THEMATIC CONCERNS RAISED IN THE PLAY INHERITANCE BY DAVID MULWA

Inheritance refers to what is left by the deceased to the family in material wealth or sometimes power.
However, the word could have diverse meanings when applied to works of literature. In this respect,
David Mulwa looks at inheritance in various ways.

The play revolves around a three decades old Kutula under its new leadership. Having achieved
independence from colonial masters, Kutula is now governed by Lacuna Kasoo-the son of pre-
independence King Kutula XV. Lacuna ascended to power after the death of his father. Although the King
has adopted Princess Sangoi as his successor, he dies mysteriously thus handing the power to the greedy,
self-centred Lacuna. As it were, Lacuna conspired with the colonial masters to assassinate his father King
Kutula XV.

Having assumed power with the help of colonial masters, Lacuna runs the government under the
influence of Kutula’s former imperialists. He receives hefty loans aimed at ‘developing’ the country.
However, the loans are meant to make Kutula a slave of foreign saboteurs led by Old Daniel Goldstein
and young Robert Rollestone. Even though Kutula boasts of being an independent state, there is a lot that
suggests that the country inherited the former colonial legacies. For instance, the Daniel Goldstein’s
company bankrolls Kutula. Without their loans and donations, Kutula’s economy is bound to collapse.
(Pg72) Secondly, when Goldstein points out how blatant misappropriations of funds were in Kutula, he
assumes power and even sits on Lacuna Kasoo’s throne just to show who exactly was in power in Kutula.
(Pg79) Therefore, Kutula was a sovereign nation under imperial powers.

One of the reasons King Kutula was assassinated was because he was tired of being treated as a slave by
colonial authorities. He wanted liberation on Kutula terms not the terms set by the imperialists. He had
demanded for total independence- a privilege the super powers were unwilling to extend. In order to
control Kutula and perhaps harvest humongous profits from her mineral wealth, the colonial Bishop
Menninger suggested the appointment of the greedy yet brainless Lacuna Kasoo. (Pg15) With Lacuna in
office the colonialists continued to enjoy the same privileges they had enjoyed during the colonial period.
On the other hand, the people of Kutula would suffer in poverty and bad governance as they had during
the reign of Thorne Macay- the colonial governor. However, the people believe that the conditions were
better of during the colonial period.

The play explores inheritance and its pains to the society. As it were, the people believed in the their
leaders, especially King Kutula. On the one hand, locals believed that King Kutula had blessed Princess
Sangoi- later Reverend Sangoi as the rightful heir to the throne. While on the other hand, the colonialist
hatched a plan to swear in the legitimate child- Lacuna Kasoo as the new leader. Therefore, the struggle
was between the rightful heir and the chosen one. In this case the rightful heir won but is thrown out of
office in a bloodless coup led by Romanus Bengo.

As can be seen, inheritance maintains the status quo but a fresh breathe of new leadership brings to the
table new ideas which can be optimistic for the people. In the play, Reverend Sangoi represents a fresh
new leadership that would agree to negotiations with foreign investors as opposed to dictation as seen in
Lacuna Kasoo’s regime where foreigners enjoyed while locals suffered in slavery and poor pay. The new
Kutula is open to quid pro quo kind of agreement as stated by Reverend Sangoi. (Pg35)

From the beginning of the play, we are introduced to abject poverty of the people of Kutula. It is one of
the reasons as to why Governor Thorne Macay- the colonial leader cannot agree with King Kutula XV.
On one hand, Thorne wants the King to silence the surging rebellion in the colony, while on the other, the
King is seen to side with the rebels.According to the King, he cannot sit there and support what the white
masters are doing. Riding on the will of the people, he tells the governor that he has no control over the
people but is ready to deliver the people from suffering. This is the reason Thorne and Bishop Menninger
conspire to eliminate the King in the prologue.Over three decades after independence, the people of
Kutula are still poor. In independent Kutula, the people are burdened by heavy taxation, huge
international debt and wanton land-grabbing by their leaders. Besides these, the leadership is embroiled in
massive corruption, nepotism and favoritism.

Again,the leader Lacuna Kasoo is as greedy as he is incompetent. However, he is supported by foreign

As can be seen, poverty is caused by various factors in Kutula chief among them being the leadership of
Lacuna Kasoo. As a leader, he has chosen a cabal of sycophants as councillors and his chief advisors.
These group of the elite have awarded themselves large chunks of land and hefty payments through graft
which have left Kutula bankrupt and the general population poor.If the government has no funds, every
citizen is overly taxed in order to raise funds. Besides, the government may resort to austerity measures
like firing older citizens from jobs in order to reduce the wage bill. (Pg38) Judah Zen Melo speaks about
how he has to keep with younger men in order to maintain his job. As can also be seen, there are very
little job opportunities in Kutula with a large pool of the unemployed.Another cause of poverty in Kutula
is government policy. Kutula’s policies are mostly geared towards promoting the welfare of the
foreigners. First of all the government deprives the people water by building a white elephant dam.
(Pg17) The dam made the entire valley dry. The second policy is evacuation of people to create land for
foreign investment. This is one factor that create a quiet rebellion in Kutula.

