He hitched his cloth more securely onto his shoulder. “About two months later, Mr. Smith-Aidoo came back. He said Malgam was going to join the government to provide us with electricity and water. They were making plans. I was very happy. I told him that the next time he comes, he has to meet with all the elders of the village, and he said okay. Then after a few weeks, he met with the elders and me. He brought us all kinds of fine gifts, we poured libation, and then we started the meeting. The elders were eager to know the details of the plans Mr. Smith-Aidoo had for us, and when he started talking it seemed very good to us, but after some few minutes, I realized his message had changed. He said Malgam wanted to do what was in our mutual best interest, and he and his team would like to build a new town they call New Akwidaa, either on the Ezile River or some other place, and tear down Old Akwidaa.”
Ackah-Yensu paused, looking as baffled as he must have been at that meeting.
“He said Malgam would pay us for the land and contribute to building the new settlement and the electricity and water. In fact, we were shocked. We never expected something like this. We started to say no, we can never agree to such a thing. Then he told us how much they were offering to pay the elders to do this project, and some of them looked at each other and started to change their minds. To us, it was a lot of money.”
“And so what happened after that?” Dawson asked.
“Fighting-that’s all.” Ackah-Yensu shrugged hopelessly. “The older people in the village say they will never move. The lazy young guys who don’t want to follow in their fathers’ example as fishermen say they would like to move to a new place. At the same time, the village elders can’t agree on any decision to bring to me. Therefore, nothing happened. And now Mr. Charles is dead.” He shook his head in regret.
Dawson understood the chief’s disappointment: the potential windfall for the village had come to a stalemate and completely flopped. “Please, Nana, after that last meeting with the elders attending, did you see Mr. Smith-Aidoo or talk to him again?”
“By phone,” he said, making the universal sign for it. “He said if I could convince the elders and the village it will be good to move, he could give me a little something and make sure I had a very fine chief’s house.”
Blatant bribery, Dawson thought. If this story was true, his respect for Charles had just dropped a few points. “Did you try to do that, Nana?”
