Lack of courtesy between the police and civilians leads to lethal conflicts. Justify the validity of this statement using illustrations from Meja Mwangi's Incident in the Park. (20 marks).
Across the world, over centuries, the behaviour of some of the police officers has caused dire repercussions. Sometimes this happens due to excessive use of force or simply wrongful application of the law and policies, but majorly this occurs as a result of impolitel interactions between the two parties.
Incident in the Park shows how city dwellers, hawkers and loafers find themselves in conflicts with the police over flimsy and petty reasons often ending unpleasantly. When the two constables accost the fruit peddler, he gets startled and confused. They demand for his licence and identity card which he obviously doesn't have. Then he offers five shillings which doesn't seem good enough as one constable shrugs. This means that at times if the offer were attractive, they would have accepted it and left him. The police refuse to listen to the fruit merchant and harshly shove him along the street to the city telling him he will explain to the judge. This complicates matters even more because the fruit- seller fears the judge more, It throws him into more panic as he has a case that is coming up the following week and the judge is a "tyrant". He explains further that he is selling this time so that he can afford a fine but all his entreaties fall on deaf ears They remain unimpressed saying nothing until he breaks away and flees into the crowded city.
The situation escalates when the constables chase the fleeing man shouting for help from the passers-by. They actually betroth him unto the mob. A city man intercepts him and anotherman lunges for him as shouts increase. Tossed here and there as a suspect, the desperate fruit peddler stumbles and falls into a ditch, No one seems to care to find out what really is happening before taking action. No one listens as he pleads for mercy, This is where he meets his Verdict' which is death. According to the crowd, 'justice' is administered. The mob universally condemn him without plausible evidence.
By the time the police arrive at the scene, it is too late. Their action is irreversible and fatal. The mob has already killed him for being a "thief". They who are supposed to ensure public safety and security have aided the killing of a hardworking hawker by their silly mistake. This should not have happened if they had treated the man politely. An innocent life is so unnecessarily lost. This makes the public lose confidence in the police. after investigations the truth will come out and it will be hard to trust the police.
In a nutshell, wanton conflicts and deaths of innocent citizens could be averted if the police handled matters with courtesy and sobriety.
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Action speaks louder than words. Discuss the truth of this saying using illustrations from Leonard Kibera's A Silent Song. (20 marks)The character of an individual tells more than what they actually say. Mbane's brother, Ezekiel, preaches water and takes wine. He is so devoted to God as a preacher, but neglects Mbane, to agonize in the streets for a long time until he almost dies. When he brings Mbane to his hut claiming to rescue him from the barbaric city in order that he can see the light of God, the blind beggar starts to feel more lonely and miserable in the desolate environment. lhe desolate hut is not a habitable place for him as it has a flea-ridden floor. One wonders why he cannot live with his own brother in his own house! This action tells that the preacher does not love his brother. It ironical for Ezekiel to keep preaching to his blind brother about Christ and salvation instead of first saving him from the harsh street beggary. Ezekiel seems to have already judged him as a sinner and that "Christ" will come down from heaven to do the good to him. Mbane dies miserably without much help from his brother. This is least expected from a man of God who should Have preached to his brother through actions of care and concern. Ezekiel portrays religious hypocrisy since Christians would not throw insults and abuses to God's people when they don't agree with them on some issue, or when they do not show that they believe in Jesus Christ. When Mbane shows no interest in Christ, his brother tells him he is worse than a Judas. EIT1is lack of patience for a Christian, especially a preacher, is not morally acceptable. Another action that tells of the preacher's action is the meaning in his silence later as Mbane nears his death. Christians, good men and women on a Christmas morning, also display pretence in the way they curse and call him names instead of bringing the good knowledge of Christ to him.
