Blood of Innocence

Chapter Four

Each of the three leading newspapers had told the story differently . However ,the government-sponsored Nyake Daily's report was in sharp contrast to the others . If its pan headline was derogatory of the Principals ,then its content was appalling , to say the least .

PRINCIPALS OF RESTORATION OF DEMOCRACY ALLIANCE CAUGHT CONSULTING DARK POWERS .

Principals of the Restoration of Democracy Alliance were last night caught having a meeting with unknown people in an isolated and high-gated building in the outskirts of the city . While the agenda of the meeting was not clear ,it has since been established that the five were consulting with some dark powers in view of the impending elections . It is believed that the noisy incantations of the occult disturbed the peaceful atmosphere of the neighbours precipitating a shoot-out between the guards and the said neighbours . Unfortunately , Honorable Roj , leader of the Empowerment Party , was caught in the cross-fire and died on the spot . One of the guards also died .

While sending their messages of condolences to the bereaved families , his Excellency , the President of the Republic of Nyake , and his Deputy have have decried the possession of illegal arms . The President hinted on the possible establishment of a commission of inquiry to get to the root of the incident .

On his part , the Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security , Rt. Major-General Lok , has vowed to leave no stones unturned untill the perpetrators of this heinous act are brought to book .

The Independent Daily told a different story . It reported :

THE ERA OF POLITICAL ASSASSINATIONS RETURNS

One of the most serious government critics ,and opposition leader of the Empowerment Party , Hon . Roj , was gunned down in cold blood while having a meeting with his co-principals of the Restoration of Democracy Alliance . One guard was also killed in the incident while engaging snipers who had followed the Principals to their newly-opened communication hub . This exchange of fire lasted for over half an hour as the other four Principals locked themselves in the building . The police from a nearby Police Station , barely fifty metres away , took over one hour to respond . While we cannot gainsay the motive and intention of the perpetrators , why would the police take that long to respond to an emergency in view of the devastatingly loud shootout ? Does the government know something the public doesn't know ?

" Bullshit ! " commented Jaduong , referring to the allegations made by the Nyake Daily . All the four Principals had arrived in his office in preparation for the press conference . " I wonder how psychopathic some journalists would be to the extent of losing their integrities . These are the very bottlenecks to responsible journalism and the tenets of democracy . " He observed .

" I have never seen such glaring defamation ," stated Mulamo . " We can sue this newspaper for not only character-assassination , but also for propagation of false information intended to misinform the public . "

" Am of the same view ," concurred Hon .Na . " To imagine that the public now looks at us as witches , or cultic is unfathomable ! "

" Our reputations are our strong selling points ," joined Hon . Kasyo . " Clearly , these people owe us not only apologies , but also damages to the extent of this viciously malacious and libelous presentation of our persons . "

" The fact that it's owned by the government doesn't allow the editors to be auto-nodding machines to the powers-that-be ," observed Jaduong . " I do agree with your sentiments . Let's proceed with the suit , and pray that the judges will exercise their impartiality and independence . Otherwise , our search for justice would be an exercise in futility if their autonomy is already compromised by the executive . "

" No matter the outcome of the case , we would have indicated to the public that these allegations are just government propaganda intended to injure our reputations as pertains to the next general elections . It could be detrimental to us if we do nothing to refute them ," expounded Hon . Kasyo .

" Sure . Now that we are settled on that , we will advise our lawyers as soon as we are through with the press ." Jaduong ended the discussion as they headed to the conference room where members of the fourth estate were waiting like hounds .

* * * * *

Almost at the same time , State House was also a bee-hive of activity . The President was in a meeting with his inner circle members . They were eagerly waiting for the press statement of their opponents so as to be able to counteract in case some damaging remarks came out .

" Next time , make use of people who know what they are paid for ," the President admonished Rt . Major-General Lok , the Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security . '' This was our golden opportunity to get rid of these dunderheads once and for all . To think that we will continue putting up with their loudmouths , is incomprehensible !"

" That was the agreed plan from the time we got the intelligence about the meeting ," responded Lok . " It could have been successfully executed had it not been for the intervening circumstances ."

" But it was foreseeable to any reasonable man ," continued the President . " Was it hard to take the guards out before the actual targets ? Plus , why deploy only two men when all resources were at your disposal ? '

' Not only was it due to lack of foresight on our part , but also due to the fact that knowledge of the meeting came almost too late . This made it difficult to gather all the resources necessary . Nevertheless , I can assure you that everything will be carried out as planned soon ."

" It better be . Their continued negative criticism is doing more harm not only to our public images , but also to international donors and investors ."

" Am afraid to say that it has started affecting the tourism sector ," observed the Deputy President . " Most tourists have started to divert their attentions to our neighbours because of security issues . If our donors withdraw their support ,we are likely to experience shortage of resources pertaining to our campaign ."

