Dedication.
Author's Note.
ACT I — THE HUNGER.
Scene I — Prologue.
Scene II — Kimende Market.
Scene III — Announcements and Ambitions.
Scene IV — The Return of Muhote.
Scene V — The King of Launches.
Scene VI — The Land of Loud Empty Cans.
Scene VII — The Arrival of Mungai.
Scene VIII — Gichuka Waithera Returns.
ACT II — THE CIRCUS.
Scene I — The Morning After.
Scene II — The Market of Crowds.
Scene III — Party Headquarters.
Scene IV — Kwamûnene Visit.
Scene V — The Church Service.
Scene VI — The Land of Njûgûma.
Scene VII — The Road Launch.
Scene VIII — The Gift.
Scene IX — Gichuka Waithera Exhausted.
ACT III — THE VOTE.
Scene I — Some Months to Election.
Scene II — The United Front.
Scene III — Aspirants Who Bought Poverty.
Scene IV — The Debate.
Scene V — Near the Pots of Meat.
Scene VI — The Campaign Without Time.
Scene VII — The Night Meeting.
Scene VIII — Tuondo Na Tûmíhuko.
Scene IX — The Betrayal of Gitithia.
Scene X — The Familiar Failure.
Scene XI — Election Day.
Scene XII — The Man Who Kept His Word.
ACT IV — THE REGRET.
Scene I — Six Months Later.
Scene II — The People and Their Hunger.
Scene III — The Roads.
Scene IV — The Shovels of Lari.
Scene V — Mungai’s Office.
Scene VI — Kimende Market Again.
Scene VII — The Funeral.
ACT V — THE FINAL WARNING.
Scene I — The Silence After.
Scene II — Mungai’s Speech.
Scene III — Gichuka Closing Conversation.
Scene IV — Monologue.
Dedication
This play is dedicated to every ordinary citizen who continues to hope for the birth of better leadership despite repeated disappointments. To those who believe that leadership should be measured by service, integrity, and responsibility rather than promises, slogans, and appearances. And to every generation entrusted with the sacred responsibility of choosing its leaders. May we never forget that the leadership of a nation is shaped by the choices of its people. For it is the people who give birth to leadership—whether good or bad—and it is the people who must live with what they create.
Author's Note
I was born in Lari and have lived there for many years. I know its villages, its people, its conversations, its hopes, and its frustrations. Because of that, Lari became the setting for this play. However, Birth of Bad Leadership is not only about Lari.
Lari is simply the stage upon which a much larger story is told. The issues explored in this play; bad leadership, political manipulation, voter choices, public expectations, broken promises, and collective responsibility, can be found in many communities across the world. While the names and places may be familiar to some readers, the themes belong to humanity as a whole.
To capture the realities of life at the grassroots, I took an unusual path. For a time, I allowed many people to believe that I intended to run for political office. I attended meetings, visited villages, listened carefully, and engaged people in conversations about leadership, elections, and the future of their communities. The reactions were honest, revealing, and sometimes surprising.
Many of the scenes in this play were born from those encounters. People spoke to me as they would speak to a political aspirant. They shared their expectations, fears, frustrations, hopes, advice, and criticisms. Unknown to them, I was not seeking votes; I was collecting stories.
In many ways, the people themselves became co-authors of this work. Their voices, attitudes, experiences, and observations helped shape the characters and situations presented here. While this play is a work of fiction and political satire, it is rooted in real conversations and real human experiences.
My hope is that readers will look beyond the setting and see themselves in the story. For this is not simply a play about leaders. It is a play about citizens, choices, consequences, and the role each generation plays in shaping its future.
If this play leaves you, the reader, with one question, let it be this: How is bad leadership born? For the answer may tell us as much about ourselves as it does about those who govern us.
Birth of Bad Leadership
David Waithera
© 2026