(Matimbei village. Dust moving slowly through the air. Villagers gathered angrily beside a broken road. The atmosphere is tense.)
Crowd: (overlapping voices) Mungai has failed us! The roads are terrible! Dispensaries do not work! Schools are collapsing! Even sewage now travels faster than development!
Mzee Kihoto: And so the people spoke loudly. Certain; of the villain, of the failure, and of the blame.
(Mungai enters slowly carrying a small sack of maize. No bodyguards. No convoy. Only tiredness.)
Mungai: You accuse me of hating development. You say: I rejected roads, neglected hospitals, abandoned schools. But answer me honestly.
(He studies them quietly.)
Mungai: When I spoke about roads…what did you tell me?
Crowd: (immediately defensive) We do not eat roads!
(Long silence.)
Mzee Kihoto: And there…buried inside one sentence stood the tragedy of Lari roads.
(Lights shift slowly. Elders seated beneath a tree at Mbau-ini. Gichuka Waithera stands quietly nearby listening.)
Mzee Kihoto: Every future knocked politely. Every idea requested entry. But each vision was judged: not by long-term value—but by immediate appetite.
Mungai: I said; “Let us repair dispensaries.” And you answered—
Elder One: We already have Kijabe Hospital nearby.
Mungai: I said; “Let us strengthen schools.” And you replied—
Elder Two: Gíthomo ti thuruarí. Education changes nothing.
(Mungai lowers head briefly.)
Mungai: So eventually…I asked myself; why construct what people themselves despise?
(Kongothiria village. Food distribution begins. Immediately the atmosphere changes. Smiles return. Energy returns. Hope returns temporarily.)
Crowd: (smiling warmly now) Mûndû witû! Our person! He understands us! He feeds us!
Mzee Kihoto: And suddenly…roads became: rice. Hospitals became: handouts. Schools became: sacks of maize.
Mungai: (quietly aside) They demanded survival today. And so…I surrendered tomorrow completely.
(Gichuka Waithera steps forward slowly.)
Gichuka Waithera: You are not poor because of land. You are poor because of your heart desires. You prefer what fills the mouth—instead of what builds the future.
Crowd: (hostile immediately) Why insult us? Have you ever fed us?
Gichuka Waithera: No.
Crowd: Then leave us. Tûtitaragwo ithuí.
Gichuka Waithera: I wanted to bring; roads, hospitals, schools. Systems that work. Not for us only but also for our generations. But envelopes… handouts…. Temporary comfort…. Gave birth to the current Lari.
(Heavy silence.)
Mzee Kihoto: They knew he spoke truth. And truth becomes dangerous…when it exposes comfortable habits.
(Lights soften. A child tugs gently at an Elder’s robe.)
Child: Grandfather, why are our leaders mute in parliament and county assemblies? Why do fire engines fail to reach homes that catch fire? Why are our schools without facilities and enough teachers?
(The Elder cannot answer. Looks away slowly.)
Mzee Kihoto: Children ask questions adults survive by avoiding.
(Lights shift sharply. Mungai and Gichuka Waithera face one another directly. No crowd now. Only honesty.)
Mungai: Do you think I do not understand the Lari problems? These people punish ideas. But reward gifts. To govern them peacefully…one must feed them first.
Gichuka Waithera: And in doing so…you trained them to remain hungry forever.
(Long silence.)
Mzee Kihoto: Mungai was not the disease. He was merely the symptom. The sickness was in the people. Always choosing wrongly.
Crowd: (softly now) We deserve; roads, hospitals, schools.
(Pause. stronger, painfully honest) But handouts will still win.
(Lights dim slowly until only the Child remains visible.)
Child: What happens…when eventually nobody remains willing to give handouts anymore?
Mzee Kihoto: A new breed of leaders will lead Lari. But that won’t happen in the near future…
(Blackout.)
Crowd: (overlapping voices) Mungai has failed us! The roads are terrible! Dispensaries do not work! Schools are collapsing! Even sewage now travels faster than development!
Mzee Kihoto: And so the people spoke loudly. Certain; of the villain, of the failure, and of the blame.
(Mungai enters slowly carrying a small sack of maize. No bodyguards. No convoy. Only tiredness.)
Mungai: You accuse me of hating development. You say: I rejected roads, neglected hospitals, abandoned schools. But answer me honestly.
(He studies them quietly.)
Mungai: When I spoke about roads…what did you tell me?
Crowd: (immediately defensive) We do not eat roads!
(Long silence.)
Mzee Kihoto: And there…buried inside one sentence stood the tragedy of Lari roads.
(Lights shift slowly. Elders seated beneath a tree at Mbau-ini. Gichuka Waithera stands quietly nearby listening.)
Mzee Kihoto: Every future knocked politely. Every idea requested entry. But each vision was judged: not by long-term value—but by immediate appetite.
Mungai: I said; “Let us repair dispensaries.” And you answered—
Elder One: We already have Kijabe Hospital nearby.
Mungai: I said; “Let us strengthen schools.” And you replied—
Elder Two: Gíthomo ti thuruarí. Education changes nothing.
(Mungai lowers head briefly.)
Mungai: So eventually…I asked myself; why construct what people themselves despise?
(Kongothiria village. Food distribution begins. Immediately the atmosphere changes. Smiles return. Energy returns. Hope returns temporarily.)
Crowd: (smiling warmly now) Mûndû witû! Our person! He understands us! He feeds us!
Mzee Kihoto: And suddenly…roads became: rice. Hospitals became: handouts. Schools became: sacks of maize.
Mungai: (quietly aside) They demanded survival today. And so…I surrendered tomorrow completely.
(Gichuka Waithera steps forward slowly.)
Gichuka Waithera: You are not poor because of land. You are poor because of your heart desires. You prefer what fills the mouth—instead of what builds the future.
Crowd: (hostile immediately) Why insult us? Have you ever fed us?
Gichuka Waithera: No.
Crowd: Then leave us. Tûtitaragwo ithuí.
Gichuka Waithera: I wanted to bring; roads, hospitals, schools. Systems that work. Not for us only but also for our generations. But envelopes… handouts…. Temporary comfort…. Gave birth to the current Lari.
(Heavy silence.)
Mzee Kihoto: They knew he spoke truth. And truth becomes dangerous…when it exposes comfortable habits.
(Lights soften. A child tugs gently at an Elder’s robe.)
Child: Grandfather, why are our leaders mute in parliament and county assemblies? Why do fire engines fail to reach homes that catch fire? Why are our schools without facilities and enough teachers?
(The Elder cannot answer. Looks away slowly.)
Mzee Kihoto: Children ask questions adults survive by avoiding.
(Lights shift sharply. Mungai and Gichuka Waithera face one another directly. No crowd now. Only honesty.)
Mungai: Do you think I do not understand the Lari problems? These people punish ideas. But reward gifts. To govern them peacefully…one must feed them first.
Gichuka Waithera: And in doing so…you trained them to remain hungry forever.
(Long silence.)
Mzee Kihoto: Mungai was not the disease. He was merely the symptom. The sickness was in the people. Always choosing wrongly.
Crowd: (softly now) We deserve; roads, hospitals, schools.
(Pause. stronger, painfully honest) But handouts will still win.
(Lights dim slowly until only the Child remains visible.)
Child: What happens…when eventually nobody remains willing to give handouts anymore?
Mzee Kihoto: A new breed of leaders will lead Lari. But that won’t happen in the near future…
(Blackout.)
