Memories we Lost 2021 KCSE Analysis

MEMORIES WE LOST: LIGHT ANALYSIS

KCSE PAST PAPERS REVISION: Review of KCSE 2021: Light-Lesley Nneka Arimah

 

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Distance between parents and their children can be an obstacle to effective parenting. With reference to Lesley Nneka Arimah's story, “Light”, write an essay in support of this statement.

 

How to answer KCSE essay questions based on Memories we Lost

1. Read the question keenly
2. Identify KEYWORDS to help you interpret the question correctly
3. Come up with points of interpretation

The keywords in the questions include “distance” and “obstacle in parenting”.

The candidate is required to identify the challenges the child goes through because of the distance between her and the mother.

In this case, distant parenting is different from single parenting.

The candidate was to point out the challenges the MOTHER has in raising her DAUGHTER brought about by her physical absence.

 

The points you give must be related to the events in the short story “Light”.

 

You can only score a full mark in each point if you cite adequate specific textual illustrations.

 

TASK

1. Identify challenges experienced by Enebeli's daughter
2. Tie each challenge to her mother’s physical absence

 

Reason why students lost marks in this question

• Many students read and interpreted the question correctly.
• However, most of them could not give sufficient textual illustrations despite it being a rather short story with few details.

The examiner did not demand too many details but as usual, the textual illustrations in short stories have to be specific and based on the episodes.

Students are encouraged to read the short story carefully and master the relevant details in each EPISODE.

For example, the note Enebeli's daughter sends to sends reads “Buki, I love you, I will give you many sons” (P28) or how “They SURVIVE the CRIME SCENE of the girl's first ‘MOON TIME”(P28).

Notably, more and more students are getting it right.

 

Memories we Lost essay: Light – introduction

1. What is your interpretation of the question? What challenges do the children experience when one parent is away? With reference to “Light”, what are the challenges of distant parenting?
2. Include the keywords in your introduction. Show how “distance” and the “obstacles” that come with it hinder effectual parenting.
3. Paraphrase: do not simply rewrite the question and pass it off as an introduction.
4. Contextualize: mention some of the obstacles.
5. Be brief. (It carries only 2 marks)

 

Developing the body: Memories we Lost essays

1. Give at least four well developed points
2. Each point falls on separate paragraphs
3. Give adequate textual illustrations on the obstacles to effective patenting caused but the distance between parents and children. Tie this to the episodes.

 

NB: Answer the question on the first line of each (body) paragraph, before you try to illustrate.

 

Points of interpretation

 

• Boyfriend
• Communication
• Resentment
• House girl
• Lessons
• Grooming
• Taking sides

 

Paragraph development

Obstacle: The girl is fourteen now and is in trouble for engaging in a boy-girl relationship.

The mother tries to correct the girl, but the long absence dilutes much of her influence

Illustration (P28,29,30,32)

• Three long years have passed since the mother went away
• The girl is 14 and there is a boy
• Enebeli has been invited to discuss the misdemeanor and now he is seated in the lobby to the head teacher’s office
• The girl is in trouble for sending a boy notes, it's not the first time
• The boy not appealing. He is short, one ear is larger than the other and he has a terrible hair cut. He is confused about the girl’s attention (P28)
• The note reads, "Buki, I love you, I will give you many sons."
• He promises to chastise the girl, assures the head teacher it will not happen again
• It happens two more times, the girl later learns to pass notes better
• Enebeli deems his daughter his brightest ember, he will not dim her
• Mother attempts to correct her
• Much is lost in transmission over the wire
• Her influence is diluted by the DISTANCE
• Enebeli and his wife disagree on training up of the girl (P29)
• The girl opens up to the mother about the boy, strings out his virtues (P30)
• He is finally learning to kiss well
• Her mother silences her, did not think she would not raise such a girl
• This dampens her
• “And there is a little less light to her”.

