UK.

I can afford to name-drop, now that I hear Prezzo UK has started receiving his pension. Wealthy folks are always welcome in the village, as cash is in short supply and local taverns could do with the sort of injection only a past Prezzo can afford. For when your father's image is on the currency, how can one claim to be broke?

Anyway, we sat under a naked neon light and talks quickly shifted to siasa, you know, the village type that's delivered live and direct.

"Ninyi watu mlidangwa," someone charged, a finger pointing in the direction of some relations. Those are serious claims to make and since I did not vote, I had no right to comment on the outcomes of the last General Election.

But I was keen to hear what those accused of being gullible had to say. In previous conversations, especially among the womenfolk, all I heard was a uniform response: mimi sitaki siasa!

But the menfolk had a different response: "How were we duped? Didn't the other side lie as well? Would Baba have paid the Sh5,000 that he promised poor families?"

This is what we call answering question with a question. The voices were rising, but there was no threat of violence.

"We're not speculating about the intents of others," comes the response, "We're saying what you were promised was not delivered." The promises in question relate to reducing the cost of living, and it appears those who did not vote for Kenya Kwanza have no qualms about receiving anything from the government. They are only interested in those who voted for the ruling coalition admitting they were duped.