book review of inheritance by david mulwa

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Inheritance by david mulwa notes summary.

Inheritance is a play that revolves around individuality and the perspective of development as seen by modern day ‘independent’ African states. In the play, particularly the prologue, we get to find that the King of Kutula wanted real independence for his people. However, the British were unwilling to work with such an open-minded individual. They were looking for a leader who will bend to the whims of the imperialists. The perfect candidate was the son of King Kutula known by the name Lacuna Kasoo.

CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION IN THE PLAY INHERITANCE BY DAVID MULWA

Introduction

Characters are the voice of the author in any works of art. In plays, they come alive and may take different forms depending on the director of the play. In the play Inheritance, David Mulwa creates vivid characters some of whom we may have encountered in real life. For instance, Lacuna Kasoo is a clear mirror of our current Kenyan politicians. He is as greedy as he is detached from the problems facing his people. As we explore characters we need to look at them as people who may have or do exist in real life. A character like Judah Zen Meloh represents a confusion of sorts. The Judah we know in the Bible betrayed Jesus while our Judah in the play does not want to betray his blood brother. Although, we need to tell the difference between Judah and Judas. Talking about Judah, he was the son of Jacob in the Old Testament of the Bible. He is the man who came up with the brilliant idea of selling Joseph Ishmaelites.

Our Judah, on the other hand is neither Judas nor Judah the brother of Joseph. He is the brother of Romanus Bengo and the man who tries in vein to redeem his name after he refused Lacuna Kasoo’s directive of eliminating the stubborn Romanus Bengo. Other characters like Tamina, Malipoa and Chipande play mute to all the atrocities being committed in Kutula as long as they get by. In plays, characters play different roles so as to bring out the playwright’s message. In the play Inheritance, David Mulwa creates colonial and post-colonial characters who shape the direction of the play and the ripples of their decisions are felt in the present day Kutula. Bishop Menninger sets in motion neocolonialism by his plans to assassinate the arrogant King Kutula XV. On the other hand, King Kutula plants a seed of hope in princess Sangoi which manifests itself when princess Sangoi now reverend leads a bloodless revolution that ousts Lacuna Kasoo from power effectively ending the colonial grasp over Kutula.

LULU ZEN MELO She is the daughter of Tamina and Judah Zen Melo. Romanus Bengo, the activist is her uncle. Lulu has two brothers both of whom are mentioned but do not play an active role in the play. However, they are pivotal in bringing down Lacuna Kasoo’s leadership.

Lulu is an outstanding student at a local government institution. She has dreams of studying up to university level and becoming a doctor. However, with recession in Kutula, her mother has no money for her university entrance exam.

Lulu gets upset with the complacency of her mother especially when her future is in jeopardy. Her mother’s piety disgusts her. She wants her mother to stop her religious myopism and protest against the dictatorial leadership of Lacuna Kasoo. Nevertheless, it is not just religion that has created fear among the people, Lulu’s mother included, but the fear for the repercussions like those meted on Lulu’s father.

Lulu displays a rather peculiar personality. On the one hand, she is a naive, innocent and easily trusting girl. That is one of the reason she plays a pivotal role in the commemoration of King Kutula’s death. On the other hand, she is a defiant follower of Romanus Bengo and a fearless critic of the gospel of mindless obedience and fear. Her outspokenness and outgoing nature makes her mingle with Robert Rollerston- a key investor in Kutula. Out of politeness, Lacuna does not get to spend the night with Lulu as had been planned. Lacuna is incensed by Lulu’s behaviour but according to Malipoa, the ritual can be performed at a later date.

She, however, stands for the voice of the oppressed young women who are put down by oppressive leadership and backward traditional practices meant to prey on the weak and the vulnerable. Her triumph after Lacuna’s fall is the win for women who have forever been yoked by a retogressive society.

CHARACTER TRAITS

Intelligent/radical/resilient Lulu is top of her class and an active participant in many of her school’s activities. She nurtures a dream of becoming a doctor. This drives her to join the radicalized in her society. In her struggle she is displays a not-giving-up attitude despite the financial constraints in the familyand the fluctuating Kutula economy.

Rebellious/persistent/insistent/vocal Lulu is rebels against religious and moral standards of her society. It is not really being rebellious but she speaks defiantly against her mother’s religious and moral beliefs which she alludes to their current state. Her scathing remarks against Bishop Menninger’s religion makes her earn stern discipline from her mother. However, this does not stop her from speaking but marks a journey towards activism which ends up with her interacting with Robert Rollerstone.

Social/outgoing/vibrant She is a free spirit a character that earns her a leading role in the commemoration ceremony. Her vibrant soul makes her meet and spend the night with Robert Rollerstone. Although, she was supposed to entertain Lacuna Kasoo, she more than engaged with a like-minded individual and young investor Robert Rollestone.

Naive/Easily Trusting/vulnerable/weak/Pure One of the reasons as to why Lulu was chosen is because of her purity. I should point out that the word Lulu is Swahili for Gold. Therefore, Lulu was as pure as gold. However, her naivete landed her in a hot mess when she learned about the true intention of her being invited in the royal palace. Although, she was driven by the desire to find someone who would finance her education, her vulnerability could be hereditary own undoing.

Demanding/Insensitive/provocative/forceful Lulu is tired of pretending and demands action from her mother. She is insensitive to her parents struggles against the biting poverty and demands that something should be done for her education. Her painful stand makes her appear as a spoilt brat to her mother.

LACUNA KASOO

He is the son of the former King Kutula XVI. He becomes the first leader of the independent Kutula state. As the head of state, Lacuna Kasoo uses his powers to intimidate the people and gain personal wealth as he runs the economy of Kutula down.

Despite the skyrocketing inflation and donors withholding funding, Lacuna is oblivious of the suffering of the masses. He continues to impose stricter rules on the people demanding more concessions on the citizenry. In the silver mines, despite the rickety machines, he demands for more output. This leads to the death of Judah Zen Melo. Around the state, there is massive land grabbing by state to satisfy multinational conglomerate while displacing the poor commofolk.

As can be seen in the play, Lacuna leads his tribesmen and those loyal to him in grabbing state resources. For instance, Lacuna controls the silver mines while Councillor Chipande has large tracts of land in the village from which Lulu resides. Moreover, he rewards those loyal to him with lucrative jobs. He also tortures and fires those who cannot do what has been asked of them.

However, towards the middle of the play, he changes tact. Firstly, he releasedpolitical prisoners including Romanus Bengo. Secondly, he appoints Rev. Sangoi into senior position. Lastly, he reaches out to elders from Bukelenge Basin in order to discuss evacuation plans. Nevertheless, Lacuna’s olive beach was just a veil to get his way. But he was wrong this time. The elders were tired of being manipulated and refused to convince the people to evacuate.

Lacuna represents the voice and puppet of the former colonial masters. Instead of serving his people, he is much more interested in serving two industrialists who control his pocket money. When he fails to pay the industrialists their loans, he realises how vulnerable his position is. Although, he tries to exercise his sovereign power, it is too late because on both sides he has been rejected.

He also represents a class of political elites who believe in the inferiority of their own people. In this regard , they outsource everything subjecting the masses to foreign exploitation. As can be seen in the play, the silver mines and cash crop farming are encouraged over other basic production. In fact, the evacuation from Bukelenge plains is meant for further foreign investment.

Greedy/Corrupt/impatient/ Lacuna Kasoo participates in the execution of his father in order to rise to power. While in power, he uses his position and authority to enrich himself. According to Rollerstone, Lacuna has millions of shillings in foreign accounts. Besides, the loans he takes do not go to economic development as seen in the old machines used by miners in the silver mines. Most of the money is either used for his entertainment or banked for him and his henchmen.

Stupid/Ignorant/Reckless

Lacuna finds pride in associating with internationally financiers whom he believes have his interests at heart. He believes that since he conspired with former colonial masters to end his father, then they owe him. However, when he fails to pay the loans, he realised that business does not have a human face.

Although he is advised by Chipande not to detain the foreigners, he ignores the plea. He also strongly believes in his military despite the growing opposition in the country. That’s one of the reasons he is removed from office.

His ignorance makes him believe Malipoa’s predictions and prophecies when the only thing needed was to listen to his people.

Superstitious/pretender/ignorant/arrogant

Lacuna believes in the wise counsel of Malipoa especially on the matters concerning the leadership of Kutula. He has the notion that he is the rightful heir to the throne of Kutula and that the popular opinion does not count. He pretends to care for the development of his country yet he misuses the loans and grants given by the foreigners to bring development. Lacuna believes that his father was a failure and that he has done more for his country than his predecessor. He talks about free education and healthcare when all that is needed is economic empowerment so that the people can afford education and healthcare among other things. He believes that his subjects do not have intellectual know-how to participate in the complex international trade.

Dictatorial/authoritative/Power hungry Lacuna is described by Bishop menninger as “an ingenious greedy rascal that’s utterly devoid of human feelings.... Nero and Caligula all rolled into one ambitious mould.”(pg15) In his desire to ascend to power, he assassinated his own father. While in power he uses fear and intimidation to rule and control his subjects. He rewards loyalists like Malipoa and Chipande and torture dissidents like Judah and his brother Bengo. Judah had been asked to get rid of his activist brother but he politely refused. This decision turned around Judah’s life from a successful civil servant to a poor man who would die struggling to make ends meet. Activists like Bengo are jailbirds while loyalists continue to loot the country’s coffers with the help of Lacuna himself.

Easy to manipulate/myopic/dependent

Menninger knew Lacuna so well. He is the one who prepared him for the role he would play later in life- that of ending the life of his wife. The foreigners first used him to eliminate the humanitarian leader and

then continually used him to loot both the natural and agricultural resources through loans whose interests were very high. Since Lacuna was not a visionary leader he easily fell for easy cash that lands Kutula into inflation. Dependence on foreign aid becomes Lacuna’s major undoing since the people rebel against him.

ROBERT ROLLERSTONE He is a young energetic foreign investor in Kutula. He plays the role of the bad cop, a business face that has no time for petty conversations like his counterpart Daniel Goldstein. Robert dislikes Lacuna because he believes that the old geezer has thrown Kutula into turmoil. In fact he fearlessly blames Lacuna for the deplorable condition of the country. However, this should not be construed as a sympathetic foreigner. He is just angry because Lacuna has severally failed to to service the loans extended to the country of Kutula.

Meanwhile, the same Robert who could be construed as a sympathetic foreigner, has compelled Lacuna government to allocate prime plots for foreign investment according to his terms. In this regard, he is contributing to more suffering to those who will be evicted in Bukelenge for the said project. Therefore, his interests in Kutula are purely business and has no interest with the ‘stupid’ locals who do not know how to utilize the numerous local resource for development.

Nevertheless, Robert saves Lulu from imminent sacrificial ritual organized by Malipoa in the palace. Lulu was supposed to spend the night with Lacuna according to ‘traditions’ after the celebrations to celebrate the death of King Kutula XV. However, that night the oblivious Lulu spent the night entertaining Robert.

Tough/officious/Straightforward He does not babysit Lacuna Kasoo as Daniel does. He is gruff and bold as he reads out the terms of the loans extended to Kutula and the results for the loans. His official manner makes Lacuna despise him. He readily threatens to take all the money Lacuna and his henchmen have stashed in foreign accounts.

Young/ambitious/business-minded Robert is young and ambitious. His youth drives him into taking bigger risks to expand company operations in Kutula despite the marauding corruption. However, this time round he does want to finance the agricultural projects with company oversight and leave Lacuna’s government out of it.

Outgoing/good listener/social When Robert meets the young Lulu, they instantly hit it off and becomes friends. He keen sense of listening makes him gain insights into operations in Kutula and that is why he does not want to pamper Lacuna any further.

Quick-tempered/Unpretentious/concerned/arrogant Robert knew very well the operations in Kutula and how the leadership misappropriated state resources. For this reason he hated them and did not want to play any games with them. He also shows concern for the local people and that’s why he wants to invest in them. However, he does not ask the people what they should want since he believes that his company has all the answers for the ‘ignorant’ folk

ROMANUS BENGO Romanus Bengo is the brother to Judah Zen Melo and uncle to Lulu and her two brothers. He is the leading civil rights activist in Kutula having escaped death when his brother Judah refused to finish him as had been ordered by Lacuna Kasoo.

According to Tamina, Judah had cursed Judah since it is Judah’s activism that had made them lose their jobs, cars and lands and were now living in abject poverty. Tamina does seem to blame Romanus for the situation in her household.

However, Romanus is adamant. He believes that the only way out of Kutula’s situation is to speak against Lacuna’s excesses despite the apparent challenges. Lulu shares her uncle’ssentiments and so does her brother’s who join him in the revolution that ousts Lacuna Kasoo from power. Therefore, Romanus becomes the voice of reason and hope in the play.

Calm/patient/persistent He displays a calm demeanour even in times when he is incarcerated. He shows patience because he knows fully well that he is dealing with people confronted by teachings of submission and respect for those in authority and the poor. He does not give up in his fight even when imprisoned.

Educated/radicalized/brave/courageous/fearless Judah made sure that Bengo obtained the best education in Kutula. It is this education that exposed Bengo to the suffering of his people and made him decide to fight for the rights of the people. Despite the prosecution of rights activists, Bengo displayed courage knowing fully well the risks to which he exposed himself.

Hopeful/reliable/charismatic/dependable Bengo is hopeful that he will overcome Lacuna’s reign of tyranny. He makes sure that he is reliable and using his wit and charm attracts a huge following. Kind/forgiving/understanding Bengo accommodates everyone and does not take it to heart when his brother curses him. He also understands why Tamina hates and despises him.

TAMINA ZEN MELO Tamina is the wide of Judah Zen Melo. She has three children with him among them Lulu. Currently, Tamina lives in poverty. She is pained by the fact that she has been compelled to live a miserable life because of her stubborn brother-in-law.

Instead of Tamina blaming her situation on Lacuna’s situation, she blames it on her brother-in-law. She is among the majority who believe in doing nothing even when the leadership is blatantly corrupt and unreasonable. She believes that Lacuna was annointed by God and only God shall remove him from office. She is patient as she is prayerful.

Nevertheless, towards the end, she joined the protesting bandwagon that yanks Lacuna from office. This happens late for she had previously lost her husband.

DANIEL GOLDSTEIN Daniel Goldstein is a company man. Together with Robert Rollerstone, they represent neo-colonial interests in Kutula. Goldstein is a wide old man who knows how to manipulate Lacuna Kasoo. He is the man looks towards as a friend and a confidant. He builds such trust in Lacuna which makes Lacuna feel comfortable to work with him. However, once he has put Lacuna into his grasp, he brings in Robert to finish what Goldstein had started. The withdrawal of Goldstein is very tactical since he shows that there is nothing he can do to help. Goldstein claims that business has no human face.

Goldstein’s mannerisms and conduct are the very core of how the situation is in Kutula. He is unlike his counterpart Robert. He is ruthless and cunning. He uses polite talk and praise to uplift Lacuna then once he has gotten an opportunity, he takes a business tone tearing down Lacuna. He knows very well that Lacuna leads a bunch of greedy uneducated loyalists who do not understand investments, but he keeps on extending loans which are grabbed and carted to foreign accounts.

