One may be tempted to think (as the name suggests) that, conmen are men, far from it! According to the English language, the word “Man” is normally or synonymously used to denote both man and woman (without fear or favour). In some cases, both the females cause equal havoc; as ifto affirm the English definition of the word. Therefore, not wanting to create a gender imbalance, I will keep referring to either or both genders as he or she or vice verse. As society gets more and more sophisticated, and so does the ingenuity of the people in that society. Having left the village for Kampala City at a tender age of about 18, I managed to catch up with the city life alright; but the task of getting me adapted to my new life was a real uphill task. As they say, “you can take a villager out of the village, but cannot get the village out of him” (or is it her)! Never mind all these tirades but what is for sure is that many of us have been conned once or twice, either by men, women or both! On a brief stint, I had some relatives in Kampala, this family was somehow well to do, they had a poultry project at home. They used to keep some broiler chicken (these are kept for their flesh). At one point in time, when these chickens were ready, potential customers, ranging from roasters and restaurant operators came and bought the chicken. One day, a decent looking lady and her driver came for the chicken; she was accompanied by a young man. The trio came at around 03:00pm, a time when the home owners were at work and there was the house girl and anold lady at home! They chose thirty juicy birds (each weighing nearly a kilogramme) and told the old lady and the house girl that, they did not have enough money for all the birds and that, they could go with them so that they get paid in town. They claimed to be operating a restaurant somewhere on Amber House. Surely, there was no problem, the elderly lady and the maid got into the car, when they got in town, the chicken buyer (lady) told the elderly lady that, they should go upstairs in the UEB (Uganda Electricity Board) offices for the money. No problem with that either, the duo went upstairs via the stairs, on reaching on the third floor, the buyer told the accompanying (seller) that, she was going into her boss’ office for the money and that, it was better she (the seller) sat on the bench outside the office. The buyer knocked on the door and she then opened the door and walked into “her boss’ office”. The seller kept waiting for her to emerge but all in vain. After about an hour, the seller got concerned and decided to check in the office! A surprise awaited her! The so called boss’ office was a tiny room (the lift). She decided to rush downstairs to see if the vehicle on which the chicken was laden was there; the vehicle hadleft. The maid had been taken for a soda and had been told that, the old lady (the seller) had been paid and was having a soda and that, she had asked them to buy her a soda too! This reminded me of a guy who lost his phone in our own Centenary House in Kigali. The guy was looking for a job and he was told that, he was going to be assisted to get a job in one leading company. All he had to do was lend his phone to the good Samaritan so that he could call the “job giver” since he (the good Samaritan) had run out of airtime. That was the last time he saw his phone. The caller kept yelling in the phone, pretending that, the network was poor. He eventually decided to get into the “job giver’s office” (which happened to be the lift). Mfashumwana@fastmail.fm
