A few weeks ago it was reported that Chief Justice Willy Mutunga had said that Kenya has become a bandit economy — that Kenya is under the grip of mafia-like cartels and if we do not fight them we will become their slaves.
He stated that leaders who try to take on the cartels should be prepared to be killed or exiled because they are run by powerful politicians in cahoots with corrupt business people
Mutunga expressed concern that as long as such cartels are protected, the nation will continue to suffer because they have infiltrated sensitive sectors of the society.
Existence of cartels is not unique to Kenya. Many countries around the world have mafia-like groups that control all sectors of their societies.
What drives such cartels? What would make seemingly responsible citizens disregard the duty entrusted to them by the nation and join forces with criminals?
What makes individuals and societies lose their core values and allow themselves to be blindly controlled by shady characters?
A newly published novel by Samuel Wachira titled The Gold Rush (East African Educational Publishers 2015) can perhaps help us answer some of these questions and at the same time help us seek solutions to the Chief Justice’s concerns about our country.
The novel tells the story of a young Kenyan man, Christopher Makumi, who gets a scholarship to pursue his university education in the United States of America.
He leaves home with a big dream — after all isn’t America the land of dreams and opportunities? While living in Paradise City, Makumi meets a young American man, Jax, who saves him from being assaulted in a racially ignited attack.
They become friends and even when Makumi is looking for a job to cater for his expenses after he completes his studies, Jax supports him financially on the premise that he can pay back once he gets a stable job.
Makumi had believed it would be easy to get a well-paying job that would facilitate him to live the American dream but he quickly realises that unemployment is a reality for many immigrants.
In spite of his university education, he can only get menial jobs in hotels or be a truck driver or a sentry. Those are not the kind of jobs the well-educated Makumi left Kenya for!
In his desire to live his dream, Makumi gets lured into crime. Jax introduces him to a criminal who specialises in smuggling precious stones, siphoned from the state mines.
Having received favours from Jax for a long time, Makumi finds it difficult to turn down the offer to work for the smuggling baron named Paolo Quatiero.
In any case, he is promised a hefty payment once the deal is done. He discovers too late that Jax had not really been “helping” him but investing in him and he needs to pay back the favours by working with him on a “case” — stealing diamonds.
The novel presents Paradise City, where Makumi and Jax live, as wholly under the control of Quatiero who has substantial interests in the banking sector, owns a casino, runs a fleet of ships, owns nearly a quarter of the residential houses in the city, and controls the city press.
He is a money launderer, and sells illicit drugs and arms and he demands protection fees from businesses in the city.
He has on his payroll prominent lawyers, judges, police officers, the city mayor, the director of mines and politicians. This is the person Makumi goes to work for. They try to outsmart the boss because they know that he will kill Makumi after he has stolen diamonds as directed.
The Gold Rush is about the force that drives people to get involved in crime — greed. It is a story about deception and betrayal and although it is set in America, the story clearly shows what Chief Justice Mutunga was saying about Kenya — a society that has allowed greed for money and power to blind it.
It presents us with a society that is ruled by blackmail, crime, dirty politics, extortion, oppression and other ills, all of which combine to destroy and swallow innocent souls.
Quatiero is symbolic of the many tentacles of corruption and insatiability that are choking vital sectors of our country.
A country cannot survive when it has a compromised police force, a biased media, a tainted judiciary, an undependable Parliament, a rapacious banking sector, fraudulent county leaders, a seemingly untouchable public transport system, and other individuals out to make quick money at all costs.
Who will protect citizens from having their country taken away from them, literally, by criminals? Until when will state resources be squandered and no one is prosecuted?
Until when will drug lords continue to roam the country freely when an entire generation is lost, consumed by drugs?
For how long will undisciplined public service vehicle operators continue to harass, insult, and even assault passengers and other road users, often in full view of traffic officers?
One of the most salient questions that this novel raises is: should the rich always have their way? If Quatiero has all the people who matter on his payroll, where does that leave Wanjiku?
Makumi, who has been a law abiding citizen, suddenly becomes a criminal and a fugitive. His experience shows how greed consumes an individual and they forget all the values they held dear for years.
The money he seeks becomes useless when Quatiero kills his fiancé and he realises, too late, that he has swapped his girlfriend’s life for money.
His desire for gold only rewards him with pain. His greed begets grief and he discovers the futility of his efforts when all that he cares about has been destroyed.
The Gold Rush is a story of the contest between good and evil. It is an apt reflection of the struggle between money and power on one hand and truth, justice and sound morals on the other. It is a reminder that we should not sacrifice our souls at the altar of money and power.
