Ali Baba And 40 Thieves.

In a town in Persia there dwelt two brothers, one named Cassim, the other Ali Baba. Cassim was married to a rich wife and lived in plenty, while Ali Baba had to maintain his wife and children by cutting wood in a neighbouring forest and selling it in the town. One day, when Ali Baba was in the forest, he saw a troop of men on horseback, coming toward him in a cloud of dust. He was afraid they were robbers, and climbed into a tree for safety. When they came up to him and dismounted, he counted forty of them. They unbridled their horses and tied them to trees.

The finest man among them, whom Ali Baba took to be their captain, went a little way among some bushes, and said, “Open, Sesame!” so plainly that Ali Baba heard him. A door opened in the rocks, and having made the troop go in, he followed them, and the door shut again of itself. They stayed some time inside, and Ali Baba, fearing they might come out and catch him, was forced to sit patiently in the tree. At last the door opened again, and the Forty Thieves came out. As the Captain went in last he came out first, and made them all pass by him; he then closed the door, saying, “Shut, Sesame!”

Every man bridled his horse and mounted, the Captain put himself at their head, and they returned as they came. Then Ali Baba climbed down and went to the door concealed among the bushes, and said, “Open, Sesame!” and it flew open. Ali Baba, who expected a dull, dismal place, was greatly surprised to find it large and well lighted, hollowed by the hand of man in the form of a vault, which received the light from an opening in the ceiling. He saw rich bales of merchandise — silk, stuff-brocades, all piled together, and gold and silver in heaps, and money in leather purses. He went in and the door shut behind him. He did not look at the silver, but brought out as many bags of gold as he thought his asses, which were browsing outside, could carry, loaded them with the bags, and hid it all with fagots.

Using the words, “Shut, Sesame!” he closed the door and went home. Then he drove his asses into the yard, shut the gates, carried the money-bags to his wife, and emptied them out before her. He bade her keep the secret, and he would go and bury the gold. “Let me first measure it,” said his wife. “I will go borrow a measure of someone, while you dig the hole.” So she ran to the wife of Cassim and borrowed a measure. Knowing Ali Baba’s poverty, the sister was curious to find out what sort of grain his wife wished to measure, and artfully put some suet at the bottom of the measure. Ali Baba’s wife went home and set the measure on the heap of gold, and filled it and emptied it often, to her great content. She then carried it back to her sister, without noticing that a piece of gold was sticking to it, which Cassim’s wife perceived directly her back was turned.

She grew very curious, and said to Cassim when he came home, “Cassim, your brother is richer than you. He does not count his money, he measures it.” He begged her to explain this riddle, which she did by showing him the piece of money and telling him where she found it. Then Cassim grew so envious that he could not sleep, and went to his brother in the morning before sunrise. “Ali Baba,” he said, showing him the gold piece, “you pretend to be poor and yet you measure gold.”

By this Ali Baba perceived that through his wife’s folly Cassim and his wife knew their secret, so he confessed all and offered Cassim a share. “That I expect,” said Cassim; “but I must know where to find the treasure, otherwise I will discover all, and you will lose all.” Ali Baba, more out of kindness than fear, told him of the cave, and the very words to use. Cassim left Ali Baba, meaning to be beforehand with him and get the treasure for himself. He rose early next morning, and set out with ten mules loaded with great chests. He soon found the place, and the door in the rock.

He said, “Open, Sesame!” and the door opened and shut behind him. He could have feasted his eyes all day on the treasures, but he now hastened to gather together as much of it as possible; but when he was ready to go he could not remember what to say for thinking of his great riches. Instead of “Sesame,” he said, “Open, Barley!” and the door remained fast. He named several different sorts of grain, all but the right one, and the door still stuck fast. He was so frightened at the danger he was in that he had as much forgotten the word as if he had never heard it.