 

The girl is involved in a boy-girl relationship (challenge) but the mother is too far (DISTANCE) hence she cannot correct her effectively and her influence has waned (OBSTACLE)

 

Sample set book essay question based on Memories we Lost (Light – Lesley Nneka Arimah)  

Distance between parents and their children can be an obstacle to effective parenting. With reference to Lesley Nneka Arimah’s story, “Light”, write an essay in support of this statement.

Parents may find themselves separated from their children because of work or study. The distance normally hinders effective parenting because it reduces communication between parent and child. “Light” by Lesley Nneka Arimah brings to light the effects of this separation.

The first challenge the girl experiences is a boy-girl relationship. Three years after her mother went to America to study for a Masters in Business Administration, the girl is now fourteen. Her father has been invited to school since the girl is in trouble for sending a boy a note and it is not for the first time. In Enebeli's eyes, the boy is not appealing. He is short and one of his ears is significantly larger than the other. He also spots a terrible haircut. He is saved from Enebeli only because, like everybody else, he is confused about the girl's attention. This particular note reads, “Buki, I love you, I will give you many sons.” Enebeli struggles not to guffaw but wonders where the girl gets all these – definitely not from her  mother or him. Assuring the head teacher that it will not happen again, he promises to chastise her. It happens two more times before the girl learns to pass notes better. Enebeli deems his daughter his brightest ember and will not dim her. Her mother attempts to correct her but much is lost in transmission over the wire. Her influence as a mother has been diluted because of the long absence and distance. She disagrees with Enebeli concerning the training up of the girl. Later, trying to close the distance between her mother and her, she tells him about the boy, stringing out his virtues like Christmas lights. He is shorter so he has to obey her and he is finally learning how to kiss better. The mother is disappointed. She says she did not think she would raise that kind of a girl. This remark dampens the girl till Enebeli is worried. “And there is a little less light to her”. The mother’s absence is surely an obstacle to effective parenting.

Secondly, when Enebeli’s wife goes to the US and stays for a few years, there is a serious strain in communication between her daughter and her. The first month she had gone to the States, the family would speak to each other several times a day. The mother and daughter would have their cordial time, full of tears and I miss yous and affectionate questions like “When are you coming home?”. When she returns for Christmas holidays, the girl barely leaves her side.  However, the parents make their first big mistake when they decide that the mother stays in the US until she completes her studies. The girl then learns how to survive without her mother. For one relationship to thrive, another must not. The conversations between mother and daughter via Skype dwindle. They become merely friendly conversations where they exchange news and update each other on situations. There is a whiff of distance as if the girl is talking to a favourite aunt whom she loves dearly but would not tell about a boy. The distance causes difficulty in communication between the mother and daughter.

Thirdly, the mother’s attempt to prepare the girl for the world causes resentment between them instead. As much as she is still a girl, she is almost a woman who needs a mother’s guidance and counsel. The mother tries to teach her not to laugh too loudly or to chew carelessly that she can hear it all the way in America. She also tells her that she is old enough to be cooking and that Daddy should not make her breakfast. The distance between the two widens until she does not enjoy talking to the mother anymore. It begins to feel like a chore. Since the mother is far, she faces hurdles in giving her daughter the necessary life lessons vital for the growth and development of a teenage girl.

Also, the mother is worried about the house girl whom she thinks will influence her daughter negatively.  Despite having a house girl, father and daughter share household chores. They are too intimidated by the sullen house girl who spends most of the time watching 'Africa Magic' while mopping a small section of tile till it gleams. When not pretending to clean, she talks to the girl in whispers. Enebeli is not concerned since they cannot cause much trouble as long as they are in the house. He muses that talk is just talk when he tells his wife about this. The wife is terrified that the daughter could acquire inappropriate traits from the house girl. She nags until Enebeli sends her packing. The daughter becomes sullen after this. She waits with crossed arms for the Skype calls to end. This strained relationship is caused by the distance between them.

