A Satirical Play About the Cost of Chasing Power
Characters
Villager – Narrator, truth-teller, observer of human foolishness.
Mungai – An MP who was elected “by grace” but forgot both grace and the people.
Ndegwa – A man who dreams of the MP seat; generous to a fault; spends to impress voters.
Mama Ciru – A voter who measures leadership by the size of handouts.
Karanja the Youth Leader – Organizer of harambees, tournaments, and fundraisers; expert in milking aspiring leaders.
Teacher Wahu – Idealistic, exhausted, the only reasonable adult in the room.
Chorus of Voters – The impatient, demanding, easy-to-manipulate citizens.
ACT I – The Sweetness of Power
Scene 1: Before the Elections – The Season of 'Interests'
(Lights up on a dusty Gitithia village road. Posters everywhere: young men, old men, newcomers, retired civil servants—ALL wanting to be MP.)
Villager: (steps forward) Ladies and gentlemen, behold— the season of premature ambitions. Elections are still far away, but the thirst for the MP seat is already boiling like githeri forgotten on the stove.
Mama Ciru: (fanning herself dramatically) Even my neighbor’s first-born son, Gichuka Waithera, wants to be MP. Imagine! A boy who cannot even pay rent for one room.
Karanja: Why not? The MP chair is sweet. Allowances, foreign trips, respect. Even old men with bad knees are resurfacing to try their luck.
Teacher Wahu: (exasperated) But do they know what they are running toward?
Villager: (smirks) Oh, they know what they want— but not what it costs.
(Lights fade slowly.)
ACT II – The Elected One Who Got Lost
Scene 1: Mungai’s Campaign – The Smooth Sailing
(Lights up on Mungai walking with villagers during home-to-home campaigns.)
Villager: Look at Mungai. His miracle campaign. Barely spent a coin. Voters gave him fuel, food, and blessings. He was elected like someone chosen by angels.
Mama Ciru: (smiling proudly) We voted for him with pure hearts.
Villager: Yes… pure hearts. And empty expectations.
(Lights shift to Mungai seated in an office, feet on the desk.)
Mungai: (relaxed, bored) Which project? Ah— next year. Let people be patient. After all, they voted for me out of love, not development.
Villager: (turns to audience) And that is how entire villages received NOT ONE project. Not even a culvert. Some only received dust.
(Lights dim.)
ACT III – The Return of The Hungry Voters
Scene 1: Campaign Season Again
(The stage shows Mungai with a duffle bag of cash. Villagers form a queue.)
Mungai: (distributing notes, panicking) Please, please, my people— vote for me again! Take this! And this!
Mama Ciru: (calculating) Mheshimiwa, last time you gave 200. Today add something small. Life is hard.
Karanja: And remember the youth tournament! We need jerseys, balls, and snacks.
Mungai: (sweating) Take! Take! Just promise your votes!
Villager: And so, Mungai poured out money until his pockets became a desert. He believed voters’ smiles were votes. They were not. They were just hunger.
(Lights freeze. A drumbeat.)
Villager: On election day… they did NOT re-elect him.
(Lights dim abruptly.)
ACT IV – The Man Who Bought His Own Poverty
Scene 1: Ndegwa, the Aspiring MP
(Lights brighten on Ndegwa surrounded by villagers asking for help.)
Villager: Enter Ndegwa. Kind. Hardworking. Too generous for his own survival. He was the darling of the voters.
Mama Ciru: Ndegwa, there is a harambee at the church. Bring something heavy.
Karanja: The youth team needs uniforms. And the women’s group wants tents, chairs, sufurias, and transport. You know you are “our MP.”
Ndegwa: (grinning, trying to stay confident) Don’t worry. I will give. I will sponsor. I will donate. I will support all of you.
Villager: And give he did. Until his bank account developed dust storms.
(Quick transitions showing Ndegwa donating at fundraisers, sports events, family emergencies, church projects.)
Villager: By the time voting day arrived, Ndegwa’s pockets were as empty as promises printed on campaign posters.
Teacher Wahu: (watching him, sad) He thinks love equals votes. Poor man.
(Drumbeat. The results are announced.)
Chorus of Voters: (shouting joyfully) We did not elect him!
(Ndegwa collapses. Lights shift to a hospital bed.)
Villager: He fell sick. One week in the hospital. Diagnosis: Acute Electoral Shock.
(Lights fade slowly.)
ACT V – The Truth They Never Tell You
Scene 1: A Village Forum of Regrets
(All characters gather. The atmosphere is heavy.)
Teacher Wahu: My people, listen to the truth you run away from. Being an MP is not only power— it is a trap. A financial trap.
Mama Ciru: But they must help us! They must attend our harambees!
Teacher Wahu: (scoffs) Help is not written in law. Service is. Projects are. Performance is. But you— you want their money, not their service.
Villager: (steps forward, spotlight) And now let us summarize your foolishness— since you will not do it yourselves.
Villager’s Final Monologue – The Take Home Points
Villager: (voice firm, reflective)
One: Those chasing MP seats are chasing both glory and poverty at the same time. Many enter rich and exit broken.
Two: Voters are experts at draining leaders dry— through harambees, handouts, favors, and guilt-trips.
Three: Re-election is not bought with cash. If you did nothing in your term, no amount of handouts will save you. Voters will eat your money the same way fares are eaten by girls — fast, guiltlessly, without memory.
Four: A good performance sells itself. You do not need to buy votes when your work is visible. Voters can vote for you without a single coin if you genuinely served them.
Villager: (turns to audience, final line) So, my people— if you desire leadership, guard your pocket, guard your purpose, and for heaven’s sake… guard your common sense.
