Cassava Fortified with Cyanide

Kenya

4 min read

And he is also not alone in this trance. His brother is in it, his colleagues at work are too, the successful shopkeeper at home preaches it, and its always on radio frequencies. What he doesn’t know yet; the missus and his first born son are in it too.

NAIROBI, Kenya, September 3, 2023/-- It's a cool Friday evening at a construction site in Muthangari. The days work is done and it's time for the bearers of site work to thank their bodies for a week well done (TGIF). Let me emphasize, construction work is not easy work; from the menial to the technical, it is tiring and absorbing.

The way the entire building team disperses after the Friday stakeholder’s meeting (Owner, Architect and Contractor led meeting) and where to; would serve as a good case study for intellectual curiosity.

For today's submission, I pick a hypothetical Matendechere's TGIF journey. Man has bills, family, friends, and ultimately work on Monday, and to further make ends meet; a weekend gig. But, Today is his day. He seeks respite from a week-long “koroga festival”.

Before he leaves the gate, the menacing foreman reminds him that his weekly wage has 15% deducted for food and a further 10% for advances. What can he do but accept the terms?

That out of the way, Matendechere is free to weekend. To save his meagre earnings he avoids the public service vehicles and chooses the most convenient mode of transport to Mama Ciru’s, his two aging feet.

The trip is an 8 kilometre power walk. Filled with scenic billboards selling him the “Kenyan Dream”, ethereal diesel soot, last remnants of beautiful blooming jacaranda tress, and the occasional puddle of sewer or rain water.

In the long man-powered commute, he pauses for a few seconds and switches on his phone. A deluge of family messages, friends’ missed calls, spam messages, and whatsapp chats stream in. The most striking ones are the spam smses from betting companies and whatsapp groups’ betting odds for the weekend matches.

Mwanaume ni Effort and a Man has to Dream…

Matendechere has done his best for the past 22 years, however, he has little to show of his effort. This is maddening to say the least; for a fairly educated man who is disciplined, pious, austere, and a believer of Project Kenya.

🎶There's a hole in daddy's palm,

Where all the money goes...

Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose...🎶

The original version in John Prine's song, Sam Stone: “There's a hole in daddy's arm, where all the money goes... Jesus Christ died for nothing I suppose...” alludes to the devastation of addiction (I believe heroin). And for Matendechere, sports betting via his mobile phone.

Of all the many human vices, I have singled out a type of gambling that has become pernicious to the Kenyan socio-economic fabric. Sports betting. Our cherished poison as a nation.

The oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffet and his long serving vice chair Charlie Munger referred to Bitcoin as rat poison. I believe sport betting is Kenya’s rat poison squared.

Today is not the first time, Matendechere has been seduced by the odds and riches of chance. And he is also not alone in this trance. His brother is in it, his colleagues at work are too, the successful shopkeeper at home preaches it, and its always on radio frequencies. What he doesn’t know yet; the missus and his first born son are in it too.

His weekly earning which received a 25% deduction at 5.30 PM is getting another whooping 25% plus downgrade, before he watches the 7.00PM news bulletin. This time it goes beyond the money.

Is he, a victim or a villain to his own self?

Serikali Saidia...

I have always had a slight contempt for this term “Serikali Saidia...” But on this matter, my laissez faire attitude towards the gambling industry has changed. Government please intervene!

The way of intervention should take the cigarette route. Not banning or prohibition. But regulation. I think it might be time, sports bettors enjoyed smoking cigarettes without the tobacco.

The ridiculous extent to which sports betting has reached in Kenya, I believe its only government's concerted efforts that would bear more fruit. To get a glimpse of what I’m talking about; I would ask your to watch Chris Orwa’s YouTube Video Stumbling upon Betin Kenya Dog Racing Anomaly.

For brevity, I wish to reserve a future submission to elaborate the kernel of this industry and its effects on society.

Can man live on cassava alone?

In no way do I want to deny anyone’s right to a vice, hobby, business or fashioned sport. I'm only asking for us to be our sister’s and brothers’ keepers, since this is a high octane game and the average person is being fed to cut-throat predators. Addiction and people losing everything is just the tip of the iceberg, when it comes to sports gambling.

And for those who have received the short end of the stick; What am I asking you to do? Is stop the parlay. Cut your losses and think ahead. The house was never a friend to begin with and the relationship is highly imbalanced. Never forget the house always wins and there’s a sucker born every minute to feed it.

My submission today was not a “how to pick your vice”, but about how to cut off a vice or maybe use it tactically as a backdoor into purposefulness or something close to nourishment and sustenance.

Matendechere, you the reader, and I have a chance to redeem ourselves from these kind of indulgence. Since human nature is inherently flawed and these failings are the crucial building blocks of future self.

Nassim Taleb, one of the preeminent thinkers of our time says, “You build a virtuous system focusing on human vices; you build a vicious system focusing on human virtues.” Scrutinizing and understanding our vices can chart our path to personal growth and the embetterment of society at large.

Have a fantastic Sunday and I hope to see My Gunners thrash the Red Devils this evening.

By Phineahs Munene

email feedback to phineahs [at] wazomoja.com

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