Hiding on the principle of sovereignty, he choses not to pursue the matter of rampant corruption in Kutula. However, when his business is threatened by the huge loans taken by Lacuna, he is ready to take what readily belongs to him including emptying Lacuna’s foreign accounts.

Firm/Calm/Intelligent/Wise/brilliant/calculating/Categorical

He speaks calmly and wins Lacuna’s confidence. Thereafter, he walks Lacuna through the financial debt the leadership owes him until he reduces Lacuna into a helpless beggar. When they started speaking, Lacuna had the authority but towards the end of the conversation we realize that Lacuna is just a puppet but power belongs to Daniel Goldstein. He knows exactly how to put Lacuna in his place despite Lacuna’s arrogance.

Manipulative/cunning/Liberal Goldstein averted Lacuna’s desire for power to greed for money. In this way, he knew Lacuna being lazy and stupid, he won’t look for opportunities to create wealth but take the easy way out- borrow loans. At the beginning he made sure that the loans appeared to have been a mutual consent between two parties. However, he knew pretty well that the loans would be a noose around the people of Kutula especially given the fact that the leadership was clueless. Have bagged Kutula’s resources, he takes a liberal stand and throws in Robert Rollerstone- a fierce financier who makes Lacuna regret his decisions. On the other hand, Daniel plays as helpless as Lacuna.

Heartless/Pretender/aloof Daniel knew very well the insatiable greed Lacuna and his cabinet had, however, he continued to finance Lacuna’s government. The huge debt coupled with inflation lands a majority of the people of Kutula into abject poverty. However, Daniel’s company still has the audacity to proclaim further investment that would evacuate the people from their homes in Bukelenge Valley.

COUNCILLOR CHIPANDE Chipande is Lacuna’s trusted hand in running Kutula. He is a people pleaser and astute follower of Lacuna. Together with Malipoa, they form a ring of trusted allies of Lacuna. Using their positions and power, they enrich themselves by grabbing up lands and embezzling government resources. Chipande is Lacuna Kasoo’s strongest ally. He is there to advice Lacuna Kasoo to tread lightly infront of the two white people. As can be seen, he employs a modest and humble tone with the westerners but is bossy around his countrymen. He believes in the colonial mindset of being ruthless to keep the natives in tow.

As a land owner, Chipande pays his employees peanuts so as to keep them coming. He does not extend credit facilities and that is why Tamina has no savings or nowhere to turn when Lulu asks for school fees money.

COUNCILLOR MALIPOA Together with Chipande, they are the closest and most trusted leaders who surround Lacuna Kasoo. Malipoa plays as the traditional and religious advisor to Lacuna Kasoo just like Menninger was the advisor to the colonial Governor Thorne Macay.

As a religious advisor, Malipoa ensures that he continues to incalculate religious rituals that raise Lacuna to Devine status. In this regard, people of Kutula believe that the Lacuna was chosen by God and no one can supplant him from the office. It is Malipoa traditional rituals that keep Lacuna in office for long. Malipoa also demands certain privileges to be extended to the leader. An example is that the people should offer a pure girl teenager to Lacuna as a piece of sacrifice to appease the ancestors and bless Kutula. It is for this reason that Lulu had been chosen to entertain Lacuna Kasoo.

PRINCESS/ REVEREND SANGOI She is Lacuna Kasoo’s half-sister. She has been adopted by the late King Kutula the XV because of her intelligence and wit. Although she had come from poor background, the little girl was infatuated by the white man’s religion and education.

King Kutula seeing this, he requested that Bishop Menninger should ensure that the girl obtained the best of the white man’s education. However, Menninger had other plans for the girl-he wanted to make her a good for nothing religious and philosophical fanatic who would have nothing to do with the suffering of her people but fervently in search of the white man’s philosophies burried in books. Menninger was wrong. It seems the King had seen something human in the little girl. For although the girl grew to become a Reverend, she never forgot her people. In fact she used the bible to elevate the suffering of her people and fight for the muffled freedoms.

This made her at loggerheads with her half-brother Lacuna Kasoo. Kasoo tries to buy her by appointing her into office as councillor and representative of the people but she refuses to silence the voice of the people. Instead she leads the opposition against Lacuna Kasoo and his foreign saboteurs.

JUDAH ZEN MELO Judah is the father to three children, Lulu and her two brothers. He is the husband to Tamina. He is also the brother to Romanus Bengo.

Judah is an obedient folower to Lacuna Kasoo. He rises above the ranks and becomes one of the most powerful people in Kutula. However, Judah’s brother Romanus Bengo, refuses to tow the line. He becomes a leading activist in Kutula. When Lacuna Kasoo asks Judah to deal with his brother Bengo. Judah declines because he cannot shed the blood of his own brother.

Thereafter, Judah is attacked by a mysterious gang that leaves him for dead. When he recovers, thanks to Reverend Sangoi’s husband. He finds out that he has lost favour with Lacuna Kasoo. For the rest of his life he would work hard to please Lacuna to no avail until when he is killed at the mines.

KING KUTULA XV King Kutula XV was the last post colonial leader in Kutula. He was the father to Lacuna Kasoo, who succeeded him and Reverend Sangoi- an adopted child. King Kutula appears in the prologue. He is one of the driving force behind the activism manifested in Romanus and Sangoi.

Kutula’s wisdom and defiance drives the colonial authorities to device a means of eliminating him. Kutula favours complete emancipation as opposed to political freedom when the economy of his people is still in the tentacles of the super powers. His sentiments are shared by Sangoi, who when she released the two foreign friends declared that Kutula was ready to do business with them at her own discretion. GOVERNOR THORNE MACAY He is the last colonial Governor of Kutula. He hopes to continue the exploitation of Kutula by foreign force. However, he meets a defiant King Kutula.

According to conversation between Kutula and Macay, the Governor turns out to be illiterate to Kutula customs and manner of speaking. He is also oblivious to the suffering of the people as he leads a lavish lifestyle while the majority are languishing in abject poverty. His inhumanity blinds him to the fact that the colonial authority is in fact milking the people dry instead of creating an environment of development and prosperity. He is more interested in Kutula’s mineral and natural resources as opposed to humanitarian interests.

BISHOP MENNINGER He is a representative of colonialist religion. As it were, this religion was tailored to raise submissive initiates who have little opposition to their own humiliation.

Seeing that King Kutula would jeopardize his plans, he hatches a plan to eliminate the king. He also plans to also induct Sangoi into the field of academia such that she has no mind of her own or plans to liberate her people from implanted ignorance.

His plans for King Kutula succeeds in driving the king to death and raising Lacuna into power. However, instead of Sangoi being brainwashed, she comes out well educated in matter political freedom and economic emancipation which she plans to use to bring an about turn in Kutula’s deplorable poverty.

THEMES IN INHERITANCE

Inheritance refers to what is left by the deceased to the family in material wealth or sometimes power. However, the word could have diverse meanings when applied to works of literature. In this respect, David Mulwa looks at inheritance in various ways.

The play revolves around a three decades old Kutula under its new leadership. Having achieved

independence from colonial masters, Kutula is now governed by Lacuna Kasoo-the son of pre- independence King Kutula XV. Lacuna ascended to power after the death of his father. Although the King

has adopted Princess Sangoi as his successor, he dies mysteriously thus handing the power to the greedy, self-centred Lacuna. As it were, Lacuna conspired with the colonial masters to assassinate his father King Kutula XV.

Having assumed power with the help of colonial masters, Lacuna runs the government under the influence of Kutula’s former imperialists. He receives hefty loans aimed at ‘developing’ the country. However, the loans are meant to make Kutula a slave of foreign saboteurs led by Old Daniel Goldstein and young Robert Rollestone. Even though Kutula boasts of being an independent state, there is a lot that suggests that the country inherited the former colonial legacies. For instance, the Daniel Goldstein’s company bankrolls Kutula. Without their loans and donations, Kutula’s economy is bound to collapse. (Pg72) Secondly, when Goldstein points out how blatant misappropriations of funds were in Kutula, he assumes power and even sits on Lacuna Kasoo’s throne just to show who exactly was in power in Kutula. (Pg79) Therefore, Kutula was a sovereign nation under imperial powers.

One of the reasons King Kutula was assassinated was because he was tired of being treated as a slave by colonial authorities. He wanted liberation on Kutula terms not the terms set by the imperialists. He had demanded for total independence- a privilege the super powers were unwilling to extend. In order to control Kutula and perhaps harvest humongous profits from her mineral wealth, the colonial Bishop Menninger suggested the appointment of the greedy yet brainless Lacuna Kasoo. (Pg15) With Lacuna in office the colonialists continued to enjoy the same privileges they had enjoyed during the colonial period. On the other hand, the people of Kutula would suffer in poverty and bad governance as they had during the reign of Thorne Macay- the colonial governor. However, the people believe that the conditions were better of during the colonial period.

The play explores inheritance and its pains to the society. As it were, the people believed in the their leaders, especially King Kutula. On the one hand, locals believed that King Kutula had blessed Princess Sangoi- later Reverend Sangoi as the rightful heir to the throne. While on the other hand, the colonialist hatched a plan to swear in the legitimate child- Lacuna Kasoo as the new leader. Therefore, the struggle was between the rightful heir and the chosen one. In this case the rightful heir won but is thrown out of office in a bloodless coup led by Romanus Bengo.

As can be seen, inheritance maintains the status quo but a fresh breathe of new leadership brings to the table new ideas which can be optimistic for the people. In the play, Reverend Sangoi represents a fresh new leadership that would agree to negotiations with foreign investors as opposed to dictation as seen in Lacuna Kasoo’s regime where foreigners enjoyed while locals suffered in slavery and poor pay. The new Kutula is open to quid pro quo kind of agreement as stated by Reverend Sangoi. (Pg35)

POVERTY From the beginning of the play, we are introduced to abject poverty of the people of Kutula. It is one of the reasons as to why Governor Thorne Macay- the colonial leader cannot agree with King Kutula XV. On one hand, Thorne wants the King to silence the surging rebellion in the colony, while on the other, the King is seen to side with the rebels.

According to the King, he cannot sit there and support what the white masters are doing. Riding on the will of the people, he tells the governor that he has no control over the people but is ready to deliver the people from suffering. This is the reason Thorne and Bishop Menninger conspire to eliminate the King in the prologue.

Over three decades after independence, the people of Kutula are still poor. In independent Kutula, the people are burdened by heavy taxation, huge international debt and wanton land-grabbing by their leaders. Besides these, the leadership is embroiled in massive corruption, nepotism and favoritism. The leader Lacuna Kasoo is as greedy as he is incompetent. However, he is supported by foreign saboteurs who really control the goings on the the state. These foreigners finance forced evictions of people from ancestral land for ‘development’ and also mining rights.

With the leaders at the mercy of the foreigners and the wanton greed in the leadership, poverty is the order of the day. As can be seen in Tamina’s sparsely furnished grass-thatched house, families have little to live for. Tamina can barely feed herself and her daughter. She cannot also afford her daughter’s school fees and the never stopping need for money in the school. (Movement 1) As can be seen, poverty is caused by various factors in Kutula chief among them being the leadership of Lacuna Kasoo. As a leader, he has chosen a cabal of sycophants as councillors and his chief advisors. These group of the elite have awarded themselves large chunks of land and hefty payments through graft which have left Kutula bankrupt and the general population poor.

If the government has no funds, every citizen is overly taxed in order to raise funds. Besides, the government may resort to austerity measures like firing older citizens from jobs in order to reduce the wage bill. (Pg38) Judah Zen Melo speaks about how he has to keep with younger men in order to maintain his job. As can also be seen, there are very little job opportunities in Kutula with a large pool of the unemployed.

Another cause of poverty in Kutula is government policy. Kutula’s policies are mostly geared towards promoting the welfare of the foreigners. First of all the government deprives the people water by building a white elephant dam. (Pg17) The dam made the entire valley dry. The second policy is evacuation of people to create land for foreign investment. This is one factor that create a quiet rebellion in Kutula.

NEOCOLONIALISM After independence, many countries that were granted independence found themselves drawn towards their former colonial masters. Such countries were drawn by incentives such as the Commonwealth, foreign aid and the promise of assistance in economic development.

Those countries or leaders who refused such arrangements were either assassinated or removed from power. In this respect, the colonialists found themselves coming back as expatriates and financiers for development.

In Kutula, the king who had vision for his people is assassinated. In his place, the colonial players put his greedy son as the new leader democratically elected. In this way, the former powers made leadership decisions for the people of Kutula even though the people’s favourite was princess Sangoi. Although the

power arrangement has changed from kingdom to a democracy. Lacuna Kasoo seem to retain the pre- colonial title of king. Lacuna Kasoo is controlled by two international financiers: Robert Rollerstone and

Daniel Goldstein. Goldstein is as old as Lacuna but Robert is way younger.

On his part, Daniel plays the good cop. He appeases Lacuna while defiantly asking for more concessions from the country. On his part, Lacuna needs more money to run the country. The colonialists knew how greedy Lacuna was, and they planned to use Lacuna’s greed to profit from Kutula’s Silver mines and rich agriculture lands.

Although the country has rich mineral resources and people are working tirelessly in the mines, the country can’t sustainably pay for the loans. Goldstein still demands for more. Indeed, Lacuna’s greed may have sent the mines to bankruptcy. However, if that was the case, then Goldstein would have frozen aid long ago before things got out of hand. They continued supporting Lacuna because they benefited from the mines and also from the loans they extended to the state.

Robert, on the other hand, is the bad cop. Using business voice, he threatens Lacuna to pay up the building loan instalments as had been agreed upon. He goes even further to claim that he could access Lacuna’s Foreign accounts and use the money to repay for the loans.

The foreigners show Lacuna that he could be running a sovereign nation but without money, he was just useless and dependent on their mercy.

RELIGION Many times when we talk about religion, we look at Christianity and other major religion in the world. Although this religions play major roles in literature, there are still many other religions that writers and playwrights also discuss in their works. In this play, Christianity and Kutula traditional religion play a significant role. However, the role played by these two religions is negative.

The play clearly brings out how religion can be applied subjectively to the people. During the colonial era, Bishop Menninger made sure to preach about obedience and humility in order to make the people of Kutula submissive. Besides, he used the sermons to get to know the people especially the young generation. It is within his teachings that he came to learn that Lacuna Kasoo would make a fine leader for Kutula(pg15).

Menninger also observes that Princess Sangoi would be no bother since she was enamoured by the foreign religion. According to the Bishop, Sangoi would be lost in the corridors of academia to worry about leadership. He was wrong as can be seen in the play.

The teachings of humility and obedience seem to have stuck in Kutula even after independence. Coupled with traditional teachings, they have reduced the people of Kutula into fearful sufferers including the leaders. Although some like Romanus Bengo and Lulu are waking up to reality and condemning this act of cowardice, the rest are still in the murk (pg30-47.) Lulu has woken up to realisation that being godly does not mean being stupid and afraid and points it out to her mother. Her mother Tamina, is afraid of those in power that the only person she can raise her voice to is her daughter. She represents the voiceless who suffer under the laws meant to benefit those in power.

Traditional religion is propagated by Councillor Malipoa. Using his understanding of his traditional religion, Malipoa propagates male chauvinistic ideologies which are meant to satisfy Lacuna Kasoo’s insatiable lust for innocent girls. Malipoa postulates that in order for Lacuna to keep his position, he needs to appease the gods by sacrificing a pure untainted girl in the former king’s chambers. This tradition was meant to prey on unwitting parents and thus let the leader defile young women in the name of tradition.

