The Bad Samaritan

Chapter Fourteen

63 The Bad Samaritan Chapter Fourteen E sole could not recognize the vehicle. It looked like a military truck too slow to cover the distances he thought he would be making. Although he had thought of spending most of his time at Nidong, he had been advised to make Tonye his main base. He was told to live in a semi-township, employ workers in the farm, build them sheds to live in, and visit them time and again to see how they were faring on. Living in Nidong would be very distressing to a person who had lived most of his years on earth in the capital city of his country. It was therefore better for him to make a midway choice. And so, he chose to settle in Tonye on the main road to Bamfi. Tonye was a developed village, with facilities reminiscent of those of a township. It was 23 Km, from Nidong. “The vehicle is not slow. It has been reconditioned in such a way that in the dry season its chained tyres can be replaced with ordinary ones for normal speed. It is the chained tyres that make it cumbersome and slow,” Beri told his master. “What about the height? Isn’t it too high?” Esole asked. “That is the ideal height for a Pickup that has to carry twenty bags of cocoa and slash through mud and deep potholes. Once the vehicle loads to capacity, you will see the height greatly reduced,” “This is a vehicle on crutches’, Esole teased and laughed. “That is a super vehicle, a bulldozer that would slither effortlessly through mud. I have reinforced it more than we do at home. Our roads are equally bad but our mechanics are equal to the task. We are considered opposition and 64 Charles Alobwed’Epie nobody cares about us. We never quaver cap in hand, begging government to repair the roads for us. In the rainy season our vehicles do the miracle of connecting us with the rest of the world. This vehicle will do the same for you. That is the ideal vehicle for the Nidong road in the rainy season. It will out manoeuvre all other vehicles,” Beri said confidently. “I hear that road gets really bad in the rainy season. If the vehicle performs as you say, we may even indulge in buying cocoa from farmers who will be unable to transport their produce by head-load to the main road,” Esole remarked. “What do you expect? A road that is never maintained should get bad in the raining season. I have confidence in that vehicle. And if everything works well, you may find yourself in the heart of the cocoa trade in the area.” Esole and Beri left for Tonye the next day to look for accommodation. They saw a fenced estate with dilapidating warehouses and were told it was the abandoned property of the defunct Carburry & Fry, a once cocoa purchasing company and backbone of Tonye economy. The company had closed down because of excessive taxes and misappropriation of its funds by unscrupulous workers the government had imposed on it. Esole opted to buy the property and after thorough investigation, he saw the landlord, the person who had given the land to Carburry & Fry and to whom the defunct company had ceded the property. It was a property at a very strategic location – opposite the market through which the road to Nidong passed. Esole was so excited with the location and general look of the estate that he paid for it without beating down the price. And with that he ran short of money. He had very little left to carry on with other activities. So, in spite of the odds at the Ministry of Finance, he had to return to Dande to follow up his pension and that of his wife. He thought if 65 The Bad Samaritan he got the two pensions, he would not only replace Carburry & Fry by purchasing its estate, he would replace it by being the new economic focus of Tonye. And if he became the economic magnet, he would become the political catalyst of the area. Upon arrival at Dande, he faced the odds with tact. Instead of going to see office boys for business, he went and saw the Private Secretary of the Director of Salaries in the Ministry of Finance. He talked to her in frank terms and promised...