150 of Eroded Kwacha per Maize Bag – Reminds Of ‘Old Man and Medal’ Story

By Dr Parkie Mbozi

GOVERNMENT through the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has increased the maize purchase price for a 50kg bag from K110 to K150. The FRA has also fixed the price of a 50kg bag of soya beans at K500 and paddy rice at K200 for a 40kg bag. Further, FRA says will this year buy between 500, 000 and 1,000,000 tonnes of maize, representing only about 20 – 30% of the predicted harvest.

With the United States dollar trending at about K23, the price of a bag of maize is now USD 6.52. Also, with the bag of D compound fertilizer selling at about K650, a farmer requires to sell four plus bags to buy one bag of fertilizer. The viability of this dynamic is a discussion for another day. My discussion for today is about the façade of seemingly increasing the reward to the farmer at a time when the Kwacha has lost its value. The table below demonstrates that actually even at K65 a bag in 2017 and K110 in 2019 the farmer was better off than today. So although the farmer maybe smiling at the offer of K150, they are not getting any better in real terms.

This scenario reminds me of the story “Old man and the medal’ in our literature lessons. Below goes the story. Enjoy the read!

Meka lives with his wife in the villge of Doum, an African location (residence) near the town of Doum. It’s early in the morning and after having a breakfast, Meka goes to town for work. He calls at Mammy Titi’s place. Mammy Titi is a woman from the Coast who has a reputation as a distiller of arki, a forbidden local beer. She also lives in the African location and her place is near the town. Meka arrives at Mammy Titi’s place and joins others to drink some arki. The white men dislike the arki and the natives have been forbidden to distil or drink it so that they can buy European drinks.

Meka tells the other men at Mammy Titi’s place that he is going to see Commandant. Later at the Commandant’s office, he receives shocking news that he is going to be given the Medal by the Chief of the Whites on July 14. At home, Kelara becomes worried because it’s evening and Meka has not returned yet. Most of the time, she fixes her eyes on the far end of the village to see if her husband is coming back.

Then as Kelara begins to lose hope, the sound of the car is heard and the villagers come outside their huts. In the car, Meka is sitting beside the white man who is driving. The villagers see Meka stepping out of the car majestically. After stepping out, Meka announces that the Great Chief of all the White men, who lives at Timba, is coming to give him a Medal on 14^th July.

In the evening, the old men of the village come to sit with Meka at his hut so as to discuss the matter and congratulate him for this achievement. The old men, Nua and Nti, have no employment and they work for Meka. Mvondo, Meka’s nephew who has bald head although he is young is also there. David Ondua, the Catechist has also attended. Then Meka tells his fellow old men how he got this news. Meka says, the Commandant told him through an interpreter who interprets French into Mvema that: “You have done much to forward the work of France in this country. You have given your lands to the missionaries, you have given your two sons in the war when they found a glorious death. The Medal that we are going to give you means you are more than our friend.” 

On the eve of the ceremony Meka is very busy preparing himself. He has decided to get himself a new jacket (suit) for the occasion. Ela, the famous tailor in Doum, is tailoring Meka’s zazou jacket at M.Angelopoulo’s shop. Meka has become impatient as it is midday and the jacket isn’t finished yet. Ela laughs at white men’s suits which show their buttocks and promises to tailor a new fashion for Meka. He also thinks about how the medal will be pinned on Meka’s jacket. He boasts that the Chief of the whites must ask Meka who his tailor is. When the jacket is finally ready, Meka tries it on and pays 500 Francs for it. He goes home.

Meanwhile guests gather at Meka’s home. Those present include Engamba and his wife who travelled for two nights. Some are distant relatives whom Kelara does not even know. She prepares banana leaves for beddings. They all talk and laugh together before going to bed. As time to sleep approaches, Meka and Kelara disagree over the new zazou suit tailored by Ela. Kelara says it isn’t good enough and Meka should not wear it tomorrow. Meka is also allergic to shoes. Kelara helps Meka try the leather shoes bought for the ceremony. The shoes have been bought from madam Pipiniakis’ shop in Doum. They are too large so they have to be filed with sand to fit him. After much debate, Kelara and the guests agree that Meka will wear the new jacket and the shoes tomorrow. They all go to sleep but Meka could not sleep. He kept thinking about the medal and how he was going to feed all the guests that came to celebrate with him at home.