About noon the robbers returned to their cave, and saw Cassim’s mules roving about with great chests on their backs. This gave them the alarm; they drew their sabers, and went to the door, which opened on their Captain’s saying, “Open, Sesame!” Cassim, who had heard the trampling of their horses’ feet, resolved to sell his life dearly, so when the door opened he leaped out and threw the Captain down. In vain, however, for the robbers with their sabers soon killed him. On entering the cave they saw all the bags laid ready, and could not imagine how anyone had got in without knowing their secret. They cut Cassim’s body into four quarters, and nailed them up inside the cave, in order to frighten anyone who should venture in, and went away in search of more treasure.

As night drew on Cassim’s wife grew very uneasy, and ran to her brother-in-law, and told him where her husband had gone. Ali Baba did his best to comfort her, and set out to the forest in search of Cassim. The first thing he saw on entering the cave was his dead brother. Full of horror, he put the body on one of his asses and bags of gold on the other two, and, covering all with some fagots, returned home. He drove the two asses laden with gold into his own yard, and led the other to Cassim’s house. The door was opened by the slave Morgiana, whom he knew to be both brave and cunning. Unloading the ass, he said to her, “This is the body of your master, who has been murdered, but whom we must bury as though he had died in his bed. I will speak with you again, but now tell your mistress I am come.”

The wife of Cassim, on learning the fate of her husband, broke out into cries and tears, but Ali Baba offered to take her to live with him and his wife if she would promise to keep his counsel and leave everything to Morgiana; whereupon she agreed, and dried her eyes. Morgiana, meanwhile, sought an apothecary and asked him for some lozenges. “My poor master,” she said, “can neither eat nor speak, and no one knows what his distemper is.” She carried home the lozenges and returned next day weeping, and asked for an essence only given to those just about to die.

Thus, in the evening, no one was surprised to hear the wretched shrieks and cries of Cassim’s wife and Morgiana, telling everyone that Cassim was dead. The day after Morgiana went to an old cobbler near the gates of the town who opened his stall early, put a piece of gold in his hand, and bade him follow her with his needle and thread. Having bound his eyes with a handkerchief, she took him to the room where the body lay, pulled off the bandage, and bade him sew the quarters together, after which she covered his eyes again and led him home. Then they buried Cassim, and Morgiana his slave followed him to the grave, weeping and tearing her hair, while Cassim’s wife stayed at home uttering lamentable cries. Next day she went to live with Ali Baba, who gave Cassim’s shop to his eldest son.

The Forty Thieves, on their return to the cave, were much astonished to find Cassim’s body gone and some of their money-bags. “We are certainly discovered,” said the Captain, “and shall be undone if we cannot find out who it is that knows our secret. Two men must have known it; we have killed one, we must now find the other. To this end one of you who is bold and artful must go into the city dressed as a traveler, and discover whom we have killed, and whether men talk of the strange manner of his death. If the messenger fails he must lose his life, lest we be betrayed.”

One of the thieves started up and offered to do this and after the rest had highly commended him for his bravery he disguised himself, and happened to enter the town at daybreak, just by Baba Mustapha’s stall. The thief bade him good-day, saying, “Honest man, how can you possibly see to stitch at your age?” “Old as I am,” replied the cobbler, “I have very good eyes, and will you believe me when I tell you that I sewed a dead body together in a place where I had less light than I have now.”

The robber was overjoyed at his good fortune, and, giving him a piece of gold, desired to be shown the house where he stitched up the dead body. At first Mustapha refused, saying that he had been blindfolded; but when the robber gave him another piece of gold he began to think he might remember the turnings if blindfolded as before. This means succeeded; the robber partly led him, and was partly guided by him, right in front of Cassim’s house, the door of which the robber marked with a piece of chalk. Then, well pleased, he bade farewell to Baba Mustapha and returned to the forest. By and by Morgiana, going out, saw the mark the robber had made, quickly guessed that some mischief was brewing, and fetching a piece of chalk marked two or three doors on each side, without saying anything to her master or mistress.

