A Political Satire
Characters
Mungai – Incumbent MP of Lari; strategic, quiet, manipulative.
Karanja – Headteacher; grateful but conflicted.
Wanjiku – Teacher of Science; frustrated by empty promises.
Students of Lari – Excited, hopeful, later disillusioned.
Campaign Goons – Hired voices, loud but rootless.
People of Lari (Chorus) – Watching, cheering, doubting, learning.
ACT I – The Gift
Scene opens at Gitithia Secondary School compound. A shiny yellow bus stands under a banner: “DELIVERING DEVELOPMENT.” Ululation fills the air.
Chorus: Look! Look! A bus has come! Steel and paint! A sign of progress!
(Students dance around the bus. Drums. Whistles.)
Mungai (raising his hands): My people of Lari! From today, our students and teachers will have easy movement. No more suffering. No more walking long distances. Education must move!
(Cheers.)
Students: Movement! Movement!
(Mungai smiles. Turns slightly away, voice low.)
Mungai (aside): Tûrimû tûtû. Let them sing.
(Lights fade.)
ACT II – The Empty Yard
Scene shifts months later. Same school. The bus is parked, dusty. Grass grows around its tires.
Wanjiku (holding a torn syllabus): We have no library or lab. No reagents. No microscope. Where exactly are we moving to?
Karanja: The bus was a blessing.
Wanjiku: A blessing that never leaves the compound. No funds for fuel. No trips approved. No libraries to visit. No science fairs to attend.
(Students pass by, uniforms worn, books thin.)
Student 1: Teacher, will we ever use the bus?
Wanjiku (after a pause): Not for learning.
(Lights dim.)
ACT III – The Journey
Scene opens at dawn. Same bus, now ferrying villagers.
Campaign Goons (boarding): Kirasha today! Sing loud! Raise dust!
(Another bus arrives.)
Voice: Mbauni bus to Kirasha!
(Another.)
Voice: Kirenga bus to Kirasha!
(Crowd grows. Noise rises.)
Chorus (confused): So many people! He must be loved.
Scene shifts. Another rally.
Voice: Kamburu bus to Githirioni! Kinale bus to Githirioni! Kijabe bus to Githirioni!
(Crowds swell again. Mungai stands quietly, arms folded.)
Mungai (to himself): Crowds are not people. They are pictures. Pictures for media. Best tools of manipulation.
(Cheers drown him out.)
ACT IV – The Realization
Election season evening. A small group of teachers and parents sit under a tree.
Wanjiku: We cheered metal instead of minds.
Parent: We counted buses instead of books.
Karanja: We thought movement was development.
(Silence.)
Chorus (slowly): The buses moved. The children did not.
(Lights shift to Mungai, alone.)
Mungai: I did not lie. I gave them what they understand. Noise. Color. Motion. Knowledge does not vote. Crowds do.
(He exits.)
Epilogue – The Lesson
Chorus (final): Beware of leaders who give wheels without roads, vehicles without destinations, movement without purpose. For when schools become campaign tools, children become passengers in a journey that was never meant for them.
Curtain falls.
Characters
Mungai – Incumbent MP of Lari; strategic, quiet, manipulative.
Karanja – Headteacher; grateful but conflicted.
Wanjiku – Teacher of Science; frustrated by empty promises.
Students of Lari – Excited, hopeful, later disillusioned.
Campaign Goons – Hired voices, loud but rootless.
People of Lari (Chorus) – Watching, cheering, doubting, learning.
ACT I – The Gift
Scene opens at Gitithia Secondary School compound. A shiny yellow bus stands under a banner: “DELIVERING DEVELOPMENT.” Ululation fills the air.
Chorus: Look! Look! A bus has come! Steel and paint! A sign of progress!
(Students dance around the bus. Drums. Whistles.)
Mungai (raising his hands): My people of Lari! From today, our students and teachers will have easy movement. No more suffering. No more walking long distances. Education must move!
(Cheers.)
Students: Movement! Movement!
(Mungai smiles. Turns slightly away, voice low.)
Mungai (aside): Tûrimû tûtû. Let them sing.
(Lights fade.)
ACT II – The Empty Yard
Scene shifts months later. Same school. The bus is parked, dusty. Grass grows around its tires.
Wanjiku (holding a torn syllabus): We have no library or lab. No reagents. No microscope. Where exactly are we moving to?
Karanja: The bus was a blessing.
Wanjiku: A blessing that never leaves the compound. No funds for fuel. No trips approved. No libraries to visit. No science fairs to attend.
(Students pass by, uniforms worn, books thin.)
Student 1: Teacher, will we ever use the bus?
Wanjiku (after a pause): Not for learning.
(Lights dim.)
ACT III – The Journey
Scene opens at dawn. Same bus, now ferrying villagers.
Campaign Goons (boarding): Kirasha today! Sing loud! Raise dust!
(Another bus arrives.)
Voice: Mbauni bus to Kirasha!
(Another.)
Voice: Kirenga bus to Kirasha!
(Crowd grows. Noise rises.)
Chorus (confused): So many people! He must be loved.
Scene shifts. Another rally.
Voice: Kamburu bus to Githirioni! Kinale bus to Githirioni! Kijabe bus to Githirioni!
(Crowds swell again. Mungai stands quietly, arms folded.)
Mungai (to himself): Crowds are not people. They are pictures. Pictures for media. Best tools of manipulation.
(Cheers drown him out.)
ACT IV – The Realization
Election season evening. A small group of teachers and parents sit under a tree.
Wanjiku: We cheered metal instead of minds.
Parent: We counted buses instead of books.
Karanja: We thought movement was development.
(Silence.)
Chorus (slowly): The buses moved. The children did not.
(Lights shift to Mungai, alone.)
Mungai: I did not lie. I gave them what they understand. Noise. Color. Motion. Knowledge does not vote. Crowds do.
(He exits.)
Epilogue – The Lesson
Chorus (final): Beware of leaders who give wheels without roads, vehicles without destinations, movement without purpose. For when schools become campaign tools, children become passengers in a journey that was never meant for them.
Curtain falls.
