(CPP Rally Circuit – October–November 1954)
** The Dust Road to Techiman**
A faint pink washed across the savanna sky as Papa Kwaku Obeng coaxed the Bedford past a rickety sign reading TECHIMAN 32 MI. Twenty gleaming Sun‑Water Columns—waist‑high cedar boxes topped with polished glass—were lashed to the lorry's roof with sisal rope. Behind them, nine CPP lorries thundered, draped in the red‑white‑green bunting of Kwame Nkrumah's freedom tour. Their destination: every vote‑rich town from Techiman to Bolgatanga.
Malik crouched in the truck bed, fine dust haloing his hair. He checked the pressure valves—each hissed steady. Under the tarpaulin, Cortana shimmered into view, a palm‑sized avatar of light.
Cortana: "Logistics chain intact. Demand for potable water at expected peak."
Malik (whispering): "And the envy index?"
Cortana: "Yellow zone—36 percent latent resentment among rival suppliers. Rising."
Malik exhaled through his teeth. Yellow was manageable—for now.
Rally One—Techiman
The rally ground was a football pitch ringed by neem trees. Temperatures slapped 39 °C by noon. As Nkrumah's aides scrambled to keep crowd control, Papa parked the Bedford at midfield, flung open the tailgate, and helped haul the Columns onto wooden crates.
Each unit used solar heat to distill river water piped from a nearby irrigation ditch; within twenty minutes beads of condensation ran down interior panes, pooling into clay pots. Spectators queued, cupping enamel mugs.
Yaw Addo, the CPP logistics aide, shook Papa's hand. "Your devices are miracles, Obeng. You've saved us hiring two tanker lorries."
Rental fee: £25 cash. Malik logged it in graphite (≈ $950 today).
Cortana's avatar flashed behind a crate.
"Envy index → 38 percent. Noting murmurs from local refreshment vendors."
Malik nodded, adjusted the tap flow, and kept his smile blandly polite.
Evelyn's Lens
Two rallies later, in Tamale, the heat shimmered like glass. Under a crimson awning, Evelyn Osei raised her Rolleiflex, composing frames: Nkrumah on a makeshift dais, fists pumping; children waving palm fronds; finally—Malik, half‑hidden behind a Column, tweaking a valve.
She called out, "Young engineer—look here!"
Malik looked up just as Nkrumah stepped beside him to accept a mug of chilled water. Click. The shutter froze them: the firebrand politician and the pint‑sized inventor sharing one utilitarian miracle.
Evelyn: "Front page of Ashanti Pioneer if the negative survives the dust."
Nkrumah (booming): "Publish away! Let the Empire see Ghana's future is young and ingenious."
Rental fee again £25—Malik pocketed the notes, mind racing through publicity equations.
That night by lantern, Cortana projected the photo in negative.
Cortana: "Circulation estimate: 18 k copies. Reputation spike forecast plus‑12 percent credibility, plus‑9 percent envy."
Yellow edged toward orange.
Trouble in Bongo
At Bongo village the convoy arrived to find Kwesi Boateng already set up with wooden barrels labeled ICE DRINKS—lukewarm ginger ale. His face twitched when the Bedford trundled in.
Boateng (low voice to his clerk): "Watch the boy. If he undercuts me again, we flood the field before he taps a single pot."
Malik heard—a whisper, but clear. He pretended not to, directing Nana Mensima to angle the Columns away from Boateng's stall.
Within an hour Boateng's barrels sweated condensation on the outside but held tepid syrup inside; crowds drifted to the Sun‑Water queue. Boateng's clerk kicked dust at Malik's feet as he collected mugs.
Cortana's icon blinked red: Envy index 48 percent.
Tactical Neutrality
That evening Yaw Addo invited Malik and Papa to a bonfire dinner. Musicians plucked calabash banjos while goats roasted. Nkrumah himself approached, flanked by bodyguards.
Nkrumah: "Your devices hydrate the revolution, young Obeng. Have you thought of joining our party outright?"
Malik glanced at Papa, then bowed shallowly.
"Sir, Papa says water should flow to every throat, no matter its vote."
Nkrumah laughed but there was a flicker of respect. "Neutral yet indispensable—wise beyond your years." He toasted with a calabash of millet beer.
Cortana processed audio, flagged subtext: Potential overture for exclusive contract; accept?
Malik subvocalized, "Hold. Neutrality is armor."
Midnight Data Audit
Under the Bedford's canvas that night, Malik meditated for twenty minutes. Cortana's HUD dimmed from amber to cool blue.
"Heart rate 70 bpm. Theta waves stable. Envy index plateauing at 46 percent."
Malik exhaled. "Tomorrow we donate two Columns to the mission clinic. Goodwill bleed‑off."
Cortana acknowledged. Strategic altruism engaged.
Gift Economy in Navrongo
At Navrongo Mission the next week, Sister Amelia Forson wept when Malik installed the gift Columns in the orphanage courtyard.
"Do you know what you've done, child? Cholera season comes with the rain."
Boateng watched from the road, jaw tight, as nurses praised the Obeng lorry. He left before payment exchange—no profit today.
Cortana beeped: Envy index dips to 38; credibility rises five percent.
Data Debrief—Bolgatanga Finale
Three weeks after Techiman, the tour ended at Bolgatanga. Malik tallied the ledger:
12 rally days × £25 rental = £300
(≈ $11 400 today)
Operational costs (kerosene, spare gaskets) = £22
Net gain = £278
Papa whistled low. "Enough to repay the Bedford loan twice."
Evelyn approached, brandishing the printed photo: Malik and Nkrumah framed by vapor‑cool mist.
"London wire‐services bought it. Your name is in The Daily Mirror."
Boateng lingered at the edge, eyes unreadable.
Cortana floated a red warning in the margin of Malik's vision—Envy index at 52 percent: orange threshold.
Cortana: "Sabotage probability now measurable—13 percent in next ninety days."
Malik folded the newspaper, pulse steady.
"Time to reinforce our warehouse, then."
The Road South
As the convoy headed back toward Kumasi, a dry harmattan wind scraped dust across the windshield. Papa hummed a Union hymn; Malik, eyes closed, plotted ventilation upgrades and security locks.
Malik (quietly): "Neutral, indispensable—and untouchable."
Cortana's avatar smiled faintly, the savanna sun glowing through her translucent form.
Cortana: "Level Two assets secured. Next target: mitigate orange envy to yellow before initiating Bridge‑Kit prototype."
Malik opened his eyes, dust‑red horizon unfurling ahead, and whispered, "Onward."