Chapter Forty-Four: Tanzania and the Colossus of Bapoto
Wednesday, September 29, 2100
On the way to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, they received the results for the Asian Federation election. The biggest prize, Indonesia, was too close to call.
| Asian Federation | Electoral Votes | Dubois | Ajala | Platt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangladesh | 30 | 44% | 11% | 45% |
| Bhutan | 1 | 42% | 14% | 44% |
| Brunei | 1 | 42% | 13% | 45% |
| Cambodia | 6 | 40% | 18% | 42% |
| Fiji | 1 | 27% | 36% | 37% |
| *Indonesia | 43 | 45% | 10% | 45% |
| Japan | 12 | 67% | 29% | 4% |
| Kim | 3 | 5% | 23% | 72% |
| Laos | 3 | 41% | 19% | 40% |
| Malaysia | 6 | 34% | 10% | 56% |
| Mongolia | 1 | 44% | 39% | 17% |
| Myanmar | 7 | 39% | 23% | 38% |
| Nepal | 8 | 45% | 31% | 24% |
| Philippines | 24 | 43% | 13% | 44% |
| Singapore | 1 | 42% | 14% | 44% |
| Solomon Islands | 1 | 33% | 33% | 34% |
| South Korea | 4 | 54% | 27% | 19% |
| Sri Lanka | 3 | 40% | 19% | 41% |
| Thailand | 7 | 42% | 12% | 46% |
| Timor | 1 | 40% | 17% | 43% |
| Vietnam | 15 | 39% | 21% | 40% |
| TOTAL | 1732.6 | 178 | ||
| *Too close to call |
It was their first continental win. Among the larger countries, they’d pulled out Bangladesh and Philippines both by a point, while sweeping most of the South China Sea countries. But they’d lost Myanmar by a point. The voting contrast in Japan and Kim—voting in the Asian Federation for the last time—was striking; if Toby were to go to Japan, he’d better bring a larger security force. He’d also taken a thumping in Mongolia and Nepal for siding with China in their border disputes. South Korea also showed its displeasure for Toby’s support of their rival Kim.
The 43 electoral votes from Indonesia would be huge, and all they could do was wait for the final result. Dubois and Toby tied at 45% each. The initial count had Dubois winning by 47 votes in a country with a population of 460 million and over a quarter million voters. Bruce immediately called for a recount. If they could switch just 24 votes from Dubois to Toby, he’d win.
There was a time, Toby remembered, when recounts and challenges could go on for weeks and even months. With TC voting, there was no real recount, just a computer check to make sure every vote had been counted and was legal.
Five minutes later, the result of the recount was in. By checking all votes against the country’s database, the computer recount found 22 votes that had not been counted due to malfunctioning TCs. Since that was not enough to overturn the election, they were discounted. Toby stared at the final numbers for Indonesia:
| Dubois | 117,634,583 | 45.442056% |
| Platt | 117,634,536 | 45.442038% |
| Ajala | 23,598,091 | 9.115906% |
All 43 electoral votes from Indonesia went to Dubois.
“How can Dubois win by 0.000018%, and still get one hundred percent of the electoral votes?” Twenty-two asked. “You can give electoral votes proportionally by percentage. Or you can use your TC technology to allow voters to give their second choice. That allows an instant runoff between the top two finishers. Yet you choose not to do this.” Bruce began to answer, but Twenty-two interrupted. “Do not answer. I believe you call that a rhetorical question.”
They won an even 100 electoral votes to Dubois’s 78, with Ajala again getting shut out. Dubois still held a commanding lead, 369-10-157, and they were running out of time to catch up.
If only we’d had one more speech in Indonesia, Toby thought, one more commercial, one more rally or media event, anything to convince 24 voters to switch, it would have been so much closer. The Gods of politics were toying with him.
* * *
There were 37 countries and 247 electoral votes in Africa, to be decided on what was known as “Super Tuesday.” Because many African countries had joined Islam Nation, it was sort of a mishmash, especially in the north, where neighboring countries almost alternated between the two.
“I’ve never understood why they call it Super Tuesday,” Toby said. “It’s only two votes more than India, and less than a fifth of the overall total.”
