Once upon a time, a Farmer owned a Goose that laid one glittering golden egg daily. The Farmer started getting wealthy by taking and selling golden eggs at the marketplace. Alas, it never took long before the Farmer grew impatient with the Goose’s laying of a single golden egg per day. He wanted more eggs so that he could quickly become wealthy. He was convinced that he ‘was not getting rich fast enough.’ As the Farmer became greedy for more money, he decided to kill and cut open the Goose, believing he could retrieve all the Golden eggs at once from the insides of his butchered Goose. Upon opening the Goose’s carcass, the Farmer did not even find a single golden egg inside. The Farmer wept that his precious Goose who gave him a steady and enriching source of income was now lying in cold blood, dead. No more to lay his hands on the one glittery golden egg that he received each day!

Corruption, corruption, and corruption! Floods of tears from the inhabitants of the Christian nation of Zambora drench the land as Jelita, a patriotic Zamborian, stares hopelessly into the grim, deep, and dark visage of the ‘omnipotent’ Hon. Corruption. Jelita trembles and shakes in the enveloping cold sweat of despair and anguish as if to awaken herself from a cruel and torturous nightmare where everything she owned and could own in the future now belongs to Hon. Corruption. Hon. Corruption is real, pervasive, powerful, and insatiable. Jelita faces the rottenness of Hon. Corruption causing her high blood pressure (BP) to hit through the roof; she collapses and loses consciousness. Her husband, Kamusaki, squeals in alarm when he beholds his dear and devoted wife gasping in silence for air and life. In panic, he lifts and places her in the back of their second-hand Toyota Vitz. Racing against time, he finally reaches the Tilibe Minkwala hospital where Jelita is subsequently pronounced dead.

Overwhelmed by intense sorrow and overcome by the cold winds of dejection and emptiness, Kamusaki trembles as he drives back home to inform their only child, 12-year-old Kavuyi, that “Mama is now with the Angels, she is with God – she is in a better place.” Oceans of neighbours and family members flock to comfort the bereaved Kamusaki and Kavuyi. Invoking passages from the Bible, they intimate to Kamusaki that it is God’s appointed will that his wife Jelita died on this day, therefore he should take comfort and always rejoice in the Lord because God is faithful! A Bishop (affectionately called by his church members as “Papa”) from the Abundant Life, Health and Posterity Church, a denomination where Kamusaki and his now deceased wife were devoted members, was also in attendance at the funeral house.

Beating his chest, laying his hands on Kamusaki’s head, and looking up to the heavens, the Papa prayed: Dear God of comfort, health, prosperity, and lover of our Christian nation, Zambora, we thank you that we are ever blessed. We are mindful that we do not receive wealth, happiness and health from you because we don’t plant a seed of faith. Even our life expectancy in our Christian Zambora land is abundantly 60 years. Hallelujah! We rebuke witchcraft, illnesses, and poverty! We proclaim health and wealth into our lives. Hallelujah! Poverty is a sin – a lack of your divine blessing! Can someone say, Amen! We do not get rich because we don’t plant the seed. I curse the evil dominions of poverty and speak wealth into your life, dear brother Kamusaki. May the soul of our dear departed sister, Jelita, rest in blissful peace. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Can somebody say Hallelujah!

I also thank you God for our political leaders whom you have chosen to rule over us since you removed our shackles in 1964 from our colonial oppressors. We know oh God, that you never chose the white colonial oppressors to rule over us. We are thankful to you for our servant leaders who love our country Zambora land and even proclaimed it a Christian nation, and subsequently declared a day of prayer and fasting where as a God-fearing people who are blessed to live in a Christian nation come together in the face of hardship to pray, fast, repent, and reconcile political enemies. We praise you, our God, even as we are reminded of Apostle Paul’s injunction in Romans 13:1-7. For we are mindful and celebrate that it is you who has been appointing, since independence, our God-fearing leaders in governmental positions of power and authority. We pray for their protection, health, and prosperity. Amen!

At the end of the Papa’s prayer, Kambenja, Kamusaki’s childhood friend, who all this time was sitting quietly on a stool, in the funeral tent pitched outside of the house, grumbled and emitted a disapproving cough. Kambenja had earlier been drinking Carchasoo. A week before the demise of Jelita, Kambenja had lost his job as a security guard at Kuma Yadi Guarding security company. A security company famous for protecting prominent people, including Hon. Corruption.

