I don’t know about you but, personally, at first I was all tied up in knots on reading the news. Our policemen and women have netted all sorts of criminals, yes, but getting seven sharks as criminals? If you remember, the quoted headline appeared in ‘The New Times’ of last Tuesday. I couldn’t be taken hostage by a confusing news item like that, so I went to check them out. Surprise, surprise! I found seven perfect human beings and no single shark! Unfortunately, when I enquired as to the nature of their crime, I was thrown right into the horns of dilemma: the seven were netted as criminals because they controlled a bank called ‘Banque Lambert’ (BL)! For all I knew, no such bank exists today. After merging with ‘Banque Bruxelles’ to become BBL, the two Belgian banks were swallowed by the ING group. Imagine my anger when I was told the sharks were actually illegal moneylenders. Anger not at the fact that complicated terms are used to describe these ‘people’, but because I know I have ever fallen victim to their ‘process’. I use ‘people’ and ‘process’, not ‘criminals’ and ‘scam’, because I was not conned into accessing their loans. I was a willing victim. Still, I condemn the practice! Suppose between you and poverty there is no single centime. You need immediate liquid cash, but the banks can’t touch you with a km-long pole because you’ve not yet repaid their mortgage and ‘crédit éclair’. Yet you know that when that shack of a dwelling you’re putting up is complete, you’ll rent it off and boost your income. Whom do you turn to but a moneylender, even if you know that he/she is truly a ‘shark’? So, these ‘sharks’ catch you at your most vulnerable. And since they have you, they’ll milk you dry. You want this amount? No problem, cash ready now, payable in one month, with a small ‘but’. The ‘but’ being, the loan attracts interest and whatever is not repaid that month attracts a similar monthly interest. Haggle it out for the smallest interest and the minimum they’ll settle for is 35%!So, whatever interest you pay, you make the ‘shark’ 35% richer or higher. Seemingly, the moneylenders are called ‘sharks’ because they are predators of their fellow humans. That’s a misnomer, though, because sharks are innocent, harmless animals. They rarely attack humans and only films like ‘Jaws’ have popularised the perception of their being dangerous. In the long-Anglophone countries of East Africa, where they are familiar with Shakespeare, people call these moneylenders ‘Shylocks’. Which is more appropriate, even if it’d not go well with Rwandans who are averse to anything sectarian. For Francophones and Rwandophones who may not be familiar with his play, ‘The Merchant of Venice’, William Shakespeare portrays the character of Shylock as a Jewish moneylender who lends money to the Christian Antonio on stiff condition. The condition: the security is set at a pound of Antonio’s flesh.Imagine our Rwandan Mucuruzi Antoni, then, desperate to get money for clearing his second-hand vehicles, from Dubai, once they dock at Mombasa port or Dar. Rushimusi Shayirocyi says no sweat, ten million Frw at your disposal, the small condition being that you surrender a kg of ‘brochette’ from your chest (not breastbone but ‘breastflesh’) if you default. Antoni has no alternative and accepts the condition, praying that his goods arrive without a hitch. Unfortunately, there is a tsunami in the high waters of the Indian Ocean and the ship carrying the goods sinks. Malicious Shayirocyi was praying for that, and he comes to demand his punitive payment. The case is taken to court, where the act must be carried out. Shayirocyi is now seeing the signs of blood and is no longer interested in money. In fact, he even rejects an offer of double the amount of the loan. The pleas of the lawyer, Baritazari, fall on deaf ears. The situation on Antoni’s side is getting frantic. Shayirocyi’s lawyer rises and tells the presiding judge: “My lord, I move that the defendant prepares his chest for removal of the said kg of flesh!” Baritazari rises and shouts: “Objection, my Lord!” and the judge says: “Objection upheld!” With a sigh of relief, Baritazari slowly and deliberately clears ‘his’ throat and says: “My Lord, I bring it to the attention of court that the bond in my client’s contract allows Shayirocyi to remove the flesh, and nothing but the flesh. My client therefore demands that no drop of his blood be shed.” ‘His’ is in inverted commas because actually Baritazari is Shayirocyi’s daughter pretending to be a man! Shayirocyi’s side is thrown into disarray! “Objection, my Lord!” shouts Shayirocyi’s lawyer, now on his feet. “There is no way the defendant can repay the loan of his flesh,” says he, “without accompanying loss of blood. My Lord, it is only natural that fresh meat necessarily contains blood.”The judge: “Objection rejected. Counsel must be prepared to respect the contract entered into by the said contesting parties. Case dismissed with costs!” As Shylock was disgraced, so should our ‘Shylocks’ of today! ingina2@yahoo.co.uk
