TOMMY DOUGLAS' MOUSELAND AS ADOPTED BY OLUOCH MADIANG'

MOUSELAND by TOMMY DOUGLAS

The Story of Mouseland was a story told first by Clarence Gillis, and later and most famously by Tommy Douglas, leader of the Saskatchewan Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and, later, the New Democratic Party of Canada, both social democratic parties. It was a political fable expressing the CCF's view that the Canadian political system was flawed in offering voters a false dilemma: the choice of two parties, neither of which represented their interests. (Source: Wikipedia).

As told by Tommy Douglas in 1944 and Adopted by Oluoch Madiang’ in 2011.

(Please find some time to tell this story to your parents and siblings and children and friends and workmates and church and mosque and matatu crew till 2012. Alternatively, if you are not a storyteller, I am one and can come tell it to your gathering)

Mouseland was a place where all the little mice lived and played, were born and died. And they lived much the same as you and I do.

They even had a Parliament. And every five years they had an election. The mice used to walk to the polls and cast their ballots. Some of them even got a ride to the polls. The mice formed endless, long meandering queues in the hot sun in the polling stations just as we do here in Kenya. They got a ride for the next five years afterwards too. Just like you and me. And every time on Election Day all the little mice used to go to the ballot box and they used to elect a government. A government made up of big, fat, black cats!

Now if you think it strange that mice should elect a government made up of cats, you just look at the history of Kenya for last 50 years and maybe you'll see that they weren't any stupider than we are.

Now I'm not saying anything against the cats. They were nice fellows. They conducted their government with dignity. They passed good laws--that is, laws that were good for cats. But the laws that were good for cats weren't very good for mice. Just like the laws that are good for the Waheshimiwa are not good for Wananchi!

One of the laws said that mouseholes had to be big enough so a cat could get his paw in. Another law said that mice could only travel at certain speeds--so that a cat could get his breakfast without too much effort.

All the laws were good laws. For cats. But, oh, they were hard on the mice. And life was getting harder and harder. And when the mice couldn't put up with it any more, they decided something had to be done about it. So they went en masse to the polls. They voted the black cats out. They put in the white cats. Just like in 2002 when we voted out the Kanu Damu Foxes and voted in the Kanuists in Sheepskins.

Now the white cats had put up a terrific campaign. They said: "All that Mouseland needs is more vision." They said: “The trouble with Mouseland is those round mouseholes we got. If you put us in we'll establish square mouseholes." And they did. And the square mouseholes were twice as big as the round mouseholes, and now the cat could get both his paws in. And life was tougher than ever.

(Just like the Kanu in Sheepskins campaigned and told us, ‘Yote Yawezekana Bila Moi’. We thought all good things are possible without Moi. Little did we know that they meant that all oppression, corruption and Siasa Mbaya Maisha Mbaya were possible without Moi. All was possible with them too!)

And when the mice couldn't take that anymore, they voted the white cats out and put the black ones in again. Then they went back to the white cats. Then to the black cats. They even tried half black cats and half white cats. And they called that a grand coalition. Then they tried cats that could speak the mice language. Then cats that had married mice. Then cats that came from their tribe. Then cats that came from their clan. They tried cats that came from their families too! They voted a parliament and government of female cats. They voted cats that were saved and holy cats that were called Reverend. Dr. Fr. Apostle Cat!. But still life was tougher for mice.

You see, my friends, the trouble wasn't with the color or size of the cat. Or the language or sex of the cats. Or the tribe or faith the cats came from. Or the clan or family the cats hailed from! THE TROUBLE WAS THAT THEY WERE CATS! And because they were cats, they naturally looked for the welfare of cats instead of mice. The cats killed and ate the mice, just like the Waheshimiwa pay Wananchi to fight, burn and kill themselves while Waheshimiwa eat our land, chew our forests and drink our rivers.

Presently there came along one little mouse who had an idea. MY FRIENDS, WATCH OUT FOR THE LITTLE FELLOW WITH AN IDEA.: even if the newspapers label him or her LITTLE-KNOWN! YOU WHO IS READING THIS STORY COULD BE THAT LITTLE FELLOW WITH AN IDEA!

And he said to the other mice, "Look fellows, why do we keep on electing a government made up of cats? Why don't we elect a government made up of mice?" "Oh," they said, "He's a communist. Foreign masters pay him. He wants to finish our Cat community! He is anti-government. Lock him up!"

So they put him in jail to stop the other mice from hearing him. Just like they did to that Odhiambo who shouted, 'BABA TUNASIKIA NJAA' from the VIP stand during a national holiday!

But I want to remind you: that you can lock up a mouse or a man but you can't lock up an idea.

TOMMY DOUGLAS' 'MOUSELAND' adaptation by OLUOCH-MADIANG'.