Despite his recent struggles, Kambenja was married, had three children, and had in his possession an above average good grade 12 certificate. He was known, among his peers and family members, for his bluntness and lack of political correctness. His outspokenness had even landed him in trouble before. Previously Kambenja was arrested because of a comment he posted on Facebook which the ever-alert Zambora State Police Force (ZSPF) alleged insulted the incumbent president of Zambora. Beyond that, Kambenja was also among three detained persons alleged to have violated national morality and tranquillity by spreading false reports on the president’s whereabouts. It is a serious criminal offense in Zambora land, under the National Online Information Monitoring and Behaviour Compliance Decree (NOIMBCD), to spread any manner of rumours on social media that may be interpreted by the heroic and unquestionable wisdom of the ZSPF as electronic insubordination and blasphemy of the president.

Kambenja’s troubles did not end there. His dismissal from work was a consequence of his refusal to follow orders from his boss, who is the president of the Forget Past Corruption (FPC) political party. According to unconfirmed rumours, Kambenja sharply responded to his boss: “I am drinking from corrupt money which belongs to all Zamborians!” when his boss caught him drinking a rare Irish Whiskey, Jameson, freshly imported from Ireland. Why mukudya mweka? Kambenja again shouted. Earlier, the FPC president had forgotten to lock the now empty bottle of Jameson in the cabinet, after a merry and hearty meal (that resembled a banquet and decadence) with his political circle of friends. Kambenja secretly called his boss’s circle of friends “vicious, arrogant, cold-hearted, calculated, opportunistic, and predatory.”

Following his disapproving cough at the Papa’s prayer, Kambenja, with solemnity, growled: “Stop that nonsense, I am sick and tired of it! It is the corrupt who we need to identify, expose, and punish who killed my friend’s wife, Jelita!” There was deep and overwhelming silence in the tent. Rising to the occasion Kambita, Jelita’s former coursemate in the School of Economics at the University of There Are No Jobs (UTANJ), calmly and tearfully pronounced that “greed and corruption dehumanize and will continue to kill us every day! We are all victims of the cost of corruption in Zambora land!”

With tears flowing down his face, Kambita appeared perturbed and overcome by a cruel sorrow that no one else understood but himself. His face resembled the visage of a human corpse that no matter what things you say to it, including how much you loved them before they were dead, it never answers back. He left the funeral tent and started walking back and forth within the perimeters of the funeral house. With glee, the Papa who had stayed silent after his prayer cleared his throat. In a piercing voice that startled Kamusaki’s dog, Kafukisha, the Papa shouted: “Don’t listen to this drunk,” pointing at Kambenja. “Who are you to falsely accuse God’s anointed, the president of FPC of corruption? Please do not touch the anointed, my friend! Look around you, you uncultured and ungrateful fool: see how many roads have been built in Zambora land, and other infrastructure developments? Can’t you pause, reflect, and marvel at how beautiful even our capital city of Lusava now looks? Lusava is the new Dubai!”

“You talk without knowledge of what corruption is,” the Papa raged. His burning anger, according to audible whispers that were going around the funeral tent, is called “holy anger.” The Papa then motioned his hand in the direction of an imposing figure who was disembarking from a Toyota Landcruiser Prado (that cost USD 90,000). In a lowered voice, the Papa declared that even Hon. Corruption (the figure disembarking from the Toyota Prado)’s current Court cases of alleged corruption are motivated by revenge and political persecution. “Can’t you see the pattern? It is a witch-hunt!” the Papa, with profound satisfaction, added. “Why is it that we Zamborians do not want to see our fellow Zamborians prosper? Why are we jealous of our own? What is wrong with a former public servant owning a private jet or a helicopter? This is why we do not develop. It is bitterness, jealousy, and envy that impede Zambora’s development, not greed or corruption. People like you Kambenja are enemies of progress,” concluded the Papa, with an air of triumph.