The thief, meantime, told his comrades of his discovery. The Captain thanked him, and bade him show him the house he had marked. But when they came to it they saw that five or six of the houses were chalked in the same manner. The guide was so confounded that he knew not what answer to make, and when they returned he was at once beheaded for having failed. Another robber was dispatched, and, having won over Baba Mustapha, marked the house in red chalk; but Morgiana being again too clever for them, the second messenger was put to death also.

The Captain now resolved to go himself, but, wiser than the others, he did not mark the house, but looked at it so closely that he could not fail to remember it. He returned, and ordered his men to go into the neighboring villages and buy nineteen mules, and thirty-eight leather jars, all empty except one, which was full of oil. The Captain put one of his men, fully armed, into each, rubbing the outside of the jars with oil from the full vessel. Then the nineteen mules were loaded with thirty-seven robbers in jars, and the jar of oil, and reached the town by dusk.

The Captain stopped his mules in front of Ali Baba’s house, and said to Ali Baba, who was sitting outside for coolness, “I have brought some oil from a distance to sell at tomorrow’s market, but it is now so late that I know not where to pass the night, unless you will do me the favor to take me in.” Though Ali Baba had seen the Captain of the robbers in the forest, he did not recognize him in the disguise of an oil merchant. He bade him welcome, opened his gates for the mules to enter, and went to Morgiana to bid her prepare a bed and supper for his guest. He brought the stranger into his hall, and after they had supped went again to speak to Morgiana in the kitchen, while the Captain went into the yard under pretense of seeing after his mules, but really to tell his men what to do.

Beginning at the first jar and ending at the last, he said to each man, “As soon as I throw some stones from the window of the chamber where I lie, cut the jars open with your knives and come out, and I will be with you in a trice.” He returned to the house, and Morgiana led him to his chamber. She then told Abdallah, her fellow slave, to set on the pot to make some broth for her master, who had gone to bed. Meanwhile her lamp went out, and she had no more oil in the house. “Do not be uneasy,” said Abdallah; “go into the yard and take some out of one of those jars.”

Morgiana thanked him for his advice, took the oil pot, and went into the yard. When she came to the first jar the robber inside said softly, “Is it time?” Any other slave but Morgiana, on finding a man in the jar instead of the oil she wanted, would have screamed and made a noise; but she, knowing the danger her master was in, bethought herself of a plan, and answered quietly, “Not yet, but presently.”

She went to all the jars, giving the same answer, till she came to the jar of oil. She now saw that her master, thinking to entertain an oil merchant, had let thirty-eight robbers into his house. She filled her oil pot, went back to the kitchen and, having lit her lamp, went again to the oil jar and filled a large kettle full of oil. When it boiled she went and poured enough oil into every jar to stifle and kill the robber inside. When this brave deed was done she went back to the kitchen, put out the fire and the lamp, and waited to see what would happen.

In a quarter of an hour the Captain of the robbers awoke, got up, and opened the window. As all seemed quiet, he threw down some little pebbles which hit the jars. He listened, and as none of his men seemed to stir he grew uneasy, and went down into the yard. On going to the first jar and saying, “Are you asleep?” he smelt the hot boiled oil, and knew at once that his plot to murder Ali Baba and his household had been discovered. He found all the gang was dead, and, missing the oil out of the last jar, became aware of the manner of their death. He then forced the lock of a door leading into a garden, and climbing over several walls made his escape. Morgiana heard and saw all this, and, rejoicing at her success, went to bed and fell asleep.

At daybreak Ali Baba arose, and, seeing the oil jars still there, asked why the merchant had not gone with his mules. Morgiana bade him look in the first jar and see if there was any oil. Seeing a man, he started back in terror. “Have no fear,” said Morgiana; “the man cannot harm you; he is dead.” Ali Baba, when he had recovered somewhat from his astonishment, asked what had become of the merchant. “Merchant!” said she, “he is no more a merchant than I am!” and she told him the whole story, assuring him that it was a plot of the robbers of the forest, of whom only three were left, and that the white and red chalk marks had something to do with it. Ali Baba at once gave Morgiana her freedom, saying that he owed her his life. They then buried the bodies in Ali Baba’s garden, while the mules were sold in the market by his slaves.

