Mlafi give the playground back to the children or risk being jailed for grabbing public property. Everyone was happy with this decision. The next day, the children’s playground was officially opened. They all rushed in to run around the grass, through the flower gardens; up the trees and even under the bushes. You could hear their laughter from afar. Soon, the flowers were fresher, the sun shone brighter and the birds sung more melodiously. Even the parents joined in once in a while.
The children, without a thought, got some of their pocket money and paid. They got in and played, loving every moment. It did not occur to them that their playground had been successfully grabbed by Mr. Mlafi again and in a very conniving manner. This went on for a while.
news. Mr. Mlafi quickly stood up and explained that he had used his own money to create the park hence he had a right to charge for he facilities’ use. The now infuriated President said he had never heard of such a shameful act in his life; a grown man extorting money from children?!
One day, when some of the children’s pocket-money had ran out, they went and told one of their teachers how sad they were because they could not access
“Mr. Mlafi, you have really crossed the line this time. Bullying helpless children and threatening
the park. “We are not even supposed to tell anyone because the park could be shut down,” they offered. A very shocked teacher rushed to the principal’s office to report the matter. The principal requested all parents to come to the school the very next day.
them? Arrest this man and put him in jail right now,” the President ordered. Additionally, he declared that from that day on ‘The Mlafi Park’ would be known as ‘The Michezo Park’ and would be open to all and sundry at no cost. All the maintenance would be done by the President’s funds and fines paid by the greedy Mr. Mlafi.
In the shadows, Mr. Mlafi was busy scheming on how to re-acquire the children’s playground. All day, he sat on his balcony overlooking the playground, always eating something. You should have seen the grim look on his face. Mr. Mlafi had over the years acquired so much wealth illegally that he had become so rich and yet so greedy. It was no wonder that he was so obese and unhappy. He soon realized that it would be next to impossible to just grab the playground again. He decided to publicly declare that he was going to renovate the playground. He had a huge swimming pool with water slides and diving boards constructed, brought in clowns and magicians, toy stores, swings and rides, even a rollercoaster! He had turned the playground into a theme park, which he called ‘The Mlafi Park’. On opening day, all the children rushed in to play. They had so much fun they did not want to go home. That night, the parents expressed their surprise at the wonderful park Mr. Mlafi had created. The next day, all the children of Werevu School were counting down to the end of the day; longing to get back into the park to play. When the bell finally rung, they burst through the school gates and rushed straight to the park. To their surprise, there stood a huge man demanding that the children pay a small fee to gain access to the fun inside. The man also cautioned the children from telling their parents as this would cause the park to be shut down!
Both the President and Mr. Mlafi were present. The only agenda was to discuss Mr. Mlafi’s disgusting behavior. They all listened as the children retold the horror story. Everyone was appalled by this
Within no time, all the people, plants, animals and elements of Kazimingi lived a life full of play-time, joy, good health and laughter.
ISSUE 12
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