It was reputed that the Papa was one of the members of the “Christians for Lungowe.” In Zambora land aspiring political party presidential candidates and incumbent presidents often participate in church services to portray their images as devout Christians. Photos of the church service participating “man of God” politicians are constantly shared on social media and television to reposition themselves as God-ordained leaders without questionable moral standing. And it works! Elections are considered by many of Zambora’s electorates as “spiritual elections” for the soul of Zambora. Therefore, electing a “God-fearing” presidential candidate over one wrongly perceived to practice “dark magic” becomes imperative to stand a chance of winning elections in a political arena sprinkled with the Papas’ holy water, where hallelujahs punctuate political campaigns, and campaign promises sound like prosperity gospel.

Manifestation and Cost of Theft and Corruption

It is Saturday in Lusava City, the sun is a burning orange pinned in the cobalt skies. It is two fortnights since the burial of Kamusaki’s wife, Jelita. Kamusaki still overcome with sorrow, which resemble the dark cloud of depression, sits staring into a void that his deceased wife left unoccupied. A void hugging eternity that only immortality will quench, when like any other mortal Kamusaki will one day join the silent land of the dead. Since his wife died, Kamasaki has been inconsolable, but philosophical. Oftentimes overcome and doused in Chibuku, a popular intoxicant among Zamborians of his social status, Kamusaki has often been heard loudly repeating to himself, in the company of Kambenja and their old childhood friend Kamwendo Munjila, a teacher of history at Ziba Zako community school, that all human beings live to die: they “are born crying, live groaning, and die sighing.” Just like any other Saturday afternoon, Kamasaki and his close friends Kambenja and Kamwendo Munjila are drowning themselves in the delights of Chibuku in a Chinawama compound tavern. The three friends, huddled close, each sip solemnly in a silent communion of eternal brotherhood and unconditional togetherness. As they become increasingly drunk, their voices find life and merry laughter.

Staring into each other’s souls, like new lovers on a first date, the friends explode into a serious conversation. It is Kamwendo Munjila who leads the conversation: “I do not know as much scripture as you do, but why is it that politicians in Zambora land always blame God, nature, or other external forces for the bad economy? They never take responsibility but blame something or someone else.”

“At our dear sister Jelita’s funeral,” Kamwendo Munjila continues, “I held back to speak but let me now speak. Is corruption and theft of public resources an act of God or nature, dear gentlemen? Does God really hate our Christian nation so much that he has continued to punish us with poverty and death since years immemorial? Gentlemen, let me tell you this: you don’t need to be a historian to see the rot of daylight theft of resources of our dear motherland, Zambora. I agree with Kambenja, thieving and corrupt politicians are the real enemy of Zambora land. They deceive, pillage, maim and murder Zamborians by stealing and engaging in corrupt practices that rob us all. They even steal life-saving oxygen masks from those gasping for air and life in clinics and hospitals. They steal even condoms exposing our children to HIV infections. They wear a mask of humility but are soulless, preach Christianity but are slithering serpents when no one is watching, and shed crocodile tears for the suffering Zamborians they secretly exploit. They are wolves, dear gentlemen, ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing. They are ravenous wolves draped in virtue, feasting on, and exploiting the trust Zamborians have placed on them”, Kamwendo Munjila tearfully lamented.

Kamusaki realized in a flash that the death of his dear wife, Jelita, was a consequence of the thieving and corrupt “man of God” Hon. Corruption who in a space of one year had built 60 posh flats from the money intended to purchase X-rays machines at Tilibe Minkwala Hospital and other hospitals.

“Let me tell you a story, gentlemen” continued Kamwendo Munjila. “Corruption in Zambora land is public knowledge, is endemic and deleterious! Ages not too long ago, there lived a man, called Born-Again-Sweet-talker (also fondly known as the “Devout Dribbler”): he was charismatic, excellent in the way he carried himself, and spoke the queen language so well with an accent unmatched by any mortal in the realms of Zambora land. Born-Again Sweet-talker was admired by many and eventually became president of Zambora. After being elected to power, he developed an insatiable appetite for a lavish lifestyle, including acquiring hundreds of flashy shoes and designer suits. To cut the story short, during his time in office he was alleged and later convicted by a Londonia High Court in Queenlandia to have stolen and laundered tens of millions of US dollars. Born-Again Sweeter-Talker eventually died, leaving behind him a poverty-stricken family and a name that is only mentioned when Zamborians speak of theft and corruption. He died a cold and lonely death, Kamwendo Munjila noted.