The Captain returned to his lonely cave, which seemed frightful to him without his lost companions, and firmly resolved to avenge them by killing Ali Baba. He dressed himself carefully, and went into the town, where he took lodgings in an inn. In the course of a great many journeys to the forest he carried away many rich stuffs and much fine linen, and set up a shop opposite that of Ali Baba’s son. He called himself Cogia Hassan, and as he was both civil and well dressed he soon made friends with Ali Baba’s son, and through him with Ali Baba, whom he was continually asking to sup with him.

Ali Baba, wishing to return his kindness, invited him into his house and received him smiling, thanking him for his kindness to his son. When the merchant was about to take his leave Ali Baba stopped him, saying, “Where are you going, sir, in such haste? Will you not stay and sup with me?” The merchant refused, saying that he had a reason; and, on Ali Baba’s asking him what that was, he replied, “It is, sir, that I can eat no victuals that have any salt in them.” “If that is all,” said Ali Baba, “let me tell you that there shall be no salt in either the meat or the bread that we eat to-night.”

He went to give this order to Morgiana, who was much surprised. “Who is this man,” she said, “who eats no salt with his meat?” “He is an honest man, Morgiana,” returned her master; “therefore do as I bid you.” But she could not withstand a desire to see this strange man, so she helped Abdallah to carry up the dishes, and saw in a moment that Cogia Hassan was the robber Captain, and carried a dagger under his garment. “I am not surprised,” she said to herself, “that this wicked man, who intends to kill my master, will eat no salt with him; but I will hinder his plans.”

She sent up the supper by Abdallah, while she made ready for one of the boldest acts that could be thought on. When the dessert had been served, Cogia Hassan was left alone with Ali Baba and his son, whom he thought to make drunk and then to murder them. Morgiana, meanwhile, put on a headdress like a dancing-girl’s, and clasped a girdle round her waist, from which hung a dagger with a silver hilt, and said to Abdallah, “Take your tabor, and let us go and divert our master and his guest.” Abdallah took his tabor and played before Morgiana until they came to the door, where Abdallah stopped playing and Morgiana made a low courtesy.

“Come in, Morgiana,” said Ali Baba, “and let Cogia Hassan see what you can do”; and, turning to Cogia Hassan, he said, “She’s my slave and my housekeeper.” Cogia Hassan was by no means pleased, for he feared that his chance of killing Ali Baba was gone for the present; but he pretended great eagerness to see Morgiana, and Abdallah began to play and Morgiana to dance. After she had performed several dances she drew her dagger and made passes with it, sometimes pointing it at her own breast, sometimes at her master’s, as if it were part of the dance. Suddenly, out of breath, she snatched the tabor from Abdallah with her left hand, and, holding the dagger in her right hand, held out the tabor to her master. Ali Baba and his son put a piece of gold into it, and Cogia Hassan, seeing that she was coming to him, pulled out his purse to make her a present, but while he was putting his hand into it Morgiana plunged the dagger into his heart.

“Unhappy girl!” cried Ali Baba and his son, “what have you done to ruin us?” “It was to preserve you, master, not to ruin you,” answered Morgiana. “See here,” opening the false merchant’s garment and showing the dagger; “see what an enemy you have entertained! Remember, he would eat no salt with you, and what more would you have? Look at him! he is both the false oil merchant and the Captain of the Forty Thieves.” Ali Baba was so grateful to Morgiana for thus saving his life that he offered her to his son in marriage, who readily consented, and a few days after the wedding was celebrated with greatest splendor.

