BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH.

LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

An adaptation by
Peter Tosh

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 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
BLOSSOMS OF THE SAVANNAH
An adaptation by Peter Tosh
CHAPTER ONE
Narration; In pursuit of the delicate and elusive social-
economic and cultural balance in Nasila, Blossoms of the
Savannah is a riveting account of two sisters, Taiyo and Resian
who are not only on the verge of woman hood but also torn
between personal ambitions and the humiliating duty to the
Nasila tradition
Narration; There relocation to their rural home heralds
a culture alienation ensnared by a corrupt and sly extortionists.
Ole Kaelo sands his daughters into a flat spin labyrinth from
which they have to struggle to wiggle out will they the two
sisters make it? Sit back and enjoy the spell binding narrative –
Blossom of the Savannah presented by Liquid Arts
Entertainment.
Narration; Taiyo stood in the shadows by the window,
her back to the Room. From her vantage position on the third
floor of the building where their flat was located, she had a
bird’s eye view of the sprawling town. The rising sun shone on
rooftops, giving them a yellowish tinge. Across the roads that
criss-crossed the town, diminutive figures of men and women
hurried briskly to their places of work. Uniformed school
children, rucksacks on their backs, jostled boisterously as they
alighted from one matatu and boarded another. Beneath her,
down at the courtyard, she could see her father moving and
fussing. He was organizing and directing, with obvious and
shortness of temper, the loading of two ten-torn lorries. He was
gesticulating violently, apparently reprimanding loaders for
being slow and inept in carrying out the tasks before them out
the task before them. Her father on stage and a few people pack
including mum
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Narration; Taiyo knew her father well. He was not a
man who cared to have his well- laid work plans delayed or
disrupted. She had noticed that he had become even more
belligerent ever since the family learnt that he had been
retrenched and they are now being forced to vacate the house
and relocate to the rural town he had left many years back.
Although the distance would not allow her to hear what he was
telling the loaders, Taiyo felt a mild but quite genuine twinge
of sympathy for the poor fellows down there, for she knew the
sting of her father’s tongue.
It reminded her of her own recent battle with him when he
denied her permission to travel to Mombasa with other young
men and women who had been selected by an F.M Radio
Station to attend an extravaganza. She blinked suddenly and
rapidly
(Enter Resain briefly and silently towards Taiyo who is
standing at the window, Taiyo doesn’t notice)
Resain; I will miss this, view far back we used to stand by the
window, grow up. Every Sunday morning before going to
church. Observing the streets of the town, unfortunately this
our last. (Resian lifts her eyes to look at Taiyo, she seen lost in
her thoughts) Taiyo-e-yeiyo, what do you think life is going to
be like in Nasita?
Taiyo; For heavens sake, Resain, How am I supposed to
know? (pause)
Resian; I suppose its going to be a very different from the kind
of life we are used to here, isn’t it?
Taiyo; Most likely yes.
Resian; It seems so very strange (Resain pressed on
relentlessly) to be leaving Nakuru town.
Taiyo; We have always known that it was our father’splan to
and up in Nasila, that is why he built that shop that he has
always spoken about. Now that hew has been retrenched
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Narration; It transpired that the more she spoke of the
relocation the harder the reality that she was about to leave
Nakuru town for good hit her. The twenty years of her life had
been spent there. She loved its crowded streets, the bustle and
excitement of its wholesale and retail markets and the
boisterous bus stage. But the most painful to leave behind was
her boyfriend Lenjirr, the lanky dark haired, blunt-faced young
man whose big languid eyes had always smiled at her warmly,
fostering in her the dreams of young woman hood.
Resian; Taiyo-e-yeiyo? Is something a miss
Taiyo; No nothing is a miss
Resian; I’m somehow worried dear sister, what do you think
will happen to us if the shop father intends to open does not
become as successful as he hopes?
Taiyo; Resian-e-yeiyo, I do not know any better than you!
Father thinks the shop will be a success. I overheard him tell
one of his friends that he was going to stock agricultural inputs
such as fertilizer, seed, animal drugs and chemicals. Nasila is
an agricultural area and business is bound to do well. Let us
have faith in him and hope for the best.
Resian; I do not want to work at the shop (sounding petulant) I
want o come back to Nakuru and join Egerton University. I
want to take course in Veterinary Science and become a
veterinary doctor. I want to read everything that there is to be
read and put on the graduation regalia at the end of four years.
Yes, I like to be called Dr. Resian Kaelo. You aren’t laughing,
are you? I meant it.
Taiyo; I’m not laughing, little sister (says fervently) you know
too well that it is also my ardent ambition to join university.
How nice it would be if father were to allow the two of us to
join. I would love it!
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Resian; It would be wonderful. You will then persuade father
to allow us to come back to Nakuru and join the university,
won’t you, Taiyo-e-yeiyo?
Taiyo; I can’t promise that with certainity, You know the
stubborn nature of father (look at her busy father who is
moving things from one lorry to the other) (Her father yells at
one of the workers) I wonder what maids Resian to think I am
able to persuade my dad to come back to Nakuru and join the
university (to Resian) look, dad did not allow me to go to
extravangaza musical that was in Mombasa, what makes you
think he will hear me out?
Resian; Please try talk to him won’t you, Taiyo-e-yeiyo? He
always listen to you and this time around he will. Just try
Taiyo; I’ll try
(There mother calls out….)
Mother; Taiyo, what on earth are you doing there at the
window instead of helping me pack? Resian, Run downstairs
and check what is happening. Are we ever going to leave?
Taiyo; They have completed loading the lorries, Yeiyo (turns
to Resian) here comes papa quick tats go!we better be found in
the company of yeiyo when he comes other wise he will spoil
our day with his sharp tongue (They join their mother to gather
suitcases)
Taiyo; Ready to go? We must start our journey straight away if
we are to get to Nasila early enough to offload the tracks and
arrange the furniture in our new house. (they seem packing as
they load the lorries)
Narration; That short speech poignantly brought
reality to them; they were now about to leave Nakuru town for
good. Ole Kaelo cleared his throat loudly. His wife, Mama
Milanoi, took out a handkerchief from her pocket and blew her
nose. The four of them stood for a moment in a sudden silence,
each one of them keeping their thoughts to themselves. But one
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
thing that was clear to all of them was that the flat that was
their home for so many years, stripped of all furniture’s, of all
personal possessions all books, pictures and ornaments, now
looked bleak and shabby.
Milanoi; Well lets pray that the good Lord gives us journey
mercies (prays)
( Mama Milanoi holds one of the suitcase heds towards the
minibus, Ole Kaelo follows together with there daughters,
Taiyo is the last to leave, she turns at the doorway, stands for a
long moment with tears in her eyes, she firmly joins the others)
(Sits beside the husband)
Milanoi; I can’t stop thinking of our relocation Ole Kaelo
Ole Kaelo; Why is that?
Milanoi; Ever since you broke the news that you will be retrenched
I was down founded it was as thou a thunder boat had struck me out
of a midday blub sky
Ole Kaelo; But I heard shared………..
Milanoi I know you did, look Agribix limited has been the sole
employer for twenty years, it has been our family lively hood now
that it is closing doors I feel as if providence has turned off the value
that supplied the very vital air that sustained our lives
Ole Kaelo; This was inevitable, it was going to come to an end
eventually it will come to pass (she does not look convinced) look
there is nothing to fear at least I had prepared for this. We will go
back home and start a fresh, embrace life of our community we will
begin a new face of life
Narrator; Once she was convinced that relocation would
enable them begin a new phase of life, she became unflaggingly
enthusiastic. She began to see in her mind how a brand new house
and a well-stocked shop that her husband promised to set up on the
right side of Nasila town, predictably offered glamour and a chance
to be associated with the great and powerful of the land. She saw a
chance for her family to share the good fortune enjoyed by those
who were already happily settled in the rural town. But above all she
thought, it would be easier to marry off her two girls in the new town
4
than in the melting pot that Nakuru town had become. Yes, two sons-
in-law from reputable families in the land could easily catapult them
right into the centre of the affairs of the community. That could be
the re-entry point into the community that they had been thinking
about, she thought contentedly.
Narrator; There was, however, a dark spot in the whole
affair. Women friends from Nasila who had visited her in the past
had asked her very intrusive questions regarding her daughters. At
that time she dismissed them as busybodies who enjoyed intrusion
into other people affairs. But it now dawned on her that those could
be the mothers of her would be sons-in law. The words they used to
describe the satus of her daughters came back to haunt her like
demented spirits of a past that was better forgotten; Intoiye
Nemengalana they had called them contemptuously.
Narrator; On his part, Prasimei Ole Kaelo sat quietly beside
his wife, his mind roaming the distant past in reminiscence. He knew
that he had worked his fingers to the bone over the years, preparing
for that day when he was no longer going to be employed. He was on
his way to opening up his business. Not that he felt any particular
excitement or pleasure; he was a man to whom disappointment came
more easily and naturally than contentment. And that latter attribute
fired his ambition to always strive for the stars. It was characteristic
of him that, surrounded by what other men would have considered
evidence of a well-earned successful life, he felt nothing but the need
to strive each harder to achieve better results.
Narrator; He had a contentious mind that seemed to
question every aspect of his life. Although he was blessed with a
shrewd brain and a pugnacious obstinacy that had stood him in good
stead in his struggle to rise through the ranks’ from a clerk to the
coveted position of Commercial Manager of the Agribix Ltd, he still
saw only, the greater successes of others. Even on the family front,
he felt cheated by nature, for although it had been his prayer to get at
least three boys he had ended up with two girls. But even more
obnoxious was the fact that despite all his achievements, it seemed to
him that his younger brother, Simiren, who remained in Nasila, had
been more appreciated and was considered the cultural head of
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
theKaelos by the community. That hurt him. But it did not worry
him. Since childhood he had been aware, without self-pity that no
one really liked him. That, too, did not bother him since in his mind,
to pursue the easy and worthless admiration of others was a sign of
weakness of character.
Narrator; Nature had not, however, been totally
inconsiderate. It rewarded him with a gem in the form of his wife –
Jane Milanoi. When he first saw her at a church service at Nasila, he
was stunned. She was then hardly eighteen. Her body had now
ripened to a sensual womanhood completely at odds with her
childlike face. She wore her it black hair in braids that accentuated
her wide eyes. Her breasts were full and heavy, her waist slender, her
hips wide and seductively curved. And the dress she wore, a simple
red frock, fitted well her tall shapely figure. From the moment he
saw her, he had been obsessed. And against all odds and despite all
efforts, he was still so obsessed twenty two years later. His marriage
to her had been a great success.
Narrator; His two daughters occupied separate parts of his
heart. Taiyo, his eldest, was his pride. When she was born twenty
years earlier, his heart enthralled. She was the proof of his
fatherhood. When his wife got pregnant the second time, he prayed
for a healthy baby boy who would carry the Kaelo’s name to the next
generation. But that was not to be. Against his expectation and to his
utter disappointment, nature had given him another baby girl. From
the moment she was born, mute and helpless, he detested her. The
very sight of her enraged him. Her arrival and her continued stay in
her father’s home remained unwelcome and tested. And right from
her cradle, baby Resian instinctively detected the absence of love
from her father. She grew up sullen, bewildered and resentful. As a
result, her nature was darkened by melancholy. Self doubt made her
awkward and very difficult to deal with. And that made him detest
her even more.
Narrator; Even her physical appearance angered her father.
Like her sister Taiyo, at eighteen, she had grown almost as tall as her
father but unlike Taiyo who was still skinny and symmetrical in
formation, Resian’s body had blossomed early. Signs of early
5
womanhood were evident. The earlier he disposed of her, he
declared to himself angrily, the better.
Narrator; A few kilometres to Nasila, one of the lorries
developed a mechanical problem and broke down. The other two
vehicles stopped behind it, the crew alighted and immediately swung
into action. While Ole Kaelo fussed around the vehicles cursing and
muttering expletives under his breath, Mama Milanoi and her
daughters alighted and stood beside the vehicle. They huddled
stoically together, eyes downcast, saying little. They knew thieves,
robbers, rapists, car-jackers and hooligans lurked everywhere and
could strike at any moment. They, therefore, stood waiting with
fatalistic resignation for the worst. Taiyo Resian, both head and
shoulder taller than their mother, stood on each side to protect her
more from the cold blowing wind than from the fear of the
marauding thugs.
(Enter a crowd and jubilant relatives who have been waiting enter)
(They are hugged and kissed by us the uncles touch their heads,
singing and dancing)
(The girls are confused by this reception)
(They sit around a bright fire.)
Simiren: Welcome my brother
Parsimei Ole Kaelo: Thank you for the warm welcome.
Simiren: Its been thirty years since you were away
Parsimei: You acted well as the head of the Kaelo family and
represented the family in Ilmolelian clan to which we belong
Simiren: Thank you my brother, I also represented us well intalengo
that was performed.
Parsimei: You did well
Simiren: And always strict to our customs and traditions for which I
am respected and appreciated by the elders.
Parsimei: Indeed they do and the fact that you have accepted your
position to be my subordinate despite having four wives and sixteen
children.
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Simiren: And you only one wife and two children (They laugh)
Brother you are still Olmoiji and I will always humble myself before
you.
Parsimei: Thank you, Thank you for running all the errands in my
absence. The money I sent to you to purchase livestock then want
and sold to Dagoreti Market , You did well, you are the best
Olkunchai
Simiren: Your buildings and shop in Nasila is fully constructed.
Parsimei: You are the best brother that’s why I have never argued
with you.
(They sit down and join the elders)
Narrator: As Simiren and the clan elders sat around the fire,
entertaining his elder brother, he thought quietly over how things
might change. And as chunks of meat went round, he furtively
looked at his brother as he selected a piece from the tray and
wondered what was going through his mind. He hoped that Parsimei
would appreciate that the weighty burden of matters pertaining to the
Kaelofamily would henceforth rest squarely on his able and mature
shoulders. He, however, envisaged some problems. He had informed
Ole Kaelo on many occasions, in the past that there were murmurs in
the clan about him. Elders had termed reckless his decisions to
remain married to only one wife, who had only borne him two
daughters. They had likened him to a mono-eyed gaint who stood on
legs straw. Parsimei had got angry and called the clan elders
megalomaniacs who were still trapped in archaic traditions that were
better buried and forgotten. Simiren did not argue with him then nor
would he do so now. He would rather have matters take their own
course.
Narrator: There was however, a more sensitive matter that
had not been broached, it had to do with his daughters. He had hardly
given thought to their age earlier, but when he saw them that evening
he knew they should have left home long ago. It would take not long
before his brother earned himself the derogatory name of the father
of intoiye memengalana.
CHAPTER TWO
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(Taiyo enters lazily from her sleep soon to be joined by Resian)
(Birds are heard outside)
Taiyo: What a contrast, there is no rowdy clutter of that is assailing
my ears, no matatu drivers, hooting and revving engines nothing!
This is a rare atmosphere of tranquility and security….. (Opens the
window) Just a cool fresh air breeze, mooing cattle and bleating
sheep.. Wow! Look at that cool natural environment created by the
giant trees.
(Resian joins her)
Resian: Looks beautiful, look at our uncles homestead, I guess the
four houses belonged to our four aunts. Between the houses are
smaller buildings overshadowed by massive yellow trunked acacia
trees. Interspersed by Olive Green Iloirienito trees whose fragrant
foliage is filled with an aromatic scent. Hope our home will be like
that! It’s so calm and peaceful here, it is the kind of home I would
look forward to come back to at the end of the college semester.
Woman’s voice: Children!
Narration: They quickly go to dress up and within no time,
they were out of the house and one of their aunts was leading them to
the next house to join the rest of the family for morning tea
Narration: The three crossed the courtyard talking happily,
the girls walking closely behind their aunt. Like the house they had
slept in, the next two houses they walked past were
built of heavy cedar slabs, had similar wooden shutters for windows
and were roofed with green painted corrugated iron sheets. Standing
beside each house, on raised platforms made of strong cedar beams
are large, black plastic water tanks that collected rain water from the
roofs. Chicken clucked and scratched in the cool shade underneath.
Clusters of bushes of olobaai with their shinny dark-green leaves and
tiny yellow flowers scattered the compound. Ilkilenya climbers grew
around the beams that supported the water tands and climbed over
the walls of the houses, making them look cool and comfortable.
Narration: The last house on the row was next to the main
gate through which they had entered the homestead the previous
night. It was different from the previous three. It was larger and was
built of stone and had glass windows and like others, its corrugated
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
iron-sheet standing smilingly next to it was a stout woman of forty-
five or so who greeted the girls affectionately. She eyed them
curiously as they responded to the greetings. She introduced herself
as Yeiyoo-botorr which meant she was their senior most aunt and the
eldest wife of their uncle.
Narration: They were led to a spacious living room whose
large open glass windows faced the east allowing in bright morning
sunlight. The light shone on the young faces whose wide eyes stared
unashamedly at the two young women who Yeiyoo-botorr was
introducing as their sisters. The sixteen or so children aged between
three and sixteen were perched on benches, stools and chairs around
the room, each holding a steamming enamel tea mug on one hand
and a slice of bread on the other. Their mothers were there too and so
was Mama Milanoi was sat placidly admiring the composure of her
own daughters. It was only after the children were reassured that
their new sisters were not visitors and that they would be seeing
them often, that calm returned and they resumed taking their tea and
bread. Room was created at the table and Taiyo and Resian sat with
their cousins.
Narration: She allowed them but cautioned care and
wariness of strangers who might take advantage of their
unfamiliarity. The girls looked at one another and giggled. They
dismissed their mother’s misplaced fears as born of the
misconception by the old generation that girls were weaklings,
incapable of deciding what was right.
Mama Milanoi: (Sit admiring there childrens composure)
Resian: We have been sitting here the whole morning by ourselves
Mama Milanoi: What else do you want to do?
Taiyo: We want to walk around the neighborhood.
Mama Milanoi: (After a thought) Ok but on one condition be
careful of wariness of stranger who might take advantage of your
unfamiliarity. (The girls looked at each other and giggled)
Taiyo: Mum those are misplaced fears a misconception by the old
generation
Mama Milanoi: What do you mean?
Resian: That girls are walking incapable of deciding what was right.
7
Mama Milanoi: Alright you can leave. (They live) I don’t
understand this feeling a pang of a strange promotion that is twisting
my nerves. Unpleasantly. It is a creepy feeling. My daughters status
is Intoiye nemengalana and this community cherishes girl child
circumcision. Anyway, its just a feeling nothing much. (Enter Taiyo
and Resian)
Resian: What do you make of our uncle Simiren’s home? Honestly I
do not hink all is well. Beneath the veneer of apparent happiness, I
detected some apprehension, a subtle rivalry of some sort, between
the four houses.
Taiyo: What a terrible person you are my dear sister!(Rebuking her
midly) You are not worth being a guest in anyones home. How dare
you make such judgement? Their life seems to suit them perfectly
Resian: Easy Easy big sister, Do not be harsh on me. All I have done
is to make an observation. Am not entitled to that?
Taiyo: Of course you are, but do you know that the rivalry you
detected could simply be a figment of your own fertile imagination.
Resian: That could be true but can you honestly claim, if you were
one of the sixteen little fellows taking tear from enamel mugs in that
crowded room this morning to be content?
Taiyo: (Thoughtfully) Perhaps I would be happy. You know
happiness is relative. One could be happy in a family of twenty and
another may fail to find happiness in a family where he / she is an
only child
Resian: Did you notice that the two of aunts are expectant (saying
mischievously slanting a look at her sister) At that rate……..
