(Lights isolate Gichuka Waithera standing quietly away from rally. Kamau approaches him.)
Kamau: Will you run again?
(Long silence.)
Gichuka Waithera: I do not know.
Kamau: They were not ready for you.
Gichuka Waithera: No. A population shaped by poverty cannot transform its leadership overnight.
Kamau: Then what changes a country leadership?
Gichuka Waithera: People who are awake. People who look back where they came from. People who know their problems. People who know where they want to be. People who know the power is in their hands. People who are not hungry as they approach the ballot.
Kamau: And if they never change?
(Gichuka Waithera studies distant rally quietly.)
Gichuka Waithera: Then elections simply become lactation periods for bad leadership.
(The rally freezes suddenly. Music cuts abruptly. Complete silence. All characters slowly turn toward audience. Not each other. The audience.)
Mzee Kihoto: Every nation eventually receives the leadership it repeatedly excuses.
Nyina wa Wanja: You cannot choose bad leaders…then mourn bad leadership later.
Elder: You cannot sell your vote…then act surprised when your future disappears.
Kamau: You cannot trade five years for one afternoon of handouts…then call yourself betrayed.
Gichuka Waithera: Democracy does not fail only because leaders are bad. It fails when citizens normalize bad leadership. Each term bad leaders are chosen, democracy is taken a million miles toward hell. (Long silence.)
Kamau: Will you run again?
(Long silence.)
Gichuka Waithera: I do not know.
Kamau: They were not ready for you.
Gichuka Waithera: No. A population shaped by poverty cannot transform its leadership overnight.
Kamau: Then what changes a country leadership?
Gichuka Waithera: People who are awake. People who look back where they came from. People who know their problems. People who know where they want to be. People who know the power is in their hands. People who are not hungry as they approach the ballot.
Kamau: And if they never change?
(Gichuka Waithera studies distant rally quietly.)
Gichuka Waithera: Then elections simply become lactation periods for bad leadership.
(The rally freezes suddenly. Music cuts abruptly. Complete silence. All characters slowly turn toward audience. Not each other. The audience.)
Mzee Kihoto: Every nation eventually receives the leadership it repeatedly excuses.
Nyina wa Wanja: You cannot choose bad leaders…then mourn bad leadership later.
Elder: You cannot sell your vote…then act surprised when your future disappears.
Kamau: You cannot trade five years for one afternoon of handouts…then call yourself betrayed.
Gichuka Waithera: Democracy does not fail only because leaders are bad. It fails when citizens normalize bad leadership. Each term bad leaders are chosen, democracy is taken a million miles toward hell. (Long silence.)
