Question

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.

Answer 1

1. Judah Zen Melo's thatched hut speaks of abject poverty. That hut has hanging sacks as its doors. In this state, there is no privacy given that Lulu, Judah's daughter, is a grown up. At the centre, an old table and old wooden folding chairs make the furniture in the hut. Judah, who was once a member of Lacuna Kasoo's ruling party fell out with the powers that be. Judah's problems began when he declined to kill Bengo, his brother. As a result, Judah is asked to vacate government house and he ceases to be a party member. At the beginning of the play, Judah is out somewhere wandering from one town to another in search of elusive jobs with hordes of young people. Judah is jobless and he has to make ends meet.
2. Tamina, Judah's wife, informs Bengo about the scarcity of water. Water is hard to come by. The main water catchment area is destroyed and all the streams from the mountain are diverted to a dam at the foot of the mountain denying the locals their only source of water. Tamina laments that people have to walk 15 kilometres to get water – in fact, they walk from sunrise to mid-day. This is an example of poor planning blamed on ineffective leadership. It is interesting to note that the water crisis is as a result of a conspiracy between the local member of parliament and the national government.
3. Lacuna Kasoo's government does not tolerate any politics of opposition. For instance, when Bengo becomes the voice of the oppressed, Kasoo persuades Judah to eliminate him. He says that Bengo is a thorn in his flesh. When Judah refuses to accomplish the ill mission, he is fired from the party, beaten badly and his mangled body is dumped at the government house doorstep. (P.23).
4. Lacuna Kasoo rules his country with an iron fist. His reign blossoms on dictatorship, intimidation and greed. Tamina says that people labour and sweat pours into Lacuna Kasoo's porous pockets and the rest to his bank accounts abroad. (P.24).
5. When Judah falls out with Lacuna Kasoo, he is immediately deprived of all government privileges and even his own investments. Judah once a respected party official, becomes a pauper overnight. Tamina, Judah's wife blames the government for their current predicament. She asks: "where are the cars I used to drive? The government house I used to live in? My coffee farm in Bukelenge Mountains? All gone. Now I must pick coffee for Chipande on the farm that he had me sell to him for peanuts."
6. The government imposes fees without reason. Lulu tells her mother to pay one thousand for games, two thousand for a second perimeter fence, and another one thousand for paper and ink for officials who will mark their exams. These levies are not intended for the said projects but for the pockets of Lacuna Kasoo.