The Bad Samaritan

Chapter Seven

31 The Bad Samaritan Chapter Seven T he primary reasons behind his wanting to go to Britain were, living in an environment of peace, seeing men and women of conscience, earning a good salary and forgetting about the death sentence living in Ewawa had imposed on him. But for every coin, there are two sides. Moving a boulder could lead to chipping off significant chunks – chunks that would have been preserved if the boulder were left in place. Esole was a boulder. Going to Britain could be devastating at several fronts. His extended family needed guidance at close proximity. He had to ensure that he secured his pension with the government. So why not settle for politics? Victory was at the corner. The under bellies of the two political leaders in his area were exposed. They were easy preys. “I will contest the elections,” he said to himself and set himself to work. He sent word to Lebmot that he would stand for the elections. The Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) was particularly happy that a man of substance had opted to challenge the status quo in his Sub-Division. He had been in very bad working relations with the two incumbent. If he got some constructive fellow, he would leave a mark of development in the place. So he sent word that Esole should see him at home when he next came to Lebmot. Esole had to do certain gymnastics, choose a political party, register for the elections, present his candidature to the public, organize campaign teams, break up the SubDivision into campaign units, and ensure security for each unit. He couldn’t do these things out of Lebmot. He had to 32 Charles Alobwed’Epie be present in Lebmot. When he got there, he went to the SDO’s house. He welcomed him, made him sit down and brought a bottle of whisky. As they drank, he said he had heard Esole wanted to contest elections in his area of jurisdiction. Esole confirmed. The SDO said he was happy that those of them on whom the population could rely were now getting conscious that several things were getting wrong in the Sub-Division. He said Esole should be ready for a big fight because though the two incumbent were hated they had the means of buying their way through. He added that the Mayor was not an easy man. He shuttled between Ojebu Ode in Nigeria and the eastern regions of Ewawa to work out victory with marabouts. He had misappropriated hundreds of millions of francs from the council coffers to that effect. Furthermore, the fact that for an-on-the-spot loaf of bread the people of Lebmot readily sell their birth rights, the Mayor would use the power of his loot to lure them back into his camp. So, it won’t be an easy task. Esole thanked the SDO for his advice and left to meet the people in town. On his way, he compared the SDO’s frank advice and the people’s emotional wrangling. Both were useful. The people voted, the SDO didn’t. If he took the middle course, especially if he told them the truth about the politico-economic and moral mess of Ewawa, the embezzlement of public funds, the three times cut in salaries, the fall in cocoa and coffee prices, the high cost of living, the poor state of roads, the inability of parents to educate their children, they would surely go in for him and not for those who told them lies that Ewawa was waxing on well. “The voice of the people would speak,” he said to himself as the rays of confidence radiated in him. In the evening, he invited a few prominent people he thought could be his advisers – people who had been hurt by the administration in one way or another. They had to lay out modalities and strategies for the job ahead. They 33 The Bad Samaritan had to choose a political party – the truth-speaking party that would deliver the people from years of exploitation and deceit. They had to decide on which of the two positions he would contest the elections – Parliamentary or Mayoral. They x-rayed all political parties. They studied old and new manifestoes of each party. For the past thirty years only the Ewawa Party for Advanced Democracy (EPAD) had been in power. So only the EPAD...