Taiyo: Come off it! There are better things to discuss. Parents have
the right to have as many children as they desire. You will have that
right yourself when your turn comes.
Resian: Who? Not me ( responded vehemently) I don’t want to be a
parent, at least not in the foreseeable future. I want to study. When
I’ll have obtained my degree other peripheral matters such as a
husband, children and such maybe considered.
(Enter a tall heavily set young man) )He walks directly to Taiyo, on
seeing the man Resian almost faints. The man has in his hand knob
kerry)
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Resian: Please don’t harm us, we do not have any money with us.
Man: Who told you I want any money (jeers towards them) Are you
nod the Intoiya nemengalana from Nakuru town? (laughing
contemptuously) I want to have a good look at you and know what
kind of stuff you are made of (grabs Taiyo’s hand)
Resian: Leave my sister alone, let go her arm at once!
Taiyo: Let go of my hand! (trembling with anger) We are not the
kind of women you have in mind.
Man: What woman! Soon, you will be able to differentiate decent
woman from Intoiye nemengalana. (Taiyo tries to wrestle her arm
from the man’s grip without success, he changes his mind with sour
smile, he spates and releases Taiyo’s hand) You have not seen the
last of me. Soon you will come to know that there is no place in our
society for women of your ilk. (He exits the way he came)
(The two girls sighed heavily and shook their heads and look at him
as he walks away). (The girls are terribly shaken.)
Resian: Thank God his intention was not to rape us would have been
helpless in the hands of such a brute.
Taiyo: (bit her lower lips) His intentions could have been worse than
rape (tears of anger and indignation walking up in her eyes) Lets go
to uncles hom. The day had began so joyfully but this could have
been worse! (They exit)
Narration: The girls debated as to whether to inform their
parents of the ordeal. They knew their mother would understand and
empathize with them. But judging from past experience, their father
would be less supportive. He would blame them for having dared
venture into an unknown territory without his approval. Finally, they
decided to keep the incident to themselves.
Narration: When he finished supervising the offloading of
the lorries and arranging of furniture and other personal effects in his
new house, Ole Kaelo set out to meet his mentor Soin ole Supeyo.
He was a much older man, possibly sixty-five, a member of the
Ilomelian clan and a respected elder of Ilnyangusi age-set. He was
known to be shrewd, scrupulous and honest, attributes that saw him
rise from an ordinary Olkunchai who drove his three or four heads
of cattle for hundreds of kilometres to the cattle market at Dagoretti,
8
to the now immensely rich man that he was. He was reputed to own
the largest ranch in Nasila and his beef herd and sheep were said to
be in tens of thousands. His business empire comprised a fleet of
buses, lorries and shops, beside numerous business premises and
residential houses that he rented out.
Narration: As he drove his pick-up towards Ole Supeyo’s
farm, Ole Kaelo gave thought to the old man. When he was in
primary school, Ole Supeyo was already a famous cattle trader. He
would buy cattle from Nasila and drive them all the way to Dagoretti
market where he would sell them and come back laden. In those
days, money was still a new concept to many up-coming illiterate
traders. He would find it difficult to add up the notes and was forced
to arrive at an aggregate of what he actually owned. Ole Supeyo had
to fetch Ole Kaelo and together they would walk deep into the forest
where they would find a safe place. He would then remove one of
the blankets that he wore and spread it in the grass, take out his
pouch and form it fish out a large bundle of notes and coins. He
would ask his friend to count the money while he stood tense,
waiting and would only relax when Ole Kaelo told him the actual
amount and it tallied with the figure he had in mind.
Narration: They carried out that exercise at least twice a
month and he came to trust and depend on Ole Kaelo. The two
became close and their friendship developed even as Ole Supeyo
became a very wealthy businessman and farmer. Ole Kaelo respected
him and considered him as his mentor.
Narration: Although Ole Supeyo did not attend school, Ole
Kaelo thought the was one of those intelligent old men who were
able to embrace modern culture, balance it appropriately, and make it
run parallel to the old Nasila culture. He had six wives and about
thirty children. He had sent all his sons to school and two of them
had reached university level. All his daughters were circumcised and
married off to prominent elders in Nasila.
Narration: Ole Kaelo had witnessed Ole Supeyo’s incense
only on one occasion. A certain woman known as Minik ene Nkoitoi,
the Emakererei a manager at a certain Sheep Ranch called Intare-
Naaju and a known crusader against girl circumcision, had come to
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
persuade him not to circumcise his daughters. But Ole Supeyo would
hear none of it. When the crusader insisted on having her way, he got
angry and forcefully ejected her out of his homestead threatening to
clobber her. Later, he told Ole Kaelo, the woman, whom he referred
to as a wasp, was a great threat to the Maa culture. Female
circumcision, he said, was not only an honored rite of passage that
had been in existence from time immemorial but an important
practice that tamed an otherwise wild gender. Like cattle that
required to be dehorned, to reduce accidental injuries to each other, a
certain measure of docility was also necessary to keep more than one
wife in one homestead. And Ole Kaelo agreed with him, recalling the
adage that two women in one homestead were two potent pots of
poison.
Narration: Ole Supeyo’s homesteads, sheep pens and cattle
enclosures were at the centre of an expansive farm that extended for
many kilometres in all directions. Ole Kaelo first glimpsed at the
glimmer of the corrugated iron sheet rooftops from the top of a low
hill some ten kilometres away. The manyattas that long ago used to
dot the area among scrubby trees had been cut down and the bush
cleared so that in one direction, the land was now an expansive plain
of thick rich grass that stretched as far as the eye could see, while
towards the other direction, thousands of acres of wheat and barley
lay.
Narration: Ole Kaelo arrived at the homestead and parked
his pick-up outside the gate. Looking at the modern homestead, he
appreciated how far his friend had travelled from being a simple
cattle trader, to the wealthy man who owned that massive homestead
accommodating eight largest and was built amongst tall Iloiraga
trees. He walked towards the gate thinking of the man he continually
drew his inspiration from. He had therefore considered it opportune
to make his home the first port of call before he put his hand to the
plough. Ole Supeyo came out of the house to welcome his friend. He
had only just woken from his siesta and his eyes were still smarting
from sleep. As he walked down the steps in front of the house, he
lifted a corner of his shirt and scratched his belly while his other
hand stroked the stubble on his chin.
9
(Enters a spacious room)
Supeyo: Come in my brother, welcome! Welcome! Come right
inside. (Welcomes him over a cup of tea). I hope all is well with your
business arrangements.
Kaelo: Everything is moving on smoothly, I hope to open the doors
of the shop at the onset of the rains.
Supeyo: Good! You will soon find out that, unlike Agribix where
somebody else provides the finances another does the books, yet
another runs up and down making sales. You will have to carry all
those tasks single- handedly. And sales will be the most challenging.
Kaelo: (His pride is wounded by Supeyo’s comments) The sales are
well taken care of (says pompously) sales of about three hundred
thousand bags of fertilizer, half a million bags of seeds plus
insecticides, fungicides and herbicides are as good as bagged and
secured. You see that?
Supeyo: My goodness! How did you manage such a feat?
Kaelo: I am about to sign a four years contract to supply all
government institutions in Nasila with agricultural inputs. It has cost
me a fortune but the deal want through, (sits back and crosses his
leg) See the man with the meat was also the same man with the knife
whoever wanted to eat the meat must of necessity dance to the music
of the man who held the two.
Supeyo: (laughs maliciously) My brother Ole Kaelo tell me who
have been corrupting?
Kaelo: Nobody really I made a contract with…. (he hesitates) I
made a contract with a man called Oloisudori. I met the man in
Nakuru………
Supeyo: Do you know Oloisudori? (interrupts shaply) Do you really
know what you have gotten your self into? Taba! (leans forward) My
dear brother, here in Nasila. Every one knows anyone who is corrupt
and Oloisudori is probably the most corrupt of them all. What a
heard start! I’ll be glad to share some of those contracts should you
run out of supplies. They are quite a bite, I dare say!
Kaelo: In your opinion do you think Oloisudori will deliver what he
promised?
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Supeyo: My brother you are not naïve or new in business Oloisudori
is in business and wants to continue being in business. If you have
fulfilled your part he will do his especially if it suits him.
Kaelo: So is he a man of integrity.
Supeyo: (twisting his lips) A man of integrity. Don’t trust him any
further than you would a hyena in your homestead. (lowering his
voice) And my friend, keep the fellow away from your daughters. He
has a reputation that would rival that of a randy he-goat!
Narration: With that advice Ole nonetheless the wiser or so
he thought. In the afternoon, the Kaelo family left Simiren’s
homestead to be driven the one kilometer to their new home. They
rode almost in silence each wrapped in thoughts they did not care to
share with others. Mama Milanoi dazzled by dreams of eventual
fulfilment failed to notice that her husband’s silence was ominous.
She even forgot the premonition that had earlier gnawed her
conscience. Taiyo had not recovered fully from the traumatic
experience they had gone through. The threatening hostility the evil
young man displayed had not dissipated and that the sense of
foreboding from the threat was still hanging in the air like the sword
of Damocles. Her arm, which the man had roughed up, still felt
unclean. She could still feel the touch of his heavy callous hand. She
drew in a deep, trembling breath and released it in a sigh as she
silently sat at the back of the pick-up with her sister. Resian also sat
there silently. At last they were home and before them was the solid,
stone-built red-tiled roofed house that was going to be their home. It
was built on a hill that allowed a command of a breathtakingly
beautiful scene.
Narration: While his wife and daughters jumped out of the
pick-up excitedly and scrambled to the gate of their new house
jubilantly, Parsimei Ole Kaelo remained behind for a few minutes.
Ole Supeyo’s words still nettled him. Truly, he had known
Oloisudori to be a notorious criminal, but was not everybody doing
business with him? Was he really that bad? He wondered. Or was it
the usual business deal with Oloisudori, something inside him told
him it was not right. He thought an old man of Ole Supeyo’s
seniority did not use the word Taba lightly.
10
CHAPTER THREE
Narrator: When their father pointed out their house among other red
tiled ones on top of a hill, the girls could hardly believe their eyes.
That imposing huge building enclosed in a stonewalled perimeter
fence, could not be their home! They nudged one another excitedly
as they giggled and threw furtive glances at their father. The
oppressive gloom that had weighed upon their hearts as they drove
down the road, suddenly lifted and dissipated. An atmosphere of
excitement and anticipation pervaded their hearts. Their faces were
radiant. Their feet quickened as they walked the remaining distance
with bathed breath.
Narrator: And true to her expectation, Ole Kaelo had always been
responsible. Even as she sat beside him that sunny afternoon, she let
her mind travel fancifully into her past. She recalled with amusement
the rpide of her father and mother when the parents of one Parsimei
Ole Kaelo, accompanied by other elders came to their home to
engage her. Her parents were all along determined to find a well-to-
do son-in-law, preferably from a well known family. When the suitor
happened to be a young man reputed to be an up-coming
businessman, her parents were satisfied that their daughter would not
only be in safe hands but that their grandchildren would have a
dependable protector. After what appeared to her to be protracted
negotiations, the parties agreed and she was betrothed. She accepted
him without any resistance. Tradition did not allow her to offer any
and as expected of her, she did not resist. So at eighteen, after
undergoing the mandatory initiation rituals, she had married Parsimei
Ole Kaelo who was then twenty-four years old. And although over
the years he had scolded and bullied her, like a halfwitted child, she
knew he was a good man, a great provider a foresighted planner and
a man with a will to succeed in whatever he put his mind on. She
also knew that he loved her genuinely. For even after all those years
of marriage he still pampered her. She loved him too and had a
childlike dependence on him. She, however, knew that she had failed
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
miserably by not giving him the sons that he had so much looked
forward to. But she also knew it was still not too late. God could still
favour her with a son or two. And now that she had gone back to the
home of the gods motherhood, she was going to join the rest of
Nasila women in their ancestral prayer, song and praise – Enkai
Aomon Entomono- a prayer exhorting God to open women’s
wombs.
Narration: She turned and looked at her daughters. They were full
of animation as they walked hurriedly down the road that led to the
gate. That made her happy. She was even happier to see Resian who
was often a pessimist, looking exuberant that afternoon. She hoped
they would always be that happy. But she knew things had not seen
easy for them. At that delicate stage of their lives, she knew
relocation to an extremely harsh environment devoid of their friends
and all that they had known throughout their lives was not only
trying, but cruel. But she feared even a worse looming scenario. Poor
innocent things! How she wished she could shield and protect them.
But could she? She knew Nasila people were extremely intorelant of
those who ignored their cherished cultural sensibilities. And the case
of her daughters was no exception. Mama Milanoi was so engrossed
in her thoughts that she hardly noticed that they had arrived at the
gate of their new home. Her husband’s voice jolted her back to
reality.
Ole Kaelo: Lanoo-ai- naijorr, this is the home that I have always
dreamed I would one day build for you and my beloved daughters.
(dipping his hand into his coat pocket removing the key)
Mama Milanoi: Father of all creation! This is but a dream
Taiyo: It is magnificent! “Enkaisupat”
Resian: I have not seen anything like it! Eituaikata ado!
Narration: The air of excitement that danced about the Kaelo family
was so exhilarating. And for a long moment none of them moved.
Their eyes were glued to the exquisite house before them. Ole Kaelo
ushered them into the sprawling homestead with its lush well-tended
lawn. Here and there were squat robust ilopon tress. Clusters of
Oleleshua, osinoni and olkirrpanyany bushes dotted the compound,
while beyond the house, hanging on the stone perimeter wall, was a
11
blaze of bougainviella climbers in red cream and purple. When they
got to the front of the house, they could hardly believe their eyes!
Truly, their new house was a dream come true. Resian looked about
her with fascinated eyes while Taiyo, itching to enter and see for
herself, took the lead and proceeded to mount the graceful sweep of
steps, before reaching the front door. And when their father opened
the door, they were breathless. They filled through into a spacious
hallway that led to a large living room lavishly furnished with
familiar familiar furniture. The girls ran from room to room
curiously trying to find their orientation. Surprisingly the house
looked familiar. What they did not know was that all the rooms were
a replica of their former house in Nakuru flat. Back in the living
room, Taiyo, Resian and their mother began to speak at once. They
spoke of its size, convenience and the furniture fitting. After
hurriedly prepared dinner the girls retired to their bedroom to arrange
and tidy it up. Cartons of their clothes, bedding books and other
personal effects were still piled up on their unmade bed. Curtains
were yet to be hung as were their pictures and decorations. Taiyo
removed her cardigan and immediately swung into action. She
loosened the ropes that tied cartons emptied their contents onto the
floor and sorted them. After some time, the large room that held their
big bed was in shambles. Shoes lay strewn all over, books were
stacked in heaps on the floor and clothes and bedding were scattered
on the bed. Exhausted, she straightened up and stood hands on her
hips eyeing in growing exasperation her sister who sat on a chair at
one corner of the room reading a book.
(Resian reading a book)
Taiyo: Surely Resian, Is this the time to read a book with all this
mess around us?
Resian: Do your bit now and I will do mine tomorrow. (replies
carelessly)
Taiyo: I insist that you get up right now and get to work, need to
arrange this room before we get to bed.
(Resian reluctantly laid the book down and went to work)
(Both working)
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Taiyo: There is such a contrast between Nakuru and this place, He
is so quiet and tranquil here.
Resian: I do not I feel an appressive silence, A little noise is not all
that bad.
Taiyo: Don’t befuddle me with your weird kind of reasoning. Do
you prefer the Nakuru bus stage to this serene atmosphere.
Resian: No not all, I would rather live in the most noisy place on
earth, than live anywhere near a vagabond who could accost me in
the most quiet and serene atmosphere with the intention of mutilating
my sexuality.
Taiyo: Of course I also don’t care whether I am counted among
Intoiye nemengalana (folding her clothes) ( not looking at her sister)
What I know is that my body belong to me. I belong to myself.
(takes a pillow, tosses it into the bed, plamped it up) Only when I am
dead would anybody mutilate my body.
Resian: Don’t you think they can force us to undergo the ritual?
(Resian ask fearfully) What do you think will happen to us if papaai
is forced by his clans men to embrace the archaic culture that would
require us to get the cut?
Taiyo: Resian- e-yaiyo, I hope nothing of that sort happens for if
itdoes… I don’t know what would happen to us.
Resian: That’s why its imperative that you persuade Papaai to allow
us go back to Nakuru and enroll at the university. (Resian says
vehemently) (Putting her head behind her head) We must beat them
to it. We must convience him to let us go before they prevail upon
him to embrace out dated and archaic traditions.
Taiyo: I’ll do that soonest clear sister, I’ll try to persuade him to see
our way.
Resian: How soonest? I would never want to be confronted again by
a deranged vagabond in this wild and frightening jungle that papaai
has thrown us into. (starts to cry)
Taiyo: Hush little sister please don’t cry (Taiyo cooed soothingly as
if singing a lullaby to crying baby) Your big sister will make sure
that no harm comes your way and that you get what you yearn for
just wait and see. I will take care of you just the way I did in nursery
school. Through primary even secondary from all those bullies.
12
Narration: She made it her duty to mop her younger sister’s tears
sooth her anger and gently reassure her when she was badly shaken,
as often happened after the frequent tongue lashing from their father.
For reasons she did not understand, she had always found their father
strangely and harshly impatient towards Resian. She was sure it was
that inexplicable attitude of her father towards Resian that had
contributed to her tempestuous disposition. Even stranger was their
mother’s failure to come to Resian’s defense. It was as if her
motherly instinct could not extend her protective wings to cover
Resian.
Narration: And so in the absence of their mother’s protection and in
the face of their father’s constant provocation and intimidation,
Resian dependence on Taiyo strengthened. And Taiyo would have
been irked by her sisters ever present nagging complaints had she not
been so deeply aware of her never ending happiness. Although
Resian had a lot to complain and grumble about life in their new
environment, Taiyo found it tolerable. For instance, she gladly
discovered that mornings at their new home began with a lively
chatter of birds in the trees surrounding their house. That gave the
home an atmosphere of tranquility and peace.
Narration: However one of the unpleasant aspects that the girls had
to live with was the constant violation of their privacy. In Nasila,
they soon discovered, the home belonged to all clan members. It was
not an unusual thing to get up in the morning to find the living room
full of men and women who came that early, not for any tangible
business, but simply to share a sumptuous breakfast with their kith
and kin. Taiyo and Resian were soon to get used to hearing an urgent
knock at the door very early in the morning. On opening, they would
invariably be met by a grinning group of men and women who
would unashamedly ask them what they were doing in bed that late
in the morning. They would proceed to take seats in the living room
and order them to serve them with breakfast.
Narration: When they got used to what they first considered to be
negative aspects of Nasila culture, Taiyo and Resian adjusted
accordingly and soon they began to live harmoniously with the
people. Their father was out of the homestead most of the time
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
working at the shop and organizing other business matters. His
absence of his irksome and corrosive remarks that always heightened
tension in the house. In his absence, the house was a continuous joy
with comfort and conveniences and the girls found it a pleasure to
keep it clean and well arranged.
