Fifteen Years of Tobacco Read online

on the Steinway Grand Piano in the lobby and headed for the President's personal Library. He was reading Adam Smith's The Wealth Of Nations when the bodyguard showed him in.

  The President greeted him and asked him to call the young man playing the piano next door.

  “David, my son,” he introduced his son to Jamal and the trio went outdoors on the green.

  The president and his son played tennis for almost an hour and a half, only pausing to have some cold drinks. It was a beautiful court, surrounded by green and flowers. Jamal photographed them playing and loved their sense of humour. But he couldn't help noticing that the president was extremely competitive and could not let his son win easily as most parents would. Maybe that's why he was President: Habits of highly effective people!

  He won the first sets then took a break, asking Jamal to play on with David.

  As the two played, the President's Spokesman joined them at the tennis court.

  He said hi to David and Jamal, asked who was the better player then went to talk to the President a few metres away who was sitting under a tree sheltered from the afternoon sun.

  “These tabloids would print anything to sell papers!” Jamal over heard Ejiet tell the President.

  David was tired and they stopped playing. The President was reading the paper. It was the Star Lights, a trashy tabloid that had previously printed names and pictures of gay people calling for their persecution.

  Jamal could read the headlines clearly: “President Panders to Tourism Dollar, Says You can Kill Humans But Not Elephants”

  Of course it was false, he had been there when the President had made a speech against poaching. He had said that : “To kill an elephant for Ivory is wrong. These animals are creating employment, bringing in tourism and you are killing them?

  Any form of killing be it taking a human life or animal life is wrong.”

  And with that his words had been twisted.

  Work at the Presidential Palace went on normally and Jamal felt he had settled in nicely.

  But in Africa, things can change almost overnight. And that's what happened.

  The Violence that erupted in the next couple of weeks took every one by surprise.

  It started on Monday at The State University Teaching Hospital, also built by the British (both the University and the hospital) during the Colonial days.

  A young expectant mother had died in labour after doctors and nurses had walked away from hospital demonstrating against poor pay, lack of drugs and medical equipment and poor working conditions. The unborn infant had also died.

  The Star Lights tabloid picked up the story, sensationalised it, blamed the government for the deaths and printed more than 2 million copies which were

  distributed almost immediately.

  By 2 pm, a crowd of demonstrators had gathered at the hospital and other government facilities demanding the president and his cabinet to step down.

  With many youths unemployed and with plenty of time on their hands, and with events in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya as inspiration, the number of demonstrators increased rapidly and the situation started to get out of control.

  Jamal had never seen such huge demonstrations except for when the President had tried but failed to outlaw Polygamy three years ago.

  The demonstrations turned into running battles in the capital, crippling businesses, shutting the only motorway to the only International Air port and bringing almost all business to a halt.

  After a week of such demonstrations, the government ran out of patience and the International Community started noticing.

  Of course some of the International Criticism was to be expected. Barudi was the world's largest producer of Tobacco and Multi-National corporations like Buckley & Norris were being hit hard.

  On the Dow Jones, Buckley & Norris, was rapidly falling in value for the past one week and stockbrokers were watching it's stocks carefully on the New York Stock Exchange.

  50 cargo planes were stranded on the tarmac at the airport waiting for refuelling to get the tobacco out of the country.

  If another week passed that way, Buckley & Norris and other cigarette manufacturers would be losing billions of dollars and smokers in the west would suffer to get their next fix. Not forgetting that Big Tobacco was already suffering with Government legislation, anti-tobacco campaigns in the west and increase in taxes to discourage smoking.

  Tobacco Corporations started to lobby the White House and soon a White House spokesman was making a statement:

  “We have watched with patience the events unfolding in the Republic Of Barudi. The people are speaking out against the poor governance that's ruining their country and even costing lives. The government has a duty to sort this mess out as soon as possible or stand down and allow for a new breed of leadership.”