" We adjudge you with the modalities of raising the funds for the campaign . Meanwhile , let's deal with these loudmouths and the negative publicity ," the President said .

* * * * *

The responsibility of issuing the press statement was left to Jaduong as the undisputed Chairperson of the Coalition .

" Fellow citizens of Nyake ," he started , " it's with heavy hearts that we stand here not to address you with news of socio-political and economic development of our beloved country , nor are we addressing issues of mass unemployment and runaway corruption . No . We need a second liberation to be able to address such matters . Our hearts are heavy due to the lose of one of us who you all know his role in addressing the aforementioned evils in our society . One who has sacrificed his life for the common good of all . His life was snapped from him by government employed goons last night while we were having a meeting to chart the best way forward to rid of our country the decay that has almost become the norm . Yes , we stand here with heavy hearts because all the five of us were targeted , but God's bountiful mercy saw to our narrow escape . One of our gallant guards lost his life in the incident .

" I kindly invite you to join me in observing a minute of silence in honour of our deceased vibrant , promising lives .

" Thank you ," he continued after the ritual . '' Hon . Roj stood and fought for democracy and the rule of law . He fearlessly fought for transparency and accountability of the government when public resources were misappropriated to serve the whims of the powers-that-be . He died fighting for , and because of his impeccable integrity . His good deeds will not bear fruits if we retreated from persuing the same aspirations due to fear of these actual political assassinations or intimidation . The message to our detractors is simple : you can kill the messenger , but never the message ! Good seeds always die before they sprout . Alluta continua ! " Vibrating applause echoed in the room .

The reporters rose to seek for some clarification .

" Thank you , Sir ," began one of the reporters , " am Mike from the Independent Daily . You seem to be conclusive as to the identities of the perpetrators of this heinous act , may you shade some light as to the government's connection ? Secondly , there's a police station about fifty metres of the scene of crime , would you mind saying a few words as to why the police had to arrive almost one hour late after the shootout began ?"

" It's trite knowledge that the person who stands to gain out of our deaths is the one who is afraid and who has something to hide ," responded Hon .Kasyo . " Your guess as to the delay by the police to respond immediately to our plight is as good as mine . In fact ,we called them immediately only to be told that there were no officers present in the Station and that the Patrol was forty kilometres away ! Quite mind-boggling , isn't it ?"

" Kevin , from Nyake Daily ," another reporter began , " while we are all perturbed by such barbaric acts , one wonders why you were still gathered at such an ungodly hour in an isolated building . Secondly , if you may excuse my bluntness , there are some allegations that you were commissioning some oaths ,or rather consulting some demonic powers . Would you mind clearing this besmirching of your reputations ?"

" In case you have forgotten about responsible reporting and the fundamental principles of any democracy ," responded Hon . Na , " I would like to remind you that we all have freedom of association ingrained in our constitution . The time and place is inconsequential in this regard and lest you forget , it's not an isolated building , but our communication center . It's quite flabbergasting that some gutter-press is bent on destroying the reputations of well-intentioned leaders instead of fighting the many mishaps of the government of the day . In the same vein , and am sorry to say , the allegation touching on demonism is one of the most disgusting , obnoxious statement privy only to simpletonic reporters . We are all God-fearing people as our actions depict . "

" I believe you are an employee of the same Newspaper that is propagating that falsified information ," rejoined Hon . Mulamo . " It's a pity that the government spends taxpayers' money for hiring nincompoops to help it in disseminating such cheap propaganda ."

" When a State-sponsored enterprise starts serving only the interests of the government of the day , it behooves us all to look at the character of those running such enterprise ," said Jaduong . " Of course , we have instructed our lawyers to follow up on these perfunctorily defaming allegations with the urgency that they deserve . If you may excuse us , ladies and gentlemen , we have other equally important matters to attend to ."

* * * * *

The President and his cohort were following the press briefing from the comfort of State House . He was indignant and furious with the way these people had turned the whole thing to their benefits . Not only had they appealed to the sympathy of the voters , but had also sent damaging information to the investors about the security status of the country .

" It was outright stupidity of that editor to have framed the statement as he did !" he fumed , looking at Dr . Roz for clarification . " Were you aware of it ?"

" Am sorry , your Excellency , but the statement was prepared by the government spokesman . I was not privileged to peruse through it before it was published ."

" But the Newspaper is under your docket , right ? How could you let your subordinates run sensitive government matters like this without your knowledge ? I now believe that it is high time we instituted some changes , starting with that good-for-nothing spokesman . As for you , you better stamp your authority , otherwise , a second chance might be hard to come by . "

" Consider it done ,Sir ."

" Now , unless there's something worthy listening to , I feel it is time to oversee matters our dockets . You all have your roles spelled out as pertains to the forthcoming elections . Need I remind you that the privileges we are enjoying now will never be unless we all up our games ?"

They all nodded in agreement as they disbursed to their various dockets , lest they be on the receiving end next time .