A few of the times I write, I do it on facebook. I guess this is one of those important times when one needs to write, for you never know if you will ever write again. It also happens to be one of those times when I am either inspired or really sucked into the fray of public opinion - and my, oh my, there's plenty of that going around at this time. Today, I write yet again on a subject I have before, that as Steve Biko said, until the lions write their own history, it is the story of the hunter that will be told.
Today, I write as reports are emerging from the city of Sicily, Italy, of an order for police to guard supermarkets. Residents in the city have started looting supermarkets, frustrated at their inability to afford the cost of comodities.
Here in Kenya, we are in a very controversial curfew, whose efficacy is in question, as well as the level of compliance to it, and indeed the measures taken to enforce compliance.
The curfew in Kenya came in as a presidential directive to forestall the rate of infection of the Corona virus (Covid-19) amongst people. Coming after the closure of all night spots (bars, restaurants, clubs). More importantly though, is that there was a long and very divided opinion on what government should take as an administrative action to curb the spread of Covid-19. There was a very strong opinion, and calls, for and against the president to lock down the country, for between 14-21 days. This would mean an absolute closure of all non-essential movement outside households as has bee done in other countries like Russia, Rwanda, South Africa. This is where the tale of the lions starts.
I would like to state, at the onset, that my opinion will remain unpopular amongst many of my readers, since they are the hunters in this tale, and the lions will have no opportunity to read the tale, for the same reasons I will outline for them being out in the wild. The tale of the call for a lockdown, is the hunters tale. It is the tale of the middle-class privilege. I'm talking about those who wiped the shelves clean, of sanitizers and tissue paper, upon announcement of Case No. 1 of Covid-19 in Kenya. Those fellows who have stocked up their dry food supplies, paid for post-paid subscription supplies two months in advance, power units topped up like never before, and an extra cylinder of gas bought, all in readiness for at least a month of not going out of their households. It is these folks that are day and night castigating the presidency for inaction, for not declaring a state of emergency. Most of this hunters have been 'working from home', and are well assured of a salary at the end of this proposed month of lockdown, regardless of how much they deliver from their work at home.
Let me get to the story of the lion, the engine of the nation, the real hustler of a nation. I will particularly focus on Nanjala, the lady who does domestic chores for a daily wage. Nanjala is facing the brunt of a difficult new year. Her daughter joined a new school in January, she had to forego the payment of rent for January and February to pay fees to school. Jobs have not been coming fast and consistent as she would like, and she can't get a regular employment. She waits for a call from the hunter, whenever he feels the pile of trash has grown enough to justify a daily wage to her. Nanjala can survive a day, or two probably, without a wage but no more. She has to pay for the flour she took on credit at the local kiosk, make sure that her daughter who has been home for close to a month is fed, and have some money to pacify the landlord.
So, the hunters so far don't really get their way from the presidential directive for the night curfew. But they are half happy anyway, since they are still happily stuck in their apartments. The presidential directive for the curfew is not accompanied with a welfare package for the lions, so the lions must still go back to the wilderness to hunt for a meal. Just happens that as part of the protective cocktail of measures against Covid-19, vehicles have been instructed to carry less passengers. So, as Nanjala fortunately gets a day's job at the middle-class privilege estate, she has to reckon with fact that she has to cut short her day in order to be done in time for her to catch her bus home. She is out by 5pm, but is unable to get a bus by 7pm of day one of the curfew. Predictably, the FFU (fanya fujo uonje), otherwise called national police service descend on her, and her fellow stranded lions.
Of course, also predictably, hell has seen no fury as much as the hunters'. Fury not at the FFU for clobbering the hapless lions, but rather at the lions for not being away from the reach of the batons by onset of the curfew. ' These are the lazy, ignorant and stubborn agents of death, they don't understand Corona is here, and particularly spreads from 7pm" they say. "Let them be battered.." they add, "Tomorrow, they will have learnt their lesson".
The greatest fear of these privileged Kenyans is the possibility of the virus reaching the masses. Once the masses are infected, then the entire chain of comfort for the privileged break. That is when the dirt really hits home, and everything goes to shit.That's when even the privileges disintegrate, when the one month supply proves inadequate, and the hustle comes home to roost for everyone. That is when the full quarantine (lockdown) they prayed for comes landing, in a manner they did not expect, and not on their terms. That is when the hunter and the lion are set out in the same cage. I will come back to the cage scenario shortly.
It is true that the lions have had very little regard of the Covid-19. When the first case was announced in Kenya, the hunters were the first to dismiss it, stating that the Government was banking on the WHO aid money to countries with reported cases. The lions depended on the Hunters narrative. When it became apparent that the cases were real, the hunters changed the narrative, demaniding immediate action from the Government. The lions wore a wry smile, wondering why the hunters were changing narrative. To the lions though, nothing changed. They still had to go out hunting, preferably in a pride. As far as the lions were concerned, this was a concern of the privileged. A privileged disease, that needed to have the privileged caged up for once. After all, it was the high-flying Sirs and Madams that were flying the disease back home, not Nanjala. Here I will borrow verbatim some well outlined statement on this matter; hey just want to earn a decent living providing for their families. They are not out there wanting to catch the coronavirus or wanting to provoke the police. They are going to labor for hours to get that Sh100 bob to buy flour and vegetables for the children to eat and survive just for that day. Some have had to walk kilometers to their workplaces as they cannot afford taking public transport. Others have no option but use the public transport despite knowing very well the danger that lays in holding that matatu rail, seating shoulder to shoulder with strangers or even touching money that could be contaminated, but they have no other option. They die if they do and die if they don’t. It’s either they go work for that dollar and unfortunately catch the coronavirus or if lucky, get whipped and kicked by police or stay home and die of starvation. No parent will watch their child die of starvation. They would rather go out and die trying than sit at home and do nothing. Unlike you, coronavirus is just one of their problems but it’s the least of their problems.
So what happens when the full lockdown comes around eventually? There is no clear plan for social protection measures, for the low income earners.This has probably been one of the key drivers of the decision to only have a partial lockdown. So, if you put the hunters and lions in one cage, you should expect the anarchy that is starting to emerge in Sicily. It is why in the USA there has been a higher mass purchase of guns and ammunition. It is a world preparing for pandemonium. This is when the lions will write their own story, by their own means, and in their own terms.
I know I claim no morality in this matter beyond my stocking-up peers. But should I be one of the victims in this scourge, please burn me to ash, keep my remains in an urn and write an inscription; "HERE LIES ONE HUNTER, HE WHO ALSO SPOKE FOR THE LIONS"