After independence, many countries that were granted independence found themselves drawn towards
their former colonial masters. Such countries were drawn by incentives such as the Commonwealth,
foreign aid and the promise of assistance in economic development.Those countries or leaders who
refused such arrangements were either assassinated or removed from power. In this respect, the
colonialists found themselves coming back as expatriates and financiers for development.In Kutula, the
king who had vision for his people is assassinated. In his place, the colonial players put his greedy son as
the new leader democratically elected. In this way, the former powers made leadership decisions for the
people of Kutula even though the people’s favourite was princess Sangoi. Although the power
arrangement has changed from kingdom to a democracy. Lacuna Kasoo seem to retain the pre-colonial
title of king. Lacuna Kasoo is controlled by two international financiers: Robert Rollerstone and Daniel
Goldstein. Goldstein is as old as Lacuna but Robert is way younger.On his part, Daniel plays the good
cop. He appeases Lacuna while defiantly asking for more concessions from the country. On his part,
Lacuna needs more money to run the country. The colonialists knew how greedy Lacuna was, and they
planned to use Lacuna’s greed to profit from Kutula’s Silver mines and rich agriculture lands.

Although the country has rich mineral resources and people are working tirelessly in the mines, the
country can’t sustainably pay for the loans. Goldstein still demands for more. Indeed, Lacuna’s greed may
have sent the mines to bankruptcy. However, if that was the case, then Goldstein would have frozen aid
long ago before things got out of hand. They continued supporting Lacuna because they benefited from
the mines and also from the loans they extended to the state.Robert, on the other hand, is the bad cop.
Using business voice, he threatens Lacuna to pay up the building loan instalments as had been agreed
upon. He goes even further to claim that he could access Lacuna’s Foreign accounts and use the money to
repay for the loans.The foreigners show Lacuna that he could be running a sovereign nation but without
money, he was just useless and dependent on their mercy.

Many times when we talk about religion, we look at Christianity and other major religion in the world.
Although this religions play major roles in literature, there are still many other religions that writers and
playwrights also discuss in their works.In this play, Christianity and Kutula traditional religion play a
significant role. However, the role played by these two religions is negative.The play clearly brings out
how religion can be applied subjectively to the people. During the colonial era, Bishop Menninger made
sure to preach about obedience and humility in order to make the people of Kutula submissive. Besides,
he used the sermons to get to know the people especially the young generation. It is within his teachings
that he came to learn that Lacuna Kasoo would make a fine leader for Kutula(pg15).Menninger also
observes that Princess Sangoi would be no bother since she was enamoured by the foreign religion.
According to the Bishop, Sangoi would be lost in the corridors of academia to worry about leadership. He
was wrong as can be seen in the play.

The teachings of humility and obedience seem to have stuck in Kutula even after independence. Coupled
with traditional teachings, they have reduced the people of Kutula into fearful sufferers including the
leaders. Although some like Romanus Bengo and Lulu are waking up to reality and condemning this act
of cowardice, the rest are still in the murk (pg30-47.) Lulu has woken up to realisation that being godly
does not mean being stupid and afraid and points it out to her mother. Her mother Tamina, is afraid of
those in power that the only person she can raise her voice to is her daughter. She represents the voiceless
who suffer under the laws meant to benefit those in power.

Traditional religion is propagated by Councillor Malipoa. Using his understanding of his traditional
religion, Malipoa propagates male chauvinistic ideologies which are meant to satisfy Lacuna Kasoo’s
insatiable lust for innocent girls. Malipoa postulates that in order for Lacuna to keep his position, he needs
to appease the gods by sacrificing a pure untainted girl in the former king’s chambers. This tradition was
meant to prey on unwitting parents and thus let the leader defile young women in the name of tradition.

