A bonfire is a place to be at a vigil if you want to tap into the thoughts of the locals about the state of a nation’s affairs.
I was busy attending to my social media messages on my phone when I overheard a mourner ranting about the government’s lip service and how he had planned to denounce his citizenship in protest.
He got a thunderous applause from his comrades who had taken some local potent gin that attracted the attention of other mourners in the house.
A bare-chested gentleman shouted in agreement with the previous speaker and lamented how he witnessed a commission of inquiry into the police, but wondered what happened to the findings.
It triggered reactions from other folks around the fire. They listed several commissions of inquiry that had been carried out in the last ten years, but couldn’t tell what happened thereafter. One guy suggested a commission of inquiry into commissions of inquiry.
A senior citizen told the young men to forget about the government and focus on their own wellbeing. They were quiet for a moment before they asked the elder to substantiate his claim.
The old man removed his jacket and highlighted some of the government projects that had successfully failed. He mentioned the entandikwa that was meant to finance peasant farmers, but disappeared in oblivion and the Naads prgramme that was pretty much meant to support the same farmers.
He went on and cited the days when the compulsory seatbelts in public service vans move ended the day the campaign was launched, how forced helmets for motorcyclists were put on halt the day they protested against them, the ban on smoking in public that seemed to encourage it, among other programmes.
I asked the elder what he thought about the universal primary education that had registered success stories in some villages. However, he rubbished me and claimed I was a government agent planted at the vigil to spy on the mourners.
I would be a departed soul by now if it wasn’t for the boda boda cyclist who was set to leave at that moment. The folks were wielding firewood, tree branches and frying pans; ready to finish me for questioning the elder’s wisdom.
I now understand why the Bible advises us to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger.Â