As if awakened from deep sleep, Kambenja who has been silent all this time screamed in decibels of indescribable anger: “thieves – ravenous wolves, murdering and cannibalizing Zamborians like chickens! Not only have they dehumanized us even in death but have also stolen the future of our Children. But alas, “what does it profit a man to steal everything from the poor and then lose one’s soul?” “Born-Again Sweeter-Talker is a reminder that not all that glitters is godly,” quipped Kambenja.

“This is not all there is”, interjected Kamwendo Munjila. “Corruption didn’t end with the demise of Born-Again Sweeter-Talker. Other inspired men who have come after him are not any different; they are even worse, gentlemen. Corruption has become a competition among very competitive candidates. Over the most recent years, thieves and the corrupt while holding Bibles in one hand have stolen and engaged in never-seen-before degrees of corruption. As I speak right now, there is no more money in the treasury. Imbuto, a dear friend of mine who works at the Ministry of Borrowing and Spending, informed me that even the seeds that were stored at Zambora land’s Ministry of Occasional Harvests went missing. When I asked him why this could be allowed to happen, his response was that the humble leader when he was president encouraged his advisors and followers not to shy away from ubomba-ring and alya-ring mwibala,” Kamwendo Munjila intimated.
It was Kambenja’s turn to buy the next round of the alcoholic beverage. He motioned to Mtengo Mukula, the tavern waiter, to serve them three cartons of Chibuku. Upon hearing this Kamusaki, who was now sober because of the nature of the conversation that shows that his daughter, Kavuyi’s, future has been stolen by greedy and thieving politicians, requested that he be served Carchasoo (a local village Champaigne) instead of Chibuku. Upon receipt of his ordered Carchasoo, Kamusaki murmured something which only Mtengo Mukula understood. It was to the effect that not only has the treasury been raped dry, but whole forests in most parts of Zambora land have also mysteriously disappeared. According to Mukula, the Motherland Commission for the Occasional Pursuit of Corruption (M-COPC) heroically intercepted100 trucks stuffed with rare Zambora tree logs headed in the direction of the countries of Ubambwe and Yamibiya. “But has anyone been arrested for this crime?” Kambenja sarcastically inquired. “Not even a soul has been arrested,” rejoindered Mukula. “Are you not aware of how things work in Zambora land? Are you a fool? My friend let me cure you of your illness of ignorance: In Zambora land stealing and corruption are only considered real crimes if the perpetrator is not a praise singer or minister of a government in power. Prosecutions only happen after a change of government,” Mukula tearfully highlighted.

There was an elongated silence between the discussants. Each looking at the other with an air of bafflement, but without uttering a single word. In his usual manner, Kambenja who had been scribbling something on the ground with his naked finger emitted a loud cough. His cough from old habit always signalled that he was about to say something that might be uncomfortable to the hearer. Perceiving the cough, Kamusaki silently shouted in a soft voice: “Kambenja! Kambenja, are we really a Christian nation?” “Nonsense, nonsense, nonsense, devil take us! What Christianity? Doesn’t your Bible warn Zamborians to ‘beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves’? It is clear, as daylight, yet we pretend we cannot see. ‘A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit,’ can’t you see? Are you blind? Which Christians are you talking about? Have you also bought into this unforgivable deception? Again, if we are to apply the teaching in your Bible, any public servant, who without legitimate business, builds sundry mansions and miraculously gains any form of unexplainable wealth on a minister or civil servant’s salary is a thief and corrupt. You shall know them by their fruits; through the hospitals and clinics that lack life-saving diagnostic equipment and medicine; roads and universities that never got built but are already paid for at extortionately thieving prices; tenders awarded to their cousins, wives, or to themselves through feigned and disguised non-existent business entities”, declared Kambenja.

The two friends (Kamusaki and Kamwendo Munjila) were surprised to hear Kambenja quote scripture from the Bible: Kambenja is known to be a sworn atheist. Standing up with an air of authority that only school headmasters know how to exude, Kamwendo Munjila beseeched Kambenja to explain to them why suddenly, he is quoting scripture to undergird his dismissal of the Christianness of “men of God” politicians in Zambora land. “I am using scripture as a mirror because if indeed we have “men of God” politicians, as they claim, why don’t their deeds align with and reflect the life of a true Christian as established in the Bible”, Kambenja responded.

