A Political Satirical Play About Goons, Handouts, and the Fear of Change in Lari
Characters
Sober Larian – Speaks truth that nobody wants to hear.
Villager – Narrator; observant, tired, sarcastic.
Chorus of Lari Residents – Easily mobilized, easily confused.
Mungai – A master of organized chaos; feeds on handouts and fear.
Gichuka Waithera – Calm, strategic, unbothered by noise.
Church Goons – Holy on Sunday, violent on hire.
Bodaboda Goons – Fast, loud, hired by the hour.
Business Goons – Wear coats, speak English, destroy quietly.
Villager Goons – Hungry, angry, and cheap to hire.
ACT I – The Phrase that Reveals Everything
Scene 1: A dusty Manyoni Road in Lari.
(Morning light. A village road. People gather loosely, murmuring politics. The Chorus sways like undecided voters.)
Sober Larian: (shaking head) “Thína ndûrí handabu.” We are not drunk. We see clearly.
Villager: And that is the most dangerous sentence in Lari. Because it is spoken right before people do the most foolish things with full confidence.
(Enter Mungai, surrounded by mixed groups—some praying loudly, others revving motorbikes.)
Chorus: Mungai! Mungai! He understands us! He gives us something small so we feel big!
Villager: Observe carefully. Mungai does not build roads—he builds goons. He does not mobilize ideas—he mobilizes hunger. He does not convince—he pays.
ACT II – The Economy of Chaos
Scene 1: The Goon Assembly
(Different groups step forward one by one.)
Church Goons: We pray loudly. We shout “Amen.” Then we stone opponents on spot.
Bodaboda Goons: We are fast. We block roads. We chase aspirants. Fuel is our theology.
Business Goons: We wear ties. We fund confusion. We call it “strategy.”
Village Goons: We are hungry. Two hundred shillings feeds anger better than truth.
Villager: And Mungai thrives on it. He has perfected the art of political outsourcing. Violence without fingerprints. Noise without ideas.
Mungai: (smiling calmly) Why argue with opponents when hunger argues for me?
(Laughter from goons.)
ACT III – The Man Who Refused the Stage
Scene 1: Empty Kimende Primary School Ground
(A big open field. No rally. No podium. The Chorus is confused.)
Chorus: Where is Gichuka? Why is he not holding a rally? How will goons work without crowds?
Villager: That is when panic began. Because Gichuka Waithera understood something simple: Goons feed on gatherings.
(Lights shift. Gichuka appears quietly, knocking on a door.)
Scene 2: Door-to-Door Truth
(Villager Goons open doors, surprised.)
Villager Goon: You are not afraid?
Gichuka: Why should I fear you? Are you not a villager like me?
Villager Goon: We are paid to attack other aspirants like you.
Gichuka: How much?
Villager Goon: Two hundred shillings.
(Pause. Silence.)
Gichuka: So Lari’s future is worth two hundred.
(The goons lower their heads.)
Villager: And there— At doorsteps, not rallies— The truth confessed itself.
ACT IV – When Goons Fail
Scene 1: Mungai’s Confusion
(Mungai paces.)
Mungai: Why are my goons idle? Why is there no chaos?
Business Goon: There are no gatherings.
Church Goon: There is no crowd to inflame.
Bodaboda Goon: No chase. No payment.
Villager: For the first time in Lari, violence found no audience.
ACT V – The Message of the Hour
Scene 1: The Sober Larian Speaks
(Sober Larian steps forward. Calm. Firm.)
Sober Larian: Lari needs change. Not noise. Not goons. Not handouts. “Thína ndûrí handabu.” We are sober. We know what is happening. Goons cannot stop an idea for Lari whose time has come.
Final Scene: The Villager’s Closing Words
Villager: Mungai does not know it yet— but his greatest enemy is not Gichuka Waithera. It is a thinking voter. And when a people stop gathering for chaos and start walking door to door with truth, goons retire. Handouts lose power. Fear goes hungry.
