Characters
Narrator – A calm voice that bridges scenes and reveals unseen truths.
Gichuka Waithera – Former parliamentary candidate for Lari; dignified, quiet, firm in conviction.
Mungai – Newly elected Lari MP; charismatic but slowly becomes authoritative.
Mama Waceke – Elderly resident of Lari; speaks wisdom openly.
Njuguna – Young villager, energetic, often the voice of the youth.
Wacera – A trader at Ciringi Ikumi, outspoken and bold.
Villagers – A chorus representing the people of Lari.
ACT I — The Voice of the People
Narrator – A calm voice that bridges scenes and reveals unseen truths.
Gichuka Waithera – Former parliamentary candidate for Lari; dignified, quiet, firm in conviction.
Mungai – Newly elected Lari MP; charismatic but slowly becomes authoritative.
Mama Waceke – Elderly resident of Lari; speaks wisdom openly.
Njuguna – Young villager, energetic, often the voice of the youth.
Wacera – A trader at Ciringi Ikumi, outspoken and bold.
Villagers – A chorus representing the people of Lari.
ACT I — The Voice of the People
(Stage lights rise. The Narrator stands at center stage as villagers murmur in the background, celebrating election results.)
Narrator: In the year when the winds of Lari beat loudest against the villages, two men stood before the people: Mungai, the favored son of Kimende, and Gichuka Waithera—quiet, firm, steady as a Mugumo tree. The count was done. The voice of the people was declared. And the Kiirita forest listened.
(Gichuka Waithera steps forward. He stands on an improvised podium. Silence.)
Gichuka Waithera: People of Lari… Your voice has spoken. And your voice, my brothers and sisters, is the voice of God. Today, I concede defeat. I accept the outcome with a clean heart. May Mungai lead you well. I wish him strength, wisdom… and the courage to carry all of you through the coming years. As for me I exit Lari political stage — I will not fight him. He has five years to lead. I honour the will of Larians. I honour God.
(He bows his head gently. The crowd whispers. Some clap respectfully. Others watch with uncertain eyes.)
Narrator: And with that, Gichuka Waithera stepped down—not only from the podium, but from the noise of Lari’s politics. From that day, his footsteps left the public road.
ACT II — The Years of Mungai
Narrator: In the year when the winds of Lari beat loudest against the villages, two men stood before the people: Mungai, the favored son of Kimende, and Gichuka Waithera—quiet, firm, steady as a Mugumo tree. The count was done. The voice of the people was declared. And the Kiirita forest listened.
(Gichuka Waithera steps forward. He stands on an improvised podium. Silence.)
Gichuka Waithera: People of Lari… Your voice has spoken. And your voice, my brothers and sisters, is the voice of God. Today, I concede defeat. I accept the outcome with a clean heart. May Mungai lead you well. I wish him strength, wisdom… and the courage to carry all of you through the coming years. As for me I exit Lari political stage — I will not fight him. He has five years to lead. I honour the will of Larians. I honour God.
(He bows his head gently. The crowd whispers. Some clap respectfully. Others watch with uncertain eyes.)
Narrator: And with that, Gichuka Waithera stepped down—not only from the podium, but from the noise of Lari’s politics. From that day, his footsteps left the public road.
ACT II — The Years of Mungai
(Lights shift. The stage shows Mungai addressing crowds with increasing authority. Villagers react uneasily.)
Mungai: (booming voice) I am your MP! Follow my voice, follow my decisions—
for only I know the path forward!
(Villagers murmur nervously.)
Wacera: (whispering to Njuguna) Eh, this man has changed. He used to greet us at the market. Now he walks with a cloud of thunder like Nebuchadnezzar himself.
Njuguna: And what of Gichuka Waithera? Is this not the moment he should return—to speak, to guide?
Mama Waceke: (softly, shaking her head) When a man says his word before God and ancestors, he binds his tongue. He vowed he would not fight Mungai. So he will watch from afar… even if the house burns.
ACT III — The Absence of Gichuka Waithera
(Narrator crosses the stage as if walking through years.)
Narrator: Time passed. Mungai’s shadow grew longer, darker. Lari murmured. Regrets sharpened like thorns. But Gichuka Waithera… He was seen only in passing— A brief visit to Gitithia, greeting children on the muddy roads… A quiet Saturday afternoon in Ciringi Ikumi, buying sugar and bread for his relatives… A short appearance in Githogoiyo, checking on his cousins… A slow walk through Kwa Mathore, laughing softly with cousins. But politics? He touched it no more.