Narration: Mingling with the women folk, the girls learnt a great
deal about the hilarious, the absurd and the weird aspects of Nasila
culture. They also met a variety of women. Although most of the
women who visited the Parsimei’s home did so for entertainment
purposes, others visited with definite purposes. A great number of
them came to survey and get to know the girls well so that they could
have sufficient information on which to decide whether they were
marriageable and commendable to their husbands to be married as
their inkainito. Others came looking for potential wives for their sons
while enkaitoyoni and enkamuratani came to make acquaintance
with potential clients. So when their father announced one evening
that he was planning a homecoming ceremony, the girls and
especially Taiyo no longer felk like strangers.
CHAPTER FOUR
Ole Kaelo: I have called you here to help me in the preparation of
the which will happen a few days from now. I want this occasion to
be remarkably memorable, preferable to take the forum of the
traditional enkang-o-ntalengo. I might have lost touch with the
cultural sensibilities of the people but I know to re-establish the
severed links I enlisted the help of my brother Simiren and several
senior elders. I am willing to go down the bedrock and find out at
which point did I loose my way. Odomongi and Orok kitang, the
legendary twin homesteads of the founder that begot the five clans of
Nasila; Ilmolelian, Ilmakesen, Ilukumae, Ilaiser and Iltarrosero were
the cradle of the Nasila people. M y desire is not only to reunite the
people but receive their blessings. I will invite every representatives
of all the five clans to grand party which will be re-entry point into
the cultural life.
Crowd: (They all clap Ole-Kaelo remembers something then laughs
13
Man 1: Whats funny?
Ole-Kaelo: Ilmolelian clan was said to be made up of ludicrously
generous man who would slaughter a bull and foolishly share out all
the meat to others leaving themselves without. They would happily
and ridiculously raise up their arms to show to all and sundry that
they had not hidden any meat under their armpits (laughs)
Crowd: (laughs)
Ole Kaelo: Ilmakesen clan was totally the opposite. The were so
stingy that they would deny dog the after birth of a she goat.
Crowd: (laughs)
Narrator: When the party was finally thrown, it was nothing short
of ostentatious. And true to the Ilmolelian spirit and tradition, Ole
Kaelo held nothing back. He slaughtered a fattened ox, six rams and
four he-goats. In the living room stood four long tables spread with
the most astounding array of food Nasila had ever seen. There were
large trays laden with huge chunks of boiled meat whose tantalizing
aroma filled the room. Lamb chops grilled to a golden brown colour
glistered appetizingly on chop-boards. Succelent pieces of pink-
roasted liver lay arranged on leaves of oloirepirepi weed to preserve
moisture and taste. Then there were other choice pieces of meat on
skewers and others wrapped up in scared oloirien leaves that were
the preserve of the elders who were to bless the home of intalengo. It
was only after such blessings that Nasila would receive back their
son who had gone out to hunt for fortunes and returned safely. The
elders would also bless the wife children and property that he
brought back and which wee all henceforth going to be the wealth of
the Ilmolelian clan.
Narration: That day had began early for Ole Kaelo. He had left his
bed at cock crow, the time that was known in Nasila as tolakira-lole-
Kasaale. He was to see it that every detail about the impending
homecoming ceremony was taken care of without exception and
absolutely nothing was to be left to chance. There was little for him
to do that morning though, for all preparations and arrangements had
earlier been made, systems had been set and all that was left to be
done was to implement what had been agreed upon.
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Narration: Days earlier, with the help of his brother Simiren and his
wives, he had gathered a retinue of young men and women from his
Ilmolelian clan and charged them with the responsibility of
organizing the activities and chores of the ceremonial day. And true
to their calling, the young men and women immediately swung into a
variety of activities with zest. Those who belonged to the sub-clan of
Iloorasha-kineji, to which Ole Kaelo also belonged, felt that the
responsibility to have the occasion succeed rested on their shoulders.
Led by a young local primaryschool music teacher called Joseph
Parmuat, they took charge of the entire ceremony. Members of the
other sub-clan of lelema graciously accepted the leadership of Joseph
Parmuat and their other cousins and all worked harmoniously and
tirelessly to bring about the success that was already evident that
morning.
Narration: From the verandah of his house,Ole Kaelo surveyed with
utter satisfaction all that was happening in his homestead. He was
most grateful and felt humbled by the fact that, in that ancestral land
to which he had finally returned and to which he belonged (Body and
soul) honour brotherhood and selflessness were still virtues. In
Nakuru, only the promise of monetary payment would have induced
such a large number of young men and women to turn up. With
trembling lips and tears welling in his eyes, he swore under his
breath that never again in his life, would he ever abandon the culture
of his people or live outside his clan; Ilmolelian. Its twin sub-clans of
Iloorasha-kineji and lelema, would always be like two chambers of
his heart that incessantly pumped the blood that sustained him.
Regaining his composure, he walked back into house.
Narration: Mama Milanoi was at the tables ensuring that the trays
that came out of the kitchen laden with meat delicacies were sorted
out and arranged appropriately. Taiyo was busy slicing chunks of
oxtongueinto manageable pieces a job she did with dexterous
fingers. When their fatheropened the door to let himself into the
living room, Resian was busy transferring glasses from the sideboard
onto a nearby table. The moment she saw him enter, her fingers
became clumsy and she nearly dropped a glass.
(Enter Ole Kaelo)
14
Ole Kaelo: Would you ever do anything right child? I hope you have
not broken any glasses this morning.
Resian: I am terribly sorry Papaas but I have not broken any. (Goes
inside a glass is heard broken)
Ole Kaelo: Resian!
Resian: Yes Papaai
Ole Kaelo: Is that a….. (clicks controls his temper) where in the
world did we fetch this awkward over blown, stupid child. (clicks
again and leaves)
(People come in.) (At noon…… traditional dances)
(Enter two young men)
(Two young men…… handsome face)
Taiyo: Look at that young man isn’t he handsome?
Resian: Yes he is, he is undoubtedly good-looking.
(He broke out into the group….. Ole Kaelo’s return)
(Enter Ole Kaelo the school uniformed girls start singing)
(Type song)
(Then the children…. Speed up)
Taiyo: (claps her hand until it hurts) The sights of those young
school children singing and dancing so joyfully brought back the
memories.
Resian: Which memories.
Taiyo: High school, my heart warms up anytime I recall the
numerous occasions I have excelled in music festival and was
awarded and garlanded.
Resian: Yes I remember that.
Taiyo: Broadcasting stations recognized my talent and encouraged
me to take music as a career. Papaai and mama applauded me when I
brought trophies at home
Resian: Indeed I can recall all those trophies.
Taiyo: F.M. Station keenly followed my development and even
sponsored me to attend a music extravaganza in Mombasa but I was
gauged.
(Imitates her father)
“No daughter of Ole Kaelo would so demaan herself and her family
as to perform in a public exchange of monetary gain?”
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Resian: I know you still love music.
Taiyo: Yes I do I wish I had met the young man who coached the
young children to sing and perform so well. (The mood gets merrier
by how there is exciting rhythm of song and dance)
Resian: Let’s go there near Oloponi tree to observe well
Taiyo: Look at Papaai! He doesn’t seem to know how to dance.
Resian: He should ask uncle Simiren to coach him
(Enter a young man)
Taiyo: Look there is that young man who accosted us the first day
we came to Nasila
Resian: Yes it is.
(Later an esuguroi drink is served in generous measures)
Narration: And it was all pomp and gaiety as ivory adorned and
bejeweled fingers fluttered; bare shoulders gleamed in the light;
multicolored bead ornaments glittered upon elaborately bedecked
necks; pendulous ilmiintoni of all colors dangled loosely down
extended ear lobes; and the bright colors of lesos, kangas, red shukas
and multicolored blankets, all turned the Ole Kaelo living room into
a kaleidoscope of shifting light and color.
Narration: That evening, Mama Milanoi, the perfect hostess was a
woman with glamour. She was resplendently dressed in purple silk
and moved happily from one group to the other talking cheerfully:
her laughter ringing out pleasantly. That was her home and that was
her evening. She had to make sure that no one present in that living
room would leave with any shred of doubt in his or her heart as to
who wasthe enopeny enkang of the Ole Kaelo homestead.
Narration: Taiyo was watching with amusement as her mother
moved from one group of revellers to another when suddenly her eye
caught sight of a tall man who was advancing across the room
towards her direction. She recognized him and her heart missed a
beat. Momentarily, his bright eyes met hers. They were perfectly set
on a young and handsome face that was above an equally impressive
attire of red shukas.
Narration: Across the room, maternal instincts directed Mama
Milanoi to look at the direction of her daughter, Taiyo, in time to see
two events happening simultaneously: a handsome young man
15
striding towards her daughter and her husband sending a seemingly
corrosive glance in the direction of his daughter. One can never tell
with Ole Kaelo, Mama Milanoi thought aloud. He can be the most
dreadful soilsport.
Narration: Ole Kaelo, however, did not interfere and Mama Milanoi
watched from across the room, smiling a little, as the two young
people met. How lovely Taiyo looked that night! She thought she
was her very image when she was at age. She watched the two as
they exchanged greetings and their smiles as their eyes met. Then he
seemed to ask her a question and she, with downcast eyes, gave him
a demure smile. For a moment, Mama Milanoi stood there allowing a
ridiculous small blade of envy cut through her heart. She left her
heart wander and wondered what might as the one her daughter was
speaking with, fallen in love and got married. If she had had such an
opportunity, what might her life have been? Maybe she would not
have been joined at the hip with a bully like……..
Simiren: Do you know that young man your daughter is talking to
she needs to be informed immediately.
Mama Milanoi: Is he a bad boy?
Simiren: For from it. In fact he is one of the finest and dependable
young men that we have in Nasila
Mama Milanoi: Whats Taiyo to be informed about him then? Or is
he married and has a vicious wife?
Simiren: You are wrong again, it is simply this, the young man who
name is Joseph Parmuat is a brother to your daughter. Parmuat, his
father is of the clan of Ilmolelian of life Iloorasha Kineji sub-clan,
like ourselves. It is therefore not only a great abomination but a
desecrate of cultural values in Nasila and their illicit contact would
be a taboo that is bound to have untold consequences on us all.
(Resian notices her sister and walk towards her. Then later the
continue to serve the guest) (An old man enter and Taiyo notices him
and sympathizes with him)
Ole Musanka: Thank you very much my dear child, May I know
whose daughter you are child.
Taiyo: I am Ole Kaelo’s daughter
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
(Musanka joins the old men leaning heavily on his stick.) (Later he
stand to give his speech)
Ole Musanka: My name is Ole Musanka member of the Ilmakesen
clan and of Ilterito age set. Nasila is a maa house and anybody born
of maa is entitled to its shelter. Maa is a culture of blood and marrow
that gives sustenance to the body. And the body was the collective
masses of Maa. Ole Kaelo is a tiny strand of hair that had been
blown away from its owners head by a gust of wind. The same wind
that had blown away it away had blown the strand back to his
owner’s head. The head could not refuse to receive back the
returning strand. But the onus was upon the strand to attach and coil
itself. Back to the rest of the hair on head and blend with it. If it did
not, it would drop and get trampled upon the ground. Ole Kaelo re-
assimilate yourself to our culture.
Those of us who have been listening to the sound of our cattle bells
know that the Ole Kaelo’s cattle are home bound. They were bound
to come for the founder said when a rat begins to smell, it return’s to
its mother’s home.
Elder 1: And home is never far from one who is still alive.
Ole Musanka: Speaking of home, Ole Kaelo must be told home is
not his house however magnifice it may be, Home is Maa, home is
Nasila, home is family and home is children. Kill one of the four
pillars and there is no home to speak about. Sever yourself from the
culture your people and you effectively become Olkirikoi a man no
fixed abode elegant house not withstanding. (looks around) Where
are women of maa? Embrace his wife and children of Ole Kaelo
bring them back into the Nasila fold. Where are the elders of
Ilmolaian? There is your man. Cut him loose from the snares of alian
culture. I am through. Taiyo and Resian do not listen to crusaders of
an alian culture that is being penetrated by a certain Entangoroi
called Emakererei. The was advocates that were maintain Intoiye
nemenglana amongst our daughters. Taba! May she go down with
the setting sun.
Narration: After that voluble curse, the old man blessed the Ole
Kaelos. He had a special blessing for the daughter of Ole Kaelo who
served him with a special dish that evening. He prophesied that she
16
will be a mother of the next leader of Nasila and Maa. When
Parsimei Ole Kaelo later learnt that the daughter mentioned by the
seer was Taiyo, he was elated. But Mama Milanoiwas troubled.
What she feared for her daughters was turning to be real. Taiyo and
Resian also felt troubled. They felt squeamish as they stood there,
their downcast eyes riveted upon the floor, fear and hopelessness
tormenting their young hearts. But who was that person, they
wondered, who was referred to as a wasp and who evoked so much
virulent hatred amongst the people of Nasila. the strand to attach and
coil itself back onto the rest of the hair on the head and blend with it.
If it doesn't, then it would drop and get trampled upon on the ground.
Ole Kaelo, re-assimilate yourself into your people's culture. Those of
us who have been listening to the sound of our cattle bells, the song
sang by our children, know that the Ole Kaelo's cattle are home
bound. They were bound tocome, for the founder said when the rat
begins to smell, it returns to its mother's home.
Elder: And home is never far from one who is still alive.
Ole Musanka: That is very true my fellow elder. And speaking of
home, Ole Kaelo must be told that home is not this house however
magnificent it may be. Home is Maa, home is Nasila, home is family
and home, is children. Kill one of the four pillars and there's no home
to talk about. Server yourself from the culture of your people and
you effectively become olkirikoi, a man of no fixed abode, your
elegant house notwithstanding....I say to women of Maa, embrace the
wife and children of Ole Kaelo and bring them back into the Nasila
fold. And to the elders of Ilmolelian, there's your man. Cut him loose
from the snares of alien cultures....and to the daughters of Ole Kaelo,
I tell you this, do not listen to crusaders of an alien culture that is
being perpetrated by a certain Entangoroi called Emakarerei. The
wasp advocates that we maintain intoiye nemengalana amongst our
daughters. Taba! May she go down with the setting sun....I want to
give some special blessing to one of Ole Kaelo's daughters who
served me with a special dish this evening, I prophesy to you my
dear child, you will be a mother of the next leader of Nasila and
Maa. I'm through.
(Fadeout)
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
(Morning, birds chirping and usual morning noises of the village.
Milanoi and Kaelo are in bed. Kaelo wakes up)
Kaelo: Are you awake Lanoo-ai, its wake up time dear
Milanoi: Already? That is the shortest night I have ever known in
my life.
Kaelo: It's because we were all very tired. Hosting that ceremony
greatly sapped our energy.
Milanoi: And what an exhausting day! I'm glad its now behind us
Kaelo: You know as much as I do the demands of the culture we
have now been ushered into.
Milanoi: I'm afraid for our daughters
Kaelo:...but the culture demands...
Milanoi: I know what the culture demands my husband. I was born
and brought up in this culture so I know the extent of its tentacles
Kaelo: We are already in breach of the traditions for keeping home
grown up girls as intoiye nemengalana instead of transforming them
from little girls into young women ready to take on womanhood and
motherhood.
Milanoi: We are in a dilemma my husband. Do we force our
daughters to undergo the rituals and lose their faith, love and
confidence or refuse to yield to traditions and become a pariah in the
Ilmolelian clan and Nasila society? Our dilemma is like one of the
legendary Ole Nkipida who was chased by a lion into a deserted hut
only to be confronted by a hungry python at the door...
Kaelo: The demands of the culture are paramount nevertheless.
Much is demanded of us.
Milanoi: Yes, I know much is demanded of us my husband, but we
have to think of the interest of our family first.
Kaelo: (Suddenly sitting up) What do you mean? I hope you don't
mean that our culture comes second, do you?
Milanoi:(Fearfully) Not really my husband. Our culture is
everything and it rules our lives.
Kaelo: Good. Now listen, you must immediately start counseling the
girls to understand their roles as potential wives of men of Nasila.
Prepare them to appreciate and accept their future responsibilities as
mothers and home builders.
17
Milanoi: I'll do that my husband
Kaelo: One other thing, I'll ask Simiren to request that young teacher
called Parmuiat who's of our clan, and therefore a brother to the girls,
to find time to teach them a few home truths. After that we shall call
Enkamuratani to play her part before we give them away, do you
understand?
Milanoi: I understand my husband.
(Fadeout. In the sitting room Taiyo preparing the table for breakfast
while Resian sits on the couch reading a book. Enter the parents)
Kaelo: (To Resian) Look at this daughter of yours! While Taiyo
works herself to the bone she lazes about like an overfed lizard in the
hot afternoon sun!
Milanoi: Resian-ai, would you please...
Kaelo: Would you sit up like a respectable girl. Look at the way you
slouch and slump in that chair like a good for nothing lout! I'll not be
surprised if you soon become a hunchback!
Milanoi: Do sit up straight child. Don't get your father angry early in
the morning.
(Resian scowles and walks to the bedroom)
Kaelo: Everybody get ready after breakfast I'm taking you to see the
new shop
(Resian and Taiyo in their father's office)
Resian: (Observing around) All these must have cost Papaai a
fortune. Need he have do all this? I hope when you finally come
around to asking him to send us to the university he will not say he
has spent all the money on this business premises and the stock
Taiyo: Surely Resian, can't you see? It is important that the shop
displays a certain measure of opulence. The customers that Papaai
wants to attract would not want to shop in a place that resembles a
junk yard. Do you remember the shop Papaai took us to in Nakuru
when he bought us those dresses and shoes? You loved the glandeur
and splendor of the place, did you not? It made you feel special.
Well, that is what Papaai is trying to create here. Should he say he
has spent all the money here, I will understand. And I dare say, it's
well spent.
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Resian: (Looking around) Satisfying customers or creating ambience
to attract future profits are much less important than my burning
ambition to go to the university...
Taiyo: Resian, seriously?
Resian: Well then my sister. If you say so...
Milanoi: (Enters) Girls, its time to go. Oh, Taiyo, your father
consented to your request to have Joseph Parmuat coach you.
Taiyo: Oh really? Thank you, thank you, thank you Yeiyo...
(Fadeout)
(At home, Taiyo, Resian, Milanoi, Joseph and Olalinkoi are sitted at
the dining table talking and having taken super when their father
arrives. He sits on the couch. The girls collect the dishes and go’s to
the kitchen. Joseph sits on the sofa nearby while Olalinkoi is left
sitting at the dining table with Milanoi)
Kaelo: Mama Milanoi tell the girls to come back here I need to talk
to them.
(They all settle down, only Olalinkoi is sitted at the same spot at the
dining table)
Kaelo: My son, I want to talk to you about what these children may
not know. They may not know and I want to tell them now that you
are their brother. You are no lesser a brother to them than their own
mother's son would have been. Parmuats family and Kaelo's family
are one. We are all of Ilmolelian clan, of iloorasha-kineji sub-clan....I
have brought up my daughters well. They are well behaved and I'm
proud of them....but having been away from Nasila all their lives,
they have missed out on the basic cultural values that harmonized the
lives of Nasila people. Apart from what they've learnt in books, it is
also important they learn the habits, traditions and their culture that
will make us as their parents proud. Any parent looks forward to
having their children settle in their own homes. I’m saying all this
because it is important for one to begin planning for their future
early. Taiyo and Resian, you might find a few cultural demands
obnoxious and sometimes unpleasant butyou must accept them
because it is those not very pleasant traditions that nature and bind
people together. Those families that have refused to rejoin their
people have been blasted into smithereens
18
by alien cultures. It should never happen to us.
Milanoi: What your father is saying is very important and should be
followed to the letter. Nasila traditions are of utmost importance.
