Chinese bewilderment'

Chinese bewilderment'

The Waiyaki Way fig tree too can breathe easy as it has also been spared.

When I visited the site this week, the workmen had drawn plans for how the trenches they were digging would skirt around it.

Trenches are now being dug around the Waiyaki Way fig tree

One taxi driver told me: "After the president's decree, the Chinese [contractor] came, stared at the tree, stared at the tunnel that was meant to cut through the tree and walked away shaking his head."

The Chinese might have wondered what kind of powerful language the mugumo tree spoke to force engineering to stop, listen and detour.

The Kikuyu word for tree is "muti" and they use the same word for ballot.

The fig tree has won the vote to stay alive and keep the Chinese-funded expressway at bay.

Many Kenyans wish many more trees will stand up and vote "no" to selfish political moves that could endanger lives in a time of coronavirus - and their pockets if the referendum passes.

But will the government listen?

Let's wait for the trees to speak.