They claim, in his hearing, that he is an able-bodied person, only crippled more daily by the idleness of leisurely begging. He could only yearn impotently beyond the reach of darkness and lameness. At times, self-pity overcomes him. To him, the God of the Gospel and religion are comforts beyond his reach as a cripple. His God is his only hope of deliverance from pain, destitution and despair. The people's actions discourage him about Christianity which they profess but not practice. In conclusion, the true gospel is the action of an individual because it is more practical than mere words. Actions work and satisfy the heart more than proclaiming the word ofGod. About the author:
Kevin Baldeosingh was born in1963 in the Caribbean Island of Trinidad. He is a newspaper columnist, author, and Humanist involved in many controversial social issues. He has worked with the Trinidad Express, Newsday and the Trinidad Guardian. He worked for 25 years in the field of journalism.
Episodes /sub-episodes
SYNOPSIS
Cheque Mate is a story about Sukiya (Ms Chansing), a poor damsel from Penal, the Caribbean island of Trinidad, and her boss, Randall A Credo, of the Amerindian tribe. She is on the platinum credit cards queue and intends to deposit thirty million dollars (five million U.S. dollars), but there is a mistake that throws her into panic and dilemma.
Sukiya is an executive corporate secretary recently promoted, and her salary raised tenfold. Fifty thousand dollars go into her savings account each month-end, but the money does not show her actual income. She avoids the bank manager, for she has accumulated more and more, and her deposits are pretty frequent and high. Mr Randall makes these five million cheque payments for fear of cleaning by offshore accounts hacker's syndicate. The teller advises her to open a U.S. savings account and return the following day. As she drives her posh car back to her apartment, she is Obsessed with the five million dollars but pleased and relieved that she has successfully handled an awkward situation. She has to check her private records before seeing her boss, Randall. She weighs all possibilities of legal investigations, discovery and embarrassment but finally convinces and assures herself there is no cause for worry. She romanticizes what she could do with such vast sums of money, especially her residential abode. Randall has her as a corporate secretary who draws up contracts, studies conveyances and writes legal opinions. However, her critical role, for which she is handsomely paid, is to create loopholes in such documents, including the sale of the methanol company to the Chinese government. Randall is also a major campaign contributor. Thriving in such an environment, the poor girl suddenly turned prosperous, is delighted that she has accumulated a lot.
After confirming that the sums and dates on the cheques are correct, she goes to see Randall for an explanation. Then the truth about the trick unfolds: the money is a fee for keeping her mouth shut on the Chinese methanol deal which Sukiya undervalues the shares by 50 percent.
At a time when technology can be used to conceal fraudulent secrets in cryptographical codes, it now dawns on Randall that it can also be used to reveal them. It is a fraud Sukiya has to deal with herself or together with her cheque mate, Randall, thanks to her cyberspace technology skills. Title of the story
Thematic ConcernsCorruption / Fraud/ bribery
The banks and government will surely unravel and nab the cartel's underhand deals in cryptocurrency camouflaged in the cheque deposits and contracts. (p108).
The first eyebrows are raised when the bank teller repeats the question, "Ms Chansing,? Do you want the 'thirty million dollars' deposited in your savings account or would you prefer to open a U.S. dollar account?" (p98). The official deductible salary standard for top executives does not show in her actual income through platinum credit cards. Sukiya has accumulated over ten thousand dollars, an amount she deposits five times every month. (p99). She avoids encounters with bank managers for a bank manager might wonder how a fifty-thousand-a-month salary becomes seven million dollars in savings within six years. He would know enough to make some educated guesses. (p99). The bank teller reminds Ms Chansing that the cheque is for five million dollars, U.S. equivalent to 30,242,000 Trinidad and Tobago dollars. (p99).
She is responsible for moving vast sums through various channels when the oil and gas boom starts and money flows into the company. Sukiya will need to provide the source of funds, of course. (p101).
Randall had watched too many movies where unrealistically cunning criminals cleaned out businessmen's offshore accounts by hacking into them. (p100). Ironically, when Sukiya, a lawyer, is hired as a corporate secretary to detect and close financial loopholes in documents, she gets paid the largest cheques for creating such loopholes. (p103). The five million cheques she gets she assumes is her fee for having drawn up for the sale of the methanol plant by Randall. It could be a surprise bonus. But now, according to Randall, it is her fee for keeping her mouth shut during that deal. (p101 — 107). Then the truth about the trick unfolds: the money is a fee for keeping her mouth shut on the Chinese methanol deal which Sukiya undervalues the shares by 50 percent. (p107, 109).