Due to her mother’s absence, the girl misses important life lessons necessary for a teenage girl. Such lessons are better taught by mothers. Enebeli does not understand what the world does to daughters. Enebeli and his daughter survive much in the absence of the mother who is in America studying for a Masters in Business Administration. The girl is only eleven. They survive the disturbance at the market when two warring women cause a commotion that sees them separated for hours. They also survive an adult talk when an uncle makes a careless joke at a wedding. The curious girl has questions so Enebeli labours to answer lest she asks somebody else who may take it as an invitation to demonstrate. The mother would have been better placed to handle this trial. They also survive the crime scene of the girl's first “moon time”. It seeps all the way through the other side of the mattress. They survived the girl discovering it would happen every month. Had the mother been around, she would have taken her through the relevant lessons and prepared her for the changes. Distance hinders effectual parenting.

Furthermore, because of her mother’s absence, the girl fails to learn basic grooming and etiquette. The mother cautions her against chewing carelessly and laughing rather too loudly. She becomes nit-picky, struggling to ease her daughter’s passage. She is concerned about what the girl is wearing. She advises her to sit with her legs crossed at the ankle. She also wonders when the girl last had a relaxer as her hair is scattered. Enebeli panics when the wife suggests that she would call her sister. The sister is a terrifyingly competent woman with three polished boys and the money to take another child. In his fit of panic, Enebeli buys cream to attempt and fix the girl's hair. He massages it into her scalp like lotion and the smell makes both their eyes water. When he washed it out, half of her hair comes out. When the mother’s sister comes, she silently notices the over processed mess and the scab forming on the girl's forehead. When she bring her back her hair is shorn and cut close to the scalp. She turns her head, preening. The mother admits that she has a lovely shaped skull but ruins everything when she adds that she can’t wait for the hair to grow back so that she looks like a proper girl again. This causes another fight between her and Enebeli. They feel like strangers. The distance contributes to this fallout.

Lastly, the girl is forced to take sides when the parents fight. When she comes back from her aunt’s, everyone including the mother agree that her skull has quite the lovely shape. However, the mother ruins it when she says she can’t wait for the hair to grow back so that she looks like a proper girl again. This starts another argument between the parents. The mild fight peppers with time. Distance subtracts warmth, context and history. Husband and wife feel like they are arguing with a stranger. The girl stops talking to her mother after that remark. Naturally, the mother pleads with Enebeli to soften her. He agrees but does not comply. He enjoys when the girl is angry at her mother, and when she is on his side. As much as the girl does not hold grudges, the distance between her and the mother widens an is now akin to something curious. Arimah refers to it as an elephant of mistrust and awkwardness.

In conclusion, the tension between mother and daughter is as a result of the distance between them. A child needs both parents in order to grow properly. A teenage girl needs her mother to guide her otherwise she battles a myriad of challenges. 

Read KCSE ESSAYS ON MEMORIES WE LOST

Read the analyses of the following stories. Use the links below:

Memories we Lost

How Much Land Does Man Need?

Light

My Father's Head

The Umbrella Man

Window Seat

The Folded Leaf

Hitting Budapest

Missing Out

No Need to Lie 

The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World

Stones Bounce on Water

Episodes in Blossoms of the Savannah: Episode 1-5

Blossoms of the Savannah: Episodic Analysis By Wafula Wekati

Episode 1: Journey to Nasila  (Pg 1-10)

 

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1.       What is the main event in this episode?

Ole Kaelo's family is relocating from Nakuru to Nasila following his retrenchment from Agribix Limited.

 

2.       Who are the characters involved in this episode?

In this episode we meet Ole Kaelo and his family - his wife Mama Milanoi and daughters Taiyo and Resian.

After the relocation Taiyo would miss Nakuru's crowded streets, the bustle and excitement of the retail and wholesale markets and its boisterous bus stage. She would also miss her boyfriend Lenjirr. (P 3)

Resian is not interested in working at her father's shop in Nasila. She has dreams of enrolling at Egerton University to take a course in Veterinary Science. She asks Taiyo to persuade their father to allow them to go back to Nakuru and join the university.

