TALES OF DANSVILLE EPISODE THREE: HOPE OF AFRICA

The radiant sun pierced through the bright blue skies and attacked Chentiwuni's face as he strode across the street. Heat rained on him like a breath from hell. Sweat trickled down his neck into his shirt like hot soup and the back of the shirt stuck onto his wet back. He yearned for the comfort of his car as he picked up the pace. He reached his car and opened the door to get in. As he turned on the air conditioning, the cool air flushed into his body, cooling down his blood and soothing his crying skin. His unbuttoned shirt permitted the cool air to lick the sweat off his body. Ohh

For full two and a half minutes, his mouth still wide open, his body gave in to the cool air and suddenly thought of driving tore at him. Ghana is hot.

About thirty miles away, the Black Star Gate stood valiantly in its full glory. Built to mark Ghana's independence, the national motto, "FREEDOM AND JUSTICE" was boldly engraved on it, below the year of the country's independence. At the top of the structure were four prominent black stars juxtaposed, to form a square of stars facing the four sides of the arch. Watching through the windscreen of his car, he muttered the national motto to himself.

Chentiwuni was a dead man. Four kills in his name, for JUSTICE. One last kill and he'd have fulfilled his life-long mission

Freedom and Justice

Nii Lante Okine sat behind his desk littered with papers, pictures but managed to find space to place his coke. The heat made his skin crawl and his body felt musty. His massive beard gathered a lot of sweat it dripped onto his shirt, long-sleeve, which he picked because the weather report suggested it would rain heavily. The fan in the room conspired with the weather, circulating hot air in the office.

Every time he looked at the case file, he'd feel his brains squeeze in his skull. His frustrations stemmed from the fact that all four of the murders were done in the same manner. The bodies were laid on their backs and arms stretched to the sides of the bodies. Their legs were opened at an angle. Perhaps the most disturbing was the words, "HOPE OF AFRICA" imprinted on their chest.

He looked back at the photos taken at the crime scenes, stroking his beard to rid it of the sweat. Four former presidents found dead in four different locations. Gruesome act by one man but to what end? The pictures gave him goosebumps. They were killed in descending order, from current to past. But why?

Nii's heart pounded at the thought of another past president dying. Extra security and police were posted at the only former president alive, his excellency Kwabena Gyan. The motive of the killer wasn't known to Nii or even his identity. The only picture they had of him is a grainy black and white photo from a security feed at a warehouse at Dr. Busia highway.

As he looked up ahead on the drawing board, he hoped the marked locations would tell him something, who or where the killer would be. The first body was found at the beach at Dansville, the second in the middle of the Dr. Busia highway. Two days ago the third body was found at a market Square in Haatso and the last body at the Kotoka International Airport a day ago. Another body would be left somewhere or killed there if he didn't act fast. The words engraved on their bodies kept running through his mind

The hope of Africa.

Former president, Kwabena Gyan had just received a disturbing phone call. When the screen lit up and the sound of his ringtone tore the room, he ran up to the phone and picked it up. He could let any of the guards bring it to him, but he hated feeling useless.

"Are you alone? I don't want anyone to listen in". Intrigued, he motioned his security men to stay outside the door, adjusted in his chair and paused the radio. He assured him and the caller continued

"Operation KHO85. Does it ring a bell?" The caller asked. Immediately, Gyan felt cold sweat begin to form on his face. Operation KHO85, of course, it rang a bell. His disdain for democracy and the freedom of speech, the primary reason for this.

He began spreading rumours about the president's corrupt ways through the airwaves, newspapers and in the military. He didn't do it himself, he paid thousands of shillings to journalists to run different articles with sources as anonymous. Democracy to him was just a means of a few individuals having so much authority without accountability, an opportunity for incompetent leaders to stay in power.

 Ghanaians can't identify a bad leader when they see one, he always said when elections came up.

 When the news had caught fire, there was a public outcry. Day after day, demonstrations, marches and looting and the country was in chaos. So he rallied up the military and successfully took power. He was a leader for fifteen years until the people grew tired. The world was changing, he gave it up and a new constitution allowing for democracy was written. A new president was sworn in a month later.