(Fadeout. In bedroom Taiyo and Resian)
Taiyo: I'm so excited Papaai allowed Joseph to coach us in
traditional music and dance! Now I will get to see him every day.
Resian: He's our brother you know...
Taiyo: By the virtue of our cultural links
Resian: I'm upset Taiyo....just listening to Papaai lecture us on how
to lead us back to stone-age era. This traditional coaching you're so
excited about is worthless...it is like...like having a mind of a grown
up person degenerate into an idiot and be content in playing with
mud. This is utter foolishness!
Taiyo: Come on Resian, it may not be as bad as you imagine. Maybe
by the time brother Parmuat is through with us we shall be wiser
Resian: Wiser indeed! Yes, by the time he shall be through with us
we shall be taught a great lesson in stoicsm. We won't blink or even
wince even as enkamuratani mutilates our sexuality into
smithereens!.....I'm disturbed...I'm beginning to think its
disadvantageous being a woman in this society.
Taiyo: For heavens sake Resian, is it worth staying awake the whole
night thinking of such mundane things?
Resian: Call them mudane but I keep wondering what would have
happened had we been sons. Do you think father would have looked
for a clan sister to coach us and take us through the dim cultural
paths of Nasila?
Taiyo: Resian, honestly, I don’t know any better than you. But your
guess is as good as mine. Most likely we would have been let loose
to romp about in the village and gather our experiences as we go
along
Resian: Exactly! But because we are females, a male in the name of
a clan brother is sought to come along and teach us the a,b,c,d of a
good Nasilian wife so that we shall please our future husbands. No, I
refuse to be taught. I will either be taught in the university what is
universally beneficial to all mankind or be taught nothing at all!
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
(Lights on. Milanoi, Resian, Taiyo and Yeiyo-botorr in the kitchen
cooking and pealing potatoes)
Yeiyo-botorr: What a dilligent pair of workers you have here my
enkaini, and they are wonderful cooks too
Milanoi: Whom will they take after if they are not good workers?
Their father is a diligent worker and so I'm I. When they eventually
get married and are accused of laziness, or when their husbands
complain that they can't prepare tasty meals, they will not blame us
Resian: No one can accuse us of laziness....and Yeiyo here has been
our ever resourceful teacher.
Yeiyo-botorr: That is as it should be. We were taught by our
mothers who were also taught by their mothers and so on and on
back to the time we ascended the Kerio Valley.
Resian: I have no problem acquiring more knowledge, skills and
even specialized experience...I have no problem at all and I thank
Yeiyo for her untiring effort in teaching us...but the question is, do
we go to all these lengths to please some lazy bunch of busy bodies
who do nothing but lounge about in the living room yawning and
stretching waiting for tasty food to land on the table before them?
No, I refuse to be taught to solely please male counterparts. They can
also cook and they can, and should also learn to please us females,
period! (All are shocked)
Taiyo: Resian-siake! Please give respect to yeiyo-botorr and stop
your uncalled for tirade
Milanoi: But surely Resian, have you no respect for your father who
is also a male? What have gotten into you child lately?...(To yeiyo-
botorr)...enkaini, Yeiyo-botorr, this child was not like this before we
came here. I don't know what has gone wrong.
Resian: Nothing is wrong with me! I have no quarrel with my father
for whom I have tremendous respect. It is the likes of Olarinkoi I'm
mad at and all other males who come here ordering us to do that or
the other for them, simply because they are males. When women
visit us, they give us a leeway to respond to their requests. But as we
burn our fingers here, Mr Olarinkoi is dozing off comfortably in our
living room waiting for his lunch and maybe a little angry and
impatient with us for.delaying it
19
Yeiyo-botorr: It is enough!....(standing)...My enkaini, I agree with
you that something is wrong with our child....and I think I know
what ails her. Come along with me and I will tell you what I think
ails her (Milanoi and Yeiyo-botorr leave)
Resian: I'm not sick!
Taiyo: Resian! Even if you're not sick you can not argue with yeiyo-
botorr. There are things one has to learn on their own. One of them is
that you cannot antagonize the older people by arguing with them
however untenable their argument may be. That goes without saying
my dear little sister...
(Outside)
Yeiyo-botorr: I know what's wrong with your daughter....your
daughter has olkuenyi. You know what that is! It's a bad spirit and
it's in her blood. You can now see the danger of keeping intoiye
nemengalana at home. It's not healthy and it is neither in the interest
of the children nor their parents. To hide a boil that is under the
armpit is unwise for sooner or later it'll burst and emit a foul
smell...It is time to circumcise your daughters and get rid of
Olkuenyi. It is that simple. (She leaves in a huff.
Blackout)
(Taiyo and Resian sitting outside the house talking. Olalinkoi is
passes by carrying a parcel and disappears to the other end of stage.
They stop talking and stares at him until he disappears)
Resian: I hate that man with a passion!
Taiyo: Why is that?
Resian: Why is that? You don't?
Taiyo: Honestly no, I don't hate him. OK, I don't give a hoot whether
he ate or slept hungry but I don't hate him.
Resian: I keep wondering who he is. Papaai did not indicate if he's
of our clan Ilmolelian the way he told us about Joseph Parmuat.
Taiyo: I wonder who he is too. What is his background and what is
he doing in our home day in day out?
Resian: I know he's not Papaai's employee. Although he does simple
odd jobs around our compound, whenever Papaai wants a thorough
job to be done he hires someone to do it...
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Taiyo: I wonder why Papaai tolerates him...and I'm sure it's not
because of the foodstuff he brings along with him whenever he
visits...
Resian: Of course not. Papaai is well-off and does not depend on the
measly bundles of food he brings here...what is his mission really?
Taiyo: (Spotting Joseph as he comes in) Here comes Joseph, let's
enquire from him...(Josephs joins them after greetings)
Taiyo: Joseph, we were just talking about Olarinkai, who is he? Do
you know him?
Joseph: (Laughing heartily) Why do you want to know? Have one of
you fallen in love with him?
(They all laugh. Resian excuses herself)
Taiyo: It's much easier to fall in love with a creepy cold serpent than
to fall for the likes of Olarinkoi
Joseph: Well, I know of two people who go by the name Olarinkoi.
One is the one inside your house right now, the other one lived more
than a hundred and fifty years ago. Which one do you want to know
about? And don't ask me if they were related for I have no idea.
Taiyo: Tell me about both. I hope the one that lived more than a
hundred and fifty years ago did not have a tail and did not live on
trees like a monkey! (Laughter)
Joseph: On the contrary my sister, the der fellow is more divined
than the one we know physically.
Taiyo: OK, tell me about the one we know physically and then about
the legendary one later
Joseph: Well, the man is a mystery...nobody can claim to know him
for certain. There's a man who claimed to know him. He said that
Olarinkoi was of Ilukumae clan and that he came from a place called
Polonga, about two hundred km from Nasila...but another man who
claimed to know Olarinkoi better disagreed. In his version, Olarinkoi
belonged to the Iltaro-sero clan and that he came from a place called
Enooloitikoishi, not far from the government sheep ranch that was
being managed by Emakererei the wasp...but a third man emerged
and rubbished the information of the previous two men. According to
him, he knew Olarinkoi very well, and he was of Ilmolrlian clan but
20
an Olkirikoi, a good for nothing wanderer who survived by
ingratiating himself with the rich offering to do odd jobs for
them....but there was a fourth man who said the previous three had
no idea of what they were talking about. Ask him about Olarinkoi
and he'd tell you because he was the only man who knew who
Olarinkoi was. And so he described Olarinkoi as a useless
sychophant who change allegiance to clans as often as a chameleon
changes colour....we are now waiting for the fifth to rubbish the
testimony of the previous four....(Laughter).....Who do you think
Olarinkai is then?....Come on girl, tell me, who is he?
Taiyo: He is the typical Nasilian gentleman......yes, a little of him is
sprinkled upon the lives of all of you Nasilian men!
Joseph: (Seriously) I hope you are joking. Its tragic if that's the way
you judge all of us
Taiyo: (Lightly) More or less...but that besides the point. Now that
we have failed to know the present day Olarinkoi, tell me about the
old one. Maybe by knowing the old one we can understand the
present one and possibly the one to emerge in future.
NARRATOR
The saga of the extremely brutal and despotic rule of Olarinkoi took
place more than 150 yrs earlier. The despot belonged to a splitter
group of the Ma a people that were left down Kerio Valley when the
ladder that they were using to scale the precipice broke halfway
sending those who had not ascended hurtling down the cliffs. It took
them not less than fifty years to ascend, and when they finally
ascended, they were so angry, frustrated, stressed out and tired. They
took off their frustration on anyone they came by. yThey had
changed over the years. Their language was slightly different and
their warriors were heavily built due to the daily exercises their
bodies were subjected to as they built a new ladder and scaled the
edges of the cliff putting up the ladder in place.Olarinkoi dispatched
spies to further intelligence, and the word he received back was there
beyond was expansive land that stretched to the horizon, lush with
green grass, luscious fruits and thousands of Maa people's cattle and
sheep grazing....they then found out that only old people, women and
children were in the villages. They learnt that the Maa Moran's had
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
gone to an enjore, a major raid that the Moran's took from time to
time meant to prepare themselves for battle and to intimidate the
neighbours. During such raids they'd often drive the raided cattle
back home with them.....
(Back to Joseph and Taiyo)
Taiyo: That's very fascinating.
Joseph: Very fascinating
Taiyo: So tell me, what did Olarinkoi do with the information he
gathered?
Joseph: After Olarinkoi gathered the information, his men struck...
NARRATOR
....And the raid was executed with such speed and within days the
entire countryside was subdued. The destruction that was done had
not been seen before by the people of Maa. It was simply a blood
bath. They slaughtered any male in their path brutalized women and
children and burnt down homesteads. Remnants of male survivors
had to devise ways to survive and so they discarded their clothes and
dressed like old women to escape death! Luck was also not on Maa
Moran's who had gone for enjore. They were defeated, killed and
many injured. They began a long demoralized trek back having
driven home no cattle with them, not aware what awaited them on
arrival. And when they arrived and crashed with Olarinkoi worriors,
the battle was brief, brutal and conclusive. The Maa worriors were
defeated and resoundingly vanquished.
(Joseph and Taiyo)
Taiyo: Wow, they were weak, hungry, injured, few, sick and already
defeated in a battle only to be met by another one by a stronger army
at home?
Joseph: Yes my sister, it was that bed
Taiyo: Then what happened, go on, please tell us!
Joseph: Fear blanketed the whole landscape. The Olarinkon under
the instructions of their Oloiboni Olarinkoi rounded all the Maa
people on a hill in order to introduce them to their new ruler and
intimidate them
NARRATOR
21
And the people of Maa were more than intimidated when Olarinkoi
emerged from a nearby thicket. He was a towering giant about eight
feet tall and covered with hair all over shimmered with oily red ocre.
The man was so big and thick that if three men stood behind him you
could not have seen them until he moved! His terrifying appearance
sent shivers right into their hearts.... And to demonstrate his strength,
he grabbed two Maa men by their necks with each of his hand, lifted
them up, squeezed their necks and chocked them, killing them
instantly. Then like rug-dolls he threw their lifeless bodies to the
ground with disgust and fury!...women screamed while men ground
their teeth with fury with nothing more to do but that.
Then came his spear, carried by two men holding by the ends. It was
about ten feet high and its blade was as wide as a machete and its
handle as thick as the arm of an average man. He pointed it
menacingly at the Maa men and the women screamed and pleaded
with him to spare their men....Then came his shield, it was so
enormous it was carried by four men! Behind him were thousands of
strong bodied Ilarinkon armed to the teeth. Their sight alone subdued
the entire population of Maa.
Then the man spoke. His voice booming and as intimidating. "I will
not brook no nonsense, and I'll wreck havok if anyone fails to follow
my orders!" He roared. There and then he ordered that fifty bulls to
be slaughtered every day and that all women of child bearing age
must avail themselves to him and his warriors for purposes of
entertainment any time they are called upon to do so. The women
were forced to perform dances in the most indecent postures and
styles. The Ilarinkon perplexed women by teasingly provoking them
knowing that they were not able to resist their natural instinctive
desires aroused by immoral and repugnant suggestive moves made
before them, and the women hated themselves for their inability to
resist the Ilarinkon advances.
Then the women started to hold meetings, thinking and discussing
and contemplating on what to do to be able to control their desires
towards the Ilarinkon evil advances. And as they debated over the
issue for about five years, one woman declared she had found out a
solution, and the solution was tested and it worked perfectly. Even
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
when Ilarinkon provoked them women no longer had an
uncontrollable desire for them like in the past. It was a lasting
solution. And it was from that resolution that gave birth to
enkamuratani and her olmurunya. (Exits)
(Back to Taiyo and Joseph)
Taiyo: Wow, is it a true story?
Joseph: Yes, it is
Taiyo: Wow...how did Maa people liberate themselves from
Olarinko?
Joseph: Many years later after being subjected to all kinds of
barbarities, the Maa people overthrew Olarinkoi despotic rule. And
long after the oppressive regime was overthrown, the practice of
enkamuratani and her olmurunya carries on to date. And that is the
origin of the so called Female Genital Mutilation that the likes of
Emakererei have devoted their lives to fight.
Taiyo: (Seriously) Resian and I am soon joining her to fight the
repugnant ritual (Laughing) I'll join you too. But direct your fire to
the right target. It is the women and not men who founded female
circumcision and only then can stop it. (Fadeout)
(In the kitchen Resian and Milanoi. Resian in a happy mood singing
'Yote yawezekana' as she does the house chores)
Milanoi: My daughter, have you ever heard of something called
F.G.M?
Resian: Female Genital Mutilation? Why, yes. Not only have I heard
of it but I also know about it.
Why do you ask?
Milanoi: In Nakuru this was not a subject that concerned us much
but in Nasilai it is on every lip
Resian: Yes, that's very true. The other day Taiyo learnt from Joseph
that the female circumcision was initiated by women themselves
about two hundred years earlier and that it was as a result of sexual
abuse and harassment by an invading despot called Olarinkoi and his
warriors. Is that true Yeiyo? I thought it was one of those myths that
were created by men to blame women for everything that works
against them
22
Milanoi: What Joseph told Taiyo is factually correct. It was the
shame and the anger that was provoked by Ilarinkon taunts, lewd
teasing and provocative posturing that made the women do what they
did to curtail those desires the worthless predators exploited to prey
upon them
Resian: That may have been true then but what is the reason for
doing it today? Ilarinkon are no longer with us, or are they?
Milanoi: The original Ilarinkon may have gone but other Ilarinkon
are still with us
Resian: Exactly! It is the latter day Ilarinkon who are wreaking
havoc on us women. Surely Yeiyo, if one discovered a nasty but
potent medicine that once taken cured an ailment, must they continue
to swallow it everyday ten years down the line? I find that absurd.
The sensible thing would be to discard the bitter medicine once
people are cured, period. Tell me Yeiyo, what is F.G.M. to today's
woman?
Milanoi: Are you suggesting That it is men who continue to
perpetuate this cultural rite?
Resian: Yes, they are the creators of the labyrinth that the women
continue to meander around. Even if I'm reluctantly convinced that it
was women and not men who initiated the obnoxious ritual, who
provoked the women to do so? The Olarinkon who were purported to
have pushed women into mutilating their sexuality were men. And
the ancient Olarinkon were no different from today's Olarinkon. The
ancient Olarinkon were sadists and despotic. Today's Olarinkon is
worse. In addition to being despotic, they are oppressive tyrants and
one of their ways of oppressing us is to demand that F.G.M. be
pertuated against us for ever!
(Door knock)...who is it now!
Milanoi: See who it is...
(At the sitting room, an ugly tall smartly dressed man with a
briefcase stands by the door when Resian opens. He's elderly and
bossy)
Oloisudori: (Looks mischievously at Resian from head to toe) Is this
the home of Parsimei Ole Kaelo?
Resian: Yes it is. What can I do for you?
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Oloisudori: I've come to see him. Is he in?
Resian: No, he is not in at the moment. He's probably at the shop in
town.
Oloisudori: He's not there. I just came from there
Resian: Would you want to come back later when father is back? No
one knows what time he might be back
Oloisudori: No, I'll rather wait. I'm very sure your father will be
very happy to find me here.....by the way my name is Oloisudori
Loonkiyaa.....just wait and see how happy Ole Kaelo will be when he
finds me waiting for him in his house...(Softly)....I'll be happy to tell
him what a hospitable daughter he has. Who else is in the house?
Resian: My mother
Oloisudori: Perhaps you will tell her that I'm here to see your father
Resian: I'll do (Oloisudori walks past Resian without invitation and
sits on the couch. Resian is offended as the man brushes on her chest
while moving past her)
Resian: (To herself) What an ill mannered devil this man is! (She
walks to the kitchen as Oloisudori stares at her receding figure)
(In the kitchen)
Milanoi: Who was that?
Resian: A man who says his name is Oloisudori. He says he has
come to see Papaai.
Milanoi: Oloisudori?....let me see...Oloisudori.....no, I don't think I
know a man by that name
Resian: Whoever he is Yeiyo, he is a mannerless old man!
Milanoi: Check your tongue child! Soon you're going to disgrace
your father by the way you speak. Didn't you see why you horrified
Yeiyo-botorr the other day when you spoke like one with demented
spirit? You must bridle your tongue. Be careful of what you say
otherwise you'll soon be called enadua-kutuk
Resian: I am sorry Yeiyo, but surely Yeiyo, mustn't one mention the
despicable character of an old man who behaves badly before a girl
young enough to be his daughter?
Milanoi: However disreputable the man may be, be careful Resian.
We don't know what connection the man has with your father and it
would be catastrophic if your tongue would be the one to sever his
23
relations with other men. Go to the living room.and tell him I'm busy
preparing lunch. Get him.a cup of tea or something else to drink and
make him comfortable before your father comes. I'm sure he'll be
here soon.
(Resian reluctantly picks a flask and a cup of tea to the sitting room)
Oloisudori: (Sarcastically) It must have taken long for you to decide
whether to serve me a cup of tea?
Resian: Sorry but we always serve tea to our visitors even when our
mother has not told us to do so.
Oloisudori: In that case, I must apologize for my mistaken
thought...I'm indeed sorry, pretty lady
(She shyly stands in front of him awkwardly as he longingly looks at
her)
Resian: Yeiyo told me to tell you she's busy preparing lunch. She
asks that you make yourself comfortable and wait for Papaai. He's
about to come.
Oloisudori: Very well. By the way you haven't told me your name.
Resian: Resian
Oloisudori: What a beautiful name. Resian ene Kaelo...
(Resian hears her father speaking outside. She rans to the door, yanks
it open and almost collides with her father comimg in)
Kaelo: Have you ran amok child? Why do you ran like one who has
seen an apparition?
Resian: I'm sorry Papaai. There's a man in our living room who has
come to see you
Kaelo: Is he a cannibal that you have ran away from him so
recklessly? Sometimes your behavior borders on imbecility. Who is
he?
Resian: He says his name is Oloisudori.
Kaelo: Oh my gosh! Oloisudori of all people! Oh my gosh, I wonder
what has gone wrong for him to come looking for me.
Resian: I don't know Papaai...he was saying....(Her father ignores
her and walks past her and into the living room)
Kaelo: Oloisudori Loonkiyaa! What an unexpected pleasure to have
you in my house. I hope all is well my dear brother.