Ole Kaelo comes off as hostile and aggressive. Taiyo recalls the time he refused her permission to attend an extravaganza in Mombasa. She lost the faith and trust she had in him then. He also detests Resian. He had prayed for at least 3 boys and was infuriated when his second born child turned out to be a girl.

Mama Milanoi ponders what awaits them in Nasila. She hopes her daughters would be married off to reputable sons-in-law but is worried about FGM, an endeared cultural practice in Nasila, since her daughters are uncircumcised.

 

3.       What actions/activities are the characters involved in in this episode?

Taiyo and Resian watch as loaders pack goods into the vehicle. Resian makes it clear that she has ambitions of joining Egerton University. Mama Milanoi and Ole Kaelo are busy with the bustle of relocation. He had informed her earlier about the retrenchment and imminent relocation.

 

4.       How do other characters react to these actions?

Mama Milanoi was shocked when Ole Kaelo broke the news of retrenchment and relocation. However, she embraced the idea after her husband convinced her not to worry about the change. Taiyo and Resian have reservations about moving to Nasila. They are concerned about the change in lifestyle and their education.

 

5.       What is the moral/lesson/value in this episode?

In this episode, we appreciate the inevitability of change. In life, some situations are unavoidable.

Ole Kaelo has worked at Agribix Limited and lived in Nakuru with his family for over 20 years but time has come to move. They have little choice but to embrace the unprecedented change.

It is vital to accept change and adapt to new situations that are inescapable.

The relocation from Nakuru to Nasila may symbolise change in lifestyle, culture, mindset etc. Nasila culture is characterised by constant change and progress and some aspects have been inevitably shed off. 

Change is surely inexorable.  

 

BONUS

6.       What are the main issues in this episode?

• Education
• Culture – marriage, FGM
• Change
• Male Chauvinism

 

Episodes in Blossoms of the Savannah:

Episode 2: Reception at Nasila (p10-20)

 

1.      What is the main event in the episode?

The Kaelos arrive in Nasila to a warm reception. They are received by Ole Kaelo's younger brother, Simiren. The family settles into the new lifestyle.

2.      Who are the characters involved in this episode?

In this episode we meet Simiren, Ole Kaelo's younger brother.

Simiren and other relatives give Ole Kaelo and his family a cordial welcome. Simiren is a strict adherent to his people’s customs and traditions. He has 4 wives and 16 children. He respects his elder brother Ole Kaelo. He helped Ole Kaelo in buying and selling livestock and constructing his shop and residential building when he was away in Nakuru. (P 15-16)

Mama Milanoi feels uncomfortable because Resian and Taiyo are not circumcised.

Resian tells Taiyo that she is not ready to be a parent soon. She will consider such trivial issues after she obtains a degree.

In this episode, we also meet a callous young man who harasses Taiyo and Resian because they are “intoiye nemengalana”

 

3.      What actions/activities are they involved in?

We appreciate the positive tenets of Nasila culture owing to the warm reception the Kaelo's receive in Nasila.

“When they step out of the vehicle, the girls were hugged, kissed and their heads touched by uncles, cousins, aunts and other relatives they had never met.”

The party then sits around a bonfire to enjoy roasted meat together. (P 11)

Since Nasila culture favours the male gender, Ole Kaelo is confronted with a daunting issue where the elders have been deriding him since he only has one wife who has borne him 2 daughters – no son.

The sensitive issue, however, is the fact that his daughters are uncircumcised (P 13)

Taiyo and Resian are confronted and harassed by a tall heavyset young man who raises reservations about their state of being “intoiye nemengalana”. He grabs Taiyo’s arm and tells the girls that there is no place in the society for uncircumcised women like them. He does not consider them “decent women.”

