Chicken Bill

Two childhood friends from rural Kenya, Clinton, nicknamed
“Chicken Bill” and Ben are separated after the sudden demise of
Clinton’s father from a freak accident. Ben leaves their village
to seek a better life in the city believing that his prospects for
a better future will not improve if he stays there.

The two are reunited later in life when they find themselves on
opposite sides of a dirty contest between two unscrupulous
politicians. On the hand is Lucas, a shady local councilor who is involved in an illicit affair with Clinton’s sister, Rita.

He has ambitions of higher office and seeks to unseat the local
Member of Parliament. Clinton is useful to him because of his
uncanny ability to work up the crowds during the campaigns, a skill he honed early in life while he and Ben were running a rigged cock fighting racket.

On the other hand is Ondego, an equally shady politician who is
dead set on retaining his seat. He looks to Ben to provide strategy on how to manipulate the outcome of the elections, something Ben also perfected while running the racket with Clinton.

Their reunion is cut short when Ben tries to convince Clinton to switch sides and help him rig the election in favor of Ondego. Clinton spurns his offer as he is still smarting from the feelings of abandonment he endured when Ben left town and declined
to take him along.

Clinton’s ambitions to inherit Lucas’ soon to be vacant seat are
met with ridicule from Lucas and his henchman Barry, who is poised to inherit the seat himself. After an altercation with an
unrepentant Lucas following the public humiliation of his sister,
Lucas kicks Clinton off the team.

Clinton has a change of heart about Ben’s proposal and resolves to get even with Lucas. He seeks out Ben at the local motel which serves as the campaign headquarters for Ondego but is surprised to see that Ben is equally unappreciated by his employers.

Clinton agrees to take part in the scheme to rig out Lucas and
sets about wiggling his way back into the fold of Lucas’ campaign
team. With Barry taking over “hype man” duty in the absence of
Clinton, it is not long before his absence is acutely felt. During
a particularly poor performance by Barry, Clinton manages to grab the microphone away from him and puts on the show of his life. Reluctantly, Lucas reinstates him.

Meanwhile, Barry convinces Lucas to accept campaign finance from a Chinese business man in exchange for future contracts to make up the deficit in their funding needs. Unbeknownst to Lucas, Barry has been stealing money from the campaign to line his own pockets.

During a chance meeting while presenting nomination papers on behalf of their respective candidates, Clinton and Ben realize
that the requirements to run as independent candidates are so few, almost anybody could run. The two conspire to sabotage the campaigns of both their candidates by implicating them in crimes that would render them ineligible to run for office.

The plan, though fraught with hitches is ultimately successful.
Despite receiving only three votes a pair, Clinton and Ben are
elected the councilor and Member of Parliament of their area as
the other candidates are disqualified and imprisoned. Clinton,
still an idealist, believes this to be a new dawn in the politics
of the land likening it to the presidency of his idol and namesake, Bill Clinton.

However, two weeks after taking office, Clinton walks in on Ben
receiving a bribe from Barry and the Chinese contractor and
realizes nothing has changed.

  • Elisha Kidenda
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Screenplay
  • Genres:
    Drama, thriller
  • Number of Pages:
    107
  • Country of Origin:
    Kenya
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Writer - Elisha Kidenda
Writer Statement

Passionate about telling African stories from an African perspective.