Publisher's Synopsis
The year is 1982, in Kenya. A new regime is in its fourth year in power following the passing on of the founding father. Not all of the political elite support the new ruler, though, and dissent and crackdowns are rife. There is talk of a traitor being groomed by foreign powers to take over the presidency. There is grand corruption within and on the country's borders, and even gun-running. Cattle rustling and other crimes are rife, so that insecurity is rampant, but particularly bad in some regions of the country. Against this backdrop Philemon Changilwa, a young man and a footballer of a local side, live with their family near the slopes of mount Elgon. He leaves the family compound to inherit a family farm not far from where his father, a musician lives with the rest of his brothers and their families. His family like to tell folk-tales whenever they have time. One of the local footballer's girlfriend is a lady called Charity. She is the daughter of the major in the local police station. The two are deeply in love, but face the skeptism of their parents and that of society. The Air Force attempts to take over the government. The nation is thrown into intensified tension, and the populace with it, after various ways. In this way the trauma of a nation coming to grips with its destiny is replayed endlessly, with grating pain and pessimism; but through all these hope, and young love, promises to grow and prosper. What Belongs to Caesar employs oral narrative to assert the enduring relevance of folk wisdom in probing old, new and emerging experiences and realities.