  With such words from the US, the demonstrators were rejuvenated. The crowds swelled as some people left villages and travelled long journeys to demonstrate.

  In the second week, all businesses and government offices were shut down.

  Government Officials were being targeted and the security team at the Presidential Palace sent out a memo to all staff warning them not to carry anything that could associate them with the government.

  The demonstrations turned violent in their third week. A small Police post outside the city was torched and a Police officer was badly beaten by thuggish protesters.

 

  The Police was overwhelmed and that's when the military, which had no prior training in diplomacy whatsoever was brought in.

  When protesters threw a Molotov cocktail and torched a military Jeep, the response was fatal: five were shot dead.

  By the fourth week, the capital city had turned into almost a war zone. People woke up every morning and went to demonstrate in town and in the evenings, went back home. It became a routine. There was no sense in going to work any more. Jamal stayed home most of the days and ventured out to have a drink in the few places that were still operating. He had been tempted to take his camera and make a photographic record of the chaos but he knew some thuggish protesters would rob him of his camera. He chose to wait until the chaos died down.

 

  After a couple of drinks one evening, he walked home in a daze. He still lived with his mother who was retired.

  When he got home, she was sitting in the living room and after greeting her, he sensed how nervous she was.

  “I have been worried about you all day,” she started. “ I rang your phone and there was no answer.”

  “Dead battery,” Jamal responded while wondering while she would have to worry about him like he was a baby.

  “Tom Ejiet has been killed and you are walking around town at this time in the middle of this madness.”

  Jamal was shocked.

  “Killed by who?” he asked as if he was in a position to do anything about it.

  “It's all over the news.”

  Jamal switched on the TV immediately. It was on the headlines.

  Tom Ejiet, The President's Spokesman had been attacked by angry demonstrators while driving through town with his pregnant wife.

  Stuck in traffic, he was recognised by some thuggish demonstrators who pulled him and his wife out of his Porsche 911 super car.

  They burned the car and beat Ejiet. By the time Police broke through the crowd to reach him, he was losing a lot of blood.

  Five people trying to attack the Police that came in to rescue him were shot dead.

  Tom Ejiet was airlifted to hospital with his wife but he didn't make it. His wife was still in hospital being treated for shock.

  That night the situation got worse. Demonstrators coordinating on Facebook and twitter arranged to burn down government facilities especially Police offices. Two small Police Posts were burned down successfully and officers had to run for their lives. An attack on the Police HQ backfired though.

  Live bullets were fired into marauding crowds and by
daybreak, thirty eight bodies were lying in the compound of the police HQ.

  As expected, the local and International media focussed on the pain and struggles of the “Peaceful protesters.”

  A CNN TV crew was at the Police headquarters filming and broadcasting live as the bodies of “Innocent unarmed civilians who were demonstrating peacefully” were put into body bags and piled onto police trucks and driven away to the Morgue.

  A TV reporter even noted that: “In this Country, there's no dignity even in death, bodies are piled onto trucks instead of ambulances.Thanks to the government.”

  Besides the TV crews and playing for the cameras were peaceful demonstrators with posters: “Change”, “Rogue Government” ,“America must help us”, “Pig eaters out of the Palace now!”, “World's biggest Tobacco Producer, World's Poorest,” and “ 15 years Of Tobacco-he has eaten enough. Now he must go”.

  Besides the tobacco industry, Tourism was being hit. Many tourists were stuck on their Safaris.

  A cable was sent from the American Embassy in Mungo, the capital to Washington: “The current government has gone past its 'sell by date!' It is time to turn a new page.”

  The next day the American President was making a statement:

  “ The events unfolding in the Republic Of Barudi are unfortunate. For the President to turn guns on the very people he is supposed to protect is crossing the line. Blood has been shed and lives shattered. Now he has to step down and allow for more competent leadership.”

  After the statement from the white house, the whole country ran into panic. There were rumours America was sending in it's air