4.      How do other characters react to these actions?

Taiyo and Resian are confused because they did not expect to be received so warmly by a crowd of exultant and joyful relatives.

Ole Kaelo was angered by the elders who were compelling him to marry more wives. He called them megalomaniacs who were stuck in archaic traditions that ought to be moribund; buried and forgotten.

Taiyo and Resian are terribly shaken when they are accosted by the brute, who harasses them for being uncircumcised. Although they wear brave faces and try to fight back, they are profoundly upset and disturbed.

 

5.      What is the moral lesson/value/lesson in this episode?

Some cultural practices make innocent peoples suffer. Nasila is male-dominated and some men feel like they have every right to dictate what women can or cannot do. This causes women untold grief/agony.

The elders who compel Ole Kaelo to marry a second wife since the one he has only borne him daughters give the man unnecessary pressure to do something he does not want. This causes him pain. No wonder he is angry at them and he blurts out that some cultural practiced ought to be buried and forgotten.

We also appreciate the positive aspects of Nasila traditions when the Kaelos are received cordially.

Culture may have both good and bad sides.

 

BONUS

6.      What are the main issues addressed in this episode?

•          Family
•         Culture – FGM
•          Gender inequality (male chauvinism)

 

 

Episodes in Blossoms of the Savannah: 

Episode 3: Ole Kaelo's meeting with Ole Supeyo (P 20-26)

 

1.      What is the main event in this episode?

Ole Kaelo visits his mentor Ole Supeyo with a view of listening to his wise counsel as he tries to fit back into the Nasila way of life. He also wants to seek some advice concerning his business that is the agricultural inputs shop he set up in Nasila.

 

2.      Who are the characters involved in this episode?

Soin Ole Supeyo is a 61 year old and a member of the Imolelian clan. He is a self-made business magnate that rose from a cattle trader to a reputable man of means. He owns the largest sheep ranch in Nasila, a fleet of lorries, shops, real estate etc.

Ole Supeyo is a respected elder and Ole Kaelo considers him his mentor.

He did not attend school and is a conservative conformist of culture. He has 6 wives and about 32 children. All his sons were sent to school while his daughters were married off to elders in Nasila.

He believes that women are a wild gender that has to be tamed through the cherished culture of FGM. This is why he clashes with Minik ene Nkoitoi, a fiery crusader against FGM and early marriage, when she tries to stop him from circumcising his daughters.

In this episode, Ole Kaelo visits him for wise counsel.

 

3.      What actions/activities are they involved in?

Ole Kaelo visits Ole Supeyo and they talk about  a few issues, key among them business. Ole Kaelo reveals that he is about to secure a lucrative 4 years' contract to supply all government institutions in Nasila with agricultural inputs.

He tells his mentor that he got help from a man called Oloisudori.

Ole Supeyo warns Ole Kaelo that Oloisudori is corrupt. Ole Kaelo feels a little dispirited and even thinks his mentor is just jealous.

Ole Supeyo equates Oloisudori to a hyena in the homestead. His reputation could rival that of a randy he-goat. (P 26, also 108) He tells Ole Kaelo to keep him away from his daughters.

 

4.      How do other characters react to these actions?

When Ole Supeyo warns Ole Kaelo against involvement with Oloisudori, Ole Kaelo feels a little dispirited. He even thinks his mentor may be jealous of his breakthrough.

Even after the advice and stern warning from a man he considers a confidant and mentor, Ole Kaelo is none the wiser. He does not understand, even though it has been explained.

 

5.      What is the moral/lesson/value?

It is good to seek wise counsel from those who have more experience or knowhow than us. It is even more important to heed wise advice. Ignoring wise advice can lead to unpalatable repercussions as we later find out, in the case of Ole Kaelo.