Deceit and betrayal
Eventually, Ms comes to terms with the reality that all this time she has worked for the company under Mr Randall A Credo was a disguised syndicate for which she will face the force of the law.
When investigations are done, she will have to defend herself as to how she has accumulated all this wealth over a very short period since she started working as a poor young girl from Penal. Now she swims in opulence, affluence and prosperously apparently does not need money as millions of dollars accumulate in a desk drawer. (p104-105). When she examines the cheques, the sums and dates are all right, signed by Randall and countersigned by herself. (p105). She could put various clauses into contracts to achieve certain ends or prevent the other party from attaining certain ends. (p106). However, she has been duped and used as a conduit for Randall's fraudulent deals. Through the valuation report, Sukiya signs the document without reading it properly or because Randall tells her to do so. Further, Randall himself forges his signature using Sukiya's pen. This form of deceit and betrayal sharply undercuts her. (p107 -- 108). Margaret, Randall's executive assistant, is paid more than most managers in the company's subsidiaries. She knows more about Randall's dealings than anyone else in the company, including Sukiya. (p106). Loyalty cheques
It seems everything throughout the story is conducted in terms of cheques. Asked
about the cheques' amounts, the figure runs automatically through her head. (p101). Sukiya has to fly from Trinidad to Grand Cayman to deposit cheques to her account every two months. (p 104). She keeps both her Us and T. T. cheques in the same drawer, which is how the mix-up occurs. (p105). CHARACTERS
Citing evidence from the text, describe the character traits of the following characters.
a) Sukiya b) Randall STYLE AND LANGUAGE USE
Gloria Mwaninga is a fictional writer from Kenya. Her story 'Boyi' captures the occurrences of the 2005 land war in Mt. Elgon.
points to guide interpretation
Title
The title of the story- 'Boyi' is borrowed from the main character's name, who is the brother to the narrator. Boyi is recruited into a militia group and ends up dead when the Armed Forces troops come to flash out members of the militia.
CHARACTERSa. Boyi
He is the brother of the narrator- A fifteen-year-old boy recruited into a militia group when his parents are unable to pay the land protection fee and the betray fee that the leader of the militia demands.
He grows and rises in rank to become the right-hand man of Matwa Kei, the militia's leader. He is presented as a jovial, sociable, and outgoing person who always engaged in games and played tricks with his sister. He is reportedly killed by Armed Forces troops sent by the government to flash out the militia to end the war. b. The Narrator
Boyi's sister, through whom the story is told, is keen and observant as she can note the things that happen in her family and even outside the family and report them in the story. She had a close relationship with Boyi thus is greatly affected by his recruitment to the militia and devastated once she learns of his death.
She senses Boyi's death when the huge Nandi flame tree at the front of their house falls. c. Baba
He is the father to Boyi and the narrator. He aided the government representative, who gave land to strangers by giving him a panga and makonge ropes, thus being considered a traitor by the militia.
He hands over his fifteen-year-old son- Boyi, to the militia group leader when he is unable to raise the 40,000 fees demanded from him. d. Mama
she is the mother to Boyi and the narrator, and the wife to Baba. She is deeply affected when Boni is handed over to the militia by Baba.
she remains hopeful that Boyi will escape the militia and come back home. e. Matwa Kei
He is the leader of the militia group. He is presented as a ruthless, vengeful and brutal person who demands that Baba should pay 10,000 land protection tax and 30,000 betrayal tax failure to which the militia would show Baba smoke without fire.
f. Chesober
He is Baba's friend who taught at Chepkurkur Primary School.
He delivers news that the militia had a long list of people who had aided the government exercise to divide the people's land to strangers. g. Chesaina
He is an old friend of Baba who works as a watchman in a grain depot, far away in Chwele market. He brings news to Baba,s family that Boyi was now a marked man since he was Matwa Kei's, right-hand man.
h. Simoni
He delivers a copy of the Nation newspaper, which contains news about Boyi's death.