"How do you know?"

"It doesn't matter. But if it comes out, it won't look good for you"

"So what do you want?" He whispered in anger.

"Relax, I'm getting there." The caller paused, then continued, "Meet me at the Grays Lodge, a few miles after the Independence Square. So we can come to an understanding."

"I can't. The security-"

"Find a way. Or it goes live at 6 PM. Oh, and you've watched enough movies to know I don't want cops."

Beep. The call ended.

Ewurade! My God

Chentiwuni checked the time. 5:00 PM. The ex-president would be on his way soon. He sat in his car still admiring the Black Star Gate, fixated on the phrase FREEDOM AND JUSTICE. As soon as the phone call went through and he heard that wicked soul's voice, the rage was rekindled. Whatever doubt there was about doing this, vanished into thin air.

FREEDOM AND JUSTICE.

But is it? Freedom to do what, lie and not be accountable for it? Steal from national coffers without repercussions? This would be a statement for the ages, he could feel it. A silver Land Rover passed by his car heading towards the Grays lodge. He recognized the car, the thrill. He started the car and moved two cars behind the ex-president's car. The silver car parked in front of the security check at the Grays and in a few minutes, the ex-president was inside.

In an hour, another body could surface and Nii hadn't made any breakthrough. He stood by his window, to allow cool air seep into his head. His partner Bernard Koranteng, entered the room to meet the mess. Nii felt miserable. Looking at the pig's sty in front of him, Bernard tip-toed his way to the front of the desk.

"Nii" He turned, grateful for to hear his partner's voice, good news maybe?

"Nothing. I went to the airport to see if we missed something but no. One young man is going through the feed to see if we'll get something concrete this time."

"Let's hope they find something." The only sound in the room was the rustling of papers as Nii struggled to arrange the papers. When he was done, he picked up all the balled up papers on the floor as they went over what they had gathered so far.

"Sir," a young man entered the room, "sorry to interrupt. We have received another security feed from Kotoka. When we scanned the face, we found a match in our database." Nii snatched the file from and opened in shock. Bernard walked over to see what Nii had seen.

"Is that the-?"

"Yes". Naa Nyonmo. My God.

When His excellency Kwabena Gyan walked into the lodge, he told his security team to wait outside. Hesitant but they agreed. As soon as he was alone, his phone screen lit up with a call from a private number. It must be him.

"I see you brought the guards"

"No no, don't worry. They won't interfere."

"I suspected they'd be here. Walk to the west wing of the lodge, you'll see a black Toyota Corolla parked. Sit inside and tell him 'take me to sunshine', he knows where to take you"

"Why are you doing this?" Cold sweat filled his face.

"You'll find out soon enough. What's the rush?"

With that, the call ended. He turned to walk to the west wing. The lodge wasn't active with only a few people around, mostly staff. As he approached the car, he felt impending doom. The holster in his pocket comforted him.

"Take me to sunshine." He said as soon as he opened the car and sat inside. His plan to threaten the driver into revealing the person behind this failed. When Gyan put his hand in his pocket, a third party opened the door and covered his nose with the handkerchief. Chloroform. He tried to fight off the strong hands but soon his body gave in to its power.

They should be here any minute. He stood in the middle of a big stretch of land, surrounded by bushes and nature. The military shooting range was abandoned and moved in 2012. The sea breeze blew cold angry air. The sunset, vanishing into the far seas. Crashing at the shore, it seemed the sea was trying to climb up and swallow him. Nice try. The rustling of the leaves seemed to talk to him, singing his praise. He looked up the hill to see the eleven targets displaying different numbers from 1 to 11. His eyes then locked on target 4. His blood began to boil.

His father, late president Suraj Abubakr, was taken away by the military as he hid under the bed, heart pounding and shaken to the core. Eight years old, scared for his life. The military captured his father to overthrow him from the office for corruption and egregious financial crimes.

