The ward chairman’s power

I had wanted us to come here in broad daylight but Maikahon Karo said no, the best time to visit a politician is late at night. If you come in the daytime, he will say that maybe you were just passing by and you decided to stop at his house. But if you come late […]

I had wanted us to come here in broad daylight but Maikahon Karo said no, the best time to visit a politician is late at night. If you come in the daytime, he will say that maybe you were just passing by and you decided to stop at his house. But if you come late at night, he will say that yes, you have shown that you know how important he is, that is why you denied your eyes sleep and you came to see him.
Maikaho banged the door many times before the ward chairman answered. We could hear his footsteps as he came to the door. When he came near it from the inside he said, “Yes? I hope everything is okay?” “It is Maikahon Karo with my master, Alhaji! We came to visit our ward chairman!” He opened the door slightly; when he saw us he then opened it widely and ushered us in.
The chairman of Yamutsi Ward of Gebe Local Government Alhaji Gizo is a wily local political operator of many decades’ experience. The walls of his house are made of mud and then made over with cement. The roof of his house is made of 1950s style wrought iron. We sat on some battered cushion chairs. He has little to show for his many years of adroit local politics.
 “Alhaji,” he said, “is it you who is visiting me so late at night? I am sure it will rain today!” After exchanging banters, we got down to business. Maikaho said, “Chairman, I know you know what brought us here. My master Alhaji is a member of the party in this ward. He belongs to this ward. His grandfather’s house is in this ward. His father lived in this ward throughout his lifetime. You know it more than anybody because your grandfather and his grandfather were friends and also neighbours. They were neighbours at their farms. When your grandfather was taking his last wife, it was Alhaji’s grandfather that bought the kola nut and took it to the bride’s house.”
“However,” Maikaho continued, “I am disappointed that you chairman, instead of upholding this glorious family friendship, you are the one who is sabotaging it.  Alhaji has not got his waiver from the party because the ward exco headed by you wrote to the state secretariat and said you could not find Alhaji’s name in the membership register, that maybe he registered in another ward and that he did not donate anything to the ward.”
 “I did not say that,” Gizo protested. “Then what did you say?” “They asked us whether he is a party member in this ward. Our secretary said he checked but he could not find Alhaji’s name in the ward register, that maybe he registered in another ward in the town.” “Is that what you said?” Maikaho was now beside himself with rage. “The day Alhaji entered politics, did we not come here to the ward office? Were you not the one that received us that day and he donated three motorcycles, five bicycles and one Kombi bus? How can you now say that maybe he joined the party somewhere?”
“You even said,” Maikaho continued, “that he has not attended ward meetings, that you are not even sure he belongs to this party because most of his cousins and nephews are supporters of the opposition party, that there is even a poster of the opposition party on a tree near his ancestral house.” “I did not write that one,” Gizo protested. “Maybe it was our secretary who wrote it. He did not show it to me when he wrote it. You know I did not do boko, so it is our secretary who writes our letters. Sometimes he adds some things that I did not tell him to write.”
After some more altercation, we moved to close the meeting on a positive note. Maikaho said, “Chairman, listen. We did not come here in this night to quarrel. We came here to ensure that the very good relationship we inherited from our grandparents is sustained. Alhaji is ready to make another big donation to the ward. You will get a car, a Toyota Corona. Your secretary will also get a car. Each of the ten ward exco members will get a motorcycle and an irrigation pump. There will also be brocades for your wives. All these will be delivered to you before the end of this week. I want you to give me Alhaji’s membership card now.”
The ward chairman gulped and sneezed. He said, “As I said earlier the cards have finished but there is one that I kept in reserve. Luckily I did not write any name on it so we can give it to Alhaji.” “Very good,” Maikaho said. “Where is the membership register?” Gizo said, “The secretariat collected it. They said the time for new membership has ended. However there is a way, because I have got the old register with me and I reserved some space in it, in case a very important person like Alhaji joins our party.”
 “Which number are you going to give Alhaji?” Gizo said, “Our secretary said there are 10,000 party members in this ward. If we are to go by the new register the number he will get is more than 10,000. But I have kept some numbers in reserve. There is even one special number, 007. I will give that to Alhaji.”
We were happy at this conclusion but as we stood up to go, the ward chairman said, “Alhaji and Maikaho, we are very grateful for the gifts which as I heard you say will come in two days’ time, since the week will soon end. The ward exco members are very grateful for your generosity which you inherited from your grandfather. The only think they will ask me is, how about registration papers for the cars and motorcycles? And also servicing and fuel. You know a motorcycle needs overhaul when it is new and our exco members don’t have the money for that.”