SYNOPSIS
Gloria Mwaninga's story, 'Boyi', is a contemporary story about forming a militia group to revolt against land allocation to strangers. The story heavily alludes to the Mt. Elgon land war in Kenya that began in 2005. The Sabaot Land Defence Force militia group was formed to protect the land of the Sabaots from being invaded by strangers. Still, the militia ended up causing harm and suffering to its people. real group was led by Wycliffe Matakwei hence the name of the militia leader in the story- Matwa Kei.
Told in the first-person narration voice, the story 'Boyi' opens with the narrator remembering how their Baba pushed Boyi to the Matwa Kei when the militia leader came to demand 40,000 land protection tax and betrayal tax which he could not raise.
Matwa Kei is the leader of a militia group formed to protect the people's land when the government decides to divide the peoples' land and give some of it to strangers. Baba, the writer's father, is considered a traitor by the militia since he lends the government's surveyor apanga and makonge ropes.
News breaks out that the militia has begun attacking government representatives. The narrator's family lives in fear of this attack to the extent that they block the sitting-room door with sacks of maise and beans. The narrator and Boyi laugh about it as they feel that the militia would not harm them. However, the narrator recalls how the militia came to their home and demanded money. Baba offers to give them everything he owns; his savings, a hunting gun, Sony transistor radio and even promises to sell his bull to save his family. However, the militia group declines, forcing Baba to hand over his son, Boyi, to the militia.
After Boyi is taken away, Mama starts behaving like a mad person. She, however, lives in the hope that Boyi would return by escaping from the militia. The narrator recalls how at first, neighbours would visit them often to console them, but later they stopped coming.
Later, Saulo visits the family to inform them the government had launched "Operation okoa Maisha" and had dispatched a troop of two hundred armed forces men to flash out the militia. next day, Baba and his cousin Kimutai dig a shallow grave at the back of the house to burry a banana stem wrapped in a green cotton sheet believing that his son is dead. Mama refuses to participate in escorting Boyi's spirit away. Seasons passed as the brutality of the militia rose. They would cut up people and throw the bloodied bodies in the rivers, pit latrines, and public wells. They would forcibly recruit boys as young as ten years and even started taking girls to go and cook for them. Cases of rape also increased. As a result, people lived in fear making many of them run away to Bungoma and Uganda. After the army troops arrive, Chesaina, an old friend of delivers news that Boyi had become a marked man since he was Matwa Kei's, right-hand man. news further devastates Mama and the narrator, who spends the night in Boyi's bed.
The following day, Simon visits the narrator's house. He delivers the Nation Newspaper, which bore the news "Ragtag militia leader killed by the Army forces" It now dawns on the narrator that her brother is no more.
She rushes to the parents' bedroom and hands over the newspaper to Baba to read. Upon reading the news, Baba crumples to the floor while Mama's laughter is heard piercing the morning dawn. Surprisingly, even after Simoni's description of how Boyi was thrown out of an aircraft by Sah-gent, Mama does not weep but speaks Boyi's name softly as she sits on his bed while Boyi's sister lets tear roll down her face. As the story ends, the narrator explains how she sensed Boyi's death when the Nandi flame tree at the front of their house fell. Styles and Plot related questions
EPISODIC ANALYSIS OF ISSUESEpisodes
Thematic ConcernsTraditions
Belief in Djinnis- The community in the story believes in the presence of powerful evil spirits known as Djinni. This is seen when Mama talks to the visitors who frequent their home once Boyi is taken away. She tells them, 'How Boyi saved her marriage by confirming that Djinnis did not tie up her womb.' Pg 93.
The people also practice the ritual of burying a banana stem to send death away where a person disappears and their bodies are not found. The narrator reports how Baba and his cousin Kimutai dug a shallow grave and buried a banana stem wrapped in a green cotton sheet. The father muttered, "Death, take this body... Take it, and do not bother my home with your visits again." Pg. 93 This ritual is performed after Saulo's story that the government has launched Operation Okoa Maisha, where armed Forces troops are sent to flush out militia members. It shows the fear of the people that the operation will lead to more deaths.