ACTIVISM/ OPPOSITION Activism is involves standing against what can be perceived as a social, political or economic ill in the society. It takes different forms including enlightening the masses through publications, both fictional and factual. It can also include civil disobedience through protests among other ways. In most occasions, activism is a peaceful process whose main agenda is to bring about change in the perceived wrong. However, some protests have turned violent leading to death and destruction of property e.g. the Soweto massacre in South Africa. Nevertheless, such cases occur when those in power decline to give protesters the needed freedom to express what they feel is wrong.

Other instances have seen those in authority arrest activists and put them behind bars for standing against them. Many activists die in the hands of brutal police force and bad governance. However, in Inheritance we come across arrests as can be seen in the case of Romanus Bengo. Bengo could have been a victim of assassination had his brother Judah Zen Melo been a cold hearted murderer. According to the play, Judah had been asked to take care of Romania Bengo but he declined. Judah ended up losing his lucrative job in the government.(pg23)

Activism did not begin with Romanus in the play, it begun with the late King Kutula XV. The king refused to betray his citizens in the prologue. Since he was such an exceptional king, he was poisoned by his own son. (Pg15)

Other Activists in the play are the Reverend Princess Sangoi and the young Lulu. Lulu seems to have been converted into activism by his activist uncle Romanus Bengo. She speaks confidently against the fear that has been instilled to the people by the government to the shock of her mother. (Pg30) Besides Lulu, her two brothers and several elders too join in the resistance against Lacuna Kasoo’s regime. In the play, the people are tired against colonialism and the grasp the former colonial masters have on the New independent Kutula state. Furthermore, they are tired of the increased nepotism and plunder of national resources by Lacuna and his clansmen and loyalists like Malipoa and Chipande. They are crying for openness in governance and an end to colonial policies.

SYCOPHANCY This is the act of pleasing those in authority in order to gain favours. After ascending to power, Lacuna Kasoo made sure that he appointed people who were loyal to him and would do anything to please him. Chief among the loyalists was Councillors Chipande and Malipoa. Malipoa invokes traditional teachings and practices in order to ensure that Lacuna Kasoo was well respected and adored as the chosen leader of the people. Even though Lacuna was unpopular because of his poor leadership, Malipoa ensured that the leader was confident that he was well received by the ancestors and popular among his subjects. On the other hand, Chipande was the liason between Kutula and his foreign friends. He knew all Lacuna’s secrets including the foreign accounts. Both councillors are well rewarded for example Chipande has a huge coffee farm in which Tamina works. People who refused to show their loyalty was punished and denied jobs in Kutula. When Judah was asked get rid of his activist brother, he refused to obey the Lacuna. Therefore, he was beaten and left for the dead. Besides, his job was taken and he spent the rest of his life trying to win Lacuna’s favour.

PLOT ANALYSIS

The Bishop also observed the darkness in people’s hearts. In his interaction with the people of Kutula, the Bishop observed that Lacuna Kasoo was “an ingenious greedy rascal that’s devoid of human feelings.” (page15) In this respect, Lacuna was the perfect candidate to succeed his father King Kutula. The King, Kutula, would meet his untimely death at the hands of his son. Beside Lacuna Kasoo, King Kutula had adopted an intelligent girl Sangoi. The King brought Sangoi to the palace with the intention that the girl would obtain western education in the hopes that she will become one of the pillars of her society. But the bishop had other plans for her, he hoped that ‘the philosophical whelp will lose herself in Western Libraries, looking for devine answers that have eluded even the experts.’(pg15) He was wrong since Sangoi became the leader of the second liberation of her people.

With King Kutula gone and Lacuna Kasoo as president, neocolonial powers led by Daniel Goldstein and young Robert Rollerstone would descend on Kutula- the young state and command the new leader to do their bidding. The country descends into deplorable poverty with corruption and nepotism the order of the day. The new leader Lacuna Kasoo punishes dissidents and rewards loyalists like Councillor Malipoa and Chipande.

In order to keep the people in check, the leader ensures that the entire extended family of dissidents is

punished and denied even gainful employment. A good example is what happens to Judah Zen Melo- Romanus Bengo’s brother. Romanus Bengo is a well-known activist in Kutula, his brother Judah Zen

Melo, on the other hand, was a ‘Law-abiding’ civil servant who was ready to do anything for Lacuna Kasoo except getting rid of Romanus Bengo. When Judah refused, ‘to pluck this thorn out and pledge,’ (pg23) his loyalty a new to Lacuna Kasoo, he was beaten and thrown out into the cold.

Judah who was once a successful civil servant with large pieces of land becomes a pauper. His family is thrown in turmoil. In order to fend for his family, Judah travels allover Kutula leaving his family behind in the hands of his wife Tamina. Tamina has to feed and provide education for their daughter Lulu. Lulu harbours dreams of becoming a doctor like Reverend Sangoi’s husband. Nevertheless, the family’s economic position stands in her way. Talented and determined to succeed, Lulu falls into the shackles of Lacuna Kasoo as a sacrificial virgin during the commemoration of King Kutula’s death. Luckily for her, she dances with Robert instead of dancing and entertaining the leader Lacuna Kasoo.

In order to appease the gods, Lulu is detained in the palace awaiting for the new moon for the rituals to be performed again. However other events happen putting this event in jeopardy.

Judah and his family blame Bengo for their downfall except for their daughter Lulu who admires Bengo’s efforts to fight for the downtrodden. As things are in Kutula, it is better for one to lick the leaders shoe that live hand to mouth like the way Tamina lives. She is even unable to pay for her daughter’s school fees.

When Romanus is released from prison, he learns that his brother had cursed him and he was unwelcome in his brother’s house. His only choice is to join the revolution. Meanwhile, the people are tired with the level of poverty in Kutula and they are turning against the government. In addition, having squandered donor funds and stashed the rest of the loot in foreign banks, Lacuna is unable to service loans. As he tries to silence dissidents on one hand, he is also struggling to appease Robert Rollerstone and Daniel Goldstein- the international financiers. With no apparent exit, Lacuna corners the two financiers and detains them in his palace. Meanwhile, Romanus has gathered enough support from the people. The large numbers of protesters overpower Lacuna’s security and take over the palace. Lacuna and his close associates are detained, Robert and Daniel are given safe passage to the airport and Lacuna’s adopted sister Princess/Reverend Sangoi takes over leadership.

1. Thorne Macay: Governor of Kutula and representative of the King 2. Bishop Menninger: Servant to Thorne Macay 3. King Kutula XV: traditional ruler of Kutula 4. Princess Sangoi: King Kutula’s adopted daughter (later Reverend Sangoi) 5. Romanus Bengo: An Activist 6. Tamina Zen Melo Romanus’ sister-in-law

7. Lulu Zen Melo: Tamina’s daughter, a student 8. Judah Zen Melo: Tamina’s Husband and Brother to Bengo 9. Lacuna Kasoo: Present leader of Kutula Republic 10. Teacher: Miss Gerima, teacher/choreographer 11. Mama Melissa; Leader and Kasoo’s wife 12. Councillor Chipande: Kasoo’s political advisor 13. Councillor Malipoa: Kasoo’s traditional Advisor 14. Daniel Goldstein and Robert Rollerstone: international financiers 15. Elders (1,2,3) and The Woman: Opinion leaders of Bukelenge Valley 16. Attendant (I,II)- Palace staff 17. Woman leader I and II, Young Male leader, Elderly leader, young woman leader, 18. Palace staff 19. Prologue

a visit and offer advice on how to further contain the people of Kutula. Besides the Bishop, King Kutula- native leader- visits and arrogantly states his terms: that his people are tired of Thorne Macay’s Natives

inhabiting their land. The King believes that it’s time his people were given their freedom. However, Macay and Menninger have other plans; to oust the king from office and bring in the greedy

king’s son Lacuna Kasoo. Meanwhile, the bishop promises to take in the king’s adoptive daughter- Princess Sangoi as a student.

Observations from the prologue

The colonial government’s reluctance to concede defeat is seen as the governor and the bishop plan to

remove King Kutula from office. It is observed that, the colonialists would prefer to work with self- centred Lacuna Kasoo than a King who cares for his people. The mural on the wall depicts the situation

of the people on the ground while the office’s opulence, the lifestyles of those in power. Despite the suffering of the people of Kutula, the governor is more interested in what the land can produce than what he really offers.

Meanwhile, as seen in King Kutula, the people prefer education more than they do religion. Questions from the prologue  Explain on the effectiveness of the proverbs used in the prologue  Identify two styles used in the prologue.  Why do you think King Kutula is unafraid of governor Macay?

The scene is in Tamina’s old grass thatched house. It should be noted that what we see here is abject poverty. From how the house is sparsely furnished, to the dressing of its inhabitant, and the wrinkles that make Tamina appear older than she is, we can tell that they live in deplorable conditions. It is noteworthy that the actions here happen thirty years after independence. In the prologue, we are told of how the colonialists were planning to torment the people of Kutula. Nevertheless, from the scene we can see that their plans never materialized or did they?

But when Bengo, their relative joined the opposition, and spoke against the government of Lacuna Kasoo, they were fired from their jobs. Apparently, the leader Kasoo had asked Judah to silence the rebellious brother Bengo but Judah refused to betray his own blood brother (pg23.)

Tamina longs to return to the past, days when they were living as sycophants. Life was beautiful and prosperous as opposed to how they are currently living. She can be looked at as selfish and self-centered because Bengo is fighting against the oppression in Kutula.

Her daughter, Lulu, is also against living in fear of the leader. Nevertheless, she wants to succeed in education and become a doctor. In order to do this she needs money. Therefore, she begs her mother to talk to those in power including Lacuna Kasoo. According to Lulu, Kasoo had extended an olive branch to the people and they were free to see him and talk to him about their problems. To the mother, this was only empty rhetoric. Lulu, however, promises to finish her school no matter the cost.

Lulu is as a rebellious spirit as her uncle Bengo. She is already aware of her rights and demands what is right. She is also against her mother’s religion of submission and a god who does not come down to help. She wants to go at it alone; something that earns her punitive retribution from her mother. Tamina also receives another guest in the name of her husband Judah Zen Melo. It has been years ever since Judah left home to look for work to sustain his family. After the fall out, Judah cannot get any gainful employment in Kutula so he scrapes for any available opportunity to make ends meet. When he comes back, he is a drunk good-for-nothing man who has given up on life and afraid to stop moving. He has been working in the mines and seems to have been conditioned to work as hard and as long so as not to lose his job to younger energetic individuals. When he comes home, he is ready to die.

Observations from the scene Bad governance, rampant corruption and intimidation make those who are in power become wealthy and untouchable. However, the majority suffer from depravity and long for a day when they too will get to the limelight. Tamina understands how bad Lacuna’s government is. However, instead of becoming part of the solution, she would rather be part of the problem. She would rather be part of Lacuna than join Romanus Bengo in the opposition. Lulu, on the other hand sees the need for change. She hates her mother’s docile approach to life and wants action.

Themes from the scene

Systemic Poverty There seem to be despondency among the people of Kutula. The few who are rich pay meager salaries that cannot sustain the local people. Tamina is left alone by her husband to fend for her children. Life becomes very unbearable for Tamina especially sustaining the education of her daughter Lulu. Apart from the scarcity of food, there is also scarcity of water. Lulu has to walk for long hours to fetch water for her family. According to Tamina, all the water (pg19) had been directed to one large dam thus depriving the people their lifeblood. Loyalty The leader demands total loyalty from his subjects. When Romanus becomes an activist and condemns the current leadership, Lacuna feels threatened. In order to keep his position, he asks Judah Zen Melo to prove his loyalty. The simple task Judah is to carry is to eliminate his brother Romanus Bengo. Judah declines.

Judah is, therefore, fired from his employment and left for the dead. After his recovery, he tries to no avail to appease the leader. However, Judah’s efforts do not bear any fruits. Those who are loyal to the leader like Chipande continue to enjoy the fruits of independence.

Religion This act plays out as a critic to Christianity. Lulu observes that many teachings in the church preach about hope especially to the poor and the needy. However, as much as they continue praying, nothing tangible comes off. She says that the Reverend taught them that with God everything is possible yet, He continues to let them suffer in despondency. As we can see, Lulu is ready to give up, take matters in her own hands and succeed by her own terms. (pg31) Questions from the Scene  What is the central role of religion in this scene?  Do you think Tamina’s anger toward Bengo is justified?  Discuss the relationship between Lulu and her mother.

Scene One The scene shifts to Kutula People’s Park where the commemoration of King Kutula is to take place. The current leader gives an inaudible speech to the audience while Lulu and her school musical team rehearse on the activities that will occur after the ceremony. Lulu has been chosen to be the star of the show (pg53-54.) Among the dignitaries attending this ceremony are Councillor Chipande, Goldstein and Rollerstone (check the list of characters.) After the events at the People’s Park, Lacuna invites the dignitaries and Lulu for a luncheon at the palace.

Observation from the Act Lacuna Kasoo uses this event to look for a fresh girl for his entertainment in the guise of celebrating his father’s legacy. The leader tries as much to hide his true intentions in the fact that he is following tradition and the wish of the gods when his real motive is self-satisfaction.

Scene Two Events in this scene occur inside Lacuna Kasoo’s palace. Councillor Chipande guides Goldstein and young Robert, into the palace. From their discussions, Robert and Goldstein are international financiers and investors. They have loaned Lacuna Kasoo a lot of money for development projects in Kutula. However, the money ended up in foreign accounts and feeding the insatiable greed of Lacuna and his henchmen like Chipande and Malipoa.

Robert is described by Goldstein as a young ambitious man who has come to do business in Kutula and ensure that Kasoo pays up Kutula’s outstanding loans. Lacuna does not seem to get along with young Robert. One of the reasons as to why the two do not get along is because Robert danced with the chosen one (Lulu) desecrating Kutula’s tradition. Lulu had been chosen as a young virgin who would entertain Lacuna Kasoo in the Political Perpetuation Chamber to appease the ancestors but instead she chose to dance with Robert.

Meanwhile, the two financiers are angry with the economic condition of Kutula. As things stand, it seems that Lacuna has squandered the country’s resources thus reducing productivity. This has led to the country not honouring its loan obligations.

In this regard, Goldstein proposes austerity measures including but not limited to reducing the workforce and doubling on production especially of the silver mines. However, the country does not have resources to meet these new demands yet the financiers are unwilling to extend more money towards the economic growth of the state. Having been humiliated, Lacuna tries to detain the foreigners. Chipande advises him against such drastic decision given the field day foreign media will have. He relents and lets them go.

Scene three Lacuna meets with elders to discuss the possibility of evacuation to create land for foreiegn investments as dictated by the donors. The elders oppose Lacuna’s move and refuse to convince the the people to move.

Among the elders in the palace is Sangoi who has now been promoted to position of a councillor. Lacuna blames her for turning the elders against his authority. But Sangoi reminds him that the people are entitled to their own decisions and that no one asked Lacuna to request foreign aid. She says that Kutula could have done well without the foreign aid.

