The Campaign Trail

Chapter One

1 Chapter One utuma was not a vast country. Its capital, Fusejo, was a semi-urban settlement with an agrarian outlook, which had gained prominence when the first colonial explorers came to settle there and to explore its mineral depots. In terms of topography, it seems as if nature upon creation had gathered all the hills, mountains, rivers and deep valleys in this part of the world. But for its capital town, the settlements, some of which came to be known as Administrative divisions, had very difficult access. Such units were created after independence in areas where the population density was high enough. The many hills, valleys and big rivers made communication very difficult. The colonial masters had some roads dug manually to link up the mainland to the mineral depots. The fertility of the land remained a blessing to the people of Kutuma. When a seed dropped even close to a rock it grew to its full length and resulted in produce of high quality. This gave the vast expanse of land greenery that was quite pleasing to behold. Freshness was observable everywhere. This fertility was not limited to crops; it was reflected even in the procreation of Kutuma citizens. Most of the young women were mothers of twins, otherwise known as “magnis” in local parlance. One woman gave birth to as many as a dozen children. In this society, children were considered as wealth. Children provided labour for farm work. The girl child was a double blessing, for when she was given out in marriage the father enjoyed bride price and the mother received lots of material gifts. The more children one had the higher one’s social prestige. There was enough fertile farmland to produce food for all. Men of substance married K 2 many wives and with social stability the population expanded exponentially. The mines and fertility had attracted the white man long ago and he came along with his church, his government, his school and his way of life. These influences were like a chemical reaction in strong palm wine. Our story is set in the Republic that gradually emerged over time from this chemical reaction between cultures. Travelling from the National Headquarters, Fusejo, to any of the administrative units, especially in the rainy season was nightmarish. Indeed only a few of these units were linked up by motorable tracks. Most of the tracks had been created merely by the repeated cruising of motor tyres on the bushes of Kutuma. The first and last attempt at road construction was made through the laborious input of the natives, using their hands and crude implements under the command of the white overseers. A caterpillar had never been used to open up a road. The only earth road done with a touch of engineering was one that led to the mines. Since these roads never received any maintenance, a distance of 5 kilometres sometimes took two whole days of untold suffering to its travellers. The ordeal was unbearable, especially in the heart of the rainy season when the roads became slippery. The passengers would occasionally climb down and push for hours to free the vehicle when it got stuck in mud. This was the case for villages fortunate enough to have such an access. The only all-season vehicles that could dare it on such roads were the “line lobbers” as the Land Rover mark was pronounced by the villagers. Other localities could only be reached by hard trekking. There were areas which had obstacles such as large rivers and stretches of boulders. In these areas the people eased communication by building hanging rope and bamboo 3 bridges, a real feat of traditional engineering. It was believed that these bridges were done by specialists initiated into a riverine meant for that purpose. The complicated patterns of weaving seen in these ropes clearly lent authenticity to this belief. Thanks to such initiatives, it was possible to bring in industrial provision to the peoples of the hinterland though everything was transported by head-load. When such basic commodities finally got there, most of the local retailers would sell them at high cost owing to the transportation difficulties. The colonial power was greatly attracted to the mineral deposits of Kutuma. The people, who lived in total ignorance of such potentials, saw the white man as a mad man, tilling into rocks for the unknown. At first the exploiters brought...