At the end of a year Ali Baba, hearing nothing of the two remaining robbers, judged they were dead, and set out to the cave. The door opened on his saying, “Open Sesame!” He went in, and saw that nobody had been there since the Captain left it. He brought away as much gold as he could carry, and returned to town. He told his son the secret of the cave, which his son handed down in his turn, so the children and grandchildren of Ali Baba were rich to the end of their lives

Source: Ali Baba Website.

Why Are We Supporting Thieves?

The ten highest spenders.

   Ministry/Department                                          Amount Spent (ksh/usd)
1.  High Court of Kenya                                         82,572,720 / 1.15m
2.  Roads & Public Works                                      65,646,080 / 910,000
3.  Water Resources Managment & Development  47,664,164 / 661,800
4.  State House                                                     45,546,743 / 632,400
5.  Regional Development                                     45,168,497 / 627,100
6. Cooperative Development                                 44,164,605 / 613,200
7.  Foreign Affairs                                                 42,960,240 / 596,500
8.  Finance and Planning                                       40,948,240 / 568,500
9.  Education Science & Technology                      38,503,323 / 534,600
10.  Office of the President                                   35,458,748 / 492,300

It is the personal nature of these expenditures and their extravagance that the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights draws attention to. We do not argue that all expenditure on vehicle purchases during the period was questionable. The Office of the President, for example, spent more than one billion shillings (US $14m) to purchase a fleet of 417 Toyota Land Cruiser pickups, 24 Corollas and 20 Condors for the Kenya Police. The Ministry of Health also purchased 54 Nissan double cabs at a cost of Ksh.120 million (US $1.67m). We believe that these were legitimate public outlays in the service of ensuring the right to health and security. We also received reports of permanent secretaries and assistant ministers driving modest cars, and we applaud them for it.

We hope the country can follow the example of neighbours such as Rwanda and Burundi, which have taken bold steps, including the confiscation and sale of fuel guzzlers. As of May 2005, the sale of such vehicles had raised US $3.5m in Rwanda and further savings in fuel and maintenance costs are projected.

We hope that this report drives home the simple message that there is an incredible degree of unnecessary extravagance on the part of the Government of Kenya. At a time when so many Kenyans are facing starvation, we hope this report will encourage reflection as the new cabinet settles into office

Source: www.transparency.org

 

Marriage Software

This is what a guy wrote to our systems analyst: Dear Systems Analyst, I am desperate for some help! I recently upgraded my program from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 and found that the new program began unexpected Child Processing and also took up a lot of space and valuable resources.
 
This wasn’t mentioned in the product brochure. In addition Wife 1.0 installs itself into all other programs and launches during systems initialization and then it monitors all other system activities. Applications such as “Boys’ Night out 2.5” and “Golf 5.3” no longer run, and crashes the system whenever selected. Attempting to operate selected “Saturday Football 6.3” always fails and “Saturday Shopping 7.1” runs instead. I cannot seem to keep Wife 1.0 in the background whilst attempting to run any of my favourite applications. Be it online or offline. I am thinking of going back to “Girlfriend 7.0”, but uninstall doesn’t work on this program. Can you please help?
 
……………….AND THE ANALYST SAID,
 
Dear Customer, This is a very common problem resulting from a basic misunderstanding of the functions of the Wife 1.0 program. Many customers upgrade from Girlfriend 7.0 to Wife 1.0 thinking that Wife 1.0 is merely a UTILITY AND ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM. Actually, Wife 1.0 is an OPERATING SYSTEM designed by its Creator to run everything on your current platform.
 
You are unlikely to be able to purge Wife 1.0 and still convert back to Girlfriend 7.0, as Wife 1.0 was not designed to do this and it is impossible to uninstall, delete or purge the program files from the System once it is installed. Some people have tried to install Girlfriend 8.0 or Wife 2.0 but have ended up with even more problems. (See manual under Alimony/Child Support and Solicitors’ Fees).
 