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Oloisudori: The pleasure is mutual brother Ole Kaelo. I assure you
all things are under control
Kaelo: (Noticing Resian) Where is your mother?..."Ngoto Taiyo"....
(calls Milanoi)
Milanoi's voice: Yes
Kaelo: Come here at once.....(to Resian)...Resian for heaven's sake,
what are you still doing here? Go to the kitchen at once and make
yourself useful!
Resian: Yes Papaai
Oloisudori: Brother Ole Kaelo, you have a wonderful daughter here.
In your absence, she received and entertained me in the most
delightful manner.
(Milanoi gets in)
Kaelo: Ngoto Taiyo, you see this man, his name is Oloisudori
Loonkiyaa, a very important man to this family. He has played a
pivotal role that has given us financial stability we are enjoying
today. He is the man that assisted me to land the contracts of
distribution of the products at the shop and many more contracts are
in the pipeline courtesy of him. This man, is more than a brother to.
me and there's nothing, I repeat nothing that he ought to be denied in
this home, do you understand?
Milanoi: I totally understand my husband. I'm very glad to meet you
sir....(Fadeout)
(Outside, Joseph and Taiyo walk and sits on a log. Resian joins
them)
Resian: Hey Joseph, hey sister
Taiyo: Hey Resian, how was your day?
Resian: It was good. Sis, did you get to speak to Papaai about having
us go back to Nakuru to enroll at Egerton university?
Taiyo: I'm sorry sis I didn't get a chance. He was so busy the whole
day and every time he had someone with him. I want to approach
him while he's alone and in good mood
Resian: OK sis, let's hope he'll understand...hey, let me tell you,
Papaai has a monster for a visitor in the house. You should have seen
him to believe me when I say he's ugly and mean. He's an absolutely
24
horrible man with deplorable manners. I can't imagine what business
Papaai would be transacting with such a person. He is simply olbitirr
Taiyo: (Laughing) Honestly Resian, what a thing to say about a
human being! Only a man out of this world would look that horrible!
Resian: And for some reason Papaai is terrified of him.
Taiyo: Papaai of all people terrified? I have never seen him terrified.
Joseph: Did you get to know the name of the monster?
Resian: He announced importantly his name is Oloisudori
Loonkiyaa (mimicking. Laughter)
Joseph: Did you say Oloisudori? Of all people! That man is bad
news. He is a monster in true sense of the words.
Taiyo/Resian: Who is he?
Taiyo: What kind of a person is he?
Joseph: Oloidusori is bad news. Of all the bad things of Nasila,
Oloisudori is the worst of them. He is a monster, a notorious criminal
that has been arrested and put to fail countless times....infact nobody
seems to understand what he does. He refers to himself as a jack-of-
all trades. He has his fingers on agriculture, finance, tourism, import
and export, mining, motor trade. He is poacher, smugler, robber,
hired assassin....but extortionism is what he excels in. He entices his
victims by loaning them large sums of money or landing them
lucrative contracts to supply agricultural products for example. Once
his victims are deeply involved in business, he strikes with ridiculous
demands that the victims have no choice but play ball failure to
which the contracts would be withdrawn.....or worse
Taiyo: Oh my goodness. I wonder what business he is in with Papaai
Resian: I'm worried. Papaai seemed so scared of him. I wonder if he
loaned him money to put up the business
Taiyo: Or to build this home we are living in.
Resian: I told you he loomed like a monster
Taiyo: One thing for sure is he is a bad man...a really really bad
man...
Joseph: Well, girls I have to go. See you tomorrow?
Taiyo: Yes Joseph, see you tomorrow
Resian: Bye Joseph...
(In the house, Kaelo and Oloisudori)
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Kaelo: I'm glad to hear that everything is OK. I was a little
concerned we could have a problem in
business when I saw you here
Oloisudori: No problem at all my brother Ole Kaelo...but there's a
small matter I want to discuss
Kaelo: Yes, what is it brother?
Oloisudori: That daughter of yours, Resian, interests me.
Kaelo: Pardon me?
Oloisudori: I'm interested in your daughter Resian, and I have a
friend who will also be interested in your other daughter. Simply put,
I'd like to relieve you of your two daughters!
Kaelo: Oloidusori Lonkiyaa, ask me anything else but spare my
daughters.
Oloidusori: Didn't you tell your wife just now that there's nothing
that I should be denied in this home? Or were you just pulling my
leg?
(Blackout)
(Outside Taiyo and Resian walking)
Resian: Guess what Taiyo-eyeiyo, Yeiyo this afternoon shocked me
by voluntarily talking about F.G.M.
Taiyo: Yeiyo talking about F.G.M. on her own accord? Unless she
was preparing ground for shocking news. By the way I hope she did
not tell you that there are plans to drag and take us soon to
enkamuratani?
Resian: Not at all. You know if she did we would not be here saying
what we are now saying
Taiyo: Anyway, tell me, what did she say about F.G.M?
Resian: She asked me what I knew about it and I told her what I
knew about F.G.M. but I added that it was certainly a tool of
oppression used by men to put women down. I also told her that that
story about F.G.M. having been introduced by women who had been
harassed and sexually abused by Ilarinkon invaders centuries earlier
was not convincing. Had the practice been introduced by the women
of the time to stem the Ilarinkon lewd excesses, I urged, then it
should have become extinct with their departure
25
Taiyo: Did you ask her whether she supported F.G.M? And did you
find out whether there was a plan to have us conform with the
obnoxious Nasila ritual?
Resian: That was what I was going to find out when the monster
came knocking
Taiyo: We must find that out this evening to be for warned and
forearmed
(They meet with Kaelo and Oloisudori)
Oloisudori: There goes my dear girl, thank you very much for your
hospitality today
Resian: OK, welcome
Oloisudori: Taiyo, right? How are you my darling. Have a good
evening I'll be seeing you soon OK? Resian, have a good evening my
dear
(Kaelo is uncomfortable. They walk away leaving the girls
purturbed).
Resian: There goes the monster! He's the devil incarnate! (Exit)
(Entering the living room)
Taiyo: Bearing in mind what Joseph told us about him, he could
very easily pass as just another innocent Nasila elder
Resian: God forbid. I pray that God never give him a chance to pass
as a Nasila elder
(Enters Kaelo. Avoids looking at Resian who's sitting on the couch.
Taiyo is closing window curtains)
Kaelo: Resian, go to the kitchen and help your mother prepare
super...and make it snappy!....(Resian stares at her father)...What are
you waiting for? Go to the kitchen this instant!
(Taiyo sits close to her father)
Taiyo: Papaai, is something wrong?
Kaelo: What? Oh no, nothing is wrong my dear daughter.
Taiyo: Brother Joseph told us that the gentleman who just left is a
reputable financier and that whenever you see him, great business
transactions are in the offing. Is that right Papaai?
Kaelo: Yes....yes that is right....yes he's certainly a reputable
businessman and truly a great business transaction is in the offing
Taiyo: And all is well Papaai?
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Kaelo: Yes, yes. I have said.....everything is fine. It is just...
Taiyo: Just what Papaai?
Papaai: Just that we are going to do a few things here at home a
little differently. A few changes here and there affecting all of us.
Otherwise other than those little changes everything else is just fine.
Taiyo: What are those little things Papaai?
Kaelo: Nothing serious. And whatever they are know that your
father is in control. Now join your mother and Resian in the kitchen
and make sure food is ready soon. I'd like to retire to bed early today.
(Blackout)
(In bed, Kaelo and Milanoi. Kaelo sits up in bed)
Kaelo: Are you awake Ngoto Resian?
Milanoi: I never slept a wink menye Resian
Kaole: Have you thought of any other thing we can do about
Resian?
Milanoi: About Resian?....Were we contemplating any other action
other than the one we agreed upon with Oloisudori?
Kaelo: No, not any other action. I've been thinking on how to break
the news to her.
Milanoi: Since Oloisudori said he'll be back in a month's time, let's
not rush it my husband. This is a delicate matter that requires careful
handling.
Kaelo: I agreed with you my wife....I did not plan this to happen to
our daughter.
Milanoi: I know.
Kaelo: Who knows? Something positive might come out of this.
Milanoi: Who knows?
(Joseph coaching Taiyo to dance. Taiyo is enjoying it tremendously
and her moves are deliberate and seductive to Joseph. Joseph on the
other hand is uncomfortable and evasive whenever Taiyo moves
closer to him)
Joseph: My sister, the dance lesson is over now. I wonder where
Resian is so that I can now teach you more about Nasila culture like
we've been doing the past few days....(Resian appearing)...oh, here
comes Resian. Quick Resian come on over we are waiting for you...
(Resian joins them and they sit on a log facing each other)
26
Joseph: Today I want us to talk about love
Taiyo: Oh, love, that's good. Go on...
Joseph: I'll tell you about the different kinds of love Nasila young
people used to be involved in. For example there was conventional
kind, or elangatare, where a young man and a young woman would
fall in love. It was the kind that was regarded as betrothed. This kind
of love was competitive where a young man had to do so much to
impress the girl and.win her heart. He had to be brave, well
disciplined, respectful and wise. If the young man succeeded in all
that then he ended up marrying the girl and regarded as a future elder
of Nasila. The other kind was called patureishi. This one ran
simultaneously with conventional love. It was a platonic love that
was purely meant for eternal friendship with strict regulations
attached. The family of the boyfriend and that of the girlfriend knew
about this kind of love. The Patureishi institution was meant to check
the conduct and behaviour of the young people and keep them
disciplined. It took priority over conventional love and whenever the
young man came to visit his patureishi, the girl made sure that she
informed her boyfriend who would then keep distance. Everybody,
young and old respected that relationship.Woe unto any participant
of any given relationship dared misbehave or break the set rules and
regulations set, dire consequences would befall on them including
being rejected by the girl and paying exorbitant fines.
Resian: Let me be your patureishi if it really exists
Joseph: No way. Since you're my sister you don't qualify to be my
patireishi.
Resian: To speak the truth brother Parmuat, I have never heard of
patureishi. Does it really exist?
Joseph: It is a recent casualty of changing trends in Nasila.
Individualism, petty jealousy and kick of trust killed that once
important aspect of Nasila culture.
Taiyo: I believe culture and traditions are never static. By being
dynamic culture shades off aspects that become irrelevant with time.
Two examples, F.G.M. and clan system that force people with no
blood relationship whatsoever not to have relationships contrary to
their wishes.
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Joseph: Oh my, I didn't know that you hold such strong views on
Nasila culture....but our culture hasn't been static, for example, we no
longer throw away the sick and the very old in the forest to die or
beings favoured by wild animals, that is positive.
Resian: Let's just agree that Nasila culture will soon shed itself off
F.G.M. There are no two ways about it...by the way why is there
always a scramble for a girl to marry in Nasila to the extent that men
book unborn baby girls?
Joseph: The demand outstrips supply, simple. See, when a man
marries six wives, he denies five men of wives. Soon you'll see
Nasila men coming here to book you for marriage.
Taiyo/Resian: Not us!
Taiyo: We will never allow it! But why go fishing in shallow waters
while the blue sea is teeming with fish? Nasila men should just go to
Nakuru and other towns where girls cost a shilling for a dozen.
There’s high demand for men there (Laughs)
Joseph: I have to go now. Do have a good evening my sisters
Taiyo: Let's go escort you (Exit)
NARRATOR
Joseph parmuat knew very well that Taiyo had been trying to put a
message across to him that evening, but he deliberately declined to
take the cue. His elusiveness did not however deter Taiya. She had
fallen in love with him and she knew without doubt that he too had
fallen in love with her. The only thing that stood between them was
the archaic Nasila culture. And she didn’t give a hoot about it. She
therefore did not feel guilty whatsoever in pursuing the desire of her
heart. She felt that if she visited him in his house and convinced him
that they belonged to one another, they could always leave Nasila for
another destination and life would continue without the bothersome
Nasila culture. Once she made up her mind, she set out to visit him
in his house in the evening of the
following day. Will Joseph survive this enticing temptation? Only
time will tell!
(Joseph's house, bedroom. No one inside. Then slowly the door
opens and Taiyo enters cautiously)
27
Taiyo: Hello...hello...Joseph are you here...Joseph...Joseph where are
you?...I didn't find you in the living room so I thought you might be
here...(she picks a picture from the table and stares at it. Joseph
appears from behind her carrying a bag)
Joseph: Taiyo
Taiyo: Oh Joseph...I'm so sorry for intruding into your house
Joseph: It's OK. This is your brothers house and you're welcome to
come here any time...(They look at each other holding the stare then
Joseph looks away)
Taiyo: I felt a bit bored and thought I could call on you so that we
can walk back together to our house and.....I'm sorry, I suppose I
really should not have come.
Joseph: Don't be ridiculous. I have just been to the shops to buy a
few things before coming to your place.
Taiyo: Joseph.....there's need for us to talk about us...
Joseph: No Taiyo my dear sister. There's no need to discuss matters
we know are hurtful to us....(takes the jacket and hungs on a
chair)...We should go...(makes for the door)
Taiyo: Joseph!.....(goes and stands in front of him) Joseph, let us not
pretend that the two of us are not hurting.
Joseph: What are we going to do? It is for you I fear my dear lady.
Nasila culture is vainly dangerous when its sensibilities are violated.
Taiyo: I don't care! I don't care about the oppressive Nasila culture.
Why should I care about violating the backward culture when it does
not care when it violates my own rights? I know you're in love with
me the way I'm in love with you....Joseph, deny before me right now
that you don't love me. Do it right now!
Joseph: (Embracing her) Shhh...its OK...calm down its OK Taiyo....
Taiyo: No Joseph, I can't bear that we can't express the love we have
for each other because of some primitive culture. If by loving you I
offend the sensibilities of Nasila then let me offend them and face
the consequences of doing so! I love you Joseph
Joseph: I also love you very much. I loved you the moment I saw
you during your father's homecoming ceremony....but then the clan
matters came to separate us. It is true that we have no blood relation
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
but the Nasila culture dictates who we are related to and who we are
not. We are slotted among those who cannot marry
Taiyo: No, it can't be. I cannot accept its verdict. No way, never!....
(walks around then to Joseph)...I can not accept a culture that does
not feed me, clothe me or house me to come and control my life. Our
life belongs to us Joseph. The destiny of our lives is in our very own
hands. We should guard it jealously.
Joseph: I have also made up my mind here and then.....I am too
ready to face any eventuality that may arise out of our love for one
another
Taiyo: (Whispering and embracing Joseph) Thank you Joseph...I
knew all along that you too couldn't throw away something so
special. I do not care what others might think. We knew it right from
the beginning and we know it now that something so wonderful
cannot be wrong. We must however initially be careful not to hurt
others especially Papaai but eventually it'll be inevitable that we
reveal our love to everyone. After all we cannot love in darkness
forever, can we?...(Fadeout)
NARATTOR
Taiyo was exhilarated beyond words. She was simply in a seventh
heaven. From the first day she saw Joseph parmuat, during her
fathers homecoming ceremony, she had fallen in love with him
instantly. She thought he was the incarnation, the very picture of her
dreams. Taiyo knew that the day her secret love to Joseph Parmuat
became public knowledge, there would be angry reactions from the
elders of Vasila. But she intended to defiantly stand her ground.
Joseph felt differently. When he went back to his house that evening
after coaching the girls, something seemed to have changed
dramatically. He recalled Taiya’s dazzling smile and the way her
beauty filled him with enchantment. But the enchanting feeling
seemed to have evaporated fast and in its place, his heart was now
filled with a devastating feeling emptiness in him, a sort of
hollowness that he had never experienced before. His heart was
desolated like a deserted house. He was like a fish that had just
jumped out of water in pursuit of one morsel but was now finding
itself unable to breath and was on the verge of death. Did he have to
28
abandon Nasila culture in exchange of a woman who sneered at its
tenets? Was she one who could be tamed or was she like a wild
donkey? He considered running away from Nasila and its culture but
that left a sour taste in hismouth. No, Nasila culture was too valuable
to be abandoned. It gave him values. It gave him identity. He
declined her love.
(Morning. Kaelo family having breakfast. Olarinkoi also present).
(In the forest along a path Resian and Taiyo walk home. They are
picking their teeth with toothpicks)
Taiyo: Maison organized a very nice lunch for us
Resian: Yes, I love nyama choma and ugali....
(Taiyo hums a tune and dances a little)
Resian: You're very happy nowadays, what is it with you?
Taiyo: I just enjoy the dancing practice by Joseph, don't you?
Resian: (Mischievously) Whatever sister...Papaai is behaving
strangely, have you noticed? He looks troubled...I wonder if it has
anything to do with the business Yeiyo said they were attending
today...
Taiyo: I haven't noticed...
Resian: (Noticing something in the bush)...Did you see that?
Taiyo: (Alarmed)...no, what is it?
(Before she could answer two strong men appear, one of who had
confronted them days earlier. They pounce on them. Struggle ensues,
the girls scream but are overpowered by men. Just as they give in a
man appears, Olarinkon, and beats up the men)
Olarinkon: (Heavily panting) That will teach them a lesson...now go
home girls
(Taiyo and Resian thank him and leave hurriedly crying)
(Milanoi alone in the sitting room taking tea. Kaelo enters)
Kaelo: Ngoto Taiyo, you couldn't sleep?
Milanoi: No my husband I couldn't.
Kaelo: (Sitting down) How was your day yesterday? We didn't talk.
Did you find any way we can save Resian from Oloisudori?
Milanoi: Unfortunately I did not my husband. When I sought advice
from my inkainito on what to do regarding Oloisudori, they told me
that me and you behave like the proverbial greedy hyena that wanted
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
to reach two destinations at the same time. They said we want to
embrace two cultures which is impossible, that we can't have it both
ways. They accused us of being selective on the aspects of Nasila
culture we chose to interact with. They challenged me to let the girls
stay with
them for sometime and let them bond with other children and that
they might see things differently. Yeiyo-botorr said the girls may
actually ask to be circumcised without coersion if they do that.
Kaelo: I see....
Milanoi: What about you? Any help from your friend Ole Supeyo?
Kaelo: No. I thought he'd agree to buy all the stock in the go downs
that I had secured on the strength of Oloisudori contracts. If he'd
agreed that and pay all the liabilities to the bank then I'd have told
Oloisudori to keep his hands off my daughter. Unfortunately he
turned down my request...
(Taiyo and Resian enter looking sad and sit down)
Milanoi: How are youmy daughters, are you OK?
Taiyo: No...yesterday when coming from the shop we were attacked
by two men
Kaelo: What!!? Attacked? By who!? Who attacked you, tell me right
now!
Resian: We didn't know them. I think they wanted to rape us but
Olarinkoi just happened to be nearby and beat them up. He saved us.
Kaelo: Where is Olarinkoi! He must know them! I'll find who those
vagabonds are, I will find them and teach them a lesson...(He storms
to the bedroom. He emerges holding a Masai sword and a
knockberry) Nobody attacks my daughters! Nobody! (Storms out)
Taiyo: We are sorry Yeiyo..
Milanoi: There's nothing to be sorry about my daughters....I and
your father want you to go to your uncle Simiren home and stay
there for some time. This will give you time to know them and the
other children better. It's just a temporary move during which I will
try to talk to your father in allowing you to go back to Nakuru and
enrol in Egerton university
Resian: You will do that? Oh thank you Yeiyo, thank you very much
(Fadeout)
29
(Noise as two men being beaten by Moran's. They emerge on stage
and continue to be beaten. On the other end of the stage emerge two
old men. The men being beaten ran and tuck their heads between the
legs of the two old men pleading for mercy all the while)
Lante/Ntara: Aatulutoiye Papaai! Aatasaiyia tomituoki siake!