The people are also seen to hold on to some superstitions. The falling of the huge Nandi flame signifies something significant was bound to happen. The narrator sees this as a bad omen while the mother thinks it means the end of evils for her family 'I knew it was a bad omen even though Mama came out of her room jubilantly declared that the evil which was to come to our house had been struck down and swallowed by the Nandi flame, pg 96.
Land War And Its Effect
The story is rooted in a revolt resulting from the government dividing land and giving it to strangers. The revolt leads to forming a militia group to counter-attack the governments' decision and fight those who collaborate with the government.
The militia has various effects:
They demanded the land protection tax. They had chopped off the heads of the families if one did not give them money (pg.92).
The recruitment of young men to the militia. Boyi is recruited by force to the militia because Baba has given him out since he cannot afford to pay the money demanded: "Hold on to the boy until I find you forty thousand land protection tax, and then I will have him back" (pg. 91). So many other young men had been recruited into the militia. Mama says, "Had his ears not caught stones of neighbour's son recruited by the militia?" (pg.92). The militia goes from house to house, forcefully recruiting boys as young as ten years page 95. People living in fear- The villages of Kopsiro, Savomet, Chepkyuk all live in fear ..a thick yellow fog of fear over them." (pg. 95) People fail to work
Farmers did not clear their shambas for the second planting of the maize crop because the militia stole young crops from the fields and goats from their pens (pg. 95).
The narrator's friend, Chemutai, said that the narrator's breast grew too fast because she had spent too much time outside........... instead of working chap chap like a normal musaa tree girl (pg.95)
Murder/brutal killings
The militia cut up people and threw their bloodied bodies in rivers, pits, latrines, and public wells (pg. 92). The people say that they even cut off their necks. The narrator overhears Baba being told that those recruited have to go back home and kill a close relative so that their hearts are strong to kill others (pg. 95) Boyi is killed for being part of the militia (pg. 96-97).
Displacement of people from their land and homes
"People flee from their homes since there is a mass exodus to Bungoma and Uganda' page 95
Lack of schooling
The narrator says nobody went to school anymore because of the war. She spends her days under the Nandi flame tree with half-closed eyes (pg. 95)
Suffering
The writer points out clearly how society goes through suffering as a result of the war:
Mama experiences emotional suffering when Baba gives out Boyi to the militia to be recruited since the family could not afford the forty thousand land protection fee. The writer says that madness had entered Mama's eyes the day baba pushed Boyi to Mativa Kei. She tore off her kitenge and started shouting at Baba, telling him that he was sick in the head if he thought Boyi would return (pg. 91). Mama did not eat her food and starved in the days that followed, muttering to herself. Her ugali would remain untouched until a gusty brown film formed. The narrator had to throw it away to the chicken coop. She also continued engaging herself in monologues (pg. 94). The narrator also experiences pain and suffering. She felt queasy once Baba informed them that the militia would have killed them for not giving out the forty thousand land protection tax. The narrator felt as if someone had pulled her insides out through her nostrils.' (pg. 92). When they were informed of Boyi's death, she cried bitterly. She let the tears roll down her face and soak her blue silk blouse and purple boob top (pg. 97)
Baba suffers when forced to hand over his son Boyi to the militia. He experiences agony when Mama questions him since he knew very well if he didn't, he risked his family being killed by the militia. 'He sat there and held his rage firmly with his hands. He pulled his lips to a narrow thread like a line drawn on his dark face by a ruler.' (pg. 92)
When they are informed that Boyi is a marked man, Baba goes through some emotional torture. For the first time, the narrator saw her father crying "That day I saw Baba's tears..." (pg. 96) The community undergoes suffering because of the war as some of the people are brutally murdered the militia cut the people and threw their bloodied bodies in rivers, pit latrines and public wells' (pg. 96). Some of the militia are said to kill close relatives so that their hearts are strong to kill others. The militia forgets its initial objective of protecting the land. Instead, "Now they even cut off our necks" (pg. 95) The militia also rapes their blood relatives who give birth to babies (pg. Betrayal
The writer points out how some people betray others in society. Baba betrays his community by assisting the government representative with a panga and makonge ropes when the government divides the people's land and gives it to some strangers (pg. 92).