“You want to ask them?” Bruce asked. Toby did not.
| Africa | Population (millions) | Electoral Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Angola | 78.3 | 8 |
| Benin | 47.8 | 5 |
| Botswana | 3.2 | 1 |
| Burundi | 74.0 | 7 |
| Cameroon | 60.8 | 6 |
| Cape Verde | 1.7 | 1 |
| Central Afr. Rep. | 9.6 | 1 |
| Comoros | 4.4 | 1 |
| Congo | 20.4 | 2 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 3.2 | 1 |
| Eritrea | 26.5 | 3 |
| Ethiopia | 275.8 | 28 |
| Gabon | 3.2 | 1 |
| Ghana | 99.6 | 10 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 16.5 | 2 |
| Ivory Coast | 58.0 | 6 |
| Kenya | 112.2 | 11 |
| Lesotho | 1.4 | 1 |
| Liberia | 29.7 | 3 |
| Madagascar | 82.0 | 8 |
| Malawi | 58.2 | 6 |
| Mauritius | 1.7 | 1 |
| Mozambique | 62.8 | 6 |
| Namibia | 2.3 | 1 |
| New Ghana | 7.2 | 1 |
| Niger | 93.0 | 9 |
| Nigeria | 477.3 | 48 |
| Rwanda | 39.1 | 4 |
| Sierra Leone | 19.6 | 2 |
| South Africa | 62.2 | 6 |
| Sudan | 125.3 | 13 |
| Tanzania | 149.3 | 15 |
| Togo | 26.3 | 3 |
| Uganda | 186.0 | 19 |
| Western Sahara | 1.3 | 1 |
| Zambia | 28.5 | 3 |
| Zimbabwe | 26.2 | 3 |
| TOTAL | 2374.6 | 247 |
As they approached Dar es Salaam, Toby received an incoming call from Ajala. What would he want? Toby took the call, and Ajala appeared on his TC.
“Congratulations on your solution to the South China Sea pirates,” Ajala said. “If I were president, I would make you my Secretary of State.”
“I appreciate that, Governor. And I appreciate your willingness to take unpopular stands, even when they cost you votes.” Toby noticed he’d said “If.” Just yesterday he had said “When I am president.”
“However, you will never be my Secretary of State,” Ajala continued. “Though I hope you may consider me for your cabinet.”
It took Toby a moment for it to register. “Are you dropping out?”
Ajala took a deep breath. “Yes. The voters have sent me a message—I will not be president. I would do well in Africa, but I would be taking votes from you, and making Dubois president. I could not live with myself if I did that.”
Ouch, Toby thought. A pointed reminder of who made Dubois president. “You know how I regret what happened in ‘95. I just wish we could have worked together this time to defeat Dubois, perhaps compromising on some things to gain votes—”
“And that is where we are different, Toby. You compromise, you win, you get things done, but things are never as good as they should be. I rarely compromise, I rarely win, and I rarely get things done. But someday, when I do win, I will make things historically better than you could.”
“Fair enough analysis,” Toby said, though he wasn’t in total agreement. He hoped to do a few historic things himself. Historic didn’t have to be liberal or conservative; it could just be right “And I was serious about wanting you in my administration if I win.”
“I will consider it. For now, I will drown my sorrows in Nigerian whiskey. Did you see I lost to you in the Fiji and Solomon Islands by a point? I vacation at Fiji. They may have lost my business.”
Was Toby the only one in the political world who remembered, or cared, that alcohol was illegal? He never would have believed it of Ajala. Perhaps he was speaking metaphorically.
“If I choose not to join your administration—I do not know if I could accept some of your compromises—would I still have your ear?”
“You can call me at any time on any issue,” Toby said.
“I appreciate that. In return, I will give you my endorsement. That will win you Nigeria and perhaps other countries. The ten electors from the RF will all go to you, since you finished second in those six countries.”
When he was off with Ajala, he broke the news to the others. It was a jubilant time. Nigeria was by far the most populous country in Africa, and its 48 electoral votes almost doubled the next highest, Ethiopia’s 28. Suddenly all of Africa was in play. Plus they’d just inherited Ajala’s ten votes from the Russian Federation. Now they were “only” down to Dubois by 369-167.
If their situations were reversed, Toby wondered, would he do the same as Ajala? Philosophically, Ajala was in a different situation. When you’re off to the left, and you’re splitting the vote with someone in the middle, you mostly take votes away from the one in the middle, which helps the one on the right, the one you least want to win. If you’re in the middle, as he was, then it’s not philosophically as important who wins, the left or right. In this case, character counted. He hoped that if he were in the same situation as Ajala, he too would drop out so the honorable man would win.