(Villagers gather center stage, restless.)
Villagers: (Chorus) Heri tungechagua Gichuka Waithera! Heri tungechagua Gichuka! (translation: We wish we had elected Gichuka Waithera.)
Wacera: Did he not see what Mungai has become? Does he not hear us?
Mama Waceke: He hears. But he will not return. A man who gives his word must swallow its thorns and its honey alike.
ACT IV — The Man Who Kept His Word
(Lights dim except for a single spotlight on Gichuka Waithera seated alone, reading a book, far away abroad.)
Narrator: Across oceans, Gichuka Waithera built another life. He studied. He worked. He walked streets where no one shouted his name. And yet… sometimes…he paused, remembering the neglect of Lari.
(Soft drumbeat. Gichuka closes his book and looks toward the audience.)
Gichuka Waithera: A leader must know when to speak— but also when silence is the higher calling. I gave my word. I will not fight Mungai. Even if the people call my name again, even if regret strains their voices…My promise stands. My peace stands. Let Lari find its lessons as all communities do— in time, in consequence, in reflection.
(He exits slowly. The villagers re-enter on the other side of the stage.)
ACT V — The Lesson of Lari
Njuguna: (softly, as if to the wind) So he will never return?
Mama Waceke: Not to the battle he laid down. But Lari has memory. And sometimes, that is enough.
Villagers: (Chorus) Gichuka Waithera… The man who bowed, the man who left, the man who kept his word.
Narrator: And so it was recorded in the quiet hearts of Lari: Power rises. Power shifts. But honour— Honour remains where men choose to stand. And Gichuka Waithera stood with his word.
(Lights fade slowly as the villagers hum a gentle tune, and the stage goes dark.)
Mungai: (booming voice) I am your MP! Follow my voice, follow my decisions—
for only I know the path forward!
(Villagers murmur nervously.)
Wacera: (whispering to Njuguna) Eh, this man has changed. He used to greet us at the market. Now he walks with a cloud of thunder like Nebuchadnezzar himself.
Njuguna: And what of Gichuka Waithera? Is this not the moment he should return—to speak, to guide?
Mama Waceke: (softly, shaking her head) When a man says his word before God and ancestors, he binds his tongue. He vowed he would not fight Mungai. So he will watch from afar… even if the house burns.
ACT III — The Absence of Gichuka Waithera
(Narrator crosses the stage as if walking through years.)
Narrator: Time passed. Mungai’s shadow grew longer, darker. Lari murmured. Regrets sharpened like thorns. But Gichuka Waithera… He was seen only in passing— A brief visit to Gitithia, greeting children on the muddy roads… A quiet Saturday afternoon in Ciringi Ikumi, buying sugar and bread for his relatives… A short appearance in Githogoiyo, checking on his cousins… A slow walk through Kwa Mathore, laughing softly with cousins. But politics? He touched it no more.
(Villagers gather center stage, restless.)
Villagers: (Chorus) Heri tungechagua Gichuka Waithera! Heri tungechagua Gichuka! (translation: We wish we had elected Gichuka Waithera.)
Wacera: Did he not see what Mungai has become? Does he not hear us?
Mama Waceke: He hears. But he will not return. A man who gives his word must swallow its thorns and its honey alike.
ACT IV — The Man Who Kept His Word
(Lights dim except for a single spotlight on Gichuka Waithera seated alone, reading a book, far away abroad.)
Narrator: Across oceans, Gichuka Waithera built another life. He studied. He worked. He walked streets where no one shouted his name. And yet… sometimes…he paused, remembering the neglect of Lari.
(Soft drumbeat. Gichuka closes his book and looks toward the audience.)
Gichuka Waithera: A leader must know when to speak— but also when silence is the higher calling. I gave my word. I will not fight Mungai. Even if the people call my name again, even if regret strains their voices…My promise stands. My peace stands. Let Lari find its lessons as all communities do— in time, in consequence, in reflection.
(He exits slowly. The villagers re-enter on the other side of the stage.)
ACT V — The Lesson of Lari
Njuguna: (softly, as if to the wind) So he will never return?
Mama Waceke: Not to the battle he laid down. But Lari has memory. And sometimes, that is enough.
Villagers: (Chorus) Gichuka Waithera… The man who bowed, the man who left, the man who kept his word.
Narrator: And so it was recorded in the quiet hearts of Lari: Power rises. Power shifts. But honour— Honour remains where men choose to stand. And Gichuka Waithera stood with his word.
(Lights fade slowly as the villagers hum a gentle tune, and the stage goes dark.)