 

BONUS

6.      What are the main issues in this episode?

•         Culture – FGM
•         Change – war against FGM
•         Gender inequality/ place of women in society
•         Moral decadence

 

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INHERITANCE ESSAY-KCSE QUESTIONS ANALYSIS

INHERITANCE ESSAYS – KCSE ESSAY QUESTIONS ANALYSIS

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Many African problems are caused by ineffective leadership. With reference to David Mulwa's Inheritance, write an essay to illustrate the truth of this statement.

How to answer essay questions based on Inheritance

1.      Read the question keenly

2.    Identify the KEYWORDS in the question

3.    Identify the INEFFECTIVE practices by leaders that lead to PROBLEMS

4.    Develop points of interpretation

The keywords in this question are INEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP and PROBLEMS. Show how the citizens of Kutula republic experience a myriad of problems as a result of incompetent leadership by Lacuna Kasoo and his equally inept henchmen.

In each of the points you come up with, link the ineffective leadership to problems the citizens encounter.

 

Task

Show the link between ineffective leadership and suffering of the people. The problem should be an outcome/consequence of ineffective leadership.

 

Reasons why students lost marks in this questions

Most essays lacked textual illustrations on:

1.      The ineffective leadership

2.    The problems

3.    Background information about ineffective leadership

 

Inheritance essays: writing the introduction

1.      Tell us how you understood the question (es the student understand the demands of the question? You must show how citizens suffer because of inept leadership.

2.    Include the keywords in your introduction

3.    Do NOT simply rewrite the question as your introduction

4.    Write a brief, precise introduction

In your introduction, we must see both the poor leadership and the problems (suffering). The suffering must be directly linked to the leadership.

 
Inheritance sample introduction

A good leader inspires his or her subjects to success not failure. On the other hand, ineffective leaders bring disillusionment and do not inspire confidence among their people. In the world today, scandals have tainted reputations of many people, and leaders worthy of trust are more in demand than ever. David Mulwa's Inheritance depicts an example of ineffective leadership meted out on the people who suffer as a result.  

 

Inheritance essay: developing the body

1.      Give at least four well-developed points

2.    Each point must occupy a separate paragraph

3.    Give adequate textual illustrations on the action (ineffective leadership), background and outcome (problems)

Points of interpretation

1.      Impoverishment

2.    Poor planning

3.    Brutality

4.    Corruption

5.     Vengeance

6.    Exploitation

7.     Favouritism

 

Inheritance: Paragraph development

Action: Ineffective leadership - Lacuna favours his incompetent friends and tribesmen at the expense of other citizens of Kutula. (Give sufficient textual details to support this)

Outcome: Problems - Show how citizens of Kutula e.g. Tamina, Lulu, Bengo and Judah bear the brunt of Kutula's nepotism and favouritism. (Give sufficient textual illustrations)

Background information

“These many years and he hasn’t seen anyone but his clansmen. And his bevy of concubines” -Tamina (p29)

“So I took courage and made friends with the manager who’s a tribesman of Leader Kasoo. It pays to know the leaders' tribesman.” -Zen (p34)

“I have the report here. It says there's no management worth talking of … political appointees and lax tribesmen” – Goldstein (p71)

“Anyone against the evacuation is to be dismissed forthwith. And start an immediate recruitment of people from our loyal clan, regardless of this education. Fill those positions with people … men I can trust.” -Lacuna (p96)

 

Sample set book essay question and answer based on Inheritance.

Ineffective leadership causes citizens a lot of difficulties. Citizens suffer impoverishment, detainment, harassment, cruelty among other ills. Lacuna Kasoo is inept as a leader and citizens of Kutula suffer as a result.  

