MUSAMBIZI

                    MUSAMBIZI

 Musambizi is always beaten at the centre and he has learnt to avoid where fellow men sit for relaxation. he is accused of so often accusing other men of trying to snatch his wife from him. Mbizi for short is an average height, black and poorly fed fellow, his wife is said to be some what dense in the brain because her actions are really childish and she's dirty for most of the time, she is seen in one pair of clothes for almost three days. her husband mbizi is also the same.

          Mbizi survives on trimming thorn fences and flowers in families of better off individuals who pay him meagre wages for his lack of bargaining power, he never argues at any amount about the money he's given whether it fits the amount of work done or not.

         At one point, I am at the centre and Mbizi passes by with his wife, they are from doing "kandarasi". A new business man in the area who buys coffee looks at mbizi's wife, In his brain he seems to be wondering why such a couple looks disorganized. Mbizi and his wife begin shouting at each other, ''look at this stupid man", the wife shouts. mbizi retorts by trying to slap her but she dodges and folds her hands as if ready for a kickboxing competition.

      “Why were you smiling at that man as if you are not walking with your husband?”. Mbizi asks in anger. Onlookers know mbizi's behavior so they wait for him to touch his wife so that they do the usual. The wife now directs her loud voice to the businessman asking him, "you man buying coffee, did I smile at you?", the business man looks astonished.

         Are you talking to me?, he asks her to confirm, “this stupid man of mine is accusing me of smiling at you yet I didn't, she continues. I regret marrying such an idiot who can't even reason about the future. All his attention is on me thinking I am about to be snatched while other men are working hard, ooh God save me from such a loser husband”, her lament ends.

         ‘You-shall-meet-your-god today’, he says each word panting and accompanying it with a blow on his wife's back. He is so bitter that his wife can dare insult him in the presence of other men, to make it worse in front of all people in the trading centre. The wife in sobs wails, “he is killing me, he wants to kill me”. The men nearby seize Musambizi and he is in the next minute handcuffed with ropes and as usual the discipline masters pull out ‘Mr John’ that drives ‘mizimu’ out of him. He is quickly laid down and flogging begins until it's the wife's pleas that save him. She calls them to forgive him though he beat her so hard. He has already received more than 300 sticks in number and now his bossom sores.

      But why is Musambizi being beaten almost every week?. Insecurity and fear of losing, he thinks all men who look at his wife want to steal her, more so men who are way above his social status ,even sons of his brother hate him for his senseless accusations and hence have all avoided him. Mbizi is now an island of a man who can't be helped by anyone for fear of being accused of wife stealing.

                      ‘Vincent Wonabadi’