Dizzy Worms by Michael Holman

Author:Michael Holman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Africa
Publisher: For the Benefit of Mr. Kite
Published: 2009-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

It was soon after the announcement that Kireba was to be redeveloped that Philimon Ogata, looking as happy as a butcher’s dog, turned up at the bar and made an expansive gesture.

“Tuskers on me,” he announced. “One each,” he added, looking round. “Dough balls for the boys.”

Charity, who was tending the bar, looked sceptical. While Ogata was not a mean man, he was not a well-off man either. He made good money out of the funeral business, but three of his sons were still at high school, and his parents, blessed with a long life, relied on him.

Ogata slapped 100 ngwee on the counter.

“Deposit! And more where that came from,” he said, tapping a brown envelope that Charity could see bulged with cash.

It did not take her long to work out the source of Ogata’s wealth.

“So, Mr Ogata, you have been sleeping with lawyers. Be careful! Lawyers are very cunning. You may think you can beat them, and then, poof, you have no money. Indeed, you will have to repay money that you think is yours. Tell me what happened.”

Ogata’s tale was a familiar one.

It began, he said, with the visit of a well-known lawyer, Dr Strong Kapundu. After an exchange of pleasantries, they got down to business.

“How long have you lived at number 79 Uhuru Lane?” asked Kapundu.

It was not an easy question to answer. If the truth were made known to the City Council, it could prove an expensive business. He had not paid local taxes for many years. Ogata, who had in fact been living in Kireba for nigh on 30 years, decided to take a gamble.

“I’ve lived here for 15 years,” he said.

“Very good,” said Kapundu and went on to ask a series of other questions.

Had the terms of the lease changed? Had the owner changed?

Ogata thought carefully once again. The owner was a Luya company, whose main objectives were to buy land for its members and extract as much money as possible in as short a time as possible from its non-Luya tenants. The last thing Ogata wanted was trouble with landlords.

He decided to stick to his relatively honest approach. He named the company but his concern was apparent to the lawyer.

“Don’t worry,” said Kapundu. “Don’t worry.”

He produced a calculator, pressed several buttons, and showed the result to Ogata.

“This,” he said, “is how much you will get if you sign these papers.”

It was a small fortune but Ogata remained wary.

“And if I do not sign?”

Kapundu shrugged.

“Do you need the money?”

“Of course,” said Ogata.

Kapundu shrugged again: “Why should one beat a horse to make it drink if it is already thirsty?”

“So I signed,” said Ogata. “And here is the money.”

Who could blame him?

As word spread about Nduka’s project, residents of Kireba took advantage of the situation. You did not need to own the hovel in which you lived, or the land on which it was built, to benefit from a compensation scheme – at least, that was the claim of lawyers who, in the words of Charity, were ‘cleverer than lawyers from London, even’.

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