Kuli by Adam Shaffi - Book Review

Poverty, poor pay, hard, unappreciated work. This sums up the lot of porters. And it is the life into which Rashidi is born, raised, grows up, marries into and finally gets imprisoned for.
After the death of his father, Majaliwa, Rashidi has to look for work, any kind, to at least help his mother out.
He starts off with pushing carts under the watch and guidance of Mzee Tindo and crew. With time, he is as good as any. In that time he realizes that while the work is long and arduous, the pay is meager and hardly enough to sustain him. He also notices that Mzee Tindo seems to take advantage of the other workers but they seem oblivious of this.
He decides to take this up and asks for more money. Mzee Tindo is taken aback at Rashidi’s nerve. All the same, he agrees to lead him and one other employee to the boss. Unknown to Rashidi, Tindo had already told the boss about their demands. When they get to the boss, Rashidi is summarily dismissed.
He is back to joblessness but he does not give up and after a long while, he gets another job. This time as a porter at the harbor. He throws himself into the job and though the pay is better, it is not good enough to get him out ofpoverty nor is the work any less – it’s long, arduous and thankless.
Try as he might, Rashidi again finds himself drawn into the labour movement.
Things get so bad –too much work, same pitiful pay and a cruel management. Matters are brought to a head when an employee is killed. Rather than show compassion, the management treats it as a non issue since the employee was just a casual as such Smith Mackenzie Ltd has no obligation to do anything. This irks the employees so much that they strike– three weeks long forcing the management into a meeting. The workers accept to go back to work but nothing changes; if anything, the management becomes more cruel.
Rashidi, Baraka and Faraji decide on a go slow. On the Saturday of the go-slow Rashidi is arrested at work. Things happen pretty fast. After the supervisor of Smith Mackenzie, one George, tries to force the workers to resume work and they refuse, he alerts the police. On their arrival, the head ofpolice picks out Rashidi and starts off roughing him. This does not go down well with Rashidi who hits back and before long it’s a free for all. Rashid is beaten senseless and thrown in.
This results in a blanket ban of all meetings by the colonial administration. Policemen are poured into the streets to enforce a curfew. What started as a go-slow grows into a strike of several weeks. But notto be deterred, the workers reps devise ways of relaying messages to every one and soon a huge meeting is called – never mind that meeting are banned. On the day of the meeting real chaos erupt as the workers take on the police – several are killed among them Baraka and Faraji.

All the while, Rashidi is behind bars. He is later jailed for three years. Charges? Striking a uniformed policeman and starting chaos.
It is in the court that the one-sided nature of the legal system is brought to light. While the prosecution forces the accused to answer questions in acertain way, when the accused is given a chance to ask questions, the magistrate does not even pretend to see that the accused has shredded the prosecution’s case … and goes ahead to give him three years.
Rashidi’s selflessness, naivety and thirst for a better life illuminates an otherwise sad tale. As we walk with Rashid from one stage of his life to another, we are confronted with the harsh life of a porter, made harsher by illiteracy and a colonial administration that not only rules by the fist but also takes the local’s labour for granted – indeed treats it as their right to exploit.