I spent my Valentine with two roads in the Kenyan countryside,
Two roads you hold your
breath as you navigate with grit,
How come they made them
this narrow?
How come they made them
this thin?
Two roads you’d love to
hate were it not for the drama;
Rongo to Migori and Katito
to Ahero junction.
Those two flattened snakes,
So selfish and pale.
I’ll write about the Rongo
to Migori road,
She is selfish and pale
and seems to love it.
Cars squeeze and squirm
within her narrow shoulders,
What a scary encounter for both driver and
passengers.
Three fat bottomed women clutch tightly to the rider,
Who perched on the fuel tank,
Commands the bike to gyrate their hips in rhythm.
The rider seems to relish this as he jerks it and whistles,
Racing the Guardian bus, its a horror to witness.
Sugar cane tractors belch
thick dark smoke in contempt,
The burly drivers punish the creaking gears with impunity.
As they pull the overloaded trailer
stuffed with thin cane for the factories,
Mischievous children in
exposed buttocks run to snatch the dangling sugarcane sticks.
It’s a mad world here,
and no one seems to care.
They should expand this
road.
The World bank should pay.
Ranen center is a dusty
intersection.
The headquarters of Ranen SDA Conference
and a hotbed of Migori
politics.
Idle motorbikes parked
under rickety shed,
Acknowledging the generous
donor who lost in the nominations:
‘This shed was donated by Hon. So and So’
Fleeced public funds
and left us this short-lived monument.
I leave Ranen center past lush
sugarcane plantations,
Punctured by the giant
chimneys from Sony Sugar Factory.
A sleeping giant neglected
in shame,
A victim of corruption,
nepotism will finish us.
With determination and
courage,
Sony Sugar still billows thick
diesel smoke.
Crushing the cane,
promising a sweetness long
forgotten.
It is harvest season in
Awendo, and the town is alive.
Skimpily dressed vampires have raided the town,
With thick thighs and plum breasts, peppered with cheap perfume,
The hedonic colonizers are now in town, the charged sponsors nod in affirmation.
Mannerless men can’t hide
their disturbing appetites,
Their fat wallets impatient and bulging,
The voluptuous invaders
are welcome to stay.
Yes.
The foreigners will lick
them dry,
but that’s not a problem,
sugarcane money is sweet
when shared.
Polygamous Legio Maria
priests and prophetesses litter the streets,
In purple and yellow robes, inseparable from their rosaries.
They march in single files, soldiers of jah army,
With wooden swords and shotguns shooting imaginary foes.
They chant incantations to
scare away the spirits,
As their dreadlocked barefoot 'pope' jumps and shrills in a trance.
Those are their subdued and humble
women poking you with a book,
To solicit for alms to
support the 'holy father'.
Awendo Equity bank ATM has
winding queues,
Impatient customers must
withdraw tonight.
Chemists are crowded for
condoms, HIV tests and birth control,
Skyways motel, booked to
capacity.
At the Easy coach booking
office new passengers arrive,
Njeri and Mwikali too have
come for their share.
The sugarcane money is too sweet to ignore,
They know the thirsty farmers have a thing for light-skinned imports.
Nereah Hotel, a perfect
hideout,
From marauding housewives
who ransack the town,
To redeem at least some
coins from their frolicking husbands,
Who in the morning we’ll
collect, drugged and licked dry.
Njeri and Mwikali must
leave with the first morning bus,
Mission accomplished, in an opposition stronghold!
Their next target is Kericho,
The tea farmers too have
received their boom!
We leave Awendo to its
devices and fate,
Rejoin the selfish bitumen
snake, cold and pale.
She leads us through more green
plantations,
Past Uriri parish, we are now 50 Km or so from Migori town.
From a distance to my west
I see the impatient hills of Kisii,
With fond memories of
friendships long lost.
Mosocho had it twists but
they turned out for the best,
Hope the banana farmers
keep off this road.
Tinted Probox ninjas will
give you ulcers,
Rugged bullies defiant to
the bone.
Graduated riders now on
public transport,
Packed to capacity even
the driver shares his seat!
We pass St. Joseph Rapogi
the pride of Uriri,
A sleeping giant
struggling to wake up,
As idle school girls roam
the winding village paths,
Adolescents at risk to
exploitation and abuse.
Downhill we descend past Rakwaro Seminary towards Migori town,
Potholes of defiance will
tame your speed,
As neatly arranged trees
swallow the road ahead.
Giant concrete power poles
puncture the quiet sky:
(whispers) A.n o.v.e.r.p.r.i.c.e.d i.n.n.o.v.a.t.i.o.n
t.a.x.p.a.y.e.r.s w.i.l.l p.a.y t.h.e h.u.s.t.l.e.r
Iron thatched roofs dot
the undulating hills,
You know you are near
Migori town when you see the giant brick mounds.
A lonely green mosque
seems curiously out of place,
Next to Friends Church Emusanza that offers services at a fee.
Services the domineering billboard,
announces
with glee.
At Stella Stage there is a refurbished public toilet,
Next to a video hall
balancing a blue satellite dish on its rickety roof.
Chelsea vs Hull City at
ten shillings tonight,
A sizzling encounter, Sportpesa Millionaires
analyse the odds.
It’s a scandal,
so obvious
yet they keep on betting.
I’ll sell my chicken and
place my bet,
Over 1.5 and goal-goal, am
sure to make the multi-bet.
If I invest five hundred shillings
I’ll win 11.5 Million,
Since Opiyo from Kibera placed one hundred and won 230 M.
You’ve reached Migori town
since the road has widened,
As the selfish snake hands
you over without notice,
To the potbellied traffic
police raising the hand of need,
To flag PSVs for the fifty
shillings bribe.
Sunrise Center, DSTv,
Startimes, National Bank,
Migori County Lodge, VCT, ODM Office, MPESA
Here!
That’s Migori for you,
A business hub so
strategic, they keep on coming back,
Despite the abuse,
at the
hands of
'the people's protestors'.
Its hot this morning and
hawkers dominate the roadside,
Glad to be in Migori I can see burnt tires on the bridge,
There was definitely a protest,
They want the general back.
My journey ends here,
I've left that selfish road
Behind.
We’ll meet again on the road,
from Katitu to Ahero Junction.
Goodbye my dear,
That's where I spent my valentine.
Flowers would have been nice,
But am out of season.
***
Rongo-Migori road
14th Feb 2018
