Hollow man
You borrowed billions to build a rail
four hundred and fifty to be precise
the old one could’ve been fixed for a fifth
five thousand more megawatts, you bellowed
and we only needed two
a megaproject here, and one there you roared
and now we need a mega response to Covid-19
you cower and whimper for alms
Where is it the megalomania when we need it?
Hollow man,
You scrounge and beg
to fight a scourge never seen before,
yet not too long ago,
you stared us down and sold Eurobonds
two billion dollars in a flash
the biggest debut bond in Africa
and tapped eight hundred million more
and we know not whence it went
Where is the bravado when we need it?
Hollow man,
You quanrantine our people in dingy places
and force them to pay for no fault of their own
but you splurge millions on vainglorious hospitality
four hundred million to buy an Africa Union seat down the drain
what do we lack now that you lost?
three hundred million for the wake of a despot we ought to forget
when a tenth of that would have been more than enough
who remembers, who cares?
Where is the vanity when we need it?
Hollow man,
Our people suffer in China and cry for help
You say they must pay their way
but you have money to burn on hustler jets for missions unknown
and roam the world on the public purse
as millions starve
Where is the fecklessness when we need it?
And the hustler jet?
Hollow men of yore sold us to the white man as slaves
he brought us smallpox and syphilis
and took the land
You have sold to yellow man
who enslaves us with debt
and brought us corona
and scorn
Hollow man
Your foreign masters frailty is now laid bare
your fealty of no use, you can’t fly to hospital there
East west you have nowhere to turn
Your time is up
Your time is up
Your time is up
