Memoirs of the first Msope

BY GEORGE KAGAME

The weather is good today, the sun is fully out and the skies are clear and like all mid mornings on such days the good old the First Msope just finished having what he calls a balanced breakfast. It is the second breakfast of the day. Earlier In the morning before he left home the good old Mfasha, his genial wife, had prepared a nice wonderful send off comprised of a warm cup of milk tea, a banana, mandazi and bread. 

the First Msope loves carbohydrates. They make his cheeks chubby but that is a sign that Mfasha is doing her job well. These are good days in Citi for the First Msope, he has  some concerns and issues with fitting in the new Citi but he lets the complaining and bitching about these issues to be done by others on his behalf. 

For now he is enjoying the good days and he knows fully well in his heart that he has never seen better but paradoxically he believes that someone else is enjoying the benefits of the good days more than him. As such he is jealous and when he returns home in the evening after work he will complain about the current system in Citi to Mfasha and his close buddies at the watering hole, the famous Ship&Anchor in Msingi wa Mji the business capital of Citi.

the First Msope is reveling in the new found fortunes of Citi, he never thought that things would be this good for him after Citi had earlier slid into calamity and then recovered to the gem it was now becoming today. So as he licks his lips and pulls up his trousers concealing a fast protruding belly while readying to sign numerous documents about Misio and fishi, as business trips and their expenses receipts are called in Citi he is joyous. 

Today is Friday which means the working day ends at 12pm upon which he will sign out and head straight to the watering hole in the official Suzuki Grande while the afternoon shift, otherwise dedicated to Siporo, will be spent chastising the new trends of Citi in private.The Grande is the new big man signature in terms of automobiles running the streets in Citi they replaced  Rengi Roveri and Renault. The latter wowed the crowds in years yonder. Life in the new Citi is a paradox!

The Suzukis now crowd the road leading to  Marutarama a suburb in Msingi wa Mji that hitherto had been a shrub but now was turned into a Malibu estates look alike.

But it is unfair not introduce the First Msope properly as it would rob you the understanding which is crucial in discerning why he is enjoying today so much. You see the First Msope was born in the Citi country side and never dreamed of big things as were happening in Msingi wa Mj currently. When he was a younger man, the authorities in Citi were uncouth, they mismanaged the country and got the Citimen as confused as an intoxicated homeless man. Citimen as a result hated each other so much that they unsuccessfully tried an apocalypse once. During this time the First Msope was starting out his teenage years. Problem is that some of the people in the authorities at that time were well known to the First Msope and in fact some of them might have been related to him by extension. Even at that time, all evidence pointed to him being a big man in the system one day.

In school the First Msope studied in a foreign language but this was to prove a disadvantage as the teachers were not very generous with their language so he only learnt the language partially. To compound the mess, that language was out of sync today and that is the reason that he was uncomfortable with some of the changes in Citi currently. He detested the new language and what it represented but the new language had also introduced him to the English premiership. 

The First Msope circled on Arsenal for the club managed by a Frenchman gave the First Msope a sense of identity as the lonely Frenchman in the English premiership. But in hindsight, Msope's newly found zealousness for soccer blessed the fortunes of the Citi national team in its hey days. The Citimen had even qualified for the continental bonanza, a fete that was hitherto unknown. The leading club in the land had also dominated regional tournaments and attracted the best players from all counties surrounding Citi though this did not stop the First Msope from going to Ship&Anchor to watch Arisenali instead of Siporo on friday afternoons.

As soon as the previous authorities in Citi were abolished the First Msope found out that the language he studied in school and managed to learn only partially was no-longer trendy. And so in order for him to flourish well today he had to learn another foreign language. This was particularly a difficult task at his age and big man status. 

But this new foreign language was essential in the economical and political dynamics of Citi, many language centres opened up all over Msingi wa Mji and other urban or commercial centres such that many, like the First Msope, would learn the new language and take advantage of newer opportunities in Citi. The language centres opened up in mosques, churches and markets.

He relied on his dexterity in farming on steep hills in the country to hustle in the new Citi. It did not help that all the new development programmes in Citi were compiled in a new vision and everything was written in the new foreign language. In order for the First Msope to climb the new big man ladders he found it necessary to learn this new language.

The language was further necessary because the new authorities had ensured that many new people arrived in Citi and they were not just visiting. They had come to stay and in order for the First Msope to get along with them he had to learn not just a new foreign language but new cultures. He was worried that the road rules were soon to be changed and that even his cherished friday Siporo would soon vanish.