"Call Uncle Suhuyini, he'll take care of you. I'll be fine okay.", His father's last words to him. He never saw his father's face when they took him. The late Suraj Abubakr was arrested, tortured and shot multiple times at the military shooting range. He watched on from the television as visuals of his father being tied to the number 4 target sprung up and about eight soldiers running bullets through his frail body. It tore him apart, days went by and he had nightmares. He struggled to sleep a lot of times and even now, couldn't sleep in a room without lights. This would soon be over. He mused over preoccupying the police with a small puzzle to determine the location of the final body. Even if they managed to in time, which he hoped they would, he'd have still enough time on his hands.

"How? Why would he kill all these people?" Back at Dansville Police Department, Nii was still in shock to learn that the ex-president's son was their culprit

"Well, his father was overthrown by the military in 1988. The leader of the coup was ex-president Gyan"

"It still doesn't explain why he killed all the previous presidents. They weren't involved"

"Well maybe." he switched focus."We have a little less than an hour before another body springs up. We know who he is, his motive, now we need to find the location". Bernard looked at the pictures again.

The hope of Africa.

"That means this would be his final kill. The former president may be safe now, but not for long" He focused on the map, trying to connect the marked dots with lines in his mind. From the Dansville beach to the Dr. Busia highway, Haatso market Square then to the Kotoka International Airport. What? It looked like an incomplete pentagon, one he'd drawn in Pre-technical skills back in secondary school. But is it?

The hope of Africa. Bernard kept muttering, then he looked at the pictures once more. What the hell?

"Nii, come. Look at how this body was placed. Like a star", Bernard said, using his hand to trace a star on the picture.

"The hope of Africa!" It hit Bernard. "In the flag of Ghana, the star at the center of the yellow stripe representing the hope for African unity and end of colonialism."

"Yes. The black star has five points, a pentagon" Nii picked a marker and rushed to the map on the board. Bernard turned to watch him draw lines to connect the points on the map.

Nii groaned. Attempting to draw the star would be a challenge. The distances between the points weren't equal, so they could mess up the location.

"Remember how we used to draw the star back in primary the easiest way, with the lines intersecting?" Bernard asked, hoping that would lead to something.

"Yes. Yes, the pentagram star" Nii's adrenaline shot through the roof. But where would he start from? The killer was meticulous. He decided to draw the lines in order of the kills, carefully drawing the lines, starting from the location of the first body at Dansville beach. When it was done, he circled the area where the last point should be. Because it was irregular, it could be anywhere within that circle

"Isn't that where the Black Star Square is?" Bernard remarked over his shoulder pointing to the circled area. It made sense. The hope of Africa.

"Yes! " He picked up his gun, gulped the last of his coke and ran off.

"Send a team there and call the police department around there and alert them." Nii barked before jetting off.

When Gyan woke up, a dark silhouette stood about 6ft over him. The grass he laid on pierced his back but he couldn't get up. He was tied up to a post in the middle of nowhere. Soon he recognized where he was. The military firing range.

"Why did you kill my father, what did he do to you?" Shocked to find Abubakr's son standing in front of him, he squinted to see his face. His captor grabbed a stick and hit his stomach, demanding answers.

"He didn't do anything. He was collateral damage for something bigger" He would die anyway so why not tell him everything.

"Democracy is a curse, it has always been. It gives citizens the illusion of power to elect the people they want." He winced in pain and then continued, "They're limited in options, and always end up making the wrong decision because democracy is a farce, with all sorts of fools trying to grab power. There's also the absence of accountability. Who guards the guards? When they do wrong, who checks them? The same people they appoint? Not a chance."

"But why my father!?"

"It's simple. Your father had people steamrolling over him because he was young. They manipulated him, took advantage of his innocence."His throat dried up. "The best way to control the mass is with fear. Fear stops the nonsense. When a bad idea pops up in their head, fear reminds them of the danger involved. And to instill fear, I had to be ruthless. I didn't care about your father, it was for the greater good. Once they saw what I did to him, they'd live in fear"

"You murdered an innocent man, after spreading lies about him for your greedy ambitions?" Chentiwuni stood mystified. He felt hot with his coat on but when he tried to remove it, the cold air overtook him.