Meanwhile, Lacuna calls Malipoa to report on the impending issue of appeasing the ancestors. According to Malipoa, the event is supposed to be performed again after four weeks during the new moon night. Meanwhile, Lulu is supposed to be detained in the royal palace awaiting the day. In this case her fate is sealed without question.

In the meantime, there is growing unrest in Kutula. Demonstrations against mass movement of people from Bukelenge valley are underway. Lacuna commands commander Meshak to suppress the uprising. Later the commander returns with news that the revolt has been dispersed. Movement 3

Scene One Events occur in Tamina’s house. She is alone awaiting her husband’s return but instead hosts the Reverend Sangoi. Sangoi has bad news. The much awaited for husband Judah Zen Melo is dead. He died while operating an old machine at full speed in the mines when the belt snapped and took him with them.

Tamina is lost for words and wants to walk to the mines but she is calmed by Sangoi and Bengo who comes to check on her sister after learning about Judah. Bengo reminds the Reverend that she needs to make up her mind because after the revolution to oust Lacuna out, they will need a level headed leader. On the other hand, Reverend Sangoi cautions them against spilling any blood as they out to oust Lacuna. She promises to think about the leadership matter and get back to the rebels. Bengo leaves as Sangoi comforts the bereaved Tamina.

Scene two In the palace, Lacuna is impatient of waiting for the day he will appease the dead by spending the night with Lulu. Malipoa cautions him to wait for one more week. In the meantime, Lulu has learnt of her father’s death is exasperated. But she cannot be let out of the clutches of Lacuna and his henchmen. Lacuna is also visited by Robert and Goldstein. This, however, is not a social visit-it is business. Robert blames Lacuna for poor governance and corruption. He tells Lacuna that he is aware of the leader’s foreign accounts. In fact, using his miniature gadget, he transfers all of Lacuna’s loot to the company’s account in order to pay loans extended to Kutula. He says, the donors will use all means necessary to recover the 120 billion loan extended to Kutula. The first step will be freezing Lacuna and his henchmen’s account while the rest will be paid by the citizens. Lacuna is incensed. He commands them to leave. While they are leaving, he calls one of the guards and orders him to detain the foreigners. With growing uncertainty about Lacuna’s future in Office, the leader issues martial law allover Kutula. In addition, he plans decides to marry Lulu and become a de facto leader of Kutula.

Scene one In a simple room in house within the forest, Bengo and leaders of revolution are meeting to deliberate on the oncoming revolution. They are also waiting to hear from Reverend Sangoi. The whole operation depends on whether Sangoi will agree to be the people’s new leader or not. When she comes through, she accepts to lead the people and asks for a bloodless coup.

Sangoi is only ready to lead the people until such time that Kutula is ready for an election then she will retire to her church ministry and her family. Scene two In the palace Lacuna is planning to wed Lulu. He is confident that he will remain in power oblivious of what is happening outside the palace gates. Like a man trapped in a deep pit, Lacuna is caught unawares by the rebels led by Sangoi.

Lacuna together with his close associates is detained while Sangoi assumes power. The two foreigners, Robert and Goldstein are released and escorted to the airport. Sangoi warns them that Kutula will only do business with them according to the terms that they (the people of Kutula) have set. Lulu reunites with her mother after a month of detention in the palace.

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my SetBooks

Analyzing KCSE English Literature Set books.

Plot Analysis Of The Play Inheritance By David Mulwa.

Analysis By Omondi Kochieng’

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Kakuta Mulwa was born just when the Second World War was coming to a close in April 1945. A child of a priest father, Mulwa would grow to become one of the most sought after playwrights in Kenya. He is an academic, a theatre director and an actor. As an academic, he is a Theatre Arts Lecturer at Kenyatta University School of Visual and Performing Arts. (Wikipedia)

As a playwright, Mulwa has penned several plays among them Inheritance (2004), Clean Hands (2000), and Redemption (1989). He has also penned several novels like Master and Servant (1979), We Come in Peace (2011) and Bahati’s Love Nest (2017).

According to the Star Newspaper, Mulwa started off as a High School teacher in Mukaa and Kangundo High. Both schools are in Machakos. Later he would move to Ohio University where he was a teaching assistant in English before he joined Athens (1971-1980). From Athens, he would return to Kenya and join Kenyatta University where he has been teaching for the past three decades. He is a teacher of Theatre History, drama, directing, acting and play-writing.

David Mulwa has had a significant contribution in Kenya’s performance art scene, from writing to acting, he has graced both the television and the theatre since 1952 when he began acting.

ABOUT THE PLAY

At the time of King Kutula, the colonial governor- a representative of the British Monarchy- was Governor Thorne Macay. The Governor worked closely with Bishop Menninger- a morally deranged priest who used the bible to confuse and subordinate the people of Kutula. As envoy of the imperial Christian God, he would more than use the church to learn the weakness of the people and report to the Governor who would see to it that the people remained backward and foolish on matters of freedom and individual rights.

In order to keep the people in check, the leader ensures that the entire extended family of dissidents is punished and denied even gainful employment. A good example is what happens to Judah Zen Melo-Romanus Bengo’s brother. Romanus Bengo is a well-known activist in Kutula, his brother Judah Zen Melo, on the other hand, was a ‘Law-abiding’ civil servant who was ready to do anything for Lacuna Kasoo except getting rid of Romanus Bengo. When Judah refused, ‘to pluck this thorn out and pledge,’ (pg23) his loyalty a new to Lacuna Kasoo, he was beaten and thrown out into the cold.

In order to appease the gods, Lulu is detained in the palace awaiting for the new moon for the rituals to be performed again. However other events happen putting this event in jeopardy.

Thorne Macay: Governor of Kutula and representative of the King

Bishop Menninger: Servant to Thorne Macay

King Kutula XV: traditional ruler of Kutula

Princess Sangoi: King Kutula’s adopted daughter (later Reverend Sangoi)

Romanus Bengo: An Activist

Tamina Zen Melo Romanus’ sister-in-law

Lulu Zen Melo: Tamina’s daughter, a student

Judah Zen Melo: Tamina’s Husband and Brother to Bengo

Lacuna Kasoo: Present leader of Kutula Republic

Teacher: Miss Gerima, teacher/choreographer

Mama Melissa; Leader and Kasoo’s wife

Councillor Chipande: Kasoo’s political advisor

Councillor Malipoa: Kasoo’s traditional Advisor

Daniel Goldstein and Robert Rollerstone: international financiers

Elders (1,2,3) and The Woman: Opinion leaders of Bukelenge Valley

Attendant (I,II)- Palace staff

Woman leader I and II, Young Male leader, Elderly leader, young woman leader,

Palace staff

The prologue is set in the colonial Governor Thorne Macay’s office. Lavishly furnished with animal skins, photos and a mural, the office espouses wealth and power of the governor. Nevertheless, the governor does not seem happy because of the ongoing unrest within the colony. The Bishop Menninger pays him a visit and offer advice on how to further contain the people of Kutula. Besides the Bishop, King Kutula-native leader- visits and arrogantly states his terms: that his people are tired of Thorne Macay’s Natives inhabiting their land. The King believes that it’s time his people were given their freedom. However, Macay and Menninger have other plans; to oust the king from office and bring in the greedy king’s son Lacuna Kasoo. Meanwhile, the bishop promises to take in the king’s adoptive daughter-Princess Sangoi as a student.

Observations from the prologue

The colonial government’s reluctance to concede defeat is seen as the governor and the bishop plan to remove King Kutula from office. It is observed that, the colonialists would prefer to work with self-centred Lacuna Kasoo than a King who cares for his people. The mural on the wall depicts the situation of the people on the ground while the office’s opulence, the lifestyles of those in power. Despite the suffering of the people of Kutula, the governor is more interested in what the land can produce than what he really offers.

Meanwhile, as seen in King Kutula, the people prefer education more than they do religion.

Questions from the prologue

Explain on the effectiveness of the proverbs used in the prologue
Identify two styles used in the prologue.
Why do you think King Kutula is unafraid of governor Macay?

It is noteworthy that the actions here happen thirty years after independence. In the prologue, we are told of how the colonialists were planning to torment the people of Kutula. Nevertheless, from the scene we can see that their plans never materialized or did they?

In this act, Tamina, the host, receives unusual guests. First to arrive is his brother-in-law Romanus Bengo fresh from prison. From her mannerism and tone, Tamina does not welcome Bengo’s presence. She is ill at ease and blames Bengo for her current indignation. Before Bengo was arrested, Tamina and her husband Judah Zen Melo were prosperous civil servants with decent jobs and a government house. But when Bengo, their relative joined the opposition, and spoke against the government of Lacuna Kasoo, they were fired from their jobs. Apparently, the leader Kasoo had asked Judah to silence the rebellious brother Bengo but Judah refused to betray his own blood brother (pg23.)

Tamina also receives another guest in the name of her husband Judah Zen Melo. It has been years ever since Judah left home to look for work to sustain his family. After the fall out, Judah cannot get any gainful employment in Kutula so he scrapes for any available opportunity to make ends meet. When he comes back, he is a drunk good-for-nothing man who has given up on life and afraid to stop moving. He has been working in the mines and seems to have been conditioned to work as hard and as long so as not to lose his job to younger energetic individuals.

When he comes home, he is ready to die.

Observations from the scene

Bad governance, rampant corruption and intimidation make those who are in power become wealthy and untouchable. However, the majority suffer from depravity and long for a day when they too will get to the limelight.

Tamina understands how bad Lacuna’s government is. However, instead of becoming part of the solution, she would rather be part of the problem. She would rather be part of Lacuna than join Romanus Bengo in the opposition.

Lulu, on the other hand sees the need for change. She hates her mother’s docile approach to life and wants action.

Themes from the scene

Systemic Poverty

There seem to be despondency among the people of Kutula. The few who are rich pay meager salaries that cannot sustain the local people. Tamina is left alone by her husband to fend for her children. Life becomes very unbearable for Tamina especially sustaining the education of her daughter Lulu.

Apart from the scarcity of food, there is also scarcity of water. Lulu has to walk for long hours to fetch water for her family. According to Tamina, all the water (pg19) had been directed to one large dam thus depriving the people their lifeblood.

The leader demands total loyalty from his subjects. When Romanus becomes an activist and condemns the current leadership, Lacuna feels threatened. In order to keep his position, he asks Judah Zen Melo to prove his loyalty. The simple task Judah is to carry is to eliminate his brother Romanus Bengo. Judah declines.

This act plays out as a critic to Christianity. Lulu observes that many teachings in the church preach about hope especially to the poor and the needy. However, as much as they continue praying, nothing tangible comes off. She says that the Reverend taught them that with God everything is possible yet, He continues to let them suffer in despondency. As we can see, Lulu is ready to give up, take matters in her own hands and succeed by her own terms. (pg31)

Questions from the Scene

What is the central role of religion in this scene?
Do you think Tamina’s anger toward Bengo is justified?
Discuss the relationship between Lulu and her mother.

The scene shifts to Kutula People’s Park where the commemoration of King Kutula is to take place. The current leader gives an inaudible speech to the audience while Lulu and her school musical team rehearse on the activities that will occur after the ceremony. Lulu has been chosen to be the star of the show (pg53-54.) Among the dignitaries attending this ceremony are Councillor Chipande, Goldstein and Rollerstone (check the list of characters.) After the events at the People’s Park, Lacuna invites the dignitaries and Lulu for a luncheon at the palace.

Observation from the Act

Lacuna Kasoo uses this event to look for a fresh girl for his entertainment in the guise of celebrating his father’s legacy. The leader tries as much to hide his true intentions in the fact that he is following tradition and the wish of the gods when his real motive is self-satisfaction.

Events in this scene occur inside Lacuna Kasoo’s palace. Councillor Chipande guides Goldstein and young Robert, into the palace. From their discussions, Robert and Goldstein are international financiers and investors. They have loaned Lacuna Kasoo a lot of money for development projects in Kutula. However, the money ended up in foreign accounts and feeding the insatiable greed of Lacuna and his henchmen like Chipande and Malipoa.

Having been humiliated, Lacuna tries to detain the foreigners. Chipande advises him against such drastic decision given the field day foreign media will have. He relents and lets them go.

Scene three

Lacuna meets with elders to discuss the possibility of evacuation to create land for foreiegn investments as dictated by the donors. The elders oppose Lacuna’s move and refuse to convince the the people to move.

Events occur in Tamina’s house. She is alone awaiting her husband’s return but instead hosts the Reverend Sangoi. Sangoi has bad news. The much awaited for husband Judah Zen Melo is dead. He died while operating an old machine at full speed in the mines when the belt snapped and took him with them.

On the other hand, Reverend Sangoi cautions them against spilling any blood as they out to oust Lacuna. She promises to think about the leadership matter and get back to the rebels. Bengo leaves as Sangoi comforts the bereaved Tamina.

In the palace, Lacuna is impatient of waiting for the day he will appease the dead by spending the night with Lulu. Malipoa cautions him to wait for one more week. In the meantime, Lulu has learnt of her father’s death is exasperated. But she cannot be let out of the clutches of Lacuna and his henchmen.

Lacuna is also visited by Robert and Goldstein. This, however, is not a social visit-it is business. Robert blames Lacuna for poor governance and corruption. He tells Lacuna that he is aware of the leader’s foreign accounts. In fact, using his miniature gadget, he transfers all of Lacuna’s loot to the company’s account in order to pay loans extended to Kutula. He says, the donors will use all means necessary to recover the 120 billion loan extended to Kutula. The first step will be freezing Lacuna and his henchmen’s account while the rest will be paid by the citizens. Lacuna is incensed. He commands them to leave. While they are leaving, he calls one of the guards and orders him to detain the foreigners.

With growing uncertainty about Lacuna’s future in Office, the leader issues martial law allover Kutula. In addition, he plans decides to marry Lulu and become a de facto leader of Kutula.

In a simple room in house within the forest, Bengo and leaders of revolution are meeting to deliberate on the oncoming revolution. They are also waiting to hear from Reverend Sangoi. The whole operation depends on whether Sangoi will agree to be the people’s new leader or not. When she comes through, she accepts to lead the people and asks for a bloodless coup.

Sangoi is only ready to lead the people until such time that Kutula is ready for an election then she will retire to her church ministry and her family.

In the palace Lacuna is planning to wed Lulu. He is confident that he will remain in power oblivious of what is happening outside the palace gates. Like a man trapped in a deep pit, Lacuna is caught unawares by the rebels led by Sangoi.

Lulu reunites with her mother after a month of detention in the palace.

List of all styles in Inheritance by David Mulwa setbook

Inheritance by David Mulwa is a thought-provoking novel that delves into the complexities of family dynamics, cultural heritage, and personal identity. One of the most striking aspects of the novel is its exploration of various narrative styles, which add depth and complexity to the storytelling. But what are the various styles in Inheritance by David Mulwa?

A collage of David Mulwa, author of Inheritance and the set book Inheritance

2. flashback, 3. metaphor, 4. apostrophe, 7. symbolism, 9. allusion, 10. hyperbole, 11. personification, 12. foreshadowing, 13. stream of consciousness, 14. dramatic irony, 15. repetition, 16. allusion to history, 17. social commentary, 18. characterisation, 19. conflict, misuse of power, exploitation, imperialism, what is the setting of inheritance by david mulwa.

