I have decided to Kill Germaine on December 29. I have been thinking about this for weeks — whatever one may say about it, killing someone requires psychological and logistical preparedness.
I believe I have now reached the necessary state of mind, even if I have yet to choose the means by which I will do the deed.
It is now a question of detail. I’d rather give myself a bit of latitude on this practical point, and in so doing add a measure of improvisation to my project.
I am not looking for perfection, no — far be it from me. As a matter of fact, I do not like to undertake anything without due consideration and a murder is not going to change the way I go about doing things...
These are the opening words of Alain Mabanckou’s novel, African Psycho. The words are uttered by Gregoire Nakobomayo, the main character, a criminal planning to kill his girlfriend Germaine. He has to plan carefully; after all, a murder is not something one commits without careful calculations. Gregoire is not too worried though; he has a hero and mentor whose example he can count on to do the deed right.
Gregoire’s hero is a murderer called Angoulima. Angoulima is dead but memories of his horrendous acts linger in the minds of the people of his country and they live in fear of what he or his spirit might do to them. Gregoire adores Angoulima and he spends his days thinking how he could get as much “fame” and recognition as the dead criminal.
Killing Germaine, he believes, will earn him not only social recognition but, most importantly, it will earn him the much desired approval from “the great” Angoulima.
Gregoire is not only a murderer but also a rapist. He is a psychopath and the novel revolves around the mind and actions of this character who represents everything that is wrong with society.
The novel is set in a town aptly named He-Who-Drinks-Water-Is-An-Idiot. As the name suggests, everyone in this town is drunk on something so much so that being sober (drinking water) is the exception. It is a town characterised by drunkenness, crime, prostitution, violence, and general social and economic instability.
Reading African Psycho makes me think about the Kenyan society today. We, like Gregoire, have become so psychotic we have normalised evil. A crime here, an act of injustice there, or revolting conduct are not enough for us to rise and condemn the iniquity surrounding us; we thrive in chaos and seem to love merchants of immorality.
We are besieged by news of violence where family members turn against one another heartlessly – brothers killing a brother, husbands murdering their wives and children, mothers killing their babies, fathers raping daughters, and sons killing fathers.
A few days ago we were treated to a horrendous display of irresponsibility when armed police officers, who are supposed to be custodians of law and order, descended on an unarmed man – and do not dare tell us that the man had rocks in his pockets – with batons and kicks. The case of the young men killed in Mukuru in unclear circumstances is yet to be resolved.
Who will save us from this police brutality? Some weeks back a man was assassinated and the security officers did not even have the courtesy to inform the widow about her husband’s murder. How callous can we get?
Justifying Murder
The saddest thing is that there are Kenyans who seem to be justifying this murder and denigrating the name of the killed man. It does not matter what a person was or did in their life; nobody has the right to murder them and only the inhuman can dare justify such an act.
Greed has become our constant companion and every individual is concerned about what they can grab for themselves regardless of the effect such grabbing might have on others. This would explain why entrepreneurs would construct substandard residential buildings whose collapse leads to death and displacement of innocent Kenyans. Greed is what leads unscrupulous traders to bottle untreated water and sell to unsuspecting Kenyans.
Who approves of these buildings? Who supplies the sham traders with Kenya Bureau of Standards stickers? Isn’t this a clear indication of corruption and irresponsibility? Do the concerned bodies really care about human lives that might be lost in case of collapsed buildings or poisoned consumers? Doesn’t the money they accept to turn a blind eye as Kenyans die feel like blood money in their pockets?
Our leaders, political or otherwise, have perfected the art of selfishness and greed. They not only incite the masses using reckless language but they also bribe voters to blind them and therefore keep abusing their naivety and poverty and therefore maintain their positions.
Politicians would like us to believe that their interests in particular seats are about serving the citizens but the sad truth is that they are a shameless bunch of selfish individuals whose only interest is their stomachs.
Let’s not be deceived that the sudden interest by senators and Members of the National Assembly in the governor’s position has anything to do with serving the counties better; it is all about the resources available for control and exploitation.
Greed is very consuming and, unfortunately, Kenyans are direct victims of this greed – high fuel prices, unpaid nurses, lack of drugs in public hospitals, ruined public schools, poor transport system, and other damaged public facilities.
The result of the ruin that surrounds us is a society slowly degenerating; losing its humanity.
There does not seem to be any remaining point of moral reference in our society since even religious leaders have been compromised.
The youth today, unlike in the past, cannot look up to parents and teachers for moral guidance.
Instead, their role models are thieves, drug lords, tribalistic troublemakers, and phony politicians whose only claim to fame is deep pockets.
We have become like Gregoire in African Psycho – we extol criminals. The media, like the radio presenter in the novel, will not expose rotten individuals in positions of power because it is afraid of them. Security agents will protect these so-called “powerful individuals” despite the evils they visit on the country.
Levels of poverty keep rising while a few individuals amass obscene wealth in dubious exploits. Should we then be surprised that young people will murder and rob at ease like Gregoire in the novel? A rotten society produces damaged individuals and vice versa.
The family unit is broken, the church has become a business enterprise, and we have no recourse for moral reconstruction. We live in a society whose social and moral order is getting gradually eroded and we seem to be forgetting what makes us human.
Why has society allowed itself to disintegrate so much? Why are we so opposed, or afraid, to face the truth about what ails us? Mabanckou presents us with a psychotic main character to rouse us into thinking seriously about the state of our society; about what it means to be human.