Ineffective leadership leads to abject poverty. Tamina tells Bengo that Judah Zen Melo is wandering looking for jobs, competing with young people. Judah used to work for the government. When he falls out with the leader Lacuna, he is kicked out of his government house. Judah and Tamina lose their cars, government house and piece of land in Bukelenge.  They are left wallowing in abject poverty. Tamina is forced to pick coffee for Chipande on her former farm. Bengo says poverty makes it hard for them to see straight. Also, Lulu is sent home to collect school fees but Tamina cannot raise the money yet she works on the coffee farm all day with no extra money. On the other hand, Judah roams in search of a job and settles for one as a security guard in Patola. He lives in a cardboard house. Because of poverty, he is forced to compromise his principles. He befriends Mithambo, Lacuna's tribesman and a manager at Kasoo mines, because he needs his favour in getting a machine operator job. The desperation makes him to start drinking and to produce fake letters in pursuit of the job. In his drunken stupor, Judah says that a black man only rests when he  dies and is buried. He is overworked and underpaid. Sangoi tells Lacuna that there are many poor people crying at their doorsteps. Tamina's hut and clothes also depict poverty. Judah's family and many other citizens suffer impoverishment due to Lacuna's ineffective leadership.

Poor planning by Kutula's leaderships also causes problems for the citizens. The government dam project results in more harm than good. The valley dries up and Tamina has no choice but to walk up to fifteen kilometres from sunrise to sunset in search of the precious necessity. Also, schools charge exorbitant fees and most parents cannot afford. Lulu and three hundred others are sent home to collect fees for construction of a second perimeter wall, computer laboratory, games, and examination fees. In addition, the leaders borrow loans in their people's names but bank them in their individual accounts. They also throw useless lavish banquets and poor innocent citizens do not benefit at all. Everything is imported including the whiskies, canned beer, coffee etc. Lacuna also buys himself a swanky airplane and banks thirty percent of the balance in his account abroad. He cannot account for the expenditure of the loan and blames his cronies. As he squanders borrowed money, his subjects suffer poverty, unemployment and famine. This inefficiency can be attributed to appointment based on political loyalty and tribalism. Surely, citizens suffer when leaders run the affair of a country poorly.

More often than not, inefficient leaders are brutal. Bengo tells Tamina that elected leaders are servants not masters – but are they? When Judah refuses to murder his brother Bengo as instructed by Lacuna, he is fired and beaten to a pulp. He is saved by Dr. Jonathan. The cruel leader also arrests and detains Bengo for dissenting his savage leadership. Reverend Sangoi says many people disappeared on the day of his coronation. Lacuna wants Lulu to perform for him at his palace but her mother protests vehemently. She warns Tamina does not take no for an answer and may harm her family. Also, Lacuna plans to cruelly punish Lulu for dancing with Robert. She is to be charged with treason. This after detaining her illicitly against her will. She says Lacuna killed her father. Judah was murdered but Lacuna passed it off as an accident caused by the rotting machines. Robert dismisses this and affirms that it was murder for Judah. Lacuna is a cold-blooded tyrant who plans to violently quell an imminent uprising in Kutula. He asks colonel Yakumba to shoot protesters. He also executes a martial law with a strict dawn to dusk curfew. He instructs his officers to shoot looters and thieves on sight. Robert refers to this barbaric leader as a murderous thief , since he even requests for guns and ammunitions to use against his own people. Many innocent citizen like Lulu, Tamina and Judah suffer under this ruthless regime because of Lacuna's brutality.

In addition to that, Kutula faces the trial of corrupt leadership. First, Bengo notes that the people's sweat poured through Lacuna's porous pockets and bank accounts. Due to misuse of public funds, Lacuna plans to overwork government workers. He is also compelled by the foreign financiers to evacuate citizens from the valley and privatise the land.  Although he grossly misused the first loan disbursed to him, Lacuna still clamours to borrow more. Robert also notes that Lacuna banks these monies in his own foreign accounts across the world including Canada and Luxemberg. Due to the cash crunch caused by corruption, Lacuna plans to freeze people’s salaries, overtax businesses, abolish positions etc. Bengo says he has lost his family through Lacuna's greed and mismanagement . Surely, Bengo and others suffer because of Lacuna's incompetent leadership. Ineffective leadership thrives on corruption.