It is celebration day. Meka is placed at the centre at M.Fouconis’ house waiting for the arrival of the Chief of the whites. Meka’s fellow Africans are there to witness the event and are very troublesome for the guards who have been having a hard time keeping them back. The only white man Meka could recognize is Fr Vandermayer. Meka does not understand why they have placed him in the hot sun. He also wonders why he is not sitting with his wife and other family members. He thinks they should be by his side to congratulate him. They have been waiting for the Guest of honour for a long time now. As time goes on Meka is troubled by his tight shoes and the sun that is hitting him. It is half past 10 and the Guest is nowhere to be seen.

At last the Guest arrives. He is putting on very nice clothes. Quickly the activity of giving medals begins, starting with M. Pipiniakis, the great shopkeeper of Greek origin. Then it is Meka’s turn. The Chief gets a medal from the case and pins it on Meka’s breast. Meka realizes that the medal given to him is not the same as M. Pipiniakis’ but is more than happy anyway. The Chief of the whites, Governor, Commandant and his assistant and M.Fouconi are the main guests. All the important guests, including Meka, are invited by the Chief to eat and drink at the African Community Centre. And Meka is asked to join the row of Europeans based in Doum after being given the medal. The ceremony continues. As the soldiers pass with their rifles, Meka admires the rifles for using to kill gorillas.

Kelara is also celebrating in the crowd. But as she enjoys the celebrations, one boy, a servant of the commandant, shouts in the crowd that Meka’s medal is nothing compared to the land he lost to the whites and the two sons he lost in the war they fought for the whites. Hearing this, Kelara is suddenly upset as she becomes aware of the hypocrisy of the white men and bursts into tears. Before leaving the celebrations she goes to the boy and tells him: “Thank you. The Holy Spirit spoke through you.” The boy tells his friend that he overheard about Meka’s losses from the commandant.

On the other side, Meka knows nothing about what has happened to Kelara, his wife. He feels proud to be the only African to have been given a medal among white men. When the time to relocate to the African Community Centre comes, the whites jump into their vehicles. Fr Vandermayor offers Meka a lift. He puts him at the back of his cabin, although no one else is with him in the front seat. The bumps on the road trouble Meka so much.

Out of expectation, Kelara arrives home alone while crying. Engamba failed to attend ceremony due to illness from two days of traveling. When Kelara is asked what had happened, she blames Meka for selling their land and two children for a single ‘useless’ medal.

At the Community hall, the celebration is at its peak. Meka has emptied all his wine in the glass ahead of others. He drinks too much and dreams of alcohol. And he thinks his wine is different because it has a salty taste. When the High Commissioner asks everybody to raise their glass for a toss, Meka has nothing in his glass. As people continue enjoying, the High Commissioner gives his speech, then the Chief. Afterwards Meka staggers to the dias to say something. He is allowed to speak. Meka invites the Chief to his home so that they can eat a goat together as a show of friendship. The chief rejects the offer and instead invites Meka. This angers the Africans and confusion reigns in the hall. Under the instruction of the Chief, M. Fouconi asks the interpreter to order the Africans to leave as the function is over. The Africans refuse but take turns to speak and condemn the white men for their hypocrisy. The white men flea the hall through the backdoor. Police are called in to disperse the Africans. While all this is happening, Meka is fast asleep. He is being nursed by a neighbor.

Suddenly Gullet, the chief of police, and his men move into the hall and force the Africans to go home. They panic and go out as they complain bitterly in groups. No one remembers Meka, who was still fast asleep at the time they were ordered out. Even the neighbor has panicked and left him behind. The police search the place and fail to see Meka.

In middle of night Meka wakes up in a strange environment. Heavy rains begin. Thunder and lightning shock him. As he leaves the hall and starts going home, he finds out that there is no medal around his kneck. He has lost it. He refuses to go back to the hall to fetch it. Darkness prevents him from seeing where he was going.

Unexpectedly, he meets constables with their torches patrolling the town. They arrest, insult him and refuse to take an apology from him. He pleads with them not to take him to the police station but they refuse. At the police station he introduces himself as Meka, the friend of the whites. As he is charged of “loitering with suspicious intent” and thrown into a cell, he busts into tears and is totally confused.

That is the story of many of us in this country. Within a space of five years our real-term earnings have reduced to a ‘useless medal’.

The author is a Research Fellow with the Institute of Economic and Social Research, University of Zambia. He is reachable on [email protected].