Development
By KundiFaraja
A man of the people
Enters his office
to sit on the throne
of Party and State,
His stick of power
Across the table.
He looks into the files
To see the demands
Of the millions of
people
Who for years since
Uhuru
Have just managed to
survive
They ring out one
message
Man of the people
You have been telling
us
What we need…
Health centres,
More schools,
Clean water,
Better transport
facilities
Better living
conditions.
Do you plead incapable
To bring about
development?
I declare running
Better than walking
for a young and poor
country
I plead fighting
underdevelopment
Tougher than fighting
A wounded buffalo
With a pocket knife;
I plead
underdevelopment
Stronger than the blows
of the sea
When the hurricane is
at its height.
I plead fighting
underdevelopment
Tougher than combating
colonialism
I see that it’s more
difficult
To maintain peace
Than to stop a coup
d’état
I plead the cry
Of the nation
More painful than the
yell
Of a woman
As her husband dies of
sickness;
It’s more painful than
the screams
Of a man
Dying in agony
In the coils of the
greatest python
Found in the African
forest.
How is development
To be brought brother
When the people to whom
We have entrusted power
Are corrupt?
I plead the stomachs
Of the privileged few
Greater than the Rift
Valley;
They cannot be
satisfied
With a normal share.
I plead the thirst
Of the minority
Greater than that of
the Sahara;
No rains can quench it.
I reckon the minority
More sensitive to
egoism
Than to National
Development;
Nothing that is not
theirs
Is of any interest.
Their response to
egoism.
Is faster than camera
film to light
But as slow as tropisms
To nation-building...
The majority plead
Exploited,
Cheated,
Disregarded,
But, brother,
How is the development
to come?
ANALYSIS OF A POEM
1. THE
POET
Kundi Faraja
2. TITLE
The title ‘Development’ is a direct one which
refers to the topic of development in general, although in this poem,
‘underdevelopment’ is what is discussed. The title exemplifies how whole idea
of development and how the minority uncommitted leaders deceive the majority
people on the issue of development or the issue of bringing development to the
people.
3.BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE
POEM
The poem is about an irresponsible ‘man of the people’
together with other irresponsible leaders who preach to do better things to
their people while in reality they do nothing but the things for their own
personal interests.
SUMMARY OF THE STANZAS
1st Stanza
This stanza talks about the office routines of 'a man
of the people' that he always enters his office and sit majestically on the
seat (throne) of the Party and State and he puts his leadership stick of power
across the stable. This is the top Ruling Party Leader and a head of
government.
2nd & 3rd Stanza
In these stanzas, the 'Man of the People' starts
working by looking into the office files. In those files, he comes across the
message of the demands of his people which have not been addressed for years
after independence. In their message, his people accuse him (a man of the
people) of the incapability or his failure to bring about the development they
need.
4th Stanza
In replying to his people's demands, 'a man of the
people' insists that he is determined to fight for them and the country in
general.
5th Stanza
The stanza explains the plans for 'a man of the
people'. He expresses his strategies and plans of fighting underdevelopment of
his country. He agrees that eradicating underdevelopment is tough but he has
courage and means to do that. He compares fighting underdevelopment with the
blows of the sea, hurricane, colonialism and coup d’état.
6th Stanza
In this stanza,
'a man of the people' is still pleading that he knows how much it is difficult
to fight for underdevelopment of his country. Like in the previous stanza, he
uses powerful language to show his people that he is more than prepared to lead
them to glory. He compares his country's underdevelopment with the cry, pain,
sickness, agony, and python.
7th Stanza
On the phone, the message still insists that the
development he is addressing to his people cannot come when the leaders in
power are corrupt. So, he condemns corruption as a hindrance to people's
progress.
8th & 9th Stanza
In the 8th and 9th stanza, 'a man of the people' tries
to reply to the previous questions and condemns the few leaders who are
irresponsible and unsatisfied with their salaries. But he remains firm and
defends himself by saying that he is still there in power to fight for them and
the few corrupt leaders should stop harassing the majority.
10th Stanza
In this stanza, the persona, who is 'a man of the
people' agrees that the minority cares much about themselves. And that they are
selfish because they care much about their personal interests more than they
care about the national development project.
11th Stanza
The message on the phone concludes the poem by
repeating the same matter that the majority are still exploited, cheated and
disregarded regardless of what 'a man of the people' says or thinks he will do.
The message is clear that the people are still suffering despite the leader's
political narratives.
4. PERSONA
(Who is speaking in the poem). The persona of the poem
is a corrupt, extravagant, egoistic, irresponsible, selfish, and hypocritical.
He is a betrayer. He has betrayed his people who put
him in power.
5. ADDRESSEE
(Whom the speaker is speaking to). The
addressee/audience of this poem is any irresponsible, selfish, and corrupt
leader who is always thinking about benefiting himself/herself while his/her
people are getting poorer and poorer.
6. TONE
The tone of the poet is pompous and hypocritical to the
leader and ironic, sad and angry to the people.
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