(Lights fade. Curtain.)
Characters
Villager – Narrator, truth-teller, observer of human foolishness.
Mungai – An MP who was elected “by grace” but forgot both grace and the people.
Ndegwa – A man who dreams of the MP seat; generous to a fault; spends to impress voters.
Mama Ciru – A voter who measures leadership by the size of handouts.
Karanja the Youth Leader – Organizer of harambees, tournaments, and fundraisers; expert in milking aspiring leaders.
Teacher Wahu – Idealistic, exhausted, the only reasonable adult in the room.
Chorus of Voters – The impatient, demanding, easy-to-manipulate citizens.
ACT I – The Sweetness of Power
Scene 1: Before the Elections – The Season of 'Interests'
(Lights up on a dusty Gitithia village road. Posters everywhere: young men, old men, newcomers, retired civil servants—ALL wanting to be MP.)
Villager: (steps forward) Ladies and gentlemen, behold— the season of premature ambitions. Elections are still far away, but the thirst for the MP seat is already boiling like githeri forgotten on the stove.
Mama Ciru: (fanning herself dramatically) Even my neighbor’s first-born son, Gichuka Waithera, wants to be MP. Imagine! A boy who cannot even pay rent for one room.
Karanja: Why not? The MP chair is sweet. Allowances, foreign trips, respect. Even old men with bad knees are resurfacing to try their luck.
Teacher Wahu: (exasperated) But do they know what they are running toward?
Villager: (smirks) Oh, they know what they want— but not what it costs.
(Lights fade slowly.)
ACT II – The Elected One Who Got Lost
Scene 1: Mungai’s Campaign – The Smooth Sailing
(Lights up on Mungai walking with villagers during home-to-home campaigns.)
Villager: Look at Mungai. His miracle campaign. Barely spent a coin. Voters gave him fuel, food, and blessings. He was elected like someone chosen by angels.
Mama Ciru: (smiling proudly) We voted for him with pure hearts.
Villager: Yes… pure hearts. And empty expectations.
(Lights shift to Mungai seated in an office, feet on the desk.)
Mungai: (relaxed, bored) Which project? Ah— next year. Let people be patient. After all, they voted for me out of love, not development.
Villager: (turns to audience) And that is how entire villages received NOT ONE project. Not even a culvert. Some only received dust.
(Lights dim.)
ACT III – The Return of The Hungry Voters
Scene 1: Campaign Season Again
(The stage shows Mungai with a duffle bag of cash. Villagers form a queue.)
Mungai: (distributing notes, panicking) Please, please, my people— vote for me again! Take this! And this!
Mama Ciru: (calculating) Mheshimiwa, last time you gave 200. Today add something small. Life is hard.
Karanja: And remember the youth tournament! We need jerseys, balls, and snacks.
Mungai: (sweating) Take! Take! Just promise your votes!
Villager: And so, Mungai poured out money until his pockets became a desert. He believed voters’ smiles were votes. They were not. They were just hunger.
(Lights freeze. A drumbeat.)
Villager: On election day… they did NOT re-elect him.
(Lights dim abruptly.)
ACT IV – The Man Who Bought His Own Poverty
Scene 1: Ndegwa, the Aspiring MP
(Lights brighten on Ndegwa surrounded by villagers asking for help.)
Villager: Enter Ndegwa. Kind. Hardworking. Too generous for his own survival. He was the darling of the voters.
Mama Ciru: Ndegwa, there is a harambee at the church. Bring something heavy.
Karanja: The youth team needs uniforms. And the women’s group wants tents, chairs, sufurias, and transport. You know you are “our MP.”
Ndegwa: (grinning, trying to stay confident) Don’t worry. I will give. I will sponsor. I will donate. I will support all of you.
Villager: And give he did. Until his bank account developed dust storms.
(Quick transitions showing Ndegwa donating at fundraisers, sports events, family emergencies, church projects.)
Villager: By the time voting day arrived, Ndegwa’s pockets were as empty as promises printed on campaign posters.
Teacher Wahu: (watching him, sad) He thinks love equals votes. Poor man.
(Drumbeat. The results are announced.)
Chorus of Voters: (shouting joyfully) We did not elect him!
(Ndegwa collapses. Lights shift to a hospital bed.)
Villager: He fell sick. One week in the hospital. Diagnosis: Acute Electoral Shock.
(Lights fade slowly.)
ACT V – The Truth They Never Tell You
Scene 1: A Village Forum of Regrets
(All characters gather. The atmosphere is heavy.)
Teacher Wahu: My people, listen to the truth you run away from. Being an MP is not only power— it is a trap. A financial trap.
Mama Ciru: But they must help us! They must attend our harambees!
Teacher Wahu: (scoffs) Help is not written in law. Service is. Projects are. Performance is. But you— you want their money, not their service.
Villager: (steps forward, spotlight) And now let us summarize your foolishness— since you will not do it yourselves.
Villager’s Final Monologue – The Take Home Points
Villager: (voice firm, reflective)
One: Those chasing MP seats are chasing both glory and poverty at the same time. Many enter rich and exit broken.
Two: Voters are experts at draining leaders dry— through harambees, handouts, favors, and guilt-trips.
Three: Re-election is not bought with cash. If you did nothing in your term, no amount of handouts will save you. Voters will eat your money the same way fares are eaten by girls — fast, guiltlessly, without memory.
Four: A good performance sells itself. You do not need to buy votes when your work is visible. Voters can vote for you without a single coin if you genuinely served them.
Villager: (turns to audience, final line) So, my people— if you desire leadership, guard your pocket, guard your purpose, and for heaven’s sake… guard your common sense.
(Lights fade. Curtain.)