(Repeats as the beatings continue)
Elder1: Stop it now my children, I say stop it! Stop it right now!
They are pleading for mercy. You very well know that according to
our Nasila culture, a man who pleads for mercy and fearfully hides
his face between the legs of an old man, no matter what the crime he
has committed, always has his life spared. So I say stop it right now
and respect our Nasila culture!
(Kaelo and Joseph begin to interrogate the men)
Kaelo: (To one man) Who are you? What's your name?
Lante: I'm Lante son of Kanyira
Joseph: (Slapping the other man) And you? Cough out your name!
Ntara: I'm Ntara son of Muyo
Kaelo: You said son of Muyo? Muyo is your father?
Ntara: Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness!....This is the son of my
wife's sister!
Joseph: You mean he's Taiyo and Resians first cousin?
Kaelo: Yes he is! I'm so embarrassed!
Joseph: So I'm I. He's closer to the girls than I am. This is very
shameful!
Elder1: This is a shocking revelation...
(Shock, swearing and all matter of murmurs from.those present)
Elder1: (To Kaelo) Be glad my son that these two vagabonds did not
get killed owing that one of them is your family. It would have
brought you a curse that could not be easily cleansed.
Kaelo: And I was mistaken to take this as a battle between
Ilmolelian and Ilukumae clans. Nasila has been spared a bloodbath of
the two clans by this shameful revelation.
Elder2: Now, according to our culture, a cleansing ceremony has to
be done. You, Ntara son of Muyo, will give a heifer each, to Taiyo
and Resian, and an extra one to erase the shame between you and
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
your sisters and to restore respect. And you Lange, son of Kanyira
will pay two heifers!
Kaelo: To mollify my wife's feelings, knowing that the attack was
done by her nephew, I will give back the three heifers from Ole
Muyo as a peace offering to cement the families relations.
Elder1: That done, peace will return in earnest....(fadeout)
(Taiyo, Resian and Yeiyo Kiti in the compound preparing cereal for
super)
Resian: I love being here Yeiyo-kiti.
Yeiyo-kiti: Why do you love it here, tell me.
Resian: Just by the fact that when we came here a few days ago we
were welcomed wholeheartedly even by the neighbors with
celebrations and it made us to easily blend into the life of uncle
Simiren's home. We really appreciated that. We also love staying
with you. You're near to our age...you're modern, kind hearted and
understanding.
Yeiyo-kiti: Oh, thank you Resian for the wonderful compliments.
What about you Taiyo, what have you learnt since you came here to
your uncle Simiren's home?
Taiyo: Oh, I've learnt that life and work here is communal and
everything is shared be it the love, news, happiness, sorrows,
experiences, time, lotion, combs and anything else that can be
shared. We've learnt to shun negative attributes such as selfishness.
Resian: We've also learnt that Yeiyo-botorr deputises une Simiren in
administrative matters in the homestead she uncle Simiren
undertakes weightier matters such as animal husbandry, trade and
sources of food.
Yeiyo-kiti: Good, I see you've learned quite a lot. I'm also sure you
can now tell how easy it is to stereotype the Nasila culture by
highlighting the negatives while ignoring the positives. Nasila
culture is not formally taught by anybody anywhere...(The girls
agree)...olkuak is the way of life
Taiyo: Yeiyo-kiti, what's olkuak?
Yeiyo-kiti: Olkuak is the culture the young learn from the old. It
comprises of our beliefs, social institutions, and all our
30
characteristics as a people. Any new way that goes contrary to the
norm is against the Maa culture.
Resian: New way such as the formal education in schools? Yeiyo-
kiti, don't you think the formal education taught in modern schools
has shacken and threatened the foundation of Nasila culture? Its
obvious than Nasila parents fear the influence of formal education on
their children. They have found out that their brightest sons like
Papaai who pursued education out of Nasila soon get alienated and
hardly come back home.
Yeiyo-kiti: But they actually do come back. For example your
father, Reteti Korema, Setek Tumbes, Minik ene Nkoitoi the
Emakererei....by the way I know Emakererei...
Resian: You do!
Taiyo: Wow, she's our role model. We love her!
Resian: Tell us, how do you know her?
Yeiyo-kiti: We came from the same village called Mbanek Dapashi.
We went to the same primary school, she was four years older than
me. When she passed she went to high school then to Makerere
university in Uganda to study veterinary medicine. That's where she
acquired the name Emakererei.
Taiyo: Was she circumcised?
Yeiyo-kiti: I'm not certain about that.
Resian: I must say I admire Emakererei. She seems to be a
courageous woman who firmly opposes what she considers wrong
without caring whether she rubs the men of culture the wrong way.
Many women would not dare to go against the grain. I would
definitely want to be like her
Taiyo: So would I. We hope to join her soon and when we do,
Nasila will have the Kaelo daughters to reckon with!
(Yeiyo-kiti excuses herself)
Resian: I heard of the 500 girls Emakererei snatched from Nasila. I
can't imagine the fury of their fathers...I can see them returning the
bride price (laughs)
Taiyo: It is no wonder they hate her with a passion...
(Yeiyo-kiti re-appears)
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Yeiyo-kiti: Let's get in the house. Your parents are here at Yeiyo-
botorr's house. They have come to take you home
(The girls are surprised to learn that and complain they don't want to
go home as they enter the house. Exit/Fadeout).
(Taiyo, Resian and Milanoi in the sitting room.)
Milanoi: Welcome back home girls. How did you like the stay at
your Uncle's home?
Taiyo: We loved it Yeiyo
Resian: It was very good, we learnt a lot from Yeiyo-kiti and the
entire family
Milanoi: Its good to hear that. I knew you'd like it
Taiyo: Tell us Yeiyo, did Papaai ever got to the two vagabonds who
attacked us?
Milanoi: Yes they were caught. One of them is Ntara Muyo, your
first cousin
Taiyo: What!?
Resian: First cousin!?
Milanoi: Yes, he's a son to my sister who's married to an
Ilukumaeman called Muyo
Resian: What a disgrace. I hate him!
Taiyo: I'm so sorry Yeiyo, that must have been very embarrassing to
you
Milanoi: It was my daughter, it was
Resian: So did you call the police? I hope they were put to jail...
Milanoi: No but they were penalised by the council of elders. Lante
son of Kanyira was penalized two heifers and Ntara son of Muyo
was penalized three heifers. Your father....
Resian: No, never! Yeiyo that can't be. The thugs must be arrested
and taken to court so that they go to jail. The least they should get is
twenty years jail term
Taiyo: I agree entirely with Resian. Our trauma cannot be appeased
by a mere two heifers while the
villains are roaming freely. Who knows? They could even right now
be stalking another pair of
innocent young girls. Surely Yeiyo?
31
Milanoi: Please let it go girls, Resian, let it go. It will do more good
than harm. If you pursue this further it will bring a lot of
complications in the two families, the Kaelo's and the Muyo's not to
mention the entire Ilmolelian and Ilukumae clans will get involved in
a battle. Ntara is my sister's son and I won't like to be seen wrestling
with my own sister. Please let it go Taiyo....Resian?
(Resian grunts angrily and walks out whilst Taiyo goes to her mother
and embraces her)
Taiyo: OK then Yeiyo...its OK...
(Taiyo, Resian and Joseph are outside. Joseph is training Taiyo as
Resian sits and reads a book. After a while Joseph excuses himself).
Joseph: I think that's enough for today, I'll see you tomorrow
Taiyo: OK Joseph. I'm going g to take a shower. Let's go into the
house Resian...(They enter in the house their parents are sitted in the
living room. Taiyo goes ahead to the bedroom but Kaelo calls
Resian)
Kaelo: Ne-yeiyo-ai-nanyorr
Resian: Yeoo
Kaelo: How was your day my child?
Resian: It was fine Papaai. Taiyo and I went to Yeiyo-botorr's
garden and helped her weed her potatoes
Kaelo: Wonderful. So you can now weed, eh?
Resian: Of course yes Papaai
Kaelo: I know you're a wonderful cook and an efficient house
keeper. Now that you're able to take care of a farm, I'm proud to say
I've got a daughter whose an all rounder, who is able to take care of
her own establishment.
Resian: Thank you Papaai for the compliment. Tomorrow we shall
be assisting Yeiyo-kiti to plaster her kitchen
Kaelo: No, not tomorrow Resian. Tomorrow I would like you to
remain here at home and help your mother prepare lunch for some
visitors
Resian: Visitors?
Kaelo: Yes. Oloisudori is coming for lunch. I was going to ask
Taiyo to stay and help your mother but it seems as if you had
impressed Oloidusori so much the last time he was here, that he
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
particularly asked that you be here to receive him and his party. It's
good to be impressive, isn't it, eh?
Resian:.......must I be there Papaai? Surely Yeiyo can manage on her
own, isn't it Yeiyo?
Kaelo: You have to be there Resian! It's important to me that you be
there.
Resian:...but Papaai please...
Kaelo: I have said you have to stay home tomorrow and help your
mother with the preparations of the lunch. There is an end to all this
nonsense!
Resian: I have never served such important people, Papaai, and you
know I get nervous when I am forced to such a situation
Kaelo: You must learn to get used to such situations! What kind of a
wife will you make if you don't take time to learn the social graces?
Resian: Papaai siake, I can't just stand Oloidusori. He's like a
monster and he frightens me...
Kaelo: Enough of that! Now get out of my sight, but remember to be
there tomorrow. And you must stem out that argumentative attitude
that is creeping into you. Now go!
(Resian leaves in a huff murmuring while his father hits the table
angrily with his fist.....then we see Resian sitting g outside on a log
brooding)
Resian: (Soliloquays)...Why did Oloisudori insist I serve him lunch?
Why? I can't do it and will not do it!...Why does Papaai despise me
ever since I was young?...what does he dislike about me? Is it my
fault? He likes Taiyo and hates me, why?....always telling me to
emulate and behave like Taiyo, even Yeiyo treats Taiyo as a
favorite...
Taiyo: (Appears)...Resian for heaven's sake, what are you doing
here? It's so cold out here. Look at you, you're shivering!
Resian: I was about to come in
Taiyo: Stupid thing! Imagine coming out here without a pullover.
Honestly Resian, hevent you the slightest common sense? Come on
now, let's go! (Fade out)
(In the kitchen, Resian, Taiyo and Milanoi. Disagreement going on).
32
Resian: I blame my father for the tension that has continued to be in
our home ever since we came to Nasila. I will not be there tomorrow
to receive Oloisudori Yeiyo, I will not.
Milanoi: Resian, your being there is important for your father's
business. Actually your presence depends on it.
Taiyo: Resian please, do it for Papaai
Resian: If I'm to do it Taiyo must be there with me.
Milanoi: Resian, the guests wishes must be respected. Oloisudori
specifically asked for you
Resian: Yeiyo, it's wrong for us as a family to allow a visitor,
whoever he is, to dictate as to who amongst us should attend to him.
Taiyo: Resian, you know we had promised Yeiyo-kiti that we'll help
her plaster her kitchen tomorrow, its important I go there and
represent you
Resian:Taiyo, Yeiyo-kiti will surely understand if we tell her we
will be serving Papaai's guests...Taiyo my sister, I need you with me
tomorrow to fortify my spirit for Oloisudori terrifies me
Milanoi:....Alright. I'll consult your father and see what he says of
the matter
(Fadeout)
(Following day, Oloisudori, expensively dressed, being welcomed
into the house by Kaelo.
Everyone is in the sitting room)
Kaelo: Oloisudori Lonkiyaa sir, welcome to the humble abode of
your friend and brother...I mean father...
Resian: (To Taiyo) Father? (Taiyo shrugs)
(Oloidusori walks around the house proudly ignoring everyone)
Taiyo: (To Resian) I don't like him...you were right Resian. He has
bad manners...
Oloisudori: (Ordering) Where are those gifts? Quick bring them....
(Gifts arrive)....good, good. Here is the suiting materials for you Ole
Kaelo my friend. That would make four different suits of different
colours....and here is six lengths of beautifully embroidered materials
to. make the coveted vitenge to the lovely lady Mama Resian....and
here, we have silk materials of different colours to Taiyo. Here, I
have a pretty golden brooch and twelve lengths of different kinds of
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
material to my lovely lovely Resian...in addition there's a golden
pendant, a gold bracelet and a cutely designed gold ring also just for
you my lovely lovely Resian. Finally, here's for you my friend Ole
Kaelo...that is for...you know...(gives him a briefcase and winks
mischievously)
Milanoi: We thank you sir for the lovely gifts. Please,.let's. sit and
eat.
(Food is served. Resian washes guests hands and they all stare at her.
Oloisudori stares at her extra long. They eat and drink talking about
this and that. When Milanoi and the girls retreat into the kitchen and
Kaelo excuses himself to step outside, Oloisudori speaks)
Oloisudori: My friends, what do you think of my soon to be wife?
Colleague: She's quite a catch my friend.
Colleague2: She is the catch of the year
(They all laugh. Black out)
(Kaelo sitting in the livingroom reading a newspaper with his glasses
on. Taiyo approaches)
Taiyo: I came to see whether you’re fine Papaai
Kaelo: Yes, indeed I am. I'm comfortable my dear child
Taiyo: (Sitting) It was a lovely day, wasn't it Papaai? And I hope
Resian and I did everything you expected us to do to make the
visitors comfortable and happy...
Kaelo: Indeed you did everything. Yes, I must say the visitors were
happy.
Taiyo: And Mr. Oloisudori is becoming a very close business
associate of yours, isn't he Papaai? He can really be generous, eh?
Kaelo: Most certainly he is.
Taiyo: Did he take part in funding our shop?
Kaelo: Yes, but why do you ask?
Taiyo: Nothing Papaai, I just thought we should know so that we can
in future treat him with the respect that he deserves
Kaelo: Good!
Taiyo:.....Papaai
Kaelo: Yes my dear child (Resian and Milanoi are heard from the
kitchen arguing about something. Kaelo looks towards the kitchen
33
for a while then back to Taiyo)....I'm sorry my child, what were you
saying?
Taiyo: I was just saying....I was just wishing you a good night
Kaelo: Yes of course. Good night my dear..,please call Resian for
me (exit Taiyo. Kaelo goes back to the newspaper. Resian enters)
Resian: Yes Papaai, I'm here. Taiyo tells me you're calling me.
Kaelo: Yes, yes, please take a seat
Resian: Yes Papaai (sits on a chair)
Kaelo: Come nearer child. Why do you sit a mile away? Come
nearer (Resian moves the chair but barely moves it)...If I do
remember well, you will be 19 in September this year, am I right?
Resian: (Excited)You're quite right Papaai
Kaelo: You and I have not discussed important issues for a long
time. I thought today would be the best day to break the news. Your
future is very important to me my dear child
Resian: (Excitedly) Papaai, is it Yeiyo or Taiyo who spoke to you?
Who between them spoke to you about our enrolment to the Egerton
University?
Kaelo: What are you talking about child?
Resian: Both Yeiyo and Taiyo promised to talk to you about it, and I
thought she had.
Kaelo: What are you talking about child? No, I've never spoken to
anybody about any of you enrolling to the university. Never! When I
said I wanted us to discuss your future that isn't what I meant at all.
Of course not!...I was going to tell you....never mind what I was
going to say. For heaven's sake Resian go back to the kitchen. I'll
talk to you another day. Ask your mother to come here immediately!
(Blackout)
NARRATOR
As a gesture of appreciation for the hospitality Ole Kaelo had
accorded him and his friends Oloisudari invited him and his wife to
visit one of his six homes. He wanted them to feel and savior the
pleasures and the kind of life their daughter Lesian was going to
enjoy. He was sure if they had a glimpse of the palatial home that
was nearing completion and which he had particularly built for
Resian, his struggles to entice and love her to accept to move in and
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
live with him would come to an end. He was sure if they would
immediately take over the struggle to persuade her to agree to marry
him. Ole Kaelo’s visit to Oloisudoris home greatly changed him.
He felt rejuvenated like a man who had just returned from the
mountain top where he had inhaled the thin, fresh and invigorating
mountain air. Suddenly, he was able to see what he had failed to see
all the years he was working in Nakuru. Will this experience help to
change Resian’s hard stance? Lets wait and see!
(Appearing from extreme stage, Kaelo, Oloisudori and Milanoi)
Kaelo: My friend Oloidusori, I want to really appreciate and thank
you for the tour you took us today at your magnificent Naivasha
resident and the equally magnificent house at Milimani here in
Nakuru that you have built for my daughter. I don't know how much
I can appreciate that. Everything about you I must say is of class.
Oloisudori: You are welcome....you see, I love Resian...to me she's
like the legendary beautiful brown girl who dominated the songs of
four generations of Morans in the past fifty years. The morans would
go all the way to Mosiro, where the girl lived with her parents just to
see her beauty. Resian is like that girl and more....she's like a famous
English lady whose love besotted a great legendary gentleman called
lord Ngata who was a settler. When he went to England and met her,
he fell in love with her. He came back and built her a beautiful
castle, but when his lady came and saw the castle, she looks and it
and turned away never to look back. I have a lot in common with that
gentleman, only I can't lose Resian. I'll make her home so beautiful
that she'll fall in love with it, and eventually with me.
Kaelo: I wish we had come with our daughters on this visit my
friend...my daughter Resian would by now be thanking God for
creating her a woman and endowing her with beauty that would
enchant a man like you
Oloidusori: You're quite right my friend
Kaelo:...but there's this one thing Resian wants, she want to enroll at
the Egerton university. She's so passionate about it.
Oloisudori: That is no problem at all. She can join as soon as she
gets settled in her new home at Milimani. The only little delay will
come when she undergoes that little ritual to remove her from the list
34
of intoiye nemengalana and it will be a period of roughly three
months. How wonderful it will be to have a graduate among my
wives! It certainly going to be an added feather to my cap
Kaelo: Resian is quite stubborn I must warn you my friend.
Oloidusori: It is upon you to convince her to marry me. If you fail
you know the consequences....with the contracts for your business,
your home...everything could go wrong in an instant for you my
friend
Kaelo: No no, I didn't....I meant to say...of course I'll convince her.
What I meant to say is that Resian is like a goat's kid that stubbornly
refuses to suckle after it's born. It's owner tucks it between his knees
and forcefully opens its mouth and tucks it's mothers tit into it. He
would then squeeze out the milk into the kid's mouth. The taste of
the milk would make it suckle and removal of the teat from it's
mouth would be a struggle....so would Resian...(Laughter)... When
she sees what you have laid out for her pleasures, she will rebuke
herself for her procrastination in the first place (More laughter)
Oloisudori: Here's a plan. I'll come to your home at the agreed time.
You will have arranged so that Resian will be home alone. Once I
arrive I'll persuade her to accept my marriage proposal. If she agrees,
things will take normal course but if she refuses, I'll leave, then later
in the day at dusk I'll have my men come snatch her and take her to
her house in Nakuru. What do you think?
Kaelo: Sounds like a plan. Ngoto Resian what do you think?
Milanoi: That would be OK my husband
Oloisudori: Come on my parents, let me take you to my driver. He'll
drive you back to Nasila in my four wheel drive Prado. Let's go...