Inheritance tells the story of a dysfunctional family struggling to accept their past and present. The novel revolves around the character of Msambweni, a wealthy businessman who has made his fortune through questionable means.

As he lies on his deathbed, his family gathers around him, each with their secrets and motivations. Through a masterful blend of narrative styles and themes in Inheritance , Mulwa weaves a tale of love, betrayal, greed, and, ultimately, redemption.

List of styles in Inheritance by David Mulwa

The themes and styles in Inheritance by David Mulwa serve several key purposes in the book, highlighting sociopolitical issues like the misuse of power, oppression, exploitation, imperialism, corruption, and poverty. The various styles used in the book include:

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Irony is used to convey the contrast between the expected outcome and the actual outcome. For example, when Tamina is excited about a possible bright future with her family, but ironically, death is imminent.

Similarly, the faulty machines at the mines kill Zen Melo, which is ironic given the machines were meant to improve people's lives.

David Mulwa uses flashbacks to show the history of the conflict between white settlers and African natives over land inheritance, leadership, and resources. This helps establish the context for the current situation and highlights the ongoing struggle for independence and self-determination.

The author uses metaphors to symbolise the themes of the play. For example, Lacuna Kasoo's dam symbolises the misuse of power and the suffering it causes the people of Kutula.

The play uses apostrophes to address the dead, such as when Tamina speaks to her deceased husband, Zen Melo. It emphasises the emotional impact of death on the characters and the community.

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The set book characters use sarcasm to express their frustration and anger, like Lacuna Kasoo, who says:

These petty people and their complaints gossip and hate (P 71-72).

Lacuna Kasoo is sarcastic about the people who are unhappy with his leadership.

Satire is used to criticise the leaders who thrive at the expense of their poor subjects. The play satirises Lacuna Kasoo's leadership , which is marked by greed, corruption, and incompetence.

Symbolism conveys the themes of the play. For example, Lacuna Kasoo's dam symbolises the misuse of power and the suffering it causes the people of Kutula.

Imagery is used to create vivid descriptions of the environment, such as the dry valley caused by the dam. It helps to convey the people's struggles and the dam's impact on their lives.

Allusions refer to historical events or cultural references. For example, the biblical allusion to the "five foolish chaste women" (pg. 124) likens the leaders during the meeting at dawn to the foolish chaste women after Sangoi enters and the leaders glide to the corner, ready to take off.

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The book Inheritance by David Mulwa uses hyperbole to emphasise points. For example, when Tamina says:

We want to build and run our home in our way. This land is our mother. We want our children to live and share equally what she gives us... all that you take from her (p. 12).

She uses hyperbole to insist on the importance of self-determination and equal sharing of resources.

The play uses personification to give human-like qualities to non-human entities. For example, the land is personified as a mother, emphasising the connection between the people and their land.

Foreshadowing is used to hint at the characters' impending doom. For example, when Tamina looks forward to better times, but death is imminent, it foreshadows the tragic events that will unfold.

Stream of consciousness presents the characters' thoughts in a fluid, unstructured manner. It reflects their inner turmoil and emotions.

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The play uses dramatic irony to create tension and suspense. For example, the audience knows that Lacuna Kasoo will be overthrown, but the characters do not.

Repetition is used to emphasise themes and motifs. For example, the struggle for independence and self-determination is repeated throughout the play to highlight its importance.

Allusions to history help refer to historical events or cultural references. For example, the play alluded to British colonial rule in Africa to highlight the ongoing struggle for independence and self-determination.

The author uses social commentary to comment on social issues. For example, the play comments on corruption, exploitation, and oppression to raise awareness and promote change.

The characterisation in Inheritance aims to develop complex and distinct personalities for the characters. For example, Lacuna Kasoo is portrayed as greedy and corrupt, while Tamina is determined and rebellious.

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Conflict creates tension and drama. David Mulwa introduced many types of conflicts throughout the setbook. For example, the conflict between the white settlers and African natives over land inheritance, leadership, and resources drives the play's plot.

Themes are used to explore the central ideas of the play. For example, the themes of individuality, development, and the struggle for independence and self-determination are central to the story and characters.

What themes are explored in Inheritance by David Mulwa? According to Inheritance guide notes, David Mulwa's set book explores many major themes , including:

Lacuna Kasoo misuses his power to enrich himself while oppressing the citizens of the Kutula Republic. He borrows loans in the name of his people, but banks put the money in his account. He appoints his tribe members to run the government, leading to inefficiency and mismanagement of resources.

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Lacuna Kasoo's leadership is marked by oppression, where he uses his power to suppress the voices of his people.

Lacuna Kasoo exploits his people by taking their resources and wealth for personal gain.

The play highlights the struggle of the African natives against British colonial rule, which aimed to control and exploit African resources.

Lacuna Kasoo is corrupt and uses his power to embezzle funds meant for the development of his people.

The play portrays the poverty and suffering of the people under Lacuna Kasoo's leadership, who are forced to live in dire conditions.

The story is set in colonial Africa , the Kutula colony under British rule. The colonial masters lived lavishly at the expense of the poor natives who served as their slaves. After the British left, Kutula became a republic under the leadership of Lacuna Kasoo.

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Inheritance by David Mulwa is a rich tapestry of narrative styles that work together to create a complex and thought-provoking novel. All styles in Inheritance by David Mulwa, from realism to magical realism, have allowed the author to craft a deeply personal and universally relatable story.

Tuko.co.ke shared an article about The Samaritan setbook summary notes, characters, theme, and guide. The KICD recently approved it as a mandatory set book. The setbook encourages people to reject evil for society's sake while exposing politicians' greed.

The Samaritan is an excellent book summarising everything that has gone wrong in African nations. The book is about an app where Maracas residents can exchange ideas for improving public welfare and information on corruption in their municipality.

Source: TUKO.co.ke

Ryan Mutuku (Lifestyle writer) Ryan Mutuku is an editor with over 4 years of working in digital media for Tuko.co.ke, Yen.com.gh, and iWriter. He is an alumnus of the Faculty of Media and Communications at Multimedia University (2019). Ryan mostly focuses on the entertainment and technology niches. He won the Best Writer award in 2022 (Tuko.co.ke). In 2023, Ryan finished the AFP course on Digital Investigation Techniques. Email: [email protected]

Inheriting a top seat without merit only invites ridicule from subjects

In The Inheritance, Mulwa exposes the vices in Kutula colony by Lacuna and his government in a rather exaggerated manner. ILLUSTRATION| JOHN NYAGAH

What you need to know:

King Lacuna abuses power and takes advantage of his position to exploit and oppress his subjects.
He orders the killing of anyone who opposes his leadership.

He asks Juda Zen Melo to kill his brother Bengo who is an activist and a threat to his leadership.

Writers employ different stylistic devices not only to deliver their message but also to make their work interesting.

Different writers use different styles depending on the message they want to pass across. In his play, Inheritance , David Mulwa uses different styles, among them wise sayings, irony and satire. This article will focus on satire.

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This is a style in which the writer criticises and exposes a person’s or an institution’s vices and weakness in a humorous, ridiculous or exaggerated way.

In The Inheritance, Mulwa exposes the vices in Kutula colony by Lacuna and his government in a rather exaggerated manner.

King Lacuna abuses power and takes advantage of his position to exploit and oppress his subjects. He orders the killing of anyone who opposes his leadership.

When he refuses, he faces the consequences by being sacked and evicted from the government house and his car is taken away. He is also forced to sell his farm to Lacuna’s cronies for peanuts and the wife is forced to work in the same farm to make ends meet.

After many days of job searching, Juda gets a job as a machine operator in one of the silvers factories, but he is killed while operating the machine.

His leadership is also satirised when he uses money meant for the country’s economic growth for his own selfish gains.

He admits having bought himself an aircraft with loans advanced to him in the name of his subjects. It is ironical and unbelievable that he justifies that action by saying that he cannot be at the same level with his subjects and that he has to soar above them and their complaints and hatred.

To make matters worse, he deposits the remaining money in his own accounts in the same banks that lend the money. His is the highest level of impunity and when the financiers force him to pay the loans, he swears that he will make his subjects pay for him so that he remains in power.

Apart from embezzling funds, he is also corrupt and practices nepotism. The subjects are aware that for you to get a job, you must know or be of the king’s tribesmen; otherwise, getting a job will remain elusive.

Appointments are also made politically and those given the jobs must pledge their loyalty by giving a kick back and their positions will remain secure regardless of their performance. He collects 30 per cent of what the ministries get as a sign of their loyalty and in return their positions are guaranteed.

As a leader, Lacuna is expected to be sensitive and caring about the plight of his subjects, ensuring they are well taken care of and they are not suffering.

Instead, he does the exact opposite by threatening, blackmailing and intimidating them. He forces everyone to attend the commemoration of his father, declaring it a public holiday.

After the celebrations, he forces Lulu to entertain him and he swears to make her his second wife, with or without her consent. When she refuses to toe the line, she is detained in his palace for days and denied the opportunity to attend her father's funeral.

He also orders the eviction of the natives from the valley to create room for foreigners to occupy it and make it productive for their own selfish gain.

All he cares about is the continued financial gains from the foreigners at the expense of the welfare his own people. He even orders drastic action to be taken against those who resist.

GREED FOR POWER

His greed for power is highly satirised. It is ridiculous that he takes his father’s life so that he can get to power. He colludes with the imperialists to poison his father so that he is installed the new king.

His avarice blinds him and he does not see the reason behind the apparent good gesture by the imperialist which is to dominate the colony and take full control of it. His gullibility cost both his father life and the country’s well-being and in the end he is also destroyed.

The imperialists are also satirised. Their despising and demeaning attitude towards the blacks is highly criticised. They treat the blacks with a lot of derision and look at them as people who are incapable of making any decision of their own.

They impose their rule on the people and take advantage of the fact that they have brought development in the land to blackmail and intimidate the leaders. When king Kutula refuses to bow to their demands, they eliminate him and put in place his covetous and rapacious son, whom they use to bring the country down.

IMPRACTICAL CONDITIONS

They put impractical conditions that the king must meet for them to continue funding the colony. Among them is to evict the natives from the valley so that they can occupy it, and make it productive by creating an inland lake to irrigate the entire basin.

By doing this, the citizens will be made homeless and they will be enslaved and they will live at the mercy of the foreigners who will benefit from the produce.

They impose labour laws that are oppressive to the people. Among them is to cut down on employment and quadruple production of the exports by making them work long hours and on lower wages.

It is laughable that the financiers justify such conditions in the name of helping the people. It is expected that the financiers would be sensitive and practical in their demands.

Others who are satirised include the king’s cronies like Chipande and the government officials who worship him an are ready to do anything to please him.

Students are challenged to explore other instances of satire in the play and other stylistic devices used by the author to address his issues.

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Inheritance

by David Mulwa

Action starts at the pre-colonial Africa in the Kutula Colony. King Kotula XV is a benevolent traditional ruler who forsakes technological sophistication in favour of social cohesion and meaningful development for all his fellow citizens. However, the Queen's representatives - Thorne Macay and Bishop Henninger - do not like King Kutula's leadership style especially because the British empire does not stand to gain in this arrangement Soon they hatch plans for the murder of the king in the hands of the heartless and power-thirsty son. Lacuna Kasoo. Kotula Colony Is later transformed into a republic with the leader, Lakuna Kasoo, and his cronies salivating to enrich themselves at the expense of national development. They grab whatever comes their way: land, money, power and life. They kill at will and are seen as irreparable moral reprobates. Lakuna Kasoo gets more and more dictatorial and isolated and he is finally deposed in a bloodless civil revolution. There is change and hope as Princess Sangoi, the new popular leader, summarises the new spirit of rebirth:

let it never be said that our new world was built on the madness of the old.'

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Inheritance by David Mulwa Setbook Guide and Summary Analysis

pdf guide of setbook Inheritance by David Mulwa

This is a summary and a guide of the secondary school set-book Inheritance by David Kakuta Mulwa .

Inheritance Author Background info

David KakutaMulwa was born on 9th April 1945 in the plains of Mukaa in Makueni County. His writing was influenced by his father, Pastor John Mulwa, and his teachers from primary school to the university.

David Mulwa went to Machakos Boys High School, then to Alliance High School for his A- levels. He joined the University of Nairobi where he studied Literature instructed by Taban Lo Liyong’ and Okot P ‘Bitek. He proceeded to the University of California in Los Angeles under a scholarship where he studied Masters in Arts.

Mulwa has also written other books including ‘Redemption’ (1989), ‘Master and Servant’ (1979), ‘We Come in Peace’, ‘Glass Houses among others books.

David is currently a writer, lecturer, actor and the director of Kenya Performing Arts in Nairobi.

The Setting of the setbook Inheritance by David Mulwa

The story is set in colonial Africa in the Kutula colony under the British rule. The colonial masters live lavishly at the expense of the poor natives who serve as their slaves.

The traditional ruler of the natives is King Kutula XV. The king is bent on overthrowing the British leadership by all means. He leads his people in a national uprising against the white settlers and out rightly tells the white governor that “… y our people will continue to die. Everyone of them … Governor Macay and no one’ll help you … I have spoken . ” (Pg 13).

After the exit of the British, Kutula becomes a republic under the leadership of Lacuna Kasoo after the death of his (Lacuna’s) father, King Kutula XV.

Lacuna Kasoo’s leadership turns out to be worse than the leadership of the colonial masters. It is marred with greed, corruption, incompetence and assassinations. His dictatorial regime triggers a peaceful civil revolution that successfully overthrows his leadership.

The Title (Inheritance)

The play ‘Inheritance’ revolves around a conflict between the African natives and the white settlers over the inheritance of land, its resources and leadership.

The British invasion in African is motivated by the desire to tap resources from Africa through their colonial rule under the guise of bringing civilization in form of education, infrastructure, and hospital to the “primitive” Africans. Once settled, the colonial masters gradually grabbed vast areas of land from the natives for agriculture, mining and settlement thereby displacing and enslaving the natives. The British Empire depended on Africa for survival, hence the desire to rule and control Africa with their resources.

The natives, through their King Kutula, realize the urgent need to inherit what the white settlers have robbed them. “ We want to build and run our home in our own way . This land is our mother. We want our children to live and share equally what she gives us … all that you take from her . ” (p. 12). A countrywide uprising begins and the White man’s rule ends.

King Kutula XV inherits the leadership from the British masters.

King Kutula’s leadership is later inherited by his son, Lacuna Kasoo. Lacuna is manipulated and deceived by the imperialists to kill his own father. …… ( Buy for more details )

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KCSE SET BOOKS ESSAY QUESTIONS and ANSWERS

Enjoy free KCSE revision materials on imaginative compositions, essay questions and answers and comprehensive analysis (episodic approach) of the set books including Fathers of Nations by Paul B. Vitta, The Samaritan by John Lara, A Silent Song by Godwin Siundu, An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro and Parliament of Owls by Adipo Sidang'. This blog is useful to Kenyan students preparing for KCSE; and their teachers.

Monday 20 January 2020

Inheritance kcse essay questions and answers, inheritance kcse essay questions and answers .

INHERITANCE KCSE ESSAY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

INHERITANCE DAVID MULWA ESSAY QUESTION 1

Inheritance david mulwa essay question 2.