The militia betrays the community it was meant to fight for by meting out evil on the people whose land they are fighting. The narrator overhears their neighbour Koros telling her father "They forgot that they were to protect our land from being given to those lazy strangers. Now they even cut off our necks" (pg. 95) The government betrays its people by dividing their land and giving it to strangers leading to the formation of the militia. Questions
About the author:
Filemon Liyambo is a Namibian writer and former newspaper columnist for the Namibian Sun Newspaper. He has also contributed social commentary articles for the New Era Newspaper.
A qualified geologist, he is now an educator. His work was included in Erotic Africa, an anthology of short stories published by Brittle Paper in December 2018. He is currently working on a novel. Episodes / sub-episodes
SYNOPSIS
December is a story about a girl named December, unconventionally, by her father, Silas Shikongo. The story is set in a town in Namibia.
December has a younger brother named September. According to their grandfather, Ezekiel, there are traces of idiotism in September, his grandson, for he takes after his youngest brother, Josef. December nurses September when he is young, but there is a mishap in which she injures the boy accidentally with hoe, and the boy bleeds. Flhe old man then forbids her to eat chicken, saying that is how things are. September suspects that his grandfather is hiding something because he cannot explain the reason clearly. However, the two siblings are academic geniuses. Suddenly, just before joining a Teachers Training College, December develops a psychiatric condition and her grandfather, Ezekiel, insists that she is bewitched and there are dark forces behind it. He takes her to the hospital and dumps her there. September, who now studies in the U.K., visits his sister at the hospital, but the nurse intercepts him for being late. However, Tshuuveni, a supervisor, and a familiar face appears and begins talking with him. This light chat makes the nurse calm, and the guards are sent away to allow him some time. The nurse softens when she learns that September is December's brother who studies abroad.
September finds his sister in a horrible condition, but they have a warm moment, and he hands her the gifts: a jersey, a pen and a book full of puzzles, a t-shirt, and yummy chips from KFC.
Meanwhile, Tatekulu, their grandfather Ezekiel, has dreamed of a pond where leopards drink and Josef is seated on the edge, eating. A search party is sent, and Josef is found at the exact place in Ezekiel's dream. The next day, September buries his grandfather, with his secret, next to his father in the village graveyard. Questions for reflection on 'Title' of the story and themes
Thematic concerns
Consequences of superstition on mental illness
December, the story's title, is also the central character's name. The name is given to her by her father against his own father's wishes, who calls it idiotism. Conventional or not, this naming creates confusion and distortion of facts simultaneously. (p85-86).
Hope/optimism
Their life of hope begins when September arrives at the hospital from the U.K. December, who is at the hospital probably being discharged to start her life free of her grandfather's superstitious interference. (p87).
Remember when September comes from Europe, he brings December a T-shirt with an imprint of the Union Jack, representing modernity or a form of enlightenment. But still, this is confusion on ideologies: between colonialism and civilization.
The T-shirt is precisely the same as the one December had ripped up all those years before to stem September's bleeding. This implies that her ordinary life is restored by her brother's hope and concern for her well-being. (p89).
The two reminisce their puberty days when September got himself a puppy named Kali to keep off boys who pursued December when she was younger. Tshuuveni enquires whether September is bringing home an oshitenya from overseas, but he says he still hasn't found the right girl. (p87).
Professional medical practice should be relied on to guarantee the quality of life, control and treatment of diseases, and complications is not a secret to anyone. The medical fraternity should fight these superstitious thoughts to lower their adverse consequences. will bring hope. Hope is also symbolized when it rains after Ezekiel Shikongo's burial. Then Josef is also found. (p89, 90) CHARACTERS
Style and Language use
About the Author Rem'y Ngarnije.
Reni'y Ngamije is a writer and a photographer who is of Namibian origin but was born in Rwanda. He founded an organization that supports literary works and is also a chief editor of the first Namibian literary magazine- 'Doek'. His story Neighbourhood Watch' is a contemporary story that was recently published in the Johannesburg Review of Books.
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