David Nganga - Limping to live

With that in mind I needed no encouragement to study. I studied hard although sometimes I was distracted by teenage immaturity, love for music, soccer and politics.

I kept abreast of political developments in the country and abroad .The newly formed government continued with many of Kenyatta’s policies. It was able to gain confidence among many Kenyans thus boosting the economy tremendously. But there was a lot to be done; roads were in bad state and it was impossible to transport goods to and from markets. Public and private cars suffered heavy losses due to pot holes.

Going to school on foot every day was a difficult task during rainy seasons. Sometimes I used to have more than three uniforms to change. This affected my performance. During holidays I visited my grandparents who lived in Kahawa West, in the vicinity of Nairobi .I enjoyed listening to stories from my aunties and my grandfather who am named after. I also played a lot with my cousins.

At home there was no time to waste since everybody has duties to perform .Taking milk to the dairy very early in the morning and taking cattle to the pastures was for the boys. Drawing water and cooking was for the girls .Everybody was supposed to go plucking tea and taking it to buying the centre .In the evening my father would review the work of the day. Punishment, including beating, was a must for nonperformers.

As I entered third year in secondary school my performance was good. I however started experiencing some abnormal exhaustion and tiredness every time I came home from school .This continued for a while and then stopped. I was good in History, Commerce, Biology and Christian Religious Education. In church I was active in the Youth Groups in our local Presbyterian church, where I was given the baptism name, David in 1982.

As I entered my final year in Secondary School, there was tension in the country due to increasing political opposition to the government. A certain clique in the military and among politicians was openly accusing the government officials of corruption, nepotism and dictatorial tendencies.

The ruling party KANU was intolerance to politicians critical to it. Detention without trial was common. Powerful politicians like Hon Charles Njonjo, G.G Kariuki and Mwai Kibaki emerged. They formed the kitchen cabinet of president Moi`s government. In his usual political trickery Moi was able to use the divide and rule strategy to win support among many tribes. His policy of peace, love and unity excelled. But his political critics viewed him as a political nonstarter.

In August that year I was in bed wondering what the first day of August and the holiday vacation would be like. I woke up with a start as I heard on the radio that the government had been withdrawn and everybody had been ordered to remain indoors. This continued for two hours as it emerged that there had been a coup de tat by Kenya Air Force and the fate of the president unknown. After waiting for a while listening to the announcement being repeated again and again, we suddenly heard gun shots and then the radio went off air. When it came back it was the president himself announcing to the country that there had been a coup attempt but the army had thwarted the plan, and, that the government was in control.

What followed changed the political landscape completely. Many people were killed and others detained. We were doing our exams then. That year I was not sure what the future would hold. I was full of uncertainties regarding how to join the society of the learned job seekers

After I finished my final paper, we took pictures together with my Form Four class mates, which now remain a constant reminder of how destiny is so unpredictable. Life took such a turn I couldn’t comprehend. That first year of 1983 I embarked on helping my parents at home and my grandparents in Nairobi. I wanted to join college and study law but when the results came, I did not attain the requisite marks. So I looked for a Teachers College, but there was no intake at the time .Eventually I decided to study Mechanic. I joined a college in Nairobi after consultation with my sister’s husband who was working with the Ministry of Public Works. She promised to help me get a job after graduating.

That year, I followed the political developments in the country with keen interest and I used to borrow the daily newspapers from a vender every time I took the milk to the dairy. There was this news about the ruling KANU Party fighting for a repeal of section 2a of the Constitution and make Kenya a de facto one party state .Though the plan succeeded it was amidst much resistance from the Western countries and the United States . This year the traitor issue was spreading like wild fire. It was being bandied around that someone was being groomed by Western powers to take over the government through illegal means. Thereafter the former powerful constitutional affairs Minister, Charles Njonjo was implicated and subsequently demoted. By that time Moi was so powerful and was cracking down on anybody opposed to his ideas and directives. He surrounded himself with loyalists from his tribe.

In 1984 there was great famine and recession around the world .Here in Kenya especially in the rural areas people and animals were dying. This forced the government to order the importation of the much discredited yellow maize. This maize flour used to be cooked during the night because it was so unfamiliarly yellowish that children refused to eat it. I was compelled to stay at my grandfather`s place in Nairobi`s Kahawa West while in college because the fare was affordable. I went home on the weekends. I used to help my auntie to prepare local brew which she used to sell on wholesale in Nairobi. Together with my cousin Nicholas with whom we had finished school at the same time, we woke up at 4 am and by 7 am go to college. My auntie was generous as sometimes she would help me with fare. My elder sisters Njeri and Roise were by then married and my two brothers were joining Secondary School ; it was a herculean task for my father to raise fees since nothing was coming from the farm .I finished college and graduated with grade two . I continued to help my auntie and my grandfather who was putting up rental houses. Meanwhile I was searching for a mechanic job.

My auntie`s business expanded. She asked us to join her. Money was tempting. Corruption was at its highest in the government and private sector. With a few notes the police were able to allow anything illegal to continue. I started making money through sale of illicit brew during the night and going to a nearby garage during the day. After some time I stopped going to garage and started working as a subordinate in a British Army camp in Kahawa West .My life was good since I was earning enough money to go dancing, see movies visit friends , try beer and girls We even bought a second hard car and started to transport the illicit brew in large quantities . I remember one day while I was on the way ,ferrying the commodity to Kibra slum near Nairobi city ,we were intercepted by a traffic police van .After enquiring what was inside the boot of the car ,a buyer by the name Omondi told them that there was no need to check because the car was full. One of them entered inside the car and we drove off as the money exchanged hands… we were thus escorted by a police car to our destination.

There were many opportunities at the time but only for the few who were ready to bribe. Corruption ravaged the country mercilessly and the economy took a downward trend, sending the inflation index sky rocketing.

On the political scene, the ruling party KANU grew stronger, monopolizing every sector and politics in the country .My grandfather used to advice us to be patience and responsible .He always reminded us how he was left alone immediately after he was born, and how even he had suckled his dead mother three days before he was discovered and taken by a good Samaritan who raised him. After he became a young boy he used to take care of other peoples cattle and goats; he was never able to go to school.