Beware of mboch poachers!

By  Rossie Juma

Neighbours who poach hauzis should be shamed. My friends would whine about it, and I would always imagine it was never that serious until it happened to me.

I sent my hauzi to the shops and it took her almost half an hour and my prompting before she could drag her feet to go buy some groceries. I noticed she was in a sulky mood and I was hesitant to get to the bottom of it because the last time I did, she gave me stories from here to the other end of the world, which forced me to part with my Sh2,000. I later gathered that half of the story was a lie.

She took so long at the shops and did not answer my calls. When she came back, she was least bothered when I asked her why she was being funny and stood there like I was talking to myself. I scolded her then she said “Nimechoka na hii kazi mimi naenda”. So I told her to get in and pick her belongings, this was around 7pm and I wondered where she would go to, but was too pissed to ask. She walked into her room and walked out with an already, packed bag; she had her stuff ready and was just counting down. She was looking forward to the scolding so that she could make an exit.

The next day, I saw my ex-hauzi cleaning a neighbour’s car and I was like kumbe that’s where she was rushing to! At the same time, I saw my neighbour, who seemed embarrassed to face me, so I said hey and she responded as she rolled up her window and drove off like crazy.  I was disappointed in my neighbour because I understood why she always praised my hauzis so much; little did I know that she had eyes on her!  Two months down the line, my neighbour was ditched by the hauzi for another neighbour.

Some neighbours always wait for other people to transport mboches from shagz, groom and train them, then they poach them. I find this behaviour uncouth and it goes against the principles of neighbourhood.

My friends who have been victims, have dealt with their cases differently. One walked into her neighbour’s house and demanded for Sh1,000 which she had sent as bus fare to Nairobi and another one went claiming for her lost items and left her neighbour no choice, but to fire the ‘thief’. If we are to stay peacefully as neighbours, this malice should stop!