Citizens of any given country are entitled to a comfortable life provided by their chosen leaders. However, some leaders choose to be selfish and this often leads to suffering and tribulations of the citizens. The people of Kutula suffer as a result of poor leadership by Lacuna Kasoo and his cronies.

Lacuna’s corrupt nature puts the citizens in heavy debts, heavy taxes and their lives deplorable. He borrows well over 120 billion from Robert and Goldstein intended to develop and build his country. Lacuna and his henchmen, however, use the money for his own selfish gains. He spends 10 billion shillings meant to buy new machines and service the mines to buy an aircraft in order to fly over the citizens since they are his subjects not equals. He calls them petty people filled with gossip and hate. He also embezzles 30% of the balance of the 30-billion shillings loan and pockets it in his individual offshore accounts. When Robert and Goldstein come to ask for their loan repayment, he rebukes them and they freeze the money in his accounts on account of mismanagement of funds. Lacuna punishes the businesses in his country by taxing them a hundred percent. He reduces the workers’ wages, fires others and intends to overwork the citizens so as to increase production. All this causes untold misery on the citizens of Kutula. This leaves the citizens desperate and leads to an insurrection since the citizens are tired of the mistreatment by the government of the day.

Lacuna employs most of his tribesmen to state offices and they lead with impunity. Chipande is Lacuna’s right-hand man. Tamina observes that Chipande bought all the fertile lands from them at very low prices to grow coffee. He went ahead to convince Lacuna to make sure that no one else could grow coffee as he did not want any competition. This is quite unfair from a leader as they should ensure equal treatment for all their citizens. Judah also says that the foreman at the Kasoo mines, Mithambo, is a Lacuna’s tribesman and that is for sure the merit by which he got the job. Commander Meshack is also a tribesman and Lacuna uses him to terrorize and execute civilians who refuse to tow the line. Lacuna orders Meshack to replace the disloyal people and replace them with uneducated clansmen who will not question his decision and leadership. Tamina suffers since she has to work extra hours for no extra pay. She cannot afford to pay Lulu’s fees. Qualified citizens are forced to undertake menial jobs like gate keeping and machine operation jobs. This leads to frustration and disillusionment. Judah Zen Melo resorts to binge drinking. Lacuna uses nepotism to punish his people.

Lacuna locks Lulu at the palace against her will. After the commemoration ritual, he insists that Lulu should accompany him to the palace. His intention is to marry her and lay with her so as to fulfil the ancestors’ wishes and grant him successful leadership as advised by Malipoa. The event is postponed by 4 weeks in which Lulu will be held captive at the palace against her wishes. This causes untold pain to Lulu, who is only a 19 year old school girl. She cries a lot during the course of her detention. She is mortified when Lacuna shamelessly flirts with her. She perceives him as an elder, a father and a leader. Lulu says that she is too young for him and she still wants to go to school as she wants to be a doctor. Lulu insists that she wants to go home but Lacuna denies her wishes for his selfish intentions. He even denies her the liberty to attend her father’s 2 nd interment, a mandatory customary practice. This forced captivity ends up hurting not only Lulu abut also her mother Tamina Zen Melo as she is tormented and does not know the fate of her daughter. She considers that she’s dead to her since she loathes Lacuna so much.

Lastly, the citizens are jailed, impoverished or killed for questioning or opposing Lacuna Kasoo’s methods. Bengo who is an activist against Lacuna’s government is jailed for a long time for being vocal. When he is released from jail, he still continues his fight and it is successful as Lacuna is overthrown. Judah Zen Melo, Bengo’s brother, was Lacuna’s right-hand man. He is tasked to assassinate Bengo and when he refuses, he is beaten up and left for dead outside his house. All favours from Lacuna are withdrawn and he has to go into exile so as to save his life and earn a living, leaving his family to suffer from poverty. He is forced to work at Kasoo mines as a gate keeper. He has to literally fawn upon Mithambo, Lacuna’s relative, in order to get a slightly better job. He also starts drinking heavily due to his worries about his family. Later, he is traced to the mines where he works and Lacuna kills him when he refuses to give his blessing for Lulu’s marriage. Lacuna blames his death on the faulty machines but Robert reveals the truth that Judah was murdered. His death causes his wife Tamina pain since she was eagerly awaiting his return slotted for Saturday 2 nd September. Bengo and Judah’s family suffer as a consequence of poor leadership from the government of the day.

In conclusion, the citizens of Kutula get a disservice from their selfish and greedy leaders and because of their disappointment and despair they overthrow the government so as to get their reprieve from better leaders. Surely bad leadership causes misery.

INHERITANCE DAVID MULWA ESSAY QUESTION 3

Drawing illustrations from David Mulwa’s Inheritance , write an essay to show how moral decadence among leaders affects the society.

Good behavior is meant to be a basic fabric that holds together a proper and upright society and should trickle down from the leaders to the citizens. However, we do not see this in Kutula republic led by Lacuna and his cronies. Their immoral behaviour leads to deplorable living conditions for the citizens of Kutula. When they feel that enough is enough, the citizens resort to a peaceful uprising to oust the immoral leaders.

Lacuna Kasoo is cruel and inhuman. Menninger calls him a thoroughly debased moral reprobate. He callously poisons and kills his own father King Kutula XV due to his greed for power and leadership of Kutula. He takes advantage of his father’s trust and love for him. He laces his tea with a poisonous powder killing him despite the fact that his father loved him. The king died slowly. He later conspires to kill Romanus Bengo, a fearless critic of his leadership. He calls him a thorn on his political side. Judah Zen Melo, Bengo’s brother, refuses to take up the dirty job. Lacuna punishes him by having him beaten mercilessly, fires him, and snatches him of the government house and car. Later when Lulu refuses to marry Lacuna, he ends up killing Judah as he refuses to give his blessing for the marriage and tries to cover it up by blaming his death on the old, rotting machines. Robert Rollerstone and Lulu reproach him for this murder. Lacuna’s actions cause misery to Bengo who is held unlawfully for a long time. Judah’s death causes Tamina his wife untold pain. She cries bitterly and convulses when she learns of his death from Reverend Sangoi. Lulu is also badly hurt and left without a father. The entire family suffers. Furthermore the whole nation is affected by the death of their compassionate and prudent leader King Kutula XV. Lacuna does not seem to have a problem with having blood on his hands as he had killed his own father to ascend the seat. Surely, leaders’ moral decadence has adverse effects on any society.

Secondly, the leaders oppress the citizens of Kutula. Romanus Bengo is an activist who is against Lacuna’s poor leadership. Lacuna plans to have him killed. Luckily the proposed hit man, Judah, declines the job. As a consequence of his dissidence Bengo is illicitly jailed for a long time so as to be silenced as the debauchery prevailed. This fuels Bengo’s spirit even more as when he gets out, he is even more determined to dethrone Lacuna. Lacuna intends to marry Lulu forcefully so as to appease the ancestors. As Lulu is reluctant, Lacuna locks her up in the castle for almost a month against her wishes. Lulu suffers and cries the whole time. She is also embarrassed by the humiliating thought of marrying an old man whom she respects as a parent and a leader. Tamina is also constantly troubled of her daughter’s whereabouts. Lacuna’s immorality affects Bengo and Lulu adversely.

The leaders exploit the poor citizens of Kutula. Lacuna is inefficient and hands-off as a leader. Chipande, his crony, buys fertile land from Tamina for peanuts and uses his influence to convince Lacuna to deny other people license grow coffee. When he buys Tamina’s land unfairly he says he cannot compete with a peasant. Since her husband is unemployed and thrown out of his government house she is forced to pick coffee at Chipande’s farm in order to raise money to feed her children. She works extra hours from cockcrow to sunset at no extra pay. She has to walk a long distance to and from work. She is unable to give her children a decent lifestyle. Lulu is out of school for she cannot afford to pay her school fees and other related levies like construction fund. She thinks of having her study on credit. The stress caused by this leads to anxiety and a strain in their relationship. Lulu asks her to seek help from Chipande or Lulu, oblivious of their true colours. She even hints of using her beauty to get the money to complete school and be a doctor. This angers her mother who threatens to beat her up. The exploitative leaders cause the citizens pain.

Lacuna is a greedy narcissist. He borrows money from abroad to develop his country and better the lives of the citizens but instead enriches himself and his friends. Much of the money is stashed in his offshore accounts in Canada, Swiss, Luxemburg and Manhattan. He uses part of it to buy himself an expensive private aircraft to fly over his “petty” subjects. He distributes the spoils from the loans to his tribesmen and friends in leadership and pockets 30 % of the balance for himself. His greed and selfishness denies the people a just and progressive leader in King Kutula XV. The citizens reminisce about his good leadership with fondness of heart. When Lacuna’s accounts are frozen he plans to make his people pay for his excesses. He also plans to overtax the companies in Kutula and keep the returns for himself so as to continue being rich as citizens suffer. Lacuna intends to forcefully evacuate the occupants of Bukelembe valley so as to satisfy Robert and Goldstein’s wishes and secure a loan from them. His greed makes the citizens to wallow in abject poverty. While he lives in luxury in his large palace with many servants and titular assistants, citizens of Kutula suffer unemployment, low wages, long working hours and poverty. They revolt and overthrow Lacuna.

In conclusion, the leaders of Kutula fail to uphold good morals for the well being of their subjects and instead end up hurting the very people they are supposed to serve. It is not a surprise when they are overthrown and taken to jail by the citizens.

INHERITANCE DAVID MULWA ESSAY QUESTION 4

Citizens suffer due to bad leadership. Write a composition to qualify this statement citing illustrations from David Mulwa's Inheritance .

Citizens of Kutula suffer under Lacuna Kasoo’s reign. Lacuna misuses power and enriches himself while his subjects suffer abject poverty, unemployment, oppression among others afflictions.

Lacuna poor leadership is exhibited when he comes up with the idea of construction of a dam which ends up causing citizens misery. Together with his henchmen like Chipande he brings machines to construct a water source in Bukelenge Mountains. Since it’s a bad idea some people including Reverend Sangoi protest but the uprising yields no fruit. Initially, the dam only holds half of the water expected so canals are built to drain all the water from the plateau to lead to the dam. The valley becomes dry; people have to walk for as long as fifteen kilometers from sunrise to mid-day and back by sunset just to get the precious commodity. Tamina tells Bengo that she has to conserve every drop of the little they have. Surely bad leadership makes citizens to suffer.

Poor leaders cause citizens agony when they detain them unlawfully without trials or reason. Romanus Bengo suffers unwarranted confinement in Lacuna’s hands. Two weeks before construction of the dam, Bengo was taken away by Lacuna’s men. Lacuna tries to get Judah Zen Melo, Bengo’s brother, to kill him since he was opposed to his brand of leadership. After Judah declines, Bengo is arrested and locked up. He spoke up against Lacuna’s misuse of power. He said ‘no’ since the sweat of Kutula citizens ended up in Lacuna’s porous pocket and the rest in his offshore accounts. Bengo was held without trial for many years. He left before Tamina’s daughter, Lulu, started school. By the time he tastes freedom she was in her fourth form. When Lacuna is finally overthrown, Bengo says he has felt hunger and pain and lost his family through Lacuna’s greed and mismanagement. Bengo suffers due to Lacuna’s poor leadership.

Citizens suffer under callous murderous leaders. Lacuna Kasoo kills Judah Zen Melo. Judah Zen Melo worked as a machine operator at Kasoo mines when until the day of his death. The perpetrators try to cover it up as an accident caused by the old rotting machines. Robert Rollerstone says, “It was murder for poor Judah, not the age of the machine.” Lulu also tells Lacuna that he killed her father. Lulu suffers when Lacuna confines her for almost a month. She does not get to attend her father’s second interment, according to customs. She is called names like palace gold digger. Her mother disowns her. The pain is so unbearable. Tamina who was waiting patiently for Judah Zen Melo’s return is shocked to learn that he is dead. Judah had written that he would return on Saturday 2 nd September. When Sangoi breaks the news to her, she gasps, chokes and convulses. It was too painful to bear. The news of Judah’s death hurt her so much.

Under Lacuna’s leadership, the citizens of Kutula wallow in abject poverty while he lives lavishly. Tamina’s family puts up in a grass thatched house where the sitting room also serves as the kitchen. The furniture in the house is also old a testament to the deplorable conditions. This is despite the fact that Judah Zen Melo served faithfully in Lacuna’s government. Their daughter Lulu has ambitions to become a doctor but Tamina cannot afford to pay her school fees. When she is sent home because of fees Tamina even wishes she could study on credit. She is overworked and underpaid at Chipande’s farm. She says no one can help them. Everyone, save for Lacuna, and his incompetent cronies, is poor. Tamina cannot raise 2000 shillings for fees balance owed leave alone the levies for the construction of a computer lab among other things. Lulu is tempted to use her beauty to make money since she’s tempted to become a doctor. They are poor despite the fact that Judah Zen Melo worked for the government. Lulu’s idea causes a strain between her and Tamina and it almost turns into physical confrontation. Surely bad leaders can cause pain to the citizens.

In conclusion, bad leadership results in nothing but agony. Citizens should elect prudent leaders who care about their welfare.

INHERITANCE DAVID MULWA ESSAY QUESTION 5

“Lacuna’s poor governance results to the suffering of the people of Kutula.” Using Judah Zen Melo’s family, write an essay depicting the truth of the statement.

In David Mulwa’s “The Inheritance”, Lacuna Kasoo’s brutal and harsh leadership causes a lot of harm to his subjects. Case in point is the family of Judah who end up undergoing psychological and physical torture for going against the regime. My essay illustrates this further.

Romanus Bengo, Judah’s brother is detained unlawfully for being against the leadership of Lacuna Kasoo. When Lacuna was conducting his campaigns, Bengo stood to compete him. Bengo says that he was headed for a landslide win against the incumbent and this must have threatened Kasoo’s leadership. First Lacuna asks Judah to kill him as a proof of his loyalty to the king to which he refuses as Bengo is his brother and he cannot get himself to commit the atrocity. The king opts to jail Bengo so as to silence him and kill his fight for liberation. Romanus ends up being separated from his close family as a consequence of being against the regime.

Judah ends up losing his job in the government for going against the wishes of Lacuna. While Judah was still working in the palace at the right hand of Lacuna, his brother was leading a strong revolution against Lacuna’s leadership. This angers Lacuna and he asks Judah to prove his loyalty by killing Romanus Bengo. Despite Lacuna’s promises of wellness to his family, Judah refuses to betray his brother and mother by committing this act. For his act of refusing to help King Kasoo, Judah says that he has been unable to find work as no one in Kutula wanted to be associated with someone who had refused to help the king. Lacuna had closed all paths for him. After a long while, he ends up getting a watchman’s job at the mines far from home where he resorts to being an alcoholic so as to get a promotion. Judah loses his job and becomes an alcoholic as a result of going against Kasoo’s leadership.

Judah is beaten up and eventually killed by Kasoo’s government. After refusing to prove his loyalty by killing his own brother, Bengo, Judah was beaten up and left for dead. Tamina says that even though Judah had tried to make up for his mistake of going against Kasoo’s wishes, the king still struck and he was beaten up badly and left for dead at their doorstep. It took the intervention of Dr. Jonathan to save his life as he was left in a bad state. He spends a long time recuperating in the hospital before getting back to his feet. While working in the mine, he suffers an accident while operating the machines and dies as explained by Lacuna. Robert later says that they have done their investigation and found out that it was murder and not an accident. Lacuna’s anger at the statement shows that he had a hand in the murder. Judah is not only beaten up but also loses his life because of Kasoo’s poor leadership.

