Pastor, Conman or Genius?

I am not surprised at the story that aired over a recent weekend on a leading TV station and that has caused a tumult and uproar across the length and breadth of Kenya. I am not surprised because I have come to the realization that the human being is capable of anything under the sun, moon and the entire solar system. As we fume, gallivant and curse this fellow let us take a moment to reflect on what he has done.

Wikipedia definition: “Potassium permanganate is an inorganic chemical compound with the chemical formula KMnO4. It is a salt consisting of K+ and MnO−4 ions. Formerly known as permanganate of potash or Condy's crystals, it is a strong oxidizing agent. It dissolves in water to give intensely pink or purple solutions, the evaporation of which leaves prismatic purplish-black glistening crystals”.

Forget all those long confusing words at the beginning of the definition and concentrate on the last sentence”………… dissolves in water to give intensely pink or purple solutions ………….” and that folks is how a Form 2 dropout conned masses of people into believing that when their feet were bathed in holy water they would bleed and have their sins expunged/illness dissolved and all for the princely sum of Kshs. 310.00.

Now rather than calling this guy a conman and at the risk of upsetting some already very upset folks out there, this guy is a genius Form 2 drop out or not! How could he have zeroed in on that one fact from a confusing scientific definition of a chemical substance and used it to his advantage to get people to believe in his bloody (pun intended) powers? What is different with the ignorant shuka clad ‘Maasai’ who goes around with a vial of fool’s gold dust and sells it to unsuspecting clueless but greedy people at a throwaway price who only realise that they have been conned at the assayers office when they go to have the ‘gold’ tested.

The problem with many of us is that we are all human beings in our approach to get rich/get well schemes and scams. It is such a revelation to know that only you have the magic key that shall open the door to unbelievable fortunes that given the right circumstances the “Maasai” with the fool's gold dust vial who does not seem to know the true value of what he is holding, ignorant and primitive as he may appear shall have you eating out of his hands for a piece of the action the minute his sob story touches your heart while he knows full well that the promise of a quick buck to you is enough motivation to ignore your better judgement! While at it you shall keep the information to yourself lest another spoilsport comes along to ruin your payday. What a genius………..!

There was a man who was exposed some years ago with a supposedly life threatening ailment which was in fact a well-made up liver that looked like a festering wound that he used to elicit donations from sympathetic passersby as he lay pitifully on the streets his ‘wound’ exposed for all to see. That fellow would have put any Hollywood makeup artist to shame with his creation which was so realistic that people were horrified just looking at his ‘wound’. He was a bloody genius if you ask me.

If these are not examples of gifted, talented geniuses then I think we have got it all wrong in terms of the definition of genius which is:
1. Exceptional intellectual or creative power or other natural ability. 2. An exceptionally intelligent person or one with exceptional skill in a particular area of activity. 3. A person regarded as exerting a powerful influence over another for good or evil.

So, if I may pose a question, why the outrage, shock and anger? Is it because our own inadequacies have been exposed while we secretly admire and marvel at the guts that are shown by these guys in using their creativity to make a livelihood for themselves? Is it because we are embarrassed that a Form 2 dropout got the drop (pun intended) on us and has conned our mothers, fathers, brothers and sisters while making a fortune along the way? Would we be reacting the same way if this was a professor of chemistry or would be applauding his genius obtained after too many hours bent over petri dishes, Bunsen burners, beakers and flasks while combining various chemicals of the reactivity tables?

For good measure, this conman pastor business is now one of the most trending topics on social media at present and he is revelling in the attention and free publicity that he is getting knowing full well he shall still have a packed house come Sunday. What a genius!!

I must hastily add that I am not an advocate of religious conmanship or any conmanship for that matter but a mere student of human nature who is making the point that we should try and look at the sheer inventiveness that goes into some of these scams and only hope that if this creative energy was harnessed in a more positive manner how far we would be as a country!