ABSTRACT
One lesson learned by government employees attempting to work their way up the snakes-and-ladders board was to seize opportunity, and money, whenever possible. According to folk wisdom one telltale sign that someone had acquired his or her money through cheating the government was how extravagantly money was spent. Salaries were paid to all government and agency employees. In 1987, according to one source "a secondary school graduate, if he can obtain work, may expect to earn some 800 shillings a month; even the salary of a minister is only 4,000 shillings. A meager breakfast at a bush teahouse typically cost 200 shillings for two teas and seven pieces of angera. A bush teahouse lunch of rice or pasta, milk, and tea cost 300 shillings. Virtually all civil servants needed "outside" sources of income, whether these came from other family members or other jobs, and although many could cite friends as sources of assistance, friends were never of direct primary support.
