Yesterday night I found myself in the last place I would ever expect to encounter a quality production - YouTube.
Boy, was I wrong!
There I discovered a local production - VEVE.
VEVE is a Sheng (a combination of Swahili and English native to Kenya) word for Khat.
According to ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ด๐ฒ๐น๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฒ๐ช:
แดสแดแด ษชs แด าสแดแดกแดสษชษดษข แดสแดษดแด ษดแดแดษชแด แด แดแด แดสแด สแดสษด แดา แดาสษชแดแด แดษดแด แดสแด แดสแดสษชแดษด แดแดษดษชษดsแดสแด. แดสแดแด แดแดษดแดแดษชษดs แดสแด แดสแดแดสแดษชแด แดแดแดสษชษดแดษดแด, แด sแดษชแดแดสแดษดแด, แดกสษชแดส ษชs sแดษชแด แดแด แดแดแดsแด แดxแดษชแดแดแดแดษดแด, สแดss แดา แดแดแดแดแดษชแดแด, แดษดแด แดแดแดสแดสษชแด.
This being a local production means that most of the actors are barely known but they do an excellent job in portraying the political intrigues of a country still trying to find its soul and how one of the most lucrative businesses - that of selling Khat - is affected by political and criminal interests.
The movie is set in the main Khat growing area in Central Kenya called Maua, Meru.
Small satellite village towns eventually cropped up around the main town to support Khat farmers which mainly provide agricultural equipment, chemicals, and fertilizer.
Despite the valuable crop, the small scale farmers still wallow in poverty because of poor prices and exploitation by the middlemen who take most of the profits.
The crop is also of political interest.
Khat is always a talking point in the race for Governorship of the vast Meru County.
The production and sale of Khat is unregulated.
Particularly due to its perishability, the vehicles that transport the crop for export are driven recklessly and at a high speed but they are never stopped by the police despite causing accidents and breaking the speed limit.
Business interest outway safety and regulation.
Fueled by an insatiable appetite for success, Amos cheats, steals, and kills as he seeks another term in office in Maua, Meru County.
However, his business dealings put him in a collision course with the Khat farmers in Maua who grow tired of the low prices they have been receiving and seek to unionize.
Amos will not have it.
In his attempt to stamp out any rebellion, he destroys the Khat plantation of one of the farmers. This does stop the talk of unionizing but Amos soon realizes that he may have overstepped.
He sends his wife, Esther, to speak to the farmers, a pretty face to smooth over the hostility between Amos and the farmers.
This is how Esther meets the protagonist, Kenzo.
How does Kenzo know Amos?
Well, Kenzo's father was one of the largest Khat farmers in the region and owned a fleet of pickups to transport the produce as well as a garage to repair the vehicles in.
Amos being an ambitious individual wanted to take over Kenzo's father's business on the cheap but was denied the opportunity.
Not to be dismissed, Amos murdered Kenzo's father and forced Kenzo's mother to relinquish the business and its assets on the cheap.
The death of his father is what fuels Kenzo.
He wants Amos dead, but how do you reach a man who is surrounded by a bubble of protection accorded to him due to his political position?
Fate would have Kenzo and Esther (Amos' wife) meet and fall in love and eventually, he would reveal his intentions to her in regards to her husband.
That revelation would put Kenzo's life in danger but despite that, he has to see his plan through.
Will he succeed in enacting his vengeance?
Despite being a low budget production, the individuals behind this film do incredibly well in using the open world as their stage.
The story is well written and as a native, I relate to it.
Politicians are a cancer in the country. Their insatiable greed permeates every facet of every institution put in place to administer equity and justice in the country.
The police force is a criminal enterprise.
There are separate rules for the rich and the poor.
And while that is true the world over, the extremes are much, much more different in Kenya and other poorly governed countries like it.
Especially during this Covid-19 crisis where gatherings of more than 10 people are banned, politicians congregate with reckless abandon without consequences. whereas everybody else is either arrested while others are even shot dead in the streets for not wearing a mask properly.
Several characters in this film portray a particular challenge in this particular setting knitting everything nicely with a romantic conclusion.
My take-home:
A politician/criminal is just an individual. They are only as powerful as the people who enable and grant their sinister requests either for money or status.
When their enablers leave them, they are as vulnerable and helpless as a newborn sheep.
Their power is a fragile illusion.