Lulu, Judah’s daughter is held at the palace on Lacuna’s orders but against her wish. After conducting the commemoration ceremony for his late father, King Kutula XV, Lacuna insists that Lulu must stay behind without offering an explanation. Lacuna intends to satisfy the ancestors wish by laying with the girl and marrying her without her consent. Lulu insists that she wants to go home because she is not of age and Lacuna is old enough to be her father but Lacuna refuses. She is worried that the she is being labelled as a gold digger by others and fears that her mother is worried about her. She also says that she respects Melissa who is Lacuna’s wife and she does not want to be in her bad books. Lacuna spends a lot of money ensuring she is spoilt lavishly to convince her but Lulu is uncowed. When she gets news of her father’s death, she tells Lacuna that she wants to go home to pay her last respect to which Lacuna refuses. He even goes ahead to slap her thus inflicting further pain on Lulu. Lulu’s forced stay at the palace causes pain to her and she suffers from Lacuna’s dictatorship.

Lastly, Tamina Zen Melo undergoes a lot of frustrations from Lacuna’s government. Her husband is beaten up and left for dead at her doorstep. When Judah loses his job, all the luxuries that she was accustomed to are take away. She mentions that her cars and government house are taken away and her coffee farm is bought by Chipande, Lacuna’s advisor, for peanuts as he has monopolized coffee growing. As a result, she has become poor and she has to fend for her family especially Lulu who still needs school fees that her mother cannot raise. She also suffers psychologically when Lulu is kept at the palace against her will and she thinks that her daughter is after the riches and she disowns her. Later her husband is murdered at the mines and this tortures her mentally, her frustration clear from how she reacts at the news almost losing reason and wanting to fight Sangoi as she goes to avenge her husband’s death. Tamina, Judah’s wife, undergoes a lot of mental torture and frustrations under Kasoo’s leadership.

In conclusion, poor leadership results to the torture of innocent individuals especially those who are against a regime as is evident in Judah Zen Melo’s family.

INHERITANCE DAVID MULWA ESSAY QUESTION 6

When subjects get tired of oppression by a dictatorial regime, they tend to rebel. Write an essay to validate this statement basing your illustration on David Mulwa's Inheritance .

Lacuna’s rule is characterised by rife injustice and despotism. Corruption, murder, embezzlement, immorality and profligacy are the order of the day. The people of Kutula embark on an insurgency that results in the ouster of Lacuna. Citizens eventually revolt when they have had enough of a tyrannical rule.

First, Bengo is a fierce dissident of Lacuna's authoritarian leadership. His brother Judah Zen Melo unsuccessfully attempts to dissuade him from meddling in politics. He advises Bengo to turn the other cheek in the event of injustice. He tells him that the crow may be a coward but he lives to see his grandson, and that he should leave politics to the ordained leader - Lacuna. Bengo is tired of Lacuna’s corruption. His own people’s sweat pours into Lacuna’s porous pockets and in his foreign bank accounts. Bengo chooses to dissent from his brother’s suggestion since someone had to say “no”. Bengo enters politics preaching about the poor - the new paymasters. While Tamina seems to resign to fate concerning Lacunas dictatorial reign, Bengo remains adamant that times will change. He tells Tamina that poverty makes it hard to see but one day she will. This is after she complains about the loss of her good government house and her coffee farm which she is forced to sell to Chipande for peanuts and is now forced to work on his farm. Things took a turn for the worse for her and her husband when he refused to obey Lacuna’s order of killing his brother Bengo. Because of Bengo’s resistance, Lacuna labels him a thorn on his political side. Bengo is working with Reverend Sangoi in planning to execute Lacuna’s ouster. He says a woman will lead them. He attends a meeting with other renegades to plan the bloodless coup. He rallies the members of the movement to make their mother, Reverend Sangoi, proud. He reminds them that they have come a long way and persisted because their cause is just. They are ready to die saying “no” to a tyranny of their history and international neo-slavery. They hope to win and celebrate as a united people. The operation begins at 0615 hours on the day of liberty. When Lacuna is captured, Bengo confesses the hunger and pain he felt when he lost his family through Lacuna’s greed and mismanagement. He calms down the agitated crowd chanting, “Down with Lacuna the tyrant,” wishing he could wipe out the abomination from the face of the earth. Eventually, he orders the seizure of Lacuna, Malipoa and Chipande. Lacuna finds out the hard way that you cannot oppress people forever. They will eventually rebel. (Inheritance P22-24, 102, 123, 125, 128, 133, 137)

Secondly, Lulu is only nineteen but she defies Lacuna. Apart from rejecting his advances, she gets a rare chance of slapping him. Lulu, a schoolgirl, bears the brunt of Lacuna's bad governance. First, despite being a determined student who is always among the top three students in her class, she is sent home for school fees. The school wants Construction Fees to construct a new science laboratory and the second perimeter wall, Activity Fees and Examination Fees for purchasing ink and payment of the examination officials. Tamina wonders why they should earn extra money yet they are entitled to salaries. She toils tirelessly on Chipande’s farm picking coffee beans. She goes before cock-crow and trudges back after sunset but she is not paid for the extra work. Lulu miserably begs her mother to find the money needed for school fees for she wants to be a doctor like Jonathan, Reverend Sangoi's husband. She asks her mother to borrow. Like them, her mother replies, everyone else is grappling with poverty. In her desperation, Lulu asks her mother to seek help from Chipande or Lacuna. Chipande is one of the oppressors. He took all the land in the mountains after the white man's departure. He also acquired Tamina’s land for peanuts and blocked everyone else from growing coffee. Tamina is forced to work on his farm. Lacuna on the other hand is a python while Lulu is a guileless sheep. He only cares for himself and his bevy of concubines. Lulu is determined to pass her exams and disapprove their oppressors, Lacuna who fired her father and Chipande who took their land on the mountainside. Lulu does not want to end up like her mother who lives in fear and poverty as a result of the oppression. She will not obey the oppressive laws lying down. She will not bow before a leader who is a thief, a murderer and a rascal. She believes, like her uncle Bengo, that in order to avoid inheriting her parents fear and inaction, action has to be taken now. This obsequiousness has had her father living out there like a criminal. When Lacuna abducts her and tries to use his influence to win over her, she flatly refuses. His shameless flirtations land on deaf ears. She respects Lacuna’s wife Melissa as a mother and says that she is only but a school going child. She is tired of being held captive against her will. She wants to go home and attend her father’s customary second interment. Her mother has disowned her and she has earned ignominious names like the palace gold digger. Lulu's eyes burn with vengeance. Lacuna calls her a headstrong she-buffalo because she rebuffs his advances even after he drains the national coffers to pamper her. Lulu rebels against Lacuna’s oppression. He killed her father, made them live in fear and poverty and enslaved her. Lulu declares that she will never be Lacuna’s wife. When he is captured by Sangoi’s troops, Lulu gets an opportunity to revenge the injustices. She slaps her and together with Tamina, they drag him off the stage in a show of defiance. People eventually get tired of a despotic ruler’s oppression and when they do, they rise up in arms . (Inheritance P 25-31, 45-46, 92-94, 104-105, 119, 120, 136)

Apart from that, Reverend Sangoi opposes her brother’s brand of leadership since she is the voice of the people. Even as a young 12 year old Princess, governor Thorne says that her father King Kutula XV was grooming a matriarch, a lioness. Sangoi is tired of her brother’s tyrannical leadership because his henchman were filling their bellies from Lacuna’s bank and granaries. On the day of Lacuna’s coronation, many people grumble suggesting Sangoi should have ascended to the throne in the place of Lacuna. Many people disappear that day. Despite this, Sangoi talks bluntly to Lacuna. She tells him about her commitment to the people and their well-being. The people’s cry is her commitment. She manages to convince the key opinion leaders of the community to rebel Lacuna’s directive about evacuating Bukelembe Mountains. The leaders vow not to betray or abandon their lands and their home. Lacuna claims Sangoi has misled the people with poisonous pellets in her sermons. He knows that she is very influential. Her teaching, he claims, has poisoned the whole nation. Lacuna burdens the people with loans that he embezzles and misappropriates. Now he has to evacuate people from their homes in order to repay the bothersome debts. Sangoi posits that he should have involved the people in making such decisions with far-reaching consequences. The opinion leaders want Lacuna to step down and be replaced by Sangoi. He promises to rule with an iron spear but under the guise of democracy. Working in Bengo and the opinion leaders, Sangoi plans to nonviolent toppling of Lacuna’s government. The people unanimously pick Sangoi, someone they trust and respect as their leader. She leads the insurgency that results in Lacuna's fall from grace. She promises to deal with the evil past of Lacuna’s suppressive rule and then embark on reconstruction and healing of their land. Surely, when people get tired of mistreatment by an oppressive ruler, they revolt. (Inheritance P15, 40-41, 43, 56, 85-87, 102, 103, 127, 134, 137)

Also, the opinion leaders of Bukelembe also rebel against Lacuna’s oppressive reign. Together with Sangoi, they plan 2 visit Lacuna and voice their displeasure about the planned evacuation from Bukelembe to Samuka plains. These are the key leaders of the community who are heard and respected in Bukelembe basin. The party is made-up of three male elders and an elderly woman. According to Lacuna selfish plan, Bukelembe valley is earmarked for development and people must evacuate to Samuka plains. Lacuna avers that he wants to organize the land and boost production and to reclaim fertile basins for agriculture. Lacuna asks the opinion leaders if they are convinced about the necessity for the national move. They flatly refused to support the oppressive idea. The truth is that Lacuna had misappropriated and embezzled the money advanced to him by foreign financials. Apart from lining his pockets and those of his immediate supporters, he had wasted 122 billion shillings through subsidization and offering free services. The financiers have promised to advance more money to him but on condition. The tyrannical conditions are burdensome to the citizens. They include privatization of public sector, reduction of wages, embracing foreign investment and going easy on foreign exchange, cutting down on employment, quadrupling production, increasing working hours among other punitive measures. The foreigners Goldstein and Robert are hell-bent on protecting their own interests at all costs. They also plan to occupy Bukelembe Mountains, the vast fertile land covering 2 districts in Kutula Republic. This means that the people would have to be evacuated. Lacuna has formed a ministry for the evacuation but he knows that trouble is brewing. The opinion leaders oppose Lacunas repressive plan saying they will neither abandon their home nor betray their land. The second and first elder say that they will neither betray the silent ones nor tell their people to leave the valley. Lacuna warns of drastic measures against the dissidents. During his coronation, the opinion leaders quietly proposed that he steps down and his place be taken by a leader of their choice. Indeed, a tyrannical regime faces stiff rebellion when citizens grow weary under the prolonged cruel treatment. (Inheritance P 40, 77-79, 81, 86-87, 90, 91)

Lastly, the people Kutula Republic get sick and tired of Lacuna's dictatorship until they decide that enough is enough. What follows is an uprising that results in the overthrowing of Lacuna and his greedy cronies Chipande and Malipoa. During the insurgency, they approach Lacuna’s palace from all directions. He plans to send a punitive expedition to crush the protesters and dissidents. The protesters chant that they are tired of Lacuna corrupting their children, stealing from the poor and starving the poor. This insurgency is fueled by mixed feelings of anger, despair, hope and thirst for vengeance. They demand for freedom. They know that a people united, can never be defeated. They demand the end of foreign domination. They also demand an end of curfews and wastage of public money. The people laugh and jeer at Lacuna. Apart from that, they demand vengeance for Mama Tamina whose husband Judah Zen Melo was brutally murdered by Lacuna. They demand justice for other women who have suffered untold injustices in the hands of Lacuna and his henchmen. They also demand that the foreign leeches, Robert and Goldstein, are hung. Lacuna has embezzled the loans advanced to him by the foreign financiers. They offer him more money but on conditions that are punitive on the people. The people will be forcefully evicted from their homes in Bukelembe, they have to work more hours and earn less and buy goods at high prices. Lacuna notes that people are restive since trouble is brewing. It culminates in an uprising and he is finally overthrown. The people rally behind Sangoi as their chosen leader. Truly, dictators can rest assured that it’s just a matter of time before their fawning subjects get tired of the tyranny and decide to rebel. (Inheritance P 121, 132-134, 137)

In conclusion, citizens cannot endure prolonged cruelty and justice from leaders forever. When they grow weary of the mistreatment, they surely rebel through uprisings, insurgency or simply defiance of authority.

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Inheritance

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Book summary and reviews of The Inheritance by David E. Sanger

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The Inheritance

The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power

by David E. Sanger

Genre: History, Current Affairs and Religion
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For the next two months, the President-elect will be getting security briefings about the perilous world he is about to inherit. Here's yours.

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" The Inheritance reaffirms Thomas Jefferson's belief that for the American democracy to work there must be an informed citizenry. That means great reporting by great reporters is always required. David Sanger's book epitomizes the requirement. He goes through the world of challenges and opportunities that lie dead as well as ahead for the United States globally. Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, North Korea and China are on the list. So are matters nuclear and economic, among others. Sanger's telling is full of behind-the-door stories that read like Alan Furst spy novels. This is a superior work of journalism." - Jim Lehrer. "One of the finest journalists of our time, David Sanger tells the surprising stories of crucial, heretofore-hidden events in Washington and around the globe that have culminated in the unprecedented world crisis that now faces us. For the incoming President and the rest of us, Sanger's important book provides both understanding and hope. The Inheritance should be essential reading." - Michael Beschloss.

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Characters and Characterisation - Guide to the Inheritance Play by David Mulwa

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King Kutula XV

Governor thorne, attendant ii, the imperialists, commander meshack.

Firm and Assertive

He tells Thorne that he is silent about the uprising and that "your people will continue to die." (Pg. 13) . He will not bow to imperialism
He quotes many proverbs and narratives appropriately to pass important messages

Calm and Collected

He responds with admirable calmness to Governor Thorne's outbursts of anger
He is unafraid of the white man's threats. "Do you know I can clap you in for life?" He responds, ' ... elders don't bandy insults. "(p. 8)
He insults the attendant as a ' d ithering idiot' implies that he is imprudent , refers to the colonial officer oversees as 'The fool'.

Short-tempered

He handles the attendant roughly and is impatient with him, “don’t gecko-gawk at me!" He addresses King Kutula with insults thus "Damn all, King Kutula". (page 8).

Oppressive, Authoritarian and Selfish

He feels disadvantaged after the whip is abolished because he uses it for his own convenience.

Dishonest

Pretends to support Sangoi's education yet he wants to use it against the natives and benefit from dividing them as advised by Bishop Menninger.

Sanctimonious

Despite being a man of the cloth, he propagates oppression, imperialism, deceit and opportunism to the imperial majesty through his advice and counsel. He completely disregards the virtuous and good news message that his religion preaches.
He sees natives as rabbles without understanding and civilization.
He intends to misguide Sangoi so that the Western education makes her a "...goddess of confusion and use her to manipulate the natives... " (p. 15).
He is extremely loyal to the king

Patient and Forebearing

He is able to work under Thorne

Ambitious, Obedient, Trusting and Loyal

She obeys and trusts her father with whom she spends a lot of time with.

