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candidate poster is likened to an unanimated artifact. “Election posters are like wood
carvings, images that neither they nor can you talk with.”
I had also decided to rid myself of the idea of setting up a network of skilled persons in
every village/ward so as to do the campaign for me when necessary. I had over the years
observed that a good number of them were unreliable with self-serving motives often at
the ‘expense’ of the candidate. ‘Expense’ had a two-fold effect. On one hand, the
candidate suffers the loss on the amount of resources expended, and then fails to secure
the promised votes, on the other. There were numerous shameless cases of candidates
and/or proxies violently demanding the return of material goods such as outboard motors,
Coleman lamps and even t-shirts back to the candidate as the supposed supporter had
defaulted during polling! Principal supporters even withheld goods and cash on the
condition that voters must swear by the Christian bible their allegiance and first
preference vote before they could receive their reward otherwise. This however did not
augur well with true Christian believers.
Despite their popularity cum influence, a good number of these middlemen were conmen
with self-proclaimed knowledge on projected statistics regarding demographic dynamics,
eligible voters, and who voted whom at the polls. Such sworn on exaggeration and lies
were perpetrated and religiously passed onto gullible candidates that amazingly believed
them!
Hence, by choice, I did not assign any scrutineers prior to and during the polls. I did
however assign two knowledgeable relatives for the counting period primarily to pick up
the statistics on vote distribution (see Table below). These have formed the basis of my
discussion and inferences in this paper.
Unlike with at least two other candidates, I decided not to set up the nightly lavishfeasting
‘supporter bases’ that went on for well over seven weeks. Pigs, betel nuts,
assorted trade store consumables (usually rice, sugar and tea), fish and vegetables were
the usual items on offer everyday. The cost on garnering the resources together was
immense as it was intended to sustain and anchor the supporters’ interests. This included
commissioning of sporting activities such as football games, groups performing guitar
music at night, and having senior clergymen provide pro-candidate religious rituals like
long and sometimes outlandish rhetorical sermons and prayers. Such exploitation of
‘customs’ was intended to consolidate political support. Services of magicians, sorcerers
and even witches were surreptitiously solicited to provide ‘base’ protection as rumors of
projected sorcery were rife in those camps.
Despite the effort however, at least two deaths associated with one of the camps occurred
and subsequently had the alleged assailants of the victims audaciously spreading selfpraise
and triumph. Conduct of ‘supporters’ were prescribed and proscribed often
manifested in their daily attire and hyper-charged utterances.
Not only was I unable to but, even if I was, I had already decided not to entertain the
notion of enticing votes by making cash handouts each time I spoke at any communal
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