Shock on rich man’s kid as he meets poor Kenyans

By MARK MUTAHI

KENYA: A driver working for a prominent political family got the shock of the year over the weekend. He regretted a decision to drive through one of the city’s crowded bus termini on his way from the airport.

This was because of the questions he was bombarded with by the son of his employer who had just jetted back from his high school studies abroad.

“Is there a concert in town or what?” asked Mdosi Junior, when he saw huge crowds at the termini.

With Mdosi Junior’s short stays in the country restricted to shopping malls, exclusive holiday resorts and golf camps, this was unfamiliar territory for the highly sheltered teenager.

When told that these were stranded people following night travel ban, Mdosi Junior was quite shocked.

“Why can‘t they use their personal cars instead?” he asked. “I am sure those ones are not banned from travelling at night. And even if their personal cars are grounded for some mechanical reason or the other, they can take them to the garage where they will get a temporary replacement car.

Any self-respecting garage should have such a facility!” he said.

The driver, not sure how to respond to that, took long to answer and Mdosi Junior used the opportunity to make even more suggestions.

“Well if their personal cars are not in working condition, then why don‘t they just fly? It will actually take a shorter time!” he innocently asked.

The driver, thinking his silence was going to get him out of this awkward situation, just made the situation worse by keeping mum.

The teenager prodded further and was told that the reason for the ban was to reduce the road carnage that has bedevilled Kenyan roads. This only baffled him.

“And why the hell is there road carnage with all the sophisticated safety technologies in the world today? Don‘t the buses have airbags? Or traction control systems? Or adaptive cruise control?

“Or blind spot detection systems? How about night vision systems or crash avoidance system? How can they not have that like this Range Rover?” he wondered.

Politician

When the driver finally drove Mdosi Junior back home, the father, a senior politician in government, almost fired him.

Reason being he exposed his son to the commoners who pay his huge salary and who provide him with additional perks such as a tax-free proceeds from corruption.

Greatly touched by the whole situation, Mdosi Junior has now consequently announced plans to start a foundation.

He said the foundation will concentrate on running campaigns to urge Kenyan travellers not to leave their cars at home, however much they love buses. All this, he claimed, will be aimed at alleviating the problem of crowding at bus stations.

“I wouldn’t like to see another situation where tired children are crying of fatigue and hunger at bus termini. It was really moving,” he said. On learning of the incident, one wag said there’s no cause for alarm about the ever widening gap between the poor and the rich.

“Besides, if the gap gets too wide, we can always turn to China to help us build a big bridge between the rich and the poor.

“The bridge should be used by the rich to visit the poor to give handouts whenever their conscience pricks them,” the wag reassured. “Oh and for them to visit us when they want our votes!”