Having Wife 1.0 installed, I recommend you keep it Installed and deal with the difficulties as best as you can. When any faults or problems occur, whatever you think has caused them, you must run the……… C:\ APOLOGIZE\ FORGIVE ME.EXE Program and avoid attempting to use the *Esc-Key for it will freeze the entire system. It may be necessary to run C:\ APOLOGIZE\ FORGIVE ME.EXE a number of times, and eventually hope that the operating system will return to normal. Wife 1.0, although a very high maintenance programme, can be very rewarding.
 
To get the most out of it, consider buying additional Software such as “Flowers 2.0” and “Chocolates 5.0” or “HUGS\ KISSES 600.0” or “TENDERNESS\ UNDERSTANDING 1000.0″ or even Eating out without the Kids 7.2.1” (if Child processing has already started). DO NOT under any circumstances install “Secretary 2.1” (Short Skirt Version) or “One Nightstand 3.2” (Any Mood Version), as this is not a supported Application for Wife 1.0 and the system will almost certainly CRASH.

Via Email.

Why Kenyans Cannot Celebrate.

Following the disputed elections in December last year, Kenya was in the verge of a civil war break out and we do thank God that it never happened despite the fact that more than 1500 Kenyans lost their lives and more than 300000 were displaced without mentioning destruction of properties worth billions of Kenya shillings.

Today there is sigh of relief that Kenyans are going on well with their daily lives despite the fact that price of commodities has sky rocketed and famine is looming. When Dr. Kofi Annan and other eminent African leaders helped to broker peace accord between president Kibaki and prime minister designate, Hon. Raila Odinga, all Kenyans of good will celebrated and we were all relieved that our country wont slide into civil war or genocide.

After the deal, parliament was recalled and the new accord was passed in very quickly and it was put in our constitution. Then after, there was the issue of naming the much awaited cabinet and once again PNU and ODM could not agree on the cabinet portfolios and shamelessly, Dr. koffi Annan has to talk with both principals in order to agree on the issue of cabinet set up. According to reports which were being filtered by the media and other sources, PNU was rooting for a cabinet of 44 while ODM was for 34.Religious leaders and civil organisations wanted a lean cabinet in order not to overburden the Kenyan tax payers since Kenya is one of the country in the world whereby parliamentarians are amongst the highest well paid.

After some weeks of jostling about over the cabinet naming with some leaders even calling for a re-run of presidential elections, if President Kibaki and Raila were not agreeing; both Kibaki and Raila pulled a fast one and agreed on a cabinet of 40 which will be named on Sunday-6th April. Now if we are going to have a cabinet ministers numbering 40 and the same if not more number of assistant ministers, it means that we gone have almost the half of parliamentarians in the cabinet. This is a big burden to the Kenyan tax payers to sustain such a huge cabinet. Kenyans voted for change in last December elections, but now its emerging very clearly that our politicians do not have the well being of our country and its people at heart and rather its only for their well being status together with their cronies.

For the past one month, none of our leaders who has been talking about the displaced Kenyans but they have been busy lobbying for cabinet posts because that’s what they care most about. Kenyans should learn a very big lesson from the current leaders we are having because when they were campaigning and soliciting for votes last year, our sky was full of choppers but today those choppers cannot fly anymore to go and preach peace and reconciliation, address our own internal refugees and even give them hope of how they will be re-settled and to be compensated.

What has emerged now in Kenya today is elite political class who are hell bound to stay in power with their cronies and once they are done, their children to take over. So common mwananchi has no place in our political frame work and that’s why we the ordinary Kenyans should re-examine ourselves and form a political party based with one common interest called Kenya. Unless we start ideological politics, tribal chiefs will always have a free field in Kenyan politics and they will continue playing tribal cards after every five years and we will continue killing each other in their names, and once the “animal” is down, they will continue getting the lion’s share.

Githuku Wa Muirani.