"It needed to be done. It was the only way"

"What? Only way? This is also the only way for you to feel the same pain my father went through" he pulled up his gun, loaded eight bullets and fixed the silencer on the muzzle. With that, he shot his left leg. Gyan screamed in pain.

"Isn't that what you did, killing the four ex-presidents?" He stretched his hand to try and clutch his leg but couldn't reach it

He fired at Gyan's right leg. "It's not the same! You see, all these presidents did what you killed my father for, and there you were, enjoying their company, laughing, even supporting the ones that stood for your party. You twat! You killed an innocent man, and let the guilty ones walk. I killed corrupt people, that's different. You're disgusting."

Chentiwuni's heart palpitated and his sweat pores cried out a lot of sweat. With his index finger on the trigger, ready to pull it. He looked at the man, not even remotely remorseful for his action, and his adrenaline spiked. He aimed at his right arm this time, causing it to rupture and blood sprouting out in streams. He was losing a lot of blood. According to the plan.

Nii checked his watch. 5:44 PM. He parked his car near the Black Star Square, looking around for anything suspicious. Other than the couple kissing on a bench, nothing particularly out of the normal was happening. Or did he get it wrong? He continued to walk around, not too far from his car.

The Black Star Gate stood ahead, car lights accentuating the essence of the structure. His eyes fixated on the four stars, then they moved down to the iconic national motto: FREEDOM AND JUSTICE. Justice for his father. He entered the car again and pulled out his phone. Navigating through the phone, he opened the Maps app, pinching his fingers out to zoom into the map around the area. As he peered at the location, his eyes locked in one place, the firing range. That's where his father was killed, it'd make sense to end things there. Oh shit. 5:48 PM. He put the siren on and sped to the location. The ETA on the map displayed 13 minutes. He could get there in 10 minutes or less at this speed.

When he got there, Nii picked his gun and ran into the massive land. The absence of light in the area made it difficult to see. His flashlight went on. Then there was a scream as if screaming for help. He's alive, thank God. He placed a call to the team then began to run towards the direction of the sound. Then he put off the flashlight to avoid being seen. 5:59 PM

Chentiwuni saw the flashlight. The police were here and it was only a matter of seconds before they got close. When Gyan saw the light he screamed for help. Then the light went off. He noticed how calm his captor was, he was expecting a few shots but nothing. Was he scared now? Someone who had killed four ex-presidents, scared of what? Then to his surprise, the captor unlocked the chain. No walking away from this, both legs were shutting down

Chentiwuni could now hear the footsteps drawing closer. He couldn't see so much but he needed to act now. Or he'd be arrested before this greedy buffoon got what he deserved. The footsteps were clearer now as it cut through the grass.

This is it. Daddy this is for you. I hope you're at peace now, we'll meet soon.

With that, he aimed for his chest and sprayed it with bullets. Four times. Chentiwuni felt invigorated, but not for long. The flashlight shone again in his face but the cop was too close to run away. He stood there. When the cop got closer, he dropped his gun and raised his hand, with a smirk across his face.

"You are late." He watched the cop take his hand and put them in a cuff, blabbering about remaining silent. Then the cop rushed to the lifeless body to check for a pulse. Nothing. The smirk turned into a smile. It's done.

Soon enough, there were police cars, flashlights everywhere. The cop pushed him forward, towards the car. All he wanted now was a nice bottle of wine, all these didn't faze him at all.

By this time, his video should have been up all over the Internet. It was scheduled to release at 6:15. If he was alive by then, he'd stop it. The country must be going crazy right now. What a shame he couldn't witness it. They'd realize what he did was in good faith. He didn't kill an innocent man. As the car passed by the Independence Arch, his eyes locked on the phrase again, saying it to himself with pleasure.

FREEDOM AND JUSTICE.