This and that

Our newspapers are full of the serious, the bizarre and the tragic.
MPs have totally rejected the bill to tax all their income. According to them, this is illegal, and besides, they are mortgaged heavily to pay for houses, cars and businesses and would not be able to keep up payments. One’s heart bleeds as the price of maize flour (the staple food for everyone) has doubled in the past few weeks, exceeding the daily wage of a labourer. Grain distribution is highly regulated, but apparently some MPs managed to acquire authority to buy cereals at a reduced price and then resold high, driving up the prices and reducing the supply. We have difficulty understanding why one commodity can devastate the economy (can’t they switch to potato?) But the culture is not ready for this. Meanwhile the ‘traders’ have pocketed millions of shillings and ensured hunger in some parts of the country. We seriously fear food riots.
In Mumias, about 50 km down the road, two Ugandans are being held by police for allegedly administering a concoction which made three people collapse. The three took the mixture to help them identify criminals who killed a trader in the area last week. According to the ‘miracle workers’ the killers of the businessman were supposed to start eating grass immediately the three drank the concoction. They are still undergoing treatment in hospital.
There is an ongoing attempt to resolve many of the issues from the violence at the beginning of the year. One that is proving very difficult is the rape of women by police and army officers who were supposed to be restoring order. This week there was a mock tribunal to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. There have been many tragic stories and I have chosen not to post them here. Nevertheless, here is one presented at the tribunal:
When three men forced their way into Mary’s house, she pleaded with them to spare her teenage daughter. "I told them to spare my daughter as she was only a student, and to take me instead."
All three men took turns raping her.
Although she seems fine, her daughter still worries and asks if she is in pain or if she got infected with HIV.
"I lie to her, but the truth is, I got infected."

I have news of the Sunday School conference, our water projects and the Virtues progarmme. I will post them soon.