A political play set in Lari
Characters
Narrator – Witness to a people’s contradiction
Mungai – A leader trapped by the appetite of his people
Gichuka Waithera – A challenger carrying unwelcome truths
Elders of Lari – Custodians of memory and fear
The People of Lari (Chorus) – Many voices, one hunger
A Child – Innocence that asks dangerous questions
ACT I – The Accusation
(Kimende village. People murmuring. Dust rises. The Chorus speaks in overlapping voices.)
Chorus: Mungai has failed us. There are no roads. No hospitals that work. Our schools decay. Our sewage runs with rain.
Narrator: And so the people spoke— certain of the villain, certain of the cause.
(Mungai enters slowly, holding a small sack of maize.)
Mungai: You say I hate development. That I despise roads, hospitals, schools. But tell me—
when I spoke of roads, what did you answer?
Chorus (defensive, loud): We do not eat roads!
(A pause.)
ACT II – The Rejection
(Elders sit under a tree at Mbau-ini. Gichuka Waithera stands apart, listening.)
Narrator: Every idea came knocking. Every future asked for entry. Each was judged—
not by vision, but by appetite.
Mungai (to Elders): I said, “Let us repair dispensaries.” You said—
Elder 1: We have Kijabe.
Mungai: I said, “Let us strengthen schools.” You answered—
Elder 2: Gíthomo ti thuruarí. Education leads nowhere.
Mungai: So I asked myself— Why build what you despise?
(He drops the sack.)
ACT III – The Transaction
(Food is distributed at Kirenga. The mood lifts.)
Chorus (smiling now): Mûndû witû! Our person! He hears us. He feeds us.
Narrator: And in that moment— roads became rice, hospitals became handouts, schools became sacks.
Mungai (aside): They demanded today. I surrendered tomorrow.
(Gichuka steps forward.)
ACT IV – The Unwelcome Vision
Gichuka Waithera: You are not poor in land. You are poor in patience. You want what fills the mouth, not what builds the future.
Chorus (hostile): Do you bring food?
Gichuka: No.
Chorus: Then go.
Gichuka: I bring roads— but no handouts. Hospitals— but no gifts. Schools— but no envelopes.
(Silence.)
Narrator: They knew he was right. And that made him dangerous.
ACT V – The Child’s Question
(A child tugs at an Elder’s robe.)
Child: Grandfather… why do visitors pass us without stopping? Why do fire engines fail to reach our homes? Why do we have poor schools?
(The Elder look away.)
Narrator: Questions reveal what handouts hide.
ACT VI – The Confession
(Mungai and Gichuka face each other.)
Mungai: Do you think I do not see it? They punish ideas. They reward gifts. To rule them, one must feed them.
Gichuka: And so, you taught them to remain hungry.
(A long pause.)
Final Act – The Mirror
(The Chorus stands between the two men.)
Narrator: Mungai was not the sickness. He was the symptom. The disease lived deeper.
Chorus (softly): We deserve roads. We deserve hospitals. We deserve schools.
(Beat.)
Chorus (louder): But handouts win.
(Lights dim except on the Child.)
Child: What happens when there is no one left to give?
(Blackout.)
Curtain
Narrator (final line): A people who refuse tomorrow will forever negotiate for today.
Characters
Narrator – Witness to a people’s contradiction
Mungai – A leader trapped by the appetite of his people
Gichuka Waithera – A challenger carrying unwelcome truths
Elders of Lari – Custodians of memory and fear
The People of Lari (Chorus) – Many voices, one hunger
A Child – Innocence that asks dangerous questions
ACT I – The Accusation
(Kimende village. People murmuring. Dust rises. The Chorus speaks in overlapping voices.)
Chorus: Mungai has failed us. There are no roads. No hospitals that work. Our schools decay. Our sewage runs with rain.
Narrator: And so the people spoke— certain of the villain, certain of the cause.
(Mungai enters slowly, holding a small sack of maize.)
Mungai: You say I hate development. That I despise roads, hospitals, schools. But tell me—
when I spoke of roads, what did you answer?
Chorus (defensive, loud): We do not eat roads!
(A pause.)
ACT II – The Rejection
(Elders sit under a tree at Mbau-ini. Gichuka Waithera stands apart, listening.)
Narrator: Every idea came knocking. Every future asked for entry. Each was judged—
not by vision, but by appetite.
Mungai (to Elders): I said, “Let us repair dispensaries.” You said—
Elder 1: We have Kijabe.
Mungai: I said, “Let us strengthen schools.” You answered—
Elder 2: Gíthomo ti thuruarí. Education leads nowhere.
Mungai: So I asked myself— Why build what you despise?
(He drops the sack.)
ACT III – The Transaction
(Food is distributed at Kirenga. The mood lifts.)
Chorus (smiling now): Mûndû witû! Our person! He hears us. He feeds us.
Narrator: And in that moment— roads became rice, hospitals became handouts, schools became sacks.
Mungai (aside): They demanded today. I surrendered tomorrow.
(Gichuka steps forward.)
ACT IV – The Unwelcome Vision
Gichuka Waithera: You are not poor in land. You are poor in patience. You want what fills the mouth, not what builds the future.
Chorus (hostile): Do you bring food?
Gichuka: No.
Chorus: Then go.
Gichuka: I bring roads— but no handouts. Hospitals— but no gifts. Schools— but no envelopes.
(Silence.)
Narrator: They knew he was right. And that made him dangerous.
ACT V – The Child’s Question
(A child tugs at an Elder’s robe.)
Child: Grandfather… why do visitors pass us without stopping? Why do fire engines fail to reach our homes? Why do we have poor schools?
(The Elder look away.)
Narrator: Questions reveal what handouts hide.
ACT VI – The Confession
(Mungai and Gichuka face each other.)
Mungai: Do you think I do not see it? They punish ideas. They reward gifts. To rule them, one must feed them.
Gichuka: And so, you taught them to remain hungry.
(A long pause.)
Final Act – The Mirror
(The Chorus stands between the two men.)
Narrator: Mungai was not the sickness. He was the symptom. The disease lived deeper.
Chorus (softly): We deserve roads. We deserve hospitals. We deserve schools.
(Beat.)
Chorus (louder): But handouts win.
(Lights dim except on the Child.)
Child: What happens when there is no one left to give?
(Blackout.)
Curtain
Narrator (final line): A people who refuse tomorrow will forever negotiate for today.