(Curtain falls. Silence. Then distant footsteps—door to door.)
Characters
Sober Larian – Speaks truth that nobody wants to hear.
Villager – Narrator; observant, tired, sarcastic.
Chorus of Lari Residents – Easily mobilized, easily confused.
Mungai – A master of organized chaos; feeds on handouts and fear.
Gichuka Waithera – Calm, strategic, unbothered by noise.
Church Goons – Holy on Sunday, violent on hire.
Bodaboda Goons – Fast, loud, hired by the hour.
Business Goons – Wear coats, speak English, destroy quietly.
Villager Goons – Hungry, angry, and cheap to hire.
ACT I – The Phrase that Reveals Everything
Scene 1: A dusty Manyoni Road in Lari.
(Morning light. A village road. People gather loosely, murmuring politics. The Chorus sways like undecided voters.)
Sober Larian: (shaking head) “Thína ndûrí handabu.” We are not drunk. We see clearly.
Villager: And that is the most dangerous sentence in Lari. Because it is spoken right before people do the most foolish things with full confidence.
(Enter Mungai, surrounded by mixed groups—some praying loudly, others revving motorbikes.)
Chorus: Mungai! Mungai! He understands us! He gives us something small so we feel big!
Villager: Observe carefully. Mungai does not build roads—he builds goons. He does not mobilize ideas—he mobilizes hunger. He does not convince—he pays.
ACT II – The Economy of Chaos
Scene 1: The Goon Assembly
(Different groups step forward one by one.)
Church Goons: We pray loudly. We shout “Amen.” Then we stone opponents on spot.
Bodaboda Goons: We are fast. We block roads. We chase aspirants. Fuel is our theology.
Business Goons: We wear ties. We fund confusion. We call it “strategy.”
Village Goons: We are hungry. Two hundred shillings feeds anger better than truth.
Villager: And Mungai thrives on it. He has perfected the art of political outsourcing. Violence without fingerprints. Noise without ideas.
Mungai: (smiling calmly) Why argue with opponents when hunger argues for me?
(Laughter from goons.)
ACT III – The Man Who Refused the Stage
Scene 1: Empty Kimende Primary School Ground
(A big open field. No rally. No podium. The Chorus is confused.)
Chorus: Where is Gichuka? Why is he not holding a rally? How will goons work without crowds?
Villager: That is when panic began. Because Gichuka Waithera understood something simple: Goons feed on gatherings.
(Lights shift. Gichuka appears quietly, knocking on a door.)
Scene 2: Door-to-Door Truth
(Villager Goons open doors, surprised.)
Villager Goon: You are not afraid?
Gichuka: Why should I fear you? Are you not a villager like me?
Villager Goon: We are paid to attack other aspirants like you.
Gichuka: How much?
Villager Goon: Two hundred shillings.
(Pause. Silence.)
Gichuka: So Lari’s future is worth two hundred.
(The goons lower their heads.)
Villager: And there— At doorsteps, not rallies— The truth confessed itself.
ACT IV – When Goons Fail
Scene 1: Mungai’s Confusion
(Mungai paces.)
Mungai: Why are my goons idle? Why is there no chaos?
Business Goon: There are no gatherings.
Church Goon: There is no crowd to inflame.
Bodaboda Goon: No chase. No payment.
Villager: For the first time in Lari, violence found no audience.
ACT V – The Message of the Hour
Scene 1: The Sober Larian Speaks
(Sober Larian steps forward. Calm. Firm.)
Sober Larian: Lari needs change. Not noise. Not goons. Not handouts. “Thína ndûrí handabu.” We are sober. We know what is happening. Goons cannot stop an idea for Lari whose time has come.
Final Scene: The Villager’s Closing Words
Villager: Mungai does not know it yet— but his greatest enemy is not Gichuka Waithera. It is a thinking voter. And when a people stop gathering for chaos and start walking door to door with truth, goons retire. Handouts lose power. Fear goes hungry.
(Curtain falls. Silence. Then distant footsteps—door to door.)