The leaders in Kutula are hell-bent on wreaking vengeance on any dissidents. Citizens like Bengo and Judah Zen Melo suffer for opposing the policies of Lacuna's authoritarian rule. Bengo was thrown behind bars for opposing Lacuna's brand of leadership. Lacuna had initially hatched a plan which would involve killing his brother Bengo, a thorn in Lacuna's political side. When he declined, Judah was sacked, grievously attacked and stripped off of all government property and condemned to a life of insolvency. He suffers wandering from town to town in search of employment with a view of feeding his family. Lacuna also takes revenge on Lulu for dancing with Robert due to jealousy. He detains her for ostensibly for refusing to participate in some traditional ceremony. Lacuna tells Sangoi that drastic measures would be taken against all dissidents if they resist the evacuation of citizens from the valley. Lacuna also vengefully kills Judah Zen Melo. Lastly, Bengo refuses to take up leadership to avoid taking people to the dark days of anger and revenge, exemplified by Lacuna's cruel regime. Surely, vengeful leaders cause many problems in Africa.  

Citizens of Kutula suffer exploitation by their leaders. First, the schools charge obscene amounts of fees at the expense of struggling parents like Tamina. Students like Lulu suffer as they struggle to achieve their dreams. Lulu wants to be a doctor but the mother cannot afford school fees despite working tirelessly at Chipande's farm. Lulu is so desperate to finish her studies that she pleads with her mother to borrow money. She has worked hard in school and is always among the top three in class. Chipande uses his position to forcibly buy land from Tamina for peanuts, deny others license to grow coffee and employ Tamina to pick coffee beans at his farm for low wages. Lacuna only cares about his clansmen and bevy of concubines and cannot help Tamina, or other citizens for that matter, to raise the school fees. After toiling at Kasoo mines, Judah can only raise a paltry eight hundred shillings which can barely meet their needs. Moreover, the leadership also plans to forcibly evacuate poor citizens from the nationalised valley. Lacuna also plans to freeze salaries and overtax citizens. Citizens in Kutula are overworked and thus suffer because of this exploitation.

Lulu suffers in Lacuna's hands since he is shamelessly immoral. He forces Lulu and other school girls to dance for him. He expects Lulu to sup with him in his private chambers supposedly to quench a national itch. Robert refers to Lacuna as an immoral ragamuffin in adult panty-hoses. Lacuna is angry at Robert for dancing with Lulu.  Goldstein warns Robert against infatuation for Lulu since she is a goddess to be used in some immoral ritual.  Lacuna stoops too low as a leader, as he flirts with and even kisses a nineteen year old schoolgirl. Lulu resists his advances telling him that she respects him as an elder and a leader. She is his daughter and still in school. Because of his immoral lust, Lacuna abuses his own wife in front of Lulu, insolently describing her as a demon and a cobra-headed hand grenade. Lacuna even has the temerity to send emissaries to ask Tamina for Lulu's hand in marriage. He wants to marry her by force, with Chipande as a best man. Because of his amorous lust, he even ignores his spiritual leader's advice.  Lulu and her mother really suffer this ordeal. This is testament to Lacuna's ineffective leadership.

Lastly, Lacuna favours his friends and relatives at the expense of other citizens. Lacuna does not care about people like Tamina's problems. He only entertains his clansmen and assemblage of concubines. Mithambo, his cousin, manages Kasoo mines. Judah has to befriend him in order to get the machine operator's job. This is after days of fawning and buying him drinks. He says it pays to know the leader's tribesman. Lacuna's leadership is inept because he hires inept officers with questionable management skills or no skills whatsoever. These are his political appointees and lax tribesmen. During the insurrection, Lacuna orders recruitment of army officers from his loyal tribe regardless of their education. He replaces industrious citizens with incompetent men he can trust. Surely, African problems arise due to such ineptitude.

In conclusion, ineffective leadership breeds corruption, abuse and misuse of authority, arrests, detention among other ills. As a result, citizens suffer.

 

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