THE FOREMAN’S AWARD
Geo Sheng, the
General Manager of Shen Shen construction Limited spoke as he handed over a
bunch of keys,
‘’ Mike, this is your reward.’’
Dudu’s face looked
sullen. He was sweating and shivering as he tried to open the house he had
built for himself. But why was not amused with such a reward?
Mike Dudu was the
last born in a family of ten. He was born when both her parents worked at a
coal mine in Zimbabwe and his parents returned to Malawi when he was five
years, leaving all his brothers and sisters in Zimbabwe. Unfortunately both the
parents died just a year later. Since none of her parents’ relatives welcomed
him in their homes he befriended himself with pastors at Mtendere mission such
that eventually he worked as a part time houseboy. In turn the missionaries provided
him with school fees and upkeep.
Although Mike was
selected to Mtendere secondary school he only went up to form three because he
could not manage to pay for his fees. Luckily enough he developed interest in
building and construction such that studied building construction at Namitete
Technical School. Back to Mtendere he was employed to help in construction of
primary and secondary schools. As time went on Mike saved part of his earning
and bought builders tools such as level, meter such that a Chinese Company, Shen
Shen Construction, deployed him. So he used to travel to various sites and got
promoted to become a foreman because of his special skills, integrity and
dedication to duty.
Dudu married Nabetha
and got blessed with six children within ten years. This was because the couple
longed for a male child but all of them were girls. Dudu started to enjoy beer
drinking and in due course started to substitute Nabetha with other women. Each
time he moved from one construction site to another he would find a new
concubine to keep him company since his wife Nabetha was left at their home
village. By the time Dudu returned to his home at Mtendere he had fathered three
other children that overburdened him. But all these children died at the ages
of six and seven, remaining with the six
children. On the other side of his life the builders enjoyed the fun and
beers that he bought after knock off.
‘’ There comes the king,’’ drunkards
would clap hands.
‘’ Welcome guys, take your choice.’’
He would chip in.
Most of the builders
envied him and knew his tricks. One of his friends informed the General
Manager, who summoned him to a hearing,
‘’Am told you often have money to
waste for beers. How far is this true?’’
‘’
But I only taste a bit of beer, not much, bwana. I know these builders hate me
because you love me.’’
But things turned
worse when Geo proved that Dudu was a drunkard when he caught him taking liquor
during working hours. So the manager thought of dismissing him but with a house
reward for Dudu. They gave him a house plan to build at Golomoti Trading
centre. He was provided cement, sand and iron sheets enough to build a four bed
roomed house. When he asked who would occupy the house he was told certain
Chinese people wanted to grow rice and were planned to occupy it. Dudu smiled
as he thought it was high time to enrich himself. He used to steal a lot of
cement such that he built a mud house and only coated the walls with a few
cement. Most of the cement was either sold and proceeds used for beer drinking
or else he took some cement bags and iron sheets to his home village. In
addition he used low quality burglar bars, including door flames. He tactfully produced
fake receipts of payments whenever Shen came to supervise his construction.
Dudu was a creative
and hardworking foreman such that within six months construction was completed.
As he invited the manager to hand over the work he congratulated himself for the
joyful moments he had gone through. When the General Manager invited him to go
and see how far he had constructed,
‘’The house is complete bwana.’’
‘’ See you next week.’’
‘’ Thanks bwana, you’re welcome.’’
Dudu responded to his manager,the caller.
Before he met his
manager Dudu went home to Mtendere to check on his sent property. He was
surprised that his wife Nabetha knew nothing about the building materials he
had sent. Julio, the builders he had self trained and entrusted to transfer
materials home claimed to have sent through a track driver. But this time
Julio’s where abouts could not be traced. Even his cell number could not be
reached.
But Dudu had less
time to track Julio since he had to rush back to Golomoti to meet as agreed
with his manager, Geo.
So Dudu was
accompanied by his assistant to the house which he built at Golomoti. The other
employees were also invited. They all ate and drank amid cheers,
‘’ Long live Shen Shen Company… Long
live Dudu.’’
Geo Sheng invited all
the builders to the front of the newly constructed house. He took out a bunch
of keys from his pocket and gave out unexpected speech,
‘’This is the foreman’s gift.’’ he
spoke as he handed over the keys to Dudu.
‘’ Thanks a lot,’’ Dudu spoke, amid
ululations from the other builders.
All the other
employees envied Dudu. But Dudu’s face looked unpleased. He was sweating and
shivering as he tried to open the house he had built for himself. Only Julio
knew the reason behind the sorrow.