Critical and Observant

Melissa and her are keen to notice the lop-sided crown on Lacuna's head. They imply that he is not fit for leadership.

Level Headed

She advocates peaceful protests and speaks against bloodshed.

Committed and Sincere

She is willing to protest against her brother's leadership which she does not relate to. She is fighting for justice.

Authoritative

She demonstrates this when Goldstein, Robert, Lacuna, Chipande and Malipoa take her orders. The white men are deported and the other three are locked up

Virtuous and a Man of Integrity

He refuses to kill his brother, Bengo even though 'the gestures won 't be in vain' (pg.23)
Thus Lacuna promises to reward him if he kills the brother but Zen refuses to obey. He is a schemer for the sake of survival. He doesn't call his family after his self-exile but instead invests in bribing Mithambo with drinks to hire him as a machine operator and he gets it, gets a double pay and can afford to provide for his family.
He , "deliberately shuts his inner ear from hearing"(pg.33) the wife's pain. He fails to call or write to tell his family about his where about. He doesn't want to kill what is left in their sinking hearts.
He fights the government's dictatorial rule that oppresses the citizens. He is jailed for years and now that he is back, he vows to "take up the fight where I left off." (pg.22) . He is optimistic in that after being jailed for years, he returns ready to continue the fight hoping to liberate the people.
Because he admits to having brought trouble to his family albeit with the right motives. He gives Tamina some money.
He is brave enough to oppose a Lacuna government and is almost killed for the same.
He rallies his support behind Sangoi, "the people's would-be-saviour," "we are all united, a woman shall lead us"(pg. 103)

Sober and Effective Leader

He is able to calm down the elders when they begin expressing their differences.
Bengo demonstrates maturity in leadership by restraining the crowd from any form of violence.Tamima
She sticks to her family and fends for her children despite the disappearance of her husband and loss of property. She works from before cock-crow to late evening. She fetches water 15 kilometers away.
She outrightly tells Bengo off for his role in scattering her family. She criticizes King Kutula's commemoration ceremony and the "invitation of her daughter to the ceremony that she terms as a “pagan festival." (pg.42)

Dictatorial

He rules by an iron fist. He demands that Judah kills his brother Bengo , "rub my paining side with the red balm of loyalty" (pg. 23) . He is murderous. He orders the killing of Bengo twice and fortunately for the latter, he cheats death.

Poor manager and foolish

He inaugurates the dam leading to the drying of streams and brooks.
He can neither account for the expenditure of the loan, which he embezzled with his cronies, nor the projects at hand

Stickler for Tradition and Superstition

He performs the ritual as required by custom. He readily agrees to the advice and guidance that he is given by Malipoa, his traditional advisor.

Greedy and Selfish

Together with his leaders, they grab every available chance to steal from the state. Lacuna and his cronies embezzle billions of shillings advanced as loans leaving white elephant projects and industries that have suffered dire mismanagement.
Lacuna uses part of the loans to buy himself an aircraft and he abdicates the management of the money to his cronies who share it ravenously.
He demands for certain percentages for personal use from every loan advanced.
Goldstein describes these cronies as " ... a greedy bunch of incompetents who can't see a dime without getting libidinous convulsions down their midriff?" (pg 76)
He kills his father to inherit his position
He wants to recover his swept accounts by imposing himself and stealing from the poor citizens.
He declares martial law and makes drastic and erratic orders targeted at the people and meant to frustrate them. He detains Lulu for one more week to marry her and get the mandate of leadership from her

Nepotistic and Irresponsible

He keeps no record of the borrowed monies spent on projects.
He has employed political friends and clansmen with whom he has squandered money that is borrowed and has run down many a project.
The machines are rotten, farming has failed yet he has stashed huge amounts of money in his foreign accounts and bought a personal aircraft with the loan, to stay above the people

Incompetent

He can hardly account for a loan borrowed by the state. All projects to be funded by the loan are stalled and yet Lacuna has no sufficient information of the progress.

Disprespectful

Lacuna is disrespectful of his wife, Melissa. He describes her with insolence in his attempt to lure Lulu and when Lulu turns down his proposal claiming that she respects Melissa, he says, "A demon! A tongue of living lightning, oversized matchstick of angry dynamite ...old war club, cobraheaded hand grenade..."(p. 94).
He attempts to seduce 19 year-old Lulu who is attracted to him and is unwilling to relate with him. "No! ... I will never" (pg93). "I'm your daughter many times over," (pg. 93) . He tells her, "I look at your beauty and nobility...making me ...a beggar, a worshipper at the door of your heart."

Irrational and Impulsive

He asks for the commander's uniform to assume total control under strict martial law. He declares a curfew and issues 'shoot on sight' orders for law breakers. His move is received with great resistance, opposition and rebellion by the people.
He orders Malipoa to bring Lulu along as he is set to marry her without her consent. She tells Lacuna, "...keep me here against my will ...you killed my father ...I will never be your wife (p. 121 ). His sole motivation of getting intimate with her is in order to get the mandate of leadership.

Dishonest and an Escapist

He blames his tyranny on Malipoa and Chipande. He denies that his time is up and insists, "The people love me, I'm popular," (pg.131 )
Evident through his request to Lacuna to give him the sole mandate to plant coffee. He also buys land from people at very low prices
He misadvises the government for his selfish gains.
Sangoi and her are keen to notice the lop-sided crown on Lacuna's head. They imply that he is not fit for leadership.

Opportunistic and Selfish

He is only concerned about the profit he will make from doing business with Lacuna.
He doesn't care whether the loan he advances Kutula will benefit the people or not

Manipulative and Deceptive

He manipulates and deceives Lacuna to kill his father. Goldstein's plan is to have a compromising leader like Lacuna whom he can manipulate and control at will.

Merciless and Ruthless

Him and Robert clear Lacuna's accounts in an effort to effect their consequences for unmet foreign conditions.

Investigative

Him and Robert seem to have first-hand information about everything going on in Kutula. They know that Judah Melo is killed in an arranged murder in the factory. When Lacuna claims that his attempt to fulfill one of the conditions given produced disastrous results, to mean that Judah is killed by accident, Robert responds saying, "It was murder for poor Judah. " (pg. 108)

Selfish and Opportunists

They only care about making profits in the business deal between Kutula and the Empire. The business 'has no human face. ' Impossible conditions detrimental to the welfare of the people are laid down if the loan Kutula needs is to be advanced profits they stand to make.

Steadfast/Assertive

She is not ready to get into a relationship with Lacuna, a leader, who is as old as her father. "No! ... I will never" (pg93). "I'm your daughter many times over,"(pg93)
All she wants is to go home to her parents despite Lacuna's attempt to treat her warmly and praise her beauty, and entice her with his throne and power. "I saw you...my eyes have been all dazzle'(pg.93). "...making me young again but a beggar, a worshipper at the door of your heart."
She turns down Lacuna's proposal claiming that she respects him and his wife Melissa.

Bold and Candid

She confronts Lacuna for killing her father, and for being undependable, selfish and an oppressive leader with a perfected art of keeping citizens in poverty. She vows never to marry him.

Dutiful and Repsonsive

He reports promptly to Lacuna about the progress of the pursuit of the insurgents which he says was without casualties as it was a peaceful protest.
He is obedient as he follows Lacuna's orders to carry on the evacuation and to dismiss any sympathizers of the protesters. He is ordered to replace them with other people regardless of their education and obeys.

Realistic and Cautious

He constantly warns Lacuna against overzealousness. "...do all these things...let all be done in wisdom if you are to stay secure." (pg. 92).
Him Goldstein clear Lacuna's accounts in an effort to effect their consequences for unmet foreign conditions.
Him and Goldstein seem to have first-hand information about everything going on in Kutula. They know that Judah Melo is killed in an arranged murder in the factory. When Lacuna claims that his attempt to fulfill one of the conditions given produced disastrous results, to mean that Judah is killed by accident, Robert responds saying, "It was murder for poor Judah. " (pg. 108)

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Inheritance by David Mulwa
David Mulwa. 3.67. 9 ratings3 reviews. A play that starts in pre-colonial Africa in the Kutula Colony. King Kutula XV is a benevolent traditional ruler who forsakes technological sophistication in favour of social cohesion and meaningful development for all his fellow citizens. However, the Queen's representatives - Thorne Macay and Bishop ...
Inheritance By David Mulwa Notes Summary
BUY NOWKsh. 160. Inheritance is a play that revolves around individuality and the perspective of development as seen by modern day 'independent' African states. In the play, particularly the prologue, we get to find that the King of Kutula wanted real independence for his people. However, the British were unwilling to work with such an open ...
Inheritance by David Mulwa setbook guide, themes, and summary
Inheritance by David Mulwa is a play revolving around individuality and development perspectives as seen through the eyes of a modern-day liberated African. It highlights the conflict between the white settlers and African natives over land inheritance, leadership, and resources. David Mulwa. Photo: @JontesJoram.
INHERITANCE STUDY NOTES: A guide for KCSE candidates.
KCSE SET BOOKS ESSAY QUESTIONS and ANSWERS : INHERITANCE STUDY NOTES: A guide for KCSE candidates. Enjoy free KCSE revision materials on imaginative compositions, essay questions and answers and comprehensive analysis (episodic approach) of the set books including Fathers of Nations by Paul B. Vitta, The Samaritan by John Lara, A Silent Song by ...
Plot Analysis Of The Play Inheritance By David Mulwa
David Mulwa has had a significant contribution in Kenya's performance art scene, from writing to acting, he has graced both the television and the theatre since 1952 when he began acting. ABOUT THE PLAY. Inheritance is a play that revolves around individuality and the perspective of development as seen by modern day 'independent' African ...
List of all styles in Inheritance by David Mulwa setbook
The themes and styles in Inheritance by David Mulwa serve several key purposes in the book, highlighting sociopolitical issues like the misuse of power, oppression, exploitation, imperialism, corruption, and poverty. The various styles used in the book include: Read also. List of themes in Blossoms of the Savannah by Henry R. ole Kulet. 1. Irony.
Inheriting a top seat without merit only invites ridicule from ...
In The Inheritance, Mulwa exposes the vices in Kutula colony by Lacuna and his government in a rather exaggerated manner. King Lacuna abuses power and takes advantage of his position to exploit and oppress his subjects. He orders the killing of anyone who opposes his leadership.
Inheritance SET BOOK Guide
A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO INHERITANCE. The Author David KakutaMulwa was born on 9 th April 1945 in the plains of Mukaa in Makueni County. His writing was influenced by his father, Pastor John Mulwa, and his teachers from primary school to the university. David Mulwa went to Machakos Boys High School, then to Alliance High School for his A- levels.
Themes
It is demonstrated by the reprisal and escalating violence between the natives and white settlers. The natives destroy the White's property and molest their children and women. The author brings out the conflict of attitude where the white settlers consider themselves civilized, democratic and modernized.
Inheritance
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Inheritance by David Mulwa
Every leader must knowledge the fact that they have a duty to their subjects and act accordingly. 11. With illustrations from David Mulwa's 'Inheritance', write an essay explaining how moral decadence affects the society. (20marks) Aspects of moral decadance. a) Greed and selfishness.
Inheritance
Inheritance. by David Mulwa. Action starts at the pre-colonial Africa in the Kutula Colony. King Kotula XV is a benevolent traditional ruler who forsakes technological sophistication in favour of social cohesion and meaningful development for all his fellow citizens. However, the Queen's representatives - Thorne Macay and Bishop Henninger - do ...
Inheritance by David Mulwa Setbook Guide and Summary Analysis
KSh 430.00 KSh 410.00. BUY NOW. This is a summary and a guide of the secondary school set-book Inheritance by David Kakuta Mulwa. Inheritance Author Background info. David KakutaMulwa was born on 9th April 1945 in the plains of Mukaa in Makueni County. His writing was influenced by his father, Pastor John Mulwa, and his teachers from primary ...
Inheritance Study Guide
This category contains the guide and summary notes of the Inheritance setbook play by David Mulwa. Get chapter and plot summary, stylistic devices, sample essays and so much more. You can also downloa...
David Mulwa (Author of Inheritance)
David Mulwa is the author of Inheritance (3.67 avg rating, 9 ratings, 3 reviews), Master and Servant (3.67 avg rating, 6 ratings, 0 reviews, published 19... Home My Books
KCSE SET BOOKS ESSAY QUESTIONS and ANSWERS : INHERITANCE KCSE ...
INHERITANCE DAVID MULWA ESSAY QUESTION 5. "Lacuna's poor governance results to the suffering of the people of Kutula.". Using Judah Zen Melo's family, write an essay depicting the truth of the statement. In David Mulwa's "The Inheritance", Lacuna Kasoo's brutal and harsh leadership causes a lot of harm to his subjects.
Inheritance book by David Mulwa
Inheritance book by David Mulwa. Additional information. Weight: 0.3 kg: Reviews There are no reviews yet. Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review. The Return of Mghofu book by Francis Imbuga. Author: Meja Mwangi. Add to cart. KShs 950.00. Fail Big by Scott Allan. Add to cart. KShs 2,150.00. Dork Diaries by ...
Plot Summary
Characters and Characterisation - Guide to the Inheritance Play by David Mulwa. Next Topic » Inheritance by David Mulwa - KCSE Essay Questions with Answers. Download PDF for future reference Get on Whatsapp for 50/- Prologue ... The group has to review their approach now that a curfew has been declared to ensure the success of the demo.
Inheritance by David Mulwa
Inheritance by David Mulwa, 2004, Longhorn Publishers edition, in English ... My Books. Browse Menu. Subjects Trending Library Explorer Lists ... Random Book Advanced Search Overview; View 1 Edition Details; Reviews Lists; Related Books; An edition of Inheritance (2004) ...
Summary and reviews of The Inheritance by David E. Sanger
Media Reviews "The Inheritance reaffirms Thomas Jefferson's belief that for the American democracy to work there must be an informed citizenry. That means great reporting by great reporters is always required. David Sanger's book epitomizes the requirement. He goes through the world of challenges and opportunities that lie dead as well as ahead for the United States globally.
Language and Style (Stylistic Devices)
Irony. It is employed in the prologue. Governor Thorne regards the natives' customs as primitive. Menninger sees them as lacking originality and common reason yet they can hardly comprehend the wisdom in the 'long winded proverbs' of the natives. They also depend on the natives' republic to sustain their empire.; It is ironical that the British claim to have brought civilization to the natives ...
Inheritance by David Mulwa Setbook Guide and Summary Analysis
Inheritance by David Mulwa Setbook Guide and Summary Analysis. 3 subscribers in the Muthurwamarketplace community. Muthurwa.com is the largest digital marketplace in Kenya. Visit our website for more information.
Characters and Characterisation
Language and Style (Stylistic Devices) - Guide to the Inheritance Play by David Mulwa. Next Topic » Plot Summary - Guide to the Inheritance Play by David Mulwa. Print PDF for future reference . Published in Guide to Inheritance Notes. Related items.

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Characters and Characterisation - Guide to the Inheritance Play by David Mulwa

King Kutula XV

Firm and Assertive

Calm and Collected

Short-tempered

Oppressive, Authoritarian and Selfish

Sanctimonious