(exit)
(In the bedroom Resian and Taiyo)
Taiyo: Its late and Papaai and Yeiyo are not back from visiting
Oloisudori
Resian: Have you noted that ever since Oloisudori came to our home
Papaai is behaving strangely. He looks at me weirdly. Something
fishy is going on
Taiyo: Definitely there's something going on
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Resian: We need to teach Oloisudori a lesson....let's wrap up all the
gifts he brought us and when he comes next time we have them put
back in his car. When he gets back to wherever he calls home
he'll find them there. That would serve him right!
Taiyo: That's a good idea. And since he seems to like you, you'll
give him back his gifts pretending its from us
Resian: Yes, and once the gifts are in his car I'll pretend to be docile
and give him the impression that I can be manipulated. I'll agree to
go along with him and allow him to lead me until I know his
intentions, after which I'll act accordingly
Taiyo: Great! He should know we are modern women with desire
for high education. He should not insult our intelligence, dignity and
integrity to think that mere material things would sway us from our
goals.
Resian: You're right my sister. We cannot be bought by some
contents of a suitcase. Since he seems to target me in his demonic
designs, I shall try to face him bravely and tell him what I think of
him, especially if he shows. me his ill manners
Taiyo: Well, I don't know if I'd be able to face him alone. He looks
scary and I can't be left alone in a room with him
Resian: He's a monster. I fear him too. I'll only agree to be alone
with him in the living room if Yeiyo is going to be in the kitchen.
Taiyo: OK then, come on let's pack up his gifts (they start
packaging. Black out)
(Morning in the living room. Resian smartly dressed in a nice blue
dress. Milanoi is there
tidying up while Olarinkoi sits at the dining table)
Resian: Sasa Yeiyo. Look at me, I'm ready for our visitor. How do
you like my dress?
Milanoi: Splendid
Kaelo: (appearing) My little Resian-e-yeiyo, how lovely you look!
You almost look like a grown up lady. What do you think Olarinkoi?
Olarinkoi: Not bad...not bad at all
Kaelo: OK, as we agreed yesterday, you'll be here with your mother,
I'm going to the shop and Taiyo will be going to help Yeiyi-botorr at
your uncle Simiren's home, OK?
35
Resian: Ok Papaai
Kaelo: OK, see you later (He leaves. Olarinko also exits. Taiyo
appears)
Taiyo: Hello Yeiyo, hey Resian, you look beautiful
Resian: Thank you sister
Taiyo: Bye, I'm off to go help Yeiyo-botorr (she leaves but not
before winking at her sister)
(Resian begins to work around the house. She goes into the bedroom
and comes back with a big gift box. Door knock. She opens)
Resian: Good morning Sir Oloisudori. May I kindly hand over this
humble gift to you. It is a reciprocal gift from my sister Taigo and I
our appreciation for your many gifts
Oloisudori: (Surprised) I can't thank you and your sister enough for
this kind gesture. Rest assured beautiful lady, that this will be repaid
a million times. Just wait and see. (Calls his escort to take the box to
the car. Then he takes Resian's hand and bends to kiss it. Resian
grimaces)
Resian: Would you sit down please. My mother is in the kitchen
preparing tea and tasty pancakes for you
Oloisudori: Thank you very much (sits)
Resian: I'll get the tea for you
Oloisudori: Tea is not very important to me. There are many things I
know you want to know about our future. Oh yes, many things
Resian: (alarmed) What do you mean our future
Oloisudori: Don't be ridiculous. Must we repeat what is obvious my
dear? But if I may, you will never regret taking the decision you
have taken. You will be the happiest lady in the whole of East
Africa!
Resian: What are you talking about sir?
Oloisudori: What I mean is simply this, when you are married to me
and you are settled in your palacial home at the Kilimani Estate in
Nakuru. You will be exceedingly happy! (He stands up)....Our fate is
sealed. You can never escape. You are my wife and only death shall
part us. You hear me, eh?
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Resian: You are mad! You are stark mad if you think am your wife.
I can only be your wife over my dead body. Yes, you and my father
can kill me and carry my dead body to your palatial home
Oloisudori: (First surprised then composed)...You can never escape
Resian. Whether you scream hour heart out or jump into the deep sea
Resian, you are mine. You're my wife from now henceforth.
Resian: I want to go now.
Oloisudori: You want to go? Go! You want to be persuaded, coaxed
and pampered to marry Oloisudori Loonkiyaa? Sorry I will not do
that! If you want to go please yourself. You opt to go but when you
are mine, you'll do as I please. No one plays games with Oloisudori.
Ask your father he'll tell you.
Resian: Stop it! Stop it! You are mad! You are stark mad, you hear
me!? You are nothing but ol-ushuushi (she walks away as he laughs.
Blackout).
NARRATOR
Ignoring the surprised looks of Oloisudori and Olarinkoi; Resian ran
down the rough road that led to her father’s shop. She ran without
looking back, determined to put a distance between her and that foul
tongue of Oloisudori threat. When she neared her father’s shop, she
slowed down and her spirit girthed a little but she was still angry.
She was raving mad with indignation. Her eyes were twin rivulets
from which hot tears streamed down continuously. Her young spirit
was sore as she tried to come to terms with what had just happened.
Although she had always known that her father disliked her, she
never thought that he could for as far as selling her, how could he do
that to her. Was there a curse for being born a woman that took away
her night to her own body or her own mind. Tearfully, she searched
for the answer to those questions but they were not forthcoming.
(Kaelo in his office. Resian walks in)
Kaelo: Where is our visitor?
Resian: I left him at home enjoying his tea and pancakes
Kaelo: And what brings you to the shop at this time of the day
instead of staying at home to help your mother?
36
Resian: I'll go back there Papaai as soon as possible. I thought I
should come down here and ask what you thought of my recent
request to enroll as a student at the Egerton University at the
beginning of the new academic year this September
Kaelo: University? I thought about it alright but decided not to send
you there!
Resian: Why not Papaai?
Kaelo: Because I think for now you've had enough of formal
education. There's always time for further education later and...
Resian: But Papaaj...
Kaelo: There's always time....it's only that you children are at times
stupid and have myopic minds. When we as your parents try to plan
for your future, you refuse to see...
Resian: Papaai, please...if you can only listen to me for a second...
Kaelo: You refuse to see that we always have your interest at
heart...You see at the moment, there are a number of programs at the
university. You can enrol and stay at the campus, you can take a
parallel degree program or you can study via correspondence.
Resian: All that I know, but...
Kaelo: If you do, then you can take any of the last two options for I
have made appropriate plans for you my daughter. I have been
waiting for an opportunity to speak to you about them. In fact that
was what I wanted to tell you the last time when I called you. You
are a lucky child Resian. A very lucky child dear Resian
Resian: No
Kaelo: You're a very lucky child as I said. I'm enlightened to tell you
that my good friend and business associate Oloisudori Loonkiyaa has
approached me asking that he marries you. You know he is...
(Resian begin to cry loudly and screams and yells at Kaelo. He
watches her for a while then yells at her to shut up but she doesn't.
Instead she screams some more. He moves from behind the desk,
goes to her and slaps her hard twice across the face)
Kaelo: That will teach you never to talk like that to your father!
Resian: It is better you kill me Papaai! You'd better kill me than
hand me over to your monster friend. Yes, kill.me right now!
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Kaelo: I may as well tell you my dear child, that I've already taken
dowry from Oloisudori. You are now his wife whether you like it or
not! (Resian storms out)
Resian: (Outside, people gathered. Resian appears followed by her
father) I say I'd rather die than marry that monster friend of yours,
you hear me Papaai? You hear me? I'd rather die! Oloisudori is an ol-
ushuushi! Never! Never! And if I don't die and live to be eighty, I'll
still go to university. I'll go to Egerton university Papaai, I tell you! I
hope you will be there to witness my graduation, but for now, I can
as well reveal to you, that I have told your friend Oloisudori what I
think of him. Yes, he's a monster, a gangster, a bank robber and an
extortionist per excellence. And that is exactly what he's doing to
you Papaai, he's extorting you and you're selling your daughter to the
devil!
Kaelo: Resian! Resian!
(She walks of the stage)
Kaelo: (to those gathered) What are you all looking at? Don't you
have something better to do?
(People scamper away. Blackout)
NARRATOR
Resian ignored her father’s call, pushed through the outer door of the
shop and rushed outside Her cheek was still throbbing from her
gather’s blows, her eyes red and swollen from weping. She walked
with an odd dignity down the road that led to Nasila river ignoring
the stares and whispers of all those who stood by watching. Nasila
river – cool, smooth and silent – swirled quitly about the boulders
that were half submerged in it. It was deep and wide. She stood at the
bank for a long time, staring down into the water.
(Resian standing by Riverside)
Resian: Coul the answer to my woes be in this river. Yes, it could
be! Just a swift, cold shock as I fall into the water and there would be
peace. Yes, peace all over from the fact that I have failed to
getadmission to Egerton University.
(Olarinkoi approaches and taps her shoulder)
Olarinkoi: What are you doing here at the river side?
Resian: Nothing. I'm just relaxing
37
Olarinkoi: Don't be foolish little girl. You may not want to tell me
what is happening but I'm not foolish and I can put an end one
altogether. Oloisudori's men are now looking for you everywhere.
They have instruction s to seize you and take you to Nakuru to be his
wife
Resian: Just leave me. Go tell them to find me here
Olarinkoi: Listen you stupid girl, if you don't want to marry
Oloisudori I can rescue you the way I rescued you from the
vagabonds who accosted you and your sister. I know where
Minikene Enkoitoi the Emakarerei lives and where she keeps girls
rescued from the situation you are now in. There's no need to despair
in life. There is always another chance.
Resian: How do we ever get there? I hear it is very far from here.
Olarinkoi: Yes it is far but where there's hope things always work
out. The Maa people say home is not far to one who's still alive.
Resian: Then find a way
Olarinkoi: OK. I'll take you to a family I know at Nasila where
you'll spend the night then tomorrow very early in the morning we'll
start the journey
NARRATOR
Resian was woken up very early in the morning by the old lady
where she had spent the night. Outside was an old pick up which she
was asked to climb at the back by Olarinkoi and the driver sat in
front at the cabin. The old lady gave Resian a leso to cover her head
and an old blanket to wrap around herself and protect herself from
wind and dust. And the journey started. It was long and tiresome.The
road was rough and dusty and the vicinity was vast and bare.
NARRATOR
As time went by and the sun eventually climbed up, it became
unbearably hot even to sit on the metallic floor of the pickup.
Sometimes the driver would stop and remove the boulders from the
road for the pick up to be able to pass, and when it did stop dust
would add a new layer on Resian. They drove and even at 5 o'clock
they we're still on the road. The men in front did not care to look at
the back to see how she was faring but she didn't mind. She was
going to meet Emakererei her role model.
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
At one point the vehicle stopped and the driver got out. He looked at
Resian and harshly said to her, "You woman, get off if you care to
stretch your legs! She had noted both men had been harsh with her
and wondered why Olarinkoi had changed on her all of a sudden but
she had ignored that. She got off the pick up and went around into
the bush. Suddenly she came back running and screaming, saying
that she had seen a snake. Both men were angry and rebuked her for
screaming. They resumed the journey and this time she had to
contend with mosquitoes. She also feared since it was dark. A
leopard might leap inside the back of a pickup. She was very afraid.
Covering herself with the blanket and the leso she had been given by
the old lady, she sat in the middle of the pickup for the rest of the
journey.
It was pitch dark when the pickup came to a stop. Olarinkoi pulled
from the pick up a big carton, a bag of flour and another bag of
sugar. He then yelled at Resian, " get off the pickup woman, the
driver does not have the whole night!" Resian got off the pickup. The
pickup drove off. Resian stood there wondering where she was.
Maybe they were going to spend the night there before proceeding to
the resident of Emakererei.
(Exits narrator)
(Inside a room, dusty and untidy with a few furniture and dirty
dishes. Olarinkoi enters carrying the big box)
Hey, you woman, are you going to get into the house or you'll just
stand there and get eaten by the hyenas!? (Resian jumps inside the
house fearfully. Olarinkoi glares at her)
Olarinkoi: Don't stand there staring like a fool. Light a fire and let's
make some food. If you want to know, food here is not a right, it is a
privilege that comes with conditions.
(He goes out again leaving her standing there, comes back dragging
a bag of sugar and flour)
Olarinkoi: You woman, look here, you can either cook or keep
standing stupidly and die of hunger. The choice is yours. Should you
choose to cook, here is a piece of meat (Throws a piece of meet he
took from the carton)...the knife is over there. Of course you're not
blind you can see the sufurias. There's a whole bag of maize meal
38
and there's water in that container. There's parafin in that can and
you can collect firewood from a stack outside the house. Any
questions?
(Resian is scared, she doesn't speak. Olarinkoi grabs a knobkerry and
a spear at the cornerand leaves....Resian looks around for a while,
wraps herself with a leso and a blanket and sits on a nearby chair,
and dozes off. Blackout).....
NARRATOR
Resian was scared she silently looked at the man who seemed to
have suddenly turned from a peron she had known for quite some
time, to a beast. Olarikai glared at her and without uttering another
word, picked up a knobkerrie and a spear from one corner of the
room, thing the door open and pulled it shut with a loud bang. Resian
realized fearfully that she had been left all alone in a strange level, in
the middle of nowhere. She trembled with fear as she imagined that a
dangerous animal could be harking in the dark corners of the shack
and could spring on her any moment tearing her into shreds. She
wondered what had happened. Had she dropped from the trying pan
into the fire?
Was Olarikoi a beast that had been pretending to be a human being
while waiting for an opportunity to avail it so as to sprung a surprise
on her? For the first time since she left home she thought of the
turmoil her disappearance had created. How her father was mad at
her for having disrupted his plans to marry her off to Oloisudori.
How sad her mother was on realizing that she had disappeared.
Thoughts of her sister Taiyo brought tears into her eyes. Oh sweet
loving Taiyo! Always ready to listen. How she missed her laughter,
her argument and her reasoning! She drifted into sleep that took her
to dreamland where she met Emakererei who promised her all kinds
of wonderful things. She promised to take her to Nakuru and enroll
her at Egerton University. But her dream was rudely and violently
interrupted by a thunderous bang and loud laughter.
(Lights back on; Resian is still sleeping occasionally wading off
mosquitoes. Suddenly there's laughter. Resian sits up and Olarinkoi
enters drunk)
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Olarinkoi: You silly thing! I tell you to prepare food and you refuse
to do so, eh! Today you'll know who the owner of this home is. If
you're still in doubt, let me tell you frankly that from today onwards
you are my wife, you hear that, eh? You are my wife. For a long time
you've been sneering at me, showing how highly educated you are.
Today we shall see how educated your body is! Yes, we shall see!
(Grabs Resian and attempts to undress her. Struggle ensues; Resian
screams and bites his thumb. He cries out painfully. He hits her hard
at the ribs and on the head, she faints.
(Black out)
(Next scene Resian on the bed being attended to by an elderly
woman. She opens her eyes and closes several times. The woman
with her notices and stays close. She tries to feed her with some fluid
from a cup. Resian goes back to sleep......after a while she opens her
eyes more alert. She looks at the woman)
Nabaru: How are you feeling dear? You want some food? You need
to eat to regain your strength. Come on, let me help you sit up...
(helping her up)
Resian: Who are you kind mother?
Nabaru: Kaaji enkabaani
Resian: That means you're a nurse?
Nabaru: Yes I am
Resian: So what's your real name?
Nabaru: My dear, don't tire yourself with unnecessary details. What
should be important right now is to regain your health.
Resian: What happened to me? Where I'm I? How long have I been
like this?
Nabaru: When you're back on your feet, I'll tell you how long
you've been lying on that bed and what happened when you were
unconscious.
Resian: I'm terribly hungry
Nabaru: Come on, sit up so that I can bring you some food, eh? Sit
up....(fade out)
(Lights back on, Resian is sitting on a log outside. Sound of goat and
sheep bleating. An old mono-eyed woman approaches. She looks at
Resian contemptuously)
39
Ma Olarinkoi: So it is you who chewed my son's hand to near
amputation?...What were you guarding so tenaciously and valiantly
when I'm told you're even not yet a woman? Aren't you ashamed to
be among the intoiye nemengalana at your age? Ptu!.....I hear that
your father is stinking rich...(laughs evishly)...I'm also told that you
being his favorite daughter, was always fed in bed with a silver
spoon. This is how we have been trying to do to you in the last few
days. I don't know whether we have succeeded. We looked for a
silver spoon in the whole neighborhood but we could not find any. I
hope the ordinary spoon that we have used to feed you does not
make you retch!...(Laughs evishly)
Resian: Oh my Gosh, what is this?
Ma Olarinkoi: Listen to me you daughter of olkarsis, I hear your
father and that ol-ushuushi called Oloisudori to whom he had
betrothed you and from whom my gallant and valorous Moran
snatched you are combing every bush, every cave and every river
bank looking for you, as if you are the only esiankiki in the whole
world. Anyway, let them try for I know they are not going to find
you. I'm not going to allow it. That fool called Oloisudori does not
deserve you. You belong to Olarinkoi, my son. As soon as we clip
that erogenous salacity from you that destroys homes, you'll become
a respected woman worthy to be called...
Resian: Stop! I do not want to hear any more! I want to go into the
house.
Ma Olarinkoi: Before you go in, listen to me, you have to eat well.
Get well as soon as possible for the trek ahead is long. It is already
arranged that you and Olarinkoi will have to move to Tanzania
where you will remain until this fuss kicked off by Oloisudori and
your father is over. If you like it there you can settle and build your
home in that country.. I have asked the enkabaani to engage the
services of enkamuratani when you're strong enough to undergo the
ritual so that we are done with it soon. It is a pity that we now have
to do what Ole Kaelo ought to have done a long time ago. Anyway,
Maa culture will soon judge him harshly. Now go in for it's
becoming chilly (Ma Olarinkoi leaves)
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Resian: (To herself) Oh God of all creation! What unending woes
these are! Taba! Kilome sogo! What have I done to the gods to
deserve this kind of punishment?...I will overcome...I'll be like Job of
the bible. He overcame his tribulations and what I'm going through is
nothing compared to what he went through. I shall overcome all
this...God help me.....
(Nabaru appears, approaches Resian)
Nabaru: Oh poor thing, you still sitting outside this late? Oh my, the
mosquitoes must have sucked your veins dry! Come on now, let me
help you stand
Resian: Before we go, let me ask you, who's the mono-eyed old
woman?
Nabaru: She is the mother to Olarinkoi, the man who assaulted you.
She is a feared and respected enkoiboni. Most males hold this
position and are called Oloiboni but there are a few females that hold
it too. This one is known and feared for her predictions always nearly
come true. Take your case for instance, she had predicted that Ole
Kaelo would move to Nasila and bring his intoiye nemengalana with
him. Then Olarinkoi her son would move into his homestead and live
with his family for a while after which he'll bring back one of Ole
Kaelo's daughter here, and she would be circumcised, and betrothed
to him for marriage. So when you came it was no surprise to us....but
the problem came when Olarinkoi tried to rape you. For that his
mother rebuked and reprimanded him. He's now in a hideout in the
bush recuperating from your vicious bite.
Resian: Where do you come in?
Nabaru: If it was not for Olarinkoi stupidity, you would have been
circumcised the following day by enkamuratani who was ready, then
I was to take over and nurse you back to health.
Resian: What's going to happen now
Nabaru: I don't really know...now that Olarinkoi messed up, the
enkaiboni will have to go back to her pebbles to chart out a new
direction
Resian: Meanwhile?
