The Salty city Predator

Chapter 3

At the heart of the city is a bus station where all buses from the city and the countryside converge. Many city dwellers especially the employees in the city industrial center and other institutions using the public transport means have to converge here to board a bus to their place of work here. The bus station is always a beehive of activities in the morning many newspaper vendors are busy selling the paper. Some men at the bus-stop are waiting for a bus and are engaged in an in-depth conversation about politics and the country’s economy as they peruse the day’s paper for free only to give it back to the vendor to sell it to the affluent travelers.

“What do you think did we make a good decision voting in Mwitu as our member of parliament? Things are even worse and he was just one of us we thought he would be different from the rest of the rich people we have always elected? “One of them asked.

“I have come to conclude they are just the same but the poor man like him is worse, he has to fill his stomach and also the stomachs of his future generation before they think of us who vote for them. Mike always makes headlines for one corruption scandal to the other” the other one said.

“Look at this case against the former finance minister how can he embezzle all that money and still the chief justice acquits him for lack of evidence. Tell him to go to these streets and count the street families or to the dilapidated hospitals or public schools and then make a judgment again. This time he would have a different verdict. These magistrates and the whole legal fraternity instead of being priests at the altar of justice they have become morticians and turned the judiciary into a graveyard. These people are not humane how come we are the people who sieve them from our midst. How come we choose the greedy hyena and the filthy rats to lead us people with corruption scandals,” another one replies.

“You forget money easily can buy everything including votes they are sons of upper society having gone to the best schools abroad they have the knowledge, money and their fathers’ shoulders to step to climb higher in government. Now the underpaid teachers are threatening to strike yet the minister is doing nothing. Another says”

They don’t care because their children go to private schools where the teachers like you who teach there cannot afford to pay school-fee for their kid even for a single semester. Even when they get sick, they go abroad for treatment or to the private hospitals where doctors like me cannot afford to get sick in the place we work. Look at me with seven-year studying medicine for being the doctor that I am, I have to negotiate with the rude conductor over a fare hike. All the civil servants are complaining of poor pay, over taxation and yet our elected members are earning fat sitting allowance for representing our tribulations of which none of them seem to understand them. I also know a friend of mine who works in the hotel next to parliament where they usually dine, and he tells me with his wage he cannot afford to starve in the same hotel he works in,” the other one says. I have practiced medicine for years, I have been overworked in public hospitals, and I have also experienced the auctioning of health in private hospitals. One hospital I worked for would rob expectant mothers of their kidney when deeply sedated during a cesarean delivery operation. We would also rob organs from the dead without consent from the family or the subject.

“Look my friends' life is not fair, being elected as a representative of the people is the most difficult job. No-one wants to walk a mile in your shoes they all expect you to be a miracle worker. When you win the election, all is at stake. The government involves you in the budget drafts, and you experience firsthand the poverty of your country. You will remember the promises you made to the people, and if you are to fulfill them, you have to increase tax and further oppress your constituents or seek for loans from foreign investors who give with harsh and colonial conditions. Most of these organizations take a humanitarian approach during the day and give aid to many projects in the nation only to take even more than they gave in the shadows of darkness and you are left with corruption scandals you cannot explain. It’s said that a good leader thinks of his people’s future that will make you lose your seat in the next election. Some, on the other hand, will completely oppose the government even after knowing their incapacitated government to be close to the people’s heart. The case with our workers' unions; many have died in the fight for better wages even if they know the government’s incapacitated financial position they will keep fighting so as not to betray the colleagues who paid the ultimate price in the riots. Our third world government’s face many obstacles from the opposition, workers union and from first world countries, “says yet another.

“It so sad for you to speak that way just because your brother is part of the filthy rats in the public council kitty. Have you ever sought treatment in the south-coast government hospitals where nurses and doctors are always on strike, and the hospital has no drugs? Patients are referred to private clinics for treatment. Your brother is in charge of procurement, and he drives a car that is worth ten years of his salary yet he was employed just the other day. But one day there will come a revolution that will see the electorate take the ruling cow to the cattle dip filled with potent public’s wrath and all the ticks will perish. I dearly long for such a great day. That day the sun will rise from the west and set in the east, the moon will appear in the day I tell you,” says another one.

You speak as if that day will never come, yes I am hopeful one-day truth, and justice will prevail over the greed of our people. You are too hard on them what would you do if you were in his brother's shoes. You have access to the country’s wealth if you don’t grab some for yourself someone else will. Remember how voters are bribed on the polling day yet they complain. What do you expect from someone who bought his position he owns it all. But if our people realized the power vested in their vote, they would think twice before cheaply selling it to the highest bidder. We liv in a society where a preacher drives the latest model of the most expensive automobile vehicle courtesy of his poor congregants from the ghetto but instead of thanking them he thanks his heavenly father. How different is this holy preacher different from the politician who was elected by the majority of the debt stricken masses and instead of thanking them he steals to from the so as to bribe them once again.

Let us leave the religious aspect out of this one my friend, religion is a choice and everyone’s right. To answer your question! If I were in his brother’s shoes, I would walk with integrity so proud that whoever dares to steal any public funds would always be exposed. I would try and eradicate all corruption that would come to my court to seek justice. I would champion that all civil servants become priests in the temple of justice. I would make sure that servants working in the country are given better working condition and their salaries be compatible with their workload.

Political opinions are also guaranteed in our constitution. You are too educated and according to our constitution you’re fully qualified to be elected as a Member of Parliament, Doctor. Just leave the hospital a risk it in politics you may get a chance to change things. My brother paid the price to be in his current position he once vied for political office he lost, but the winner rewarded him a job to unite his constituents. The winner found my brother a worthy contender and was paid because he posed a formidable challenge and also had good ideas for our people. If you think you can be a solution to the people why don’t you face the electorate and try. If you can convince them, well and good? Our people are not ready for such holy integrity all who have been attempting to fight corruption have lost their lives, or their careers have come to a sudden halt entangled in state fabricated corruption scandals.

