Short Story: Fear Delegates

Mayera, 5 PM

Yaw walked up to the iron gate. It was the last house on his list to visit before the D-Day tomorrow. He straightened his glasses and knocked on the gate.

‘Who is it?!’ a woman-like voice shouted from within the house. “Probably the man’s wife,” he thought to himself.

He cleared his throat and said in Twi “I am Yaw Apau, and I am looking for your husband, Effah.”

He heard voices whispering. After a few seconds, she bellowed “come in! The door is open.”

He pushed the gate open. It was a well-kept bungalow. Unlike their neighbours, they had kept their garden in pristine condition. He liked that.

Sitting on the small patio in front of the bungalow was a man clothed in a singlet and basketball shorts reading the Daily Graphic and beside him, a woman peeling oranges.

The man reading the newspaper was definitely the one he was looking for. He fit the description provided by the constituency secretary.

“So this is the man who could either make or break my political career,” he thought to himself.

He nodded at Agyenim, his aide who had driven him here. Agyenim knew what that nod meant. The boss had to do this alone. He retreated into Yaw’s Honda Civic.

The man had finally looked up from his newspaper and was peering at him through his half-moon glasses.

He approached the patio with some confidence. One shouldn’t look weak after all.

“Good evening, Sir” he started on his usual monologue. “I am Yaw –“

‘I know who you are’ the man sneered. ‘What do you want in my house at this time?!’

The constituency secretary had told him the man was brusque, but he had taken him aback. He felt like he had done something wrong for no reason.

“Well, sir err I was wondering if err I could talk with you err in private for just a few minutes“ Yaw stuttered out. God that was hard.

‘Two minutes and that’s it! I don’t see why I should be tolerating you at this time. It is getting dark after all!’ the man said as he dashed towards his front door. ‘Come in’ he said whiles entering the house. He followed.

‘Have a seat’ he said whiles pointing at a sofa in the sitting room.

Yaw sat down gingerly.

‘Let’s get down to business. I know you’re running for Parliamentary Candidate. I know all you politicians are the same and will never carry out your promises so I won’t even bother asking.’

Yaw attempted to interject at this moment, but the man raised his hand.

‘Don’t even try that nonsense with me. Now, how much do you have for me?’ the man said with a smirk on his face.

“Wofa, I have 1000 Cedis for you.”

‘That’s a joke, right?! How are you going to get the PC slot when you’re distributing coins?!’ the man said whiles laughing a deep belly laugh.

“You see Wofa I can only get that amount because I don’t have large amounts of money like Hon. Ampadu has. I am just a young man working in insurance at Sunyani. How can I get the money to distribute? I know you are a considerate man who cares about this constituency. I just want to serve Wofa. That’s all. Please give me a chance to show you and the constituency that I can actually bring development to this constituency. Hon Ampadu hasn’t don — “

The man raised his hand up. Yaw stopped talking.

‘Krakye, I have heard you, and I can see that you have a passion for doing the work. Ampadu has started growing wings anyways. Time to get some new blood in Accra. My polling station will vote for you. Don’t worry.’

“Thank you, Wofa. You won’t regret doing this –“

‘Krakye just give me the money. No time to waste.’

Yaw removed the white envelope from his trouser pocket and handed it over to the man who quickly tore it open and counted the currency notes.

‘Ok everything is set’ the man got up. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow when you emerge victorious.’

Yaw got up from his seat and said: “Yes, Wofa.”

‘Great doing business’ the man said with a smirk on his face as he shook Yaw’s hand and led him towards the gate.

“Thank you once again Wofa,” Yaw said as the man latched his gate.

Yaw hopped into the car.

‘How did it go, Sir?’ Agyenim asked as he started the car.

“He said he’ll vote for us. I even gave him the money that we had left hmm.”

‘Don’t worry, Sir. Once we have that man’s support, we will win inshallah.’

“I hope so.”

Yaw got deep into his thoughts. Why had it become so hard to serve your own people? Just to win a primary, he had to go round to all the delegates and give them some “motivation”. The money and goods being demanded were not cheap at all. Because of the Party’s primaries, he had to take out a huge loan from the bank. Plus, he had to ask his friends and family for loans and donations. All the money accumulated was barely enough to satisfy all the demands of the delegates. None of them even bothered to hear about the plan he had in mind for the constituency. This constituency was full of potential, and the delegates didn’t even realise this.

“I’m sure the man will keep to his word. I saw that he knew I would do good things for the constituency. God, I just hope I win” he muttered to himself.

***

Nafana Constituency Collation Centre, 2 PM

“Why can’t I reach Agyenim?! I should’ve gotten the numbers by now!” Yaw murmured. He had heard that Honourable Ampadu had given 1500 Ghana Cedis to each delegate just before the voting and he was apprehensive.

‘The results are about to be announced. All candidates should come to the dais NOW’ the loudspeaker boomed.

Yaw started making his way there.

“I can’t believe I’m going to the dais without knowing the results. What is wrong with Agyenim’s phone?!”

Yaw climbed up the dais. His two opponents including Hon Ampadu, the incumbent was there already.

The EC official started announcing the results.

‘The results are as follows;

Oteng Adjei — 2

Yaw Apau — 101

Yaw started beaming with a smile. Yes, he had finally won!

“Thank you, Lo — “ he stopped. “I’m supposed to get 131+.”

And Nicholas Ampadu — 142. Therefore, Honourable Nicholas Ampadu is the winner of the Nafana Constituency primaries.

He stared in horror as the EC official raised Honourable Ampadu’s hand up.

The world started to spin.

“How did this happen?! I thought I had the man’s word. Awurade Yesu how will I be able to pay that bank loan. How on earth can I face my workmates? This can’t be.”

He felt himself tumbling down.

“Fear delegates” was the last thing Yaw said before he collapsed.