“If I may”, Mtengo Mukula interrupted the conversation, “I have two questions to ask you, gentlemen. I get confused. Politicians who were once in power and are alleged to have stolen and or engaged in corruption argue that they are targeted for political persecution, or as revenge. More disturbing is this, even when during their tenure of office they engaged in unspeakable human rights violations, disregarded the rule of law, and disrespected democratic facets, they now cry for the need to respect human rights and uphold the rule of law and democracy. Is this a question of a boy who cried wolf?”

“My dear Mukula, let me tell you this: corrupt and thieving politicians take us Zamborians for fools”, declared Kamwendo Munjila. “They think we have a short memory, or we are so forgiving of their heinous sins”, added Kambenja. “Yes, they do,” Kamwendo Munjila seconded. “Look young man”, Kamwendo Munjila continued, “is it political persecution if politicians who were then in power cannot account for the overstated price of 40 Wheelbarrows bought at a cost of USD 999,000 each for use to carry drums of water in case of wildfires that threaten the remaining forests? Is it political persecution if a person alleged to have purchased expired drugs and condoms that could have murdered the already dehumanized Zamborian is required through the judicial system to account for this? What about a sea of mysterious houses costing millions of dollars that build themselves? Shouldn’t Zamborians know the owner of the houses and ask them to account for their source of income? Or is it a miracle that the houses built themselves, so it’s an act of nature? What about millions of dollars spent on mysterious and invisible ambulances that only take the invisible sick to the hospital? It is not political persecution, gentlemen, it is the right thing to do! We have thieves in Zambora who need to be held accountable”, concluded Kamwendo Munjila.

“There you have said it for what it is, my dear Kamwendo,” responded Kamusaki. I now understand why my dear Jelita died: the greedy, thieving and corrupt politicians stole the ambulance that could have saved my wife’s life; they sold as second-hand items for quick cash the hospital bed on which she was supposed to lie when admitted at Tilibe Minkwala Hospital. They calculatingly and coldly re-directed to their off-shore accounts the money intended to train and recruit more medical personnel; poisoned my dear Jelita with expired drugs leading to her demise; and caused the death of my dear friend, Kamweng’u, who died on a dilapidated main road on her way back to Main Natural Resources Province where she worked.”

“You see I told you during the Papa’s prayer at the funeral house: it is not God who hates us, it is our thieving and corrupt politicians in Zambora land who with contempt molest, maim and murder us every day because they want to be wealthy”, reposted Kambenja. “Corruption, dear gentlemen,” continued Kambenja, “breeds and exacerbates poverty and curtails economic opportunities. Corruption and theft of public resources impede delivery of public services, because, for example, when public resources are stolen essential services such as community development, education, healthcare, and infrastructure suffer. Corruption and theft, dear friends, weaken governmental institutions, and prevent foreign investment (investors avoid engaging in markets where fraud, bribes and kickbacks are commonplace). It is the thieving and corrupt politicians who killed the Goose. It is the thieving and corrupt politicians and their lieutenants in the civil service who with impunity shamelessly plunder Zambora land in broad daylight.”

Dr. Kasoka Kasoka (PhD) is an author, advocate, and researcher working at the intersection of law, politics, ethics, human rights, and policy. He holds a PhD from Birkbeck, University of London, along with law degrees from Maastricht University and the University of London. With experience supporting the United Nations and other global initiatives, he is deeply committed to promoting social justice, human dignity, and the common good. Outside of his academic and professional work, Kasoka is also a poet and satirical writer, using creative expression to challenge norms by exploring human lived experiences. Contact: [email protected]

Dacious Kasoka is a Zambian economist, poet, and writer known for his thought-provoking works published in leading literary magazines such as World Voices Magazine, The Kalahari Review, The Shallow Tales Review and Writers Space Africa Magazine, among others. He explores themes of identity, society, and justice. He is enthusiastic about combining creative writing and scholarly analysis to engage with contemporary legal and socio-economic issues.