All that the doctor has said is what all these politicians say during the election period. It would depict a common jungle scenario where the Lions need the consent of the other Animals to determine which lion will rule. The Lions will call for a truce and would have to fast to entice the prey, the prey for once becomes the predator. The lion would embrace the gazelle and the zebra and would vow to protect them from other predators knowing very well that these are promises they cannot keep. In the same context, the Lions would meet although competing they would vow never to eat grass no matter the consequences. The gazelles and the zebras would mingle freely with the lions at free range. The lions would be trying to convince the zebras and the gazelles why they should be voted for. The Lions know the secret was in the numbers of the animals in the lower food chain was the key to winning the election. Incidentally, the gazelles, the zebras, the giraffe and the other grass-eating animals could not agree to vote for one of their own they don’t know that the lions depend on them for survival, and they don’t need the lion neither do they owe the lion anything. The lion hides his claws and his carnivorous nature until the election is held and automatically the truce is called off, and the jungle rules prevail survival for the fittest. Only after winning the election his canines and greed cannot be hidden anymore his most significant task is to eat any of the animals at his will and now the electorate have to be cautious not to get in the lions way, so as not to be devoured. Democracy is indeed a dictatorship by the elected few I stand to be corrected. The foolish trees keep defending the axe just because of its wooden handle.

“But I will be elected as a zebra, and the lions will have to adhere to my new laws I set. All animals should and must always eat grass. It is illegal under my rule for an animal to prey over the other if this happens the death penalty will be issued. All carnivores should adopt herbivorous mode of living or else vacate the jungle. The only carnivores that will be allowed in my jungle are the scavengers to dispose caucuses, as a result of natural death “the doctor says.

So you still think the zebra has a chance at the throne of the jungle I would not miss that coronation day for the world. Even with parables you still don’t get it, surely you’re a scientist sorry I took you for a philosopher. The zebras and the gazelles are too envious of each other and would not want any of their kind to rule on their behalf. It’s evident that the zebra thinks the lion is wrong and if the zebra were to take the throne the interest of the lion would be compromised. The lion knows this too well and only has one focus the throne because he merely survives on the law of the jungle given that he is from the minority group up the food chain. When it comes to other qualities such as speed, the cheater has it when it comes to strength the elephant, the hippo, and the buffalo are ranked higher than the lion. When it comes to being smart the tales of the hare are told but above all the lion is king in the jungle no argument. It’s a question of who is courageous enough to be blamed for all the wrongs in the jungle whether he is responsible or not he takes the fault and looks for a solution no matter the risk that’s why lion is king. None of these self-righteous technocrats are willing to take the risk but prefer quiet and simple, selfish-career life building companies and brands but not risk it all is politics that can solve societal issues.

But do you think that the hen would elect its fellow hen to go and present a petition to the hawks to stop the eating of its chicks? Do you think this is possible? The hen who dares take on this challenge should be so willing to die. This hen would be assassinated even before he delivers the petition. This explains all the assassinations in the political arena, and that’s why we can only elect a hawk to place the hen’s petition to fellow hawks to stop eating her chicks. This hawk knows very well how sweet the chicks and his fellow hawks would never agree to such a bill. This hawk depending on the tribe of the hen that voted for him he might stop their chicks from being eaten at the expense of those who never supported him. Otherwise, the hawk can also encourage the hens to lay more eggs and produce more chick, and this hawk will reach an agreement with his fellow hawks not to eat all the chick of the hen. The crooked trees survives to see more years compared to the straight trees my friend. We are a third world country that keeps building its democracy to purport to portray the will of the people. All the straight trees in this political forest have to be eliminated to continuously build this democracy they give the best timber.

Who has the right to the water of the stream the frog or the elephant? The frogs helplessly watch as the elephant empties the stream to quench its thirst and after satisfying its thirst he takes a bath leaving the frog to suffer suffocation in the dirty water. The frog has to leave the water to accommodate the luxury of the elephant at the expense of the frog’s life. Who between the two has a greater right to the water of the river? The doctor asks.

The elephant visits the stream at his convenience, and for leisure, while the frogs depend on the water for survival, this is an obvious answer. The elephants walk along the banks of the stream claiming that the eyes of the frogs cannot in any way prevent the elephant from accessing the water and having their luxurious mud bath. They forcefully take our taxes and decide what to do with the revenue we generate. The eyes of the frog are those of disgust and utter helplessness.  The other one replies.

I wish to think this is all fair if this society and the frogs determine who among them will become elephants. The elephant should know the interest of the frog at heart and look for big rivers in the jungle where frogs cannot survive the current and forfeit their mad bath for a clean wash on these big rivers. The doctor concludes.

The bus finally arrive, and they board the bus which has the radio on to hear the seven o'clock news. The president has secured foreign aid in his foreign visit after the country suffered drought and rouge group of rebels creating political unrest. Rebels in the east want to have talks with the government. The rebels are telling the government to accommodate all the minority language groupings in its structure. The rebels also want the traditional ancestral land that was taken by the colonial master to be returned to them. The lands are currently leased by the government to a foreign investor. The finance minister facing the graft allegation has been acquitted by the chief justice in the Supreme Court. The fuel prices will be increased in the following week following due to its scarcity in the world market. The news anchor continue casting the news until a herbal medicine expert stands up to market his products in a jovial manner and the conductor starts collecting the bus fare and issuing receipts. The bus takes off and joins the busy city traffic trying to navigate its way to the industrial area.