Nabaru: To speak the truth young lady, the twelve days that I've
nursed you have made me come to love you as my own child. You're
40
courageous both physically and mentally. In the first five days after
the assault, I did not think you were going to live. Even now I
believe you have a will to go places. I don't know what enkaiboni has
predicted but, I'm willing to help you to do what you intend to do or
go once you're back on your feet, with or without enkaiboni's
predictions
Resian: You will help me?....(Embracing Nabaru)....Thank
you...thank you...my own God given mother!...May God bless
you...Thank you Kaaji enkabaani
Nabaru: Call me Nabaru, that's my name
Resian: Thank you Nabaru, you're God sent...
(Black out)
NARRATOR
Resian’s stay in that tiny homestead was not only stressful and
agonizing but it was sheer torment. While flies and mosquitoes were
a constant torture, rats, lizards and snakes got into the house at will
from outside the fence. And the walls of the house crawled with such
insects like cockroaches, spiders, termites and crickets. The worst
torment, however, emitted from the old enkoiboni. She constantly
complained that Resian was refusing to eat so that she did not gain
strength soon to enable her undergo circumcision. She seemed not to
care at all about her feelings.
(Resian in a room lying in bed. There's some uneaten food on a stool
nearby. Ma Olarinkoi appears, Resian sits up in fear)
Ma Olarinkoi: Why have you not eaten your food? Or are you
refusing to eat so that you don't gain enough strength to undergo
circumcision?....(she suddenly grabs Resian and roughly start feeling
her stomach)....I thought you're pregnant. It is good you're not for it
would have taken us long waiting for you to give birth before calling
in enkamuratani. It is even better so, for who wants entaapai as a
wife to her son?...where does your father and that greedy Oloisudori
think you are right now?...I hate the so called rich people. They
decide everything....They decide where the roads, schools, hospitals
and everything else are going to be built. Look at the road you
travelled on when you were coming here for example. It is
dilapidated simply because it does not pass by a rich person's
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
land...Oloisudori, that ol-shuushi, how many times did I cook
porridge for him in this very house as he hunted for elephant and
rhino horns?....He would stack piles and piles of tusks in this
compound and then have lorries come over and haul everything
away...and I never saw him again. Today he calls himself a rich man
who will not soil his hands shaking ours...where did he get his riches
from? He is nothing but a thief and a poacher....they see us as
nothing, these rich people. Are we not people like them? The nearest
hospital here is two or three days walk from here. How does a sick
person get there owing to the terrible state of the roads? You're lucky
enkabaani was around when Olarinkoi hit you. You would have died
were it not for her treatment......eat that food we need to circumcise
you...Very soon I'll send enkamuratani with her olmurunya. You're
already strong. Any day now (exits)
(Outside, Resian strolling meets two women. They greet each other
and begin to speak)
Woman1: Hello Resian, you seem to be getting better and better
Resian: Yes, I'm much better now
Woman2: Resian, tell us, is it true that Olarinkoi fought four other
men who wanted to marry you including that giant called Oloisudori,
and that he defeated them all and snatched you from them and
brought you here to be his wife?
Woman1:...and is it true that you are intoiye nemengalana and you
are expectant and soon after birth you'll be circumcised and become
an entaapai.
Resian: Nice to meet you nice ladies but I must go (exits/blackout).
(Resian in the house. Enters Olarinkoi. Resian sits up scared.
Olarinkoi sits next to her and puts his hand on her knee. She tenses)
Olarinkoi: I don't mean any harm. I'll not repeat what I tried to do
the last time and I regret having been forced to hit you....I don't
blame you for biting my thumb...I know I caused that and have been
severely rebuked....my mother tells me that you're back on your feet
and that you're now able to move around....she has arranged with
enkamuratani who will come the day after tomorrow so that we can
clear the pending job and move on....This is just a small matter that
would be over within minutes. There's nothing to be afraid of...
41
(Olarinkoi leaves. Resian jumps and locks the door from inside. She
sits by the door and begins to sob....lights fade)
(Back at Nasila. Milanoi and three other women at their home at
Nasila)
Milanoi: Taiyo! Taiyo! Come greet some visitors (Taiyo appears
and greets them)
Woman3: Taiyo, we are from a village called Esoit where your
sister Resian has ran to. She has become obstinate and for three days
she has eaten nothing
Woman4: Yes, she has gone on a hunger strike. She's saying only
you, her sister, can talk to her and make her eat. If she doesn't eat we
are afraid she might die. It is for this reason we have come to ask you
to please accompany us to Esoit so that you can go persuade her to
eat. Her life depends on your decision
Taiyo: Of course I'll come with you. For Resian I can do anything..
Milanoi: That's very nice of you Taiyo. And don't be worried about
anything for your father and I have decided never to marry you by
force ever again
Taiyo: Thank you Yeiyo
Woman3: Then let's get going (exit)
Resian is in bed profusely sweating and turning this way and that as
if having a nightmare....from outside someone bangs the door).
Nabaru: Resian! Resian! Resian quick, open the door! They're
coming for you...Resian!...(Resian sits up then slumps back on the
bed)....Resian! open the door quick. They are about to arrive, do you
hear me? They're coming to take you away, Resian!.......Resian!...
(Resian wakes up and with much effort, opens the door and faints.
Nabaru picks her up and lays her on the bed. She opens her bag and
takes out some medicine. She forces it into Resian's mouth. She
coughs and wakes up. She tries to spit the medicine)
Nabaru: No no no, don't spit, swallow it all. You have fever. Its
likely you've contacted malaria from the mosquito bites...swallow
it...swallow it all...you feel better?
Resian: I'm better....I thought you won't come, I thought you
betrayed me. I had this dream you came with enkamuratani and some
men and grabbed me....
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Nabaru: Shhhhh, no none of that, and as you correctly put it, it was
just a dream. I had gone to arrange for your transportation that will
take you to the ranch where Emakererei is. Now, quick, let's go no
time to waste. They're coming for you and will be here any minute
now. Let's go!
(They leave the house)
(This scene can be done on stage where forestage can be used as the
road and wings as the cabin with lighting depicting headlights and
marry that with an engine of a lorry idling. Only Olarinkoi would be
seen but the responding women voices will be offstage)
(Film night shot. It’s raining. Resian and Nabaru are seen half
running half walking. They come to a lorry whose engine is running
with lights on. Behind them Olarinkoi follows them and catches up
with them as they climb into the lorry)
Olarinkoi: You, Resian, stop!
(Resian jumps into the cabin after Nabaru and locks the door.
Olarinkoi peers into the cabin and sees Nabaru. He becomes very
angry)
Olarinkoi: Where do you think you're taking my wife you filthy
woman!? Wherever you're taking her remain there with her, because
if you ever come back to Inkiito, you will not see the light of the day
ever again...but you're not lucky for wherever you go my mother's
curse will find you there. Mark my words!
Nabaru: Away with you, you good for nothing osuuji. You're like
embarie the coward fox that waits for the lion to kill before it steals
the meat. How could you cheat this child who was desperately
looking for help as she ran away from that villain called Oloisudori?
You took advantage of her trust in you, just like embarie does.
You're good for nothing osuuji
Resian: You stupid Olarinkoi, you're worse than Oloisudori....but
the two of you have one thing in common, warped minds. Thank
God your weird ideas hit the wall. I pray that God's favour will
continue to abide by me so that a few years from today, you will be
ashamed to realize what your stupidity would have stopped me from
achieving. Goodbye Olarinkoi and go tell your mother to go back to
her pebbles and attempt new predictions!
42
Olarinkoi: You have not seen or heard the last of me! The
enkaibini's predictions always come to pass...(The lorry revs and
drives off. Fadeout
(Back at Esoit, its night time. Taiyo is shown into a room)
Woman2: Wait here
Taiyo: Where's Resian?..(woman leaves and locks the door from
outside. She's not friendly like before. Taiyo paces in the room for a
while, then lays on the bed and dozes off. Suddenly women come in
and drag her outside. They pour buckets of water on her and then
she's circumcised amidst screams, begging, swearing and cursing.
Black out)
(Day time. Cutaways of lorry driving in the vicinity, the scene goes
to the front stage as roadside. Resian and Nabaru appears stretching.
Offstage a lorry engineis heard idling and the driver speaking to
another man about fixing this or that of the lorry)
Nabaru: They'll fix the lorry in no time and then we'll be on our way
Resian: (Looking around seemingly happy) This is a beautiful
country. I'm so happy that the ordeal his finally coming to an end.
Nabaru: I'm happy for you young lady and I thank God I've been
able to help you. It was not easy to persuade the driver to take a
detour all the way from Nasila to come pick us up at Inkiito. I love
your bravely and determination, and that's what moved me to help
you. You're a great young lady and I know you'll go places
Resian: (Embracing Nabaru) Yeiyo ai! Yeiyo ai! Only God
Almighty can pay you for your surpassing love and kindness. I'm a
poor girl and I have nothing to give you as a token of my
gratitude....but rest be assured, Yeiyo-ai-nayorr, my heart shall
forever be grateful.....
(Motorbike sounds are heard approaching, then they stop but the
engines are left idling. Then a voice of a woman is heard speaking to
the driver then they both walk on stage. The driver is holding a
spanner evident he has been fixing the lorry)
Emakarerei: Are you all right Lebutu?
Driver: I'm very well thank you. How about you daktari, how are
you?
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Emakarerei: Can't complain. Did you deliver all the sheep or you
lost some on the way?
Driver: I lost none daktari. I delivered all of them safely. The
delivery notes are here. Would you like to see them?
Emakererei: No, take them to the office...(She makes to leave)
Driver: Is there some more work for me?
Emakererei: (Turning) Yes, there are 400 bales of wool that need to
be delivered...
(She notices Resian)....Are you Resian Ole Kaelo?
Resian: Yes...yes I am
Emakererei: I guessed right.....your face is exactly as it appears in
the newspapers
Resian: Newspapers?
Emakererei: There's nothing to worry about young lady. I
remember about three weeks ago your father and a man called
Oloidusori put up an advertisement in the newspaper reporting that
you had disappeared. They promised a reward of half a million
shillings to whoever would find you....by the way my name is Minik
ene Nkoitoi. People around here call me daktari or Emakererei. I'm
the manager of this farm. Let the driver bring you to the office and
we'll talk some more...(Turning to the driver)....Lebutu, bring this
girl to the station and don't you lose her. She's worth a lot of money
(All laugh at the joke. Fadeout)
(In Emakererei living room, Emakererei, Resian and Nabaru talking)
Emakererei: That is a very moving story you have just told me
Resian. You are a very courageous young lady. Now, before I
respond to you, let me first direct this to you, Madam Nabaru. You
are my mother's agemate and therefore I will not begrudge you if I
find out, like my own mother, that you favour and support the
traditional girl child circumcision. It's a tradition that has been
handed down to the people dating back to the time Maa people
ascended the Kerio Valley, that is according to the Maa culture, a
culture that I too love and respect. I laud the Maa culture for the
tenacity of its fabrics that enable it to hold its people together long
after others disintegrated....However, culture is supposed to be
dynamic and it ought to shed off some aspects that has outlived their
43
usefulness, like F.G.M. What is its purpose in actual sense? Do you
think it helps the girl child in any way?
Nabaru: Not really if you think about it. The practice has outlived
its usefulness.
Emakererei: Exactly. You see, the name intoiye nemengalana
should stop being derogatory. Instead, emuratare-o-ntoiye, which is
girl child circumcision, should disappear from Maa language and
should be regarded as extinct
Nabaru: You are right. The practice does not add any value to the
girl child. Instead it traumatizes them and its hazardous to their
health. Having been ankabaani for a long time I can testify that that it
ruins lives of its victims. I will join you in lobbying against it.
Emakererei: Thank you for understanding and you're welcome into
my lobby group and I hope when you go back to Inkiito you will
inform people there about the dangers circumcision exposes to their
daughters.....(Turns to Resian)...Resian, I congratulate you for having
stood firm and resisted the pressure to have you circumcised. There
are very few girls who would've resisted the lure of Oloidusori's
riches and even fewer who would've wrestled a brute like Olarinkoi
in a remote house where no help was expected from any quarter. I
welcome you to join the five hundred girls in this ranch who has as
well refused to undergo the cultural rite. There are many more out
there in the villages who need to be rescued and taken back to
school. The battle is far from being won. You've also expressed with
great passion your wish to join Egerton university. I will do whatever
is possible and make sure that you and your sister Taiyo are enrolled.
Resian: Oh my goodness, thank you so much madam Emakererei....I
think I'm dreaming or hallucinating...I can't believe what I'm hearing,
and that I'm here with you, my role model.....
Emkererei: (Holding her hand) No my dear girl, you are neither
dreaming nor hallucinating. You're here with me...This ranch
operates a scholarship that benefits young talented girls like you who
have excelled in school but are unable to pursue further education for
lack of fees. Under the prevailing circumstances Resian, you qualify
for that scholarship. Your fight against F.G.M. and early marriage
has set you on a pedestal, and made me want to help you. During the
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
duration of your education you'll be regarded as an employee of this
ranch and you will draw salary and all the benefits that comes along
with it, how's that?....(Resian is dumbfounded, she just nods her
handscovering her mouth)......You'll have a fully furnished two
bedroom house and an advance salary to get you started off so that
you can buy some new clothes and some other items that you may
need...
Resian: (Tear rolling down her eyes) Your voice dear Emakererei is
truely the voice of God. Thisis a true case of a dream come true, and
it's only God alone who make such things happen. Meisisi
Olaitoriani!
Emakererei: It's OK now, its ok. You're safe here....
Resian: I would like to make one request
Emakererei: Go ahead..
Resian: To kindly allow Madam Nabaru to stay here for a few days
as she figures where to go for Olarinkoi has threatened her with
death if she ever go back of Inkiito
Emakererei: Of course she's welcome to stay
Resian: Thank you so much...I can't thank you enough.
Emakarerei: You're welcome. Now, let's go I take you to your
house...before we go I should tell you that here the days begin early.
Tomorrow you will rest but there after you must get to work.
Workers get up at five in the morning, meet for breakfast and the
duties of the day are shared out, OK?
Resian: OK.
(They stand up. When leaving, Resian suddenly holds Emakererei in
a tight hug thanking her again and again. Fadeout)
(Few days later at the farm, Resian, Emakererei and some two
workers at the farm)
Emakererei: Today I want us to separate female lambs from male
lambs....be gentle with the animals, OK?....(She notices a car from a
distance. Resian also looks at some distance where the car is
supposedly driving)....Resian, I'm going to see about the report from
that vehicle I had sent to rescue a girl from the village. We received a
distress call that she was forcibly circumcised and the would be
husband was said to be hovering around the homestead like a hawk
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and she couldn't escape. Take charge here as get the report as to what
took place, OK?
Resian: OK madam Emakererei (Emakererei leaves)....OK, let's go
to the shed and begin to work, and be gentle with the animals, you all
heard Madam Emakererei. Come on let's go, let's go...
(Fadeout. Lights on, Emakererei at the office with Resian. Resian is
sitting while Emakererei is pacing around)
Emakererei: Something totally unexpected has happened. We did
not receive sufficient information regarding the girl who was said to
have been forcibly circumcised. When I sent my rescue team to
Nasila to trace the girl, I thought they would go straight and find her
but it was not easy. My team eventually traced her at a place called
Esoit, about five kilometers or so from Nasila....but unlike other
homes where my team has been before, this particular home was
guarded day and night by fierce armed men
Resian: Poor girl
Emakererei: Eventually my team found a young man who helped
them by taking them to the village where the girl was hidden. They
were able to lure the guards to a beer party and the girl was left
unguarded. It was then that my rescue team took the girl and brought
her here. She's still having some difficulties walking because of the
injuries inflicted by the enkamuratani's olmurunya. Regrettably the
young Moran who helped my team was speared to death by those
thugs.....Well, I didn't know until the rescue team arrived that the
rescued girl is your sister, Taiyo, and the young man who was
speared to death was Joseph Parmuat, a teacher.
Resian: What are you talking about? And where is my sister right
now as we speak?
Emakererei: She's in your house....be calm as we handle this
delicate situation.
(Resian jumps and heads out of the office. Fadeout)
(Inside Resian's bedroom. Taiyo is lying in bed looking very weak.
Resian bursts in followed by Emakarerei. The two sisters embrace
and weep uncontrollably. Fadeout)
(A few weeks later. Emakererei in office. Taiyo and Resian enters)
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT
Emakererei: Come in, come on in girls, take seats....How are you
doing Taiyo
Taiyo: I'm much better now, in fact I'm fine
Emakererei: You're healing well?
Taiyo: I'm already healed, just dealing with acceptance now
Emakererei: Its going to be OK you'll overcome it. I underwent the
ritual myself and I accepted and moved on
Taiyo: Thank you for the encouragement
(Emakererei pulls two envelopes from her desk)
Emakarerei: My dear lovely girls, the moment we have been
waiting for has finally come. These two envelops here contain your
letters of admission to the Egerton university. You're required to
report to the campus on the fifth of September! We will have a
farewell party before you leave to join the university (They thank
and crap and laugh and embrace Emakererei. Fadeout)
(Celebrations going on at the ranch, people singing and celebrating
and dancing. It is a farewell party for Taiyo and Resian. Then the
sound of engines of vehicles are heard approaching and reving. The
partying stops momentarily as everybody looks at the direction of
sound of the vehicles. Then Oloisudori appears followed by three
strong men smartly dressed in suits. Emakererei goes to confront
them with her people around her. Resian and Taiyo stand at a safe
distance)
Oloizudori: (Stretching out his hand to greet Emakererei who refuse
to take it)....How are you madam, we didn't know you're holding a
party.
Emakrerei: You didn't announce you're coming so that we could tell
you we were having a party. Besides we do not have to inform
anybody when we have to hold a party. Anyway, what can I do for
you?
Oloisudori: Since you seem to be rash with me, I'll come straight to
the point. I'm told you're keeping two of Ole Kaelo's daughters here.
For your information, I have a choice to marry any one of the two.
Choose the one you want to keep for I have come to take one of
them. I have already paid dowry enough to cover the two!
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Emakererei: You'll be advised to get out of this place fast. The two
girls are under my charge and none of them, I repeat, none of them
would be taken away from me, not even by their father Ole Kaelo!
Oloisudori: Who are you to talk to me like that? Do you know
Oloisudori Loonkiyaa? I don't need permission to pick a wife, do I?
Who are you by the way? You are nothing but a mendacious spinster
who has lost a chance to get married and now masquerade as a
crusader against the so called F.G.M. Let us not waste time. Call
either Resian or Taiyo, then you can go ahead with your miserly
party peacefully
Emakererei: You are getting none of them. For your own safety and
the safety of your expensive machines, leave this place this instant.
Oloisudori: (To his men) Take Taiyo or Resian immediately!
(Hell breaks loose. Oloidusori together with his men are roughed and
beaten up. People shout, burn the vehicles! Burn the
vehicles!...Smoke is seen spreading on stage from the wings. Fade
out)
(Lights on. Taiyo and Resian with bags biding good bye to workers
at the ranch. Emakererei is with them)
Emakererei: Come on girls, enough of goodbyes. Get inside the
vehicle. It's time to join Egerton university!
Resian: (In a prayer) Meisisi Olaitoriani....It is all well that ends
well.
Taiyo: Esaai
(They walk off the stage pulling their bags as workers wave goodbye
at them. Fade out)
THE end
 BLOSSOM OF THE SAVANNAH. LIQUID ARTS ENTERTAINMENT

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