| First, a distant, dull explosion, it seems | | | | The second time in two years, a powerful wind |
| from another world, and I try to shrug it | | | | blows through the African Nation. Amidst |
| off. | | | | widespread corruption in the government, the |
| | | | voice of justice has spoken. No one can |
| It is midnight and I am half asleep by the | | | | escape the swift spread of retaliation that |
| time the next thundering sound tells me of | | | | follows the next days. All party |
| something unusual. My senses sharpen and I | | | | functionaries who have not managed to escape, |
| lay awake, tense, listening. By the time the | | | | are being rounded up and sent to military |
| rapid exchange from a submachine gun echoes | | | | facilities. Detention, interrogation, |
| through the night, I know that trouble is on | | | | sentencing is all done in military style, |
| its way. | | | | military courts are set up in hastiness. |
| | | | |
| Looking out through the windows does not | | | | The Army is in control, and, will apply their |
| reveal anything, and I continue to count the | | | | own justice, and the common people are |
| number of heavy artillery rounds that go down | | | | jubilating. |
| in direction of the Flagstaff house. No one | | | | |
| has expected this to come, everyone is | | | | For a few years the party has once again |
| surprised. | | | | ruled according to their own rules, nepotism, |
| | | | favoritism, hypocrisy and corruption the |
| The night continues with the same sounds of | | | | guiding principle. |
| heavy gun fire, not close, yet clearly | | | | |
| audible. Nobody can find sleep by now, and is | | | | The night before, I have a visitor, Richard, |
| trying to receive information through the | | | | we call him Rich. He always stops by, for a |
| poor telephone system. Frantic calls are made | | | | drink or a meal, and he is what one calls a |
| from residence to residence, to no avail, | | | | 'facilitator', he helps when one needs to go |
| nobody knows what is going on. | | | | through bureaucratic hurdles, or other |
| | | | problems. He has contacts everywhere and he |
| The morning brings the first news, house | | | | earns his money this way. |
| staff coming from their various locations | | | | |
| have heard that a Coup d' Etat against the | | | | He leaves at around 20 hours, no one guesses |
| civilian government is imminent. The same | | | | that he will never come back again. His old |
| Flight Lieutenant who has handed over to the | | | | VW beetle is leaking from the exhaust, |
| Civilian government before is the Coup | | | | causing excessive noise. Driving though a |
| plotter, the fighting raging between the | | | | dangerous city, rebel factions and military |
| various factions is tough. | | | | still shooting at each other, and runs into a |
| | | | checkpoint , set up half a mile down the road |
| People are cheering the return of the Flight | | | | from where I reside. He never hears the |
| Lieutenant, he still is the hero of the | | | | shouts : 'Stop, stop', his muffler is louder |
| people, the defender of truth, the protector | | | | than the voices. A fatal error, the salves of |
| of the poor. Soon the radio broadcasts the | | | | machine gun fire that erupt from behind take |
| first news and by now the last doubt is laid | | | | their toll, the car losing direction, running |
| aside, we are in the middle of a Coup d'Etat. | | | | into a ditch. The military follows and pulls |
| On the second day all is over, the last | | | | out his lifeless body. A common occurrence |
| Ministers have been arrested by the Military | | | | during such days. Rich is no longer, he has |
| and the President has been advised to turn | | | | become a victim of circumstance, killed by |
| himself in police custody for his personal | | | | trigger happy soldiers. For in such times, |
| safety. The constitution is abandoned, once | | | | the venturing out on the roads is almost |
| again, and civil rights are non-existent. | | | | suicidal. |
| | | | |