Mistreatment Of Housemaids By Embassy Employees.

A large number of women working for the Kenyan embassy in Sweden employees get very low salaries without any social protection. Semi-Slaves conditions which are given to the housemaids are very disturbing to any morally right person.  They work for long hours without pay or compensation. The number of young women and men employed as domestic servants by the embassy employees is worrying given the conditions they work under. As the embassy staff enjoys their holidays in London and other parts of the world, the housemaids are left with a salary of only 1500skr. per month.

This Kenyans who works here in Sweden as domestic servants are viewed as unskilled and uneducated which translates into their mistreatment in the forms of exploitation and abuse. There is an apparent disconnect between the demands the embassy staff places upon the housemaid and the feasibility of the housemaid to meet those demands. The housemaid, at large, is not valued or viewed as a person with needs, feelings or desires. They are not seen as individuals with lives that exist outside the realm of their home but rather as servants whose only purpose in life is to cater to their every whim. They are absolute at the bottom rung of the social hierarchy in Kenyan society in Sweden. (From the embassy perspective). Most are poor young women who come from the rural areas, with little skills and education to help them in their daily plight to earn a living.

The Kenyan embassy in Sweden employees recognizes how vulnerable this Kenyans are and takes advantage of their unfortunate circumstances to acquire cheap labour. They are mistreated, given insultingly low wages; work excessively long hours, abused and the stigma associated with domestic labour makes the whole thing morally wrong. As many Kenyans in this region voices injustices that face our people, some of us have been hated for voicing the voice of the voiceless. The sad part of it is that this housemaids are being mistreated by their fellow women in most cases.(Did the immediate former ambassador to Sweden employ a maid?)

It’s very ironical to see the crusaders of female liberation oppressing the very people they say they are defending. How can one survive in Sweden with less than 2000kr in a month? With the empowerment of one group of women, comes the oppression of the other. The oppressed becoming the oppressor is the housemaid’s biggest obstacle to progress. Another important player in this clash is the Kenyan Government. Their neglect and inadequate policies regarding domestic servitude and protection of workers has only served to contribute to the society’s idea that domestic labourers are not valued enough as human beings to warrant the same rights and working conditions granted to other Kenyans.

Not surprisingly, domestic workers bear only so much abuse and mistreatment before they retaliate, sometimes violently, against their employers.  More benign cases of retaliation include domestic workers stealing from their employers.  They frequently justify this behaviour as compensation for being overworked and underpaid.  Indeed, there are many instances of employers withholding pay altogether only to find that their domestic workers have been helping themselves to family possessions.  We have had of domestic employees working in collaboration with gangs to exact revenge on their employers. The Kenyan embassy employees must be on the alert and start strategizing on how to satisfy their maids because they have many options on the table. With easy access to valuables, like tax free alcohol (Tusker) to jewelleries, domestic workers have little trouble engaging in theft.

In more extreme cases, however, angry and frustrated domestic employees have even resorted to violent retaliatory measures.  In several instances, workers have responded to unfair treatment by murdering their employers.  One domestic worker attempted to poison an entire family while another houseboy killed his boss with a hoe upon learning that he had been fired without pay. In still other cases, angry domestic workers target the children of their abusive employers.  Often too young to defend themselves, children become the victims of neglect or abuse by their mistreated and vengeful caretakers.  In one case, one woman went so far as to strangle the two toddlers under her care after an argument with her employer.

Currently, the only organization within Kenya campaigning exclusively for the rights of house helps is the Centre for Domestic Training and Development in Nairobi. The Canter’s approach to the issue is to empower women in their current situation and teach them marketable skills for domestic labour so that they may have a bargaining chip to negotiate for high salaries and fair working terms and conditions. The NGO has to date, trained and found decently compensated employment for 1000 women in the last five years; the real change will have to come from within society. By promoting decent work for women, we are empowering societies and advancing the cause of economic and social development for all.

Munala wa Munala.