Activism involves standing against what can be perceived as a social, political or economic ill in the
society. It takes different forms including enlightening the masses through publications, both fictional and
factual. It can also include civil disobedience through protests among other ways. In most occasions,
activism is a peaceful process whose main agenda is to bring about change in the perceived wrong.
However, some protests have turned violent leading to death and destruction of property e.g. the Soweto
massacre in South Africa. Nevertheless, such cases occur when those in power decline to give protesters
the needed freedom to express what they feel is wrong.Other instances have seen those in authority arrest
activists and put them behind bars for standing against them. Many activists die in the hands of brutal
police force and bad governance.However, in Inheritance we come across arrests as can be seen in the
case of Romanus Bengo. Bengo could have been a victim of assassination had his brother Judah Zen
Melo been a cold hearted murderer. According to the play, Judah had been asked to take care of Romania
Bengo but he declined. Judah ended up losing his lucrative job in the government.(pg23)

Activism did not begin with Romanus in the play, it begun with the late King Kutula XV. The king
refused to betray his citizens in the prologue. Since he was such an exceptional king, he was poisoned by
his own son. (Pg15).Other Activists in the play are the Reverend Princess Sangoi and the young Lulu.
Lulu seems to have been converted into activism by his activist uncle Romanus Bengo. She speaks
confidently against the fear that has been instilled to the people by the government to the shock of her
mother. (Pg30) Besides Lulu, her two brothers and several elders too join in the resistance against Lacuna
Kasoo’s regime.In the play, the people are tired against colonialism and the grasp the former colonial
masters have on the New independent Kutula state. Furthermore, they are tired of the increased nepotism
and plunder of national resources by Lacuna and his clansmen and loyalists like Malipoa and Chipande.
They are crying for openness in governance and an end to colonial policies.

Another thematic concern that has been raised in the text is sycophancy.This is the act of pleasing those in
authority in order to gain favours. After ascending to power, Lacuna Kasoo made sure that he appointed
people who were loyal to him and would do anything to please him.Chief among the loyalists was
Councillors Chipande and Malipoa. Malipoa invokes traditional teachings and practices in order to ensure
that Lacuna Kasoo was well respected and adored as the chosen leader of the people. Even though Lacuna
was unpopular because of his poor leadership, Malipoa ensured that the leader was confident that he was
well received by the ancestors and popular among his subjects.On the other hand, Chipande was the
liason between Kutula and his foreign friends. He knew all Lacuna’s secrets including the foreign
accounts. Both councillors are well rewarded for example Chipande has a huge coffee farm in which
Tamina works.

People who refused to show their loyalty was punished and denied jobs in Kutula. When Judah was asked
get rid of his activist brother, he refused to obey the Lacuna. Therefore, he was beaten and left for the
dead. Besides, his job was taken and he spent the rest of his life trying to win Lacuna’s favour.

David Mulwa also raises the play to portray misuse of power.The misuse of power through the character
Lacuna Kasoo has shown the bigger picture of our today African leaders.Tamina Zen Melo says that the
colonial masters were way better compared to the present day leaders since they treated people
equally.She and her family were evicted out of the government house in Bukelenge mountains after her
husband's brother Romanus Bengo put his foot in politics as a communist wandering over the land of
Kutula preaching about the poor challenging the rule of Lacuna.Lacuna Kasoo ensures that Bengo is
arrested and put to jail.Lacuna sends Judah Zen Melo to kill his brother Bengo whom Lacuna referred to
as a thorn on hs political side whom upon refusing is fired.He is tortured and his mangled body is dumped
on their government's house doorstep.For fear of loosing his life Judah runs to the city and lands a job at
Kasoo mines as a gatekeeper.The fact that this mine is named after Lacuna also shows the privatisation of
national property.Other than making Judah and his family live in misery,Lacuna also makes the life of his
subjects very expensive.The water sources are channeled to only one sourcea dam that is so far that it
takes a half a day to go and another to come.The expenses at school are also very high,Lulu is sent back
home from school to bring back sh.3000 for the computer science laboratory,a second perimeter fence and
an activity fee.

In addition to that,Chancellor Chipinde took all the farms on the mountains afterr he had the white owners
pack and go.He took Tamina's farm and bought it wih peanuts saying he couldn't stand competition from
a peasant.He talks to Lacuna Kasoo and makes sure no one else gets the licence to grow coffee.

Moreover in the conversation between Lacuna Kasoo and Daniel Goldstein,Lacuna says that he is a
leader with eighty four million breathing subjects not equals who must look up to himso hje bought a
sleek aircraft using the money he had borrowed from Planet-Wide Fnanciers Limited,a sum of thirty
billion shillingsthat was meant to service the mines and buy new machines.He accounts that he took ten
billion because he needed a plane as a lkeader not a pauperto soar above the petty people and their
complains,gossip and hate.He has no explanation on how he used the rest of the twenty billion
shillings.He uses 30% of the remaining money and banks it abroad,surrendered to him by his ministers to
keep their jobs.In four years he has already taken a loan of ninety eight billion that the citizens have to
pay for.He privatises the country's wealth including the silver mines keeping peple's wages low and pays
only for products and not posts and offices.He cuts down his employement and initiates a demand for
quadraple production of coffee and silver which means longer hours of work and little pay.It is this
initiation that leads to the death of Judah Zen Melo.Later it is known that it was a planned
assassination.Lacuna also agrees to natiobnalize the valley and create an inland lake for irrigation and
evacuate the occupants.