If Toby were to win, Ajala would be the perfect Secretary of Agriculture.
* * *
None of them had ever been to Dar es Salaam, so it was their first look at the Colossus of Bapoto, one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.
It had been fifteen years since the coup that brought General Amri Bapoto to power in Tanzania. It had taken him less than five years to erect the 800-foot statue of himself that stood astride the 300-foot wide mouth of the Dar es Salaam harbor. The statue had a thoughtful look, with a book under one arm. The other arm held a laser aimed at ships approaching the harbor, a rather direct message to behave, or else. The entire silvery-white statue was platinum plated at a cost that must have broken the Tanzanian treasury. The colossus dwarfed its predecessor, the ancient Colossus of Rhodes, which had stood a mere 110 feet tall.
“That is an interesting way to welcome others,” Twenty-two said. “Very much like Dubois’s welcome to me with many aimed weapons.”
“I can smell the arrogance,” Bruce said.
“Agreed,” Toby said, though all he could smell was the persistent fish smell inside the Rocinante. It was the only time he could remember where the two agreed on anything about art. Bruce tended to see such things in functional terms.
“Maybe someday they build smaller one for me,” Feodora said.
“Do grods have such monuments?” Toby asked.
“Yes, but only to One.” She had told them much, though not all, of the most famous of grods.
“How big are they?”
“The largest is the Moon of One, which circles Grodan. It is only 23 of your miles across, but entire moon is sculpted in the shape of One.”
Gene and Bruce had previously worked out a rather simple schedule for Toby and Feodora where they would visit just 15 of the 37 countries, avoiding the countries where Ajala had substantial leads. Rather than a whirlwind tour all over Africa, they’d go to nearly every major city in just those countries. With Ajala dropping out, their African plans had just become a logistical nightmare. Gene and Bruce, and others from The Ranch, were working their TCs, arranging new events all over the continent.
“We’re focusing on the big ones,” Bruce said between calls. “Nigeria’s 48, Ethiopia’s 28, Uganda’s 19, and Tanzania’s 15. If the press picks up our events in those countries, we should do okay in the smaller countries.”
“It’s fun to watch our minions working hard,” Feodora said. Coming from anyone else, it would have sounded arrogant, but from her it came off as complimentary. She had decided to ride with them, and so had arranged for an aide to bring Dulcinea to Tanzania. The plan was for her to take her own floater after the planned Tanzania events, and campaign separately from Toby so they could cover more ground.
For much of Africa, the twin problems of abortion and overpopulation were the key issues. Much of Africa outlawed or frowned on abortion, leading to more population pressures. To solve the problem, some countries were enforcing a “two-child rule” to stabilize populations. Some of the more populated ones had resorted to a near draconian “one-child rule.” This had previously been done successfully in China and semi-successfully in India.
Dubois had strict yet simple positions on these. Abortion was wrong, but if the government needed to restrict births, and punish those who broke such restriction laws, it had that right.
Ajala’s position was the exact opposite. He was pro-choice on abortion, but felt any restriction on family size was wrong.
Toby was also pro-choice. He believed a two-child policy might be necessary, but that a one-child rule was too much. However, there was little to be gained by going public with any of these views. On issues like these, no matter what policy you adopted, people were far more likely to vote against you for a position than for you. Instead, they’d focus their campaigning on increasing wheat production. Introducing layered wheat cubes to Africa and PUFF were to be a major part of his stump speeches in Africa.
Tens of thousands showed up for Toby’s speech that afternoon at Bapoto Square. As he expected, he received his greatest ovation when he spoke of PUFF and the layered wheat cubes. Hungry people were more interested in the nuts and bolts of putting food on the table than fancy words about economics or other arcane polices.
Feodora also gave a short address. She spoke like a pro, Toby thought, watching her punctuate her contralto voice with fist pumps. Sometimes she walked among the crowd while talking, often disappearing in the forest of taller people, giving security a major headache.
“Good performance?” she asked afterwards.
“Excellent,” Toby said.
“Someday you explain what prancing about in front of people and yelling slogans has to do with leadership.”
“Will do.”
Bruce told them to hurry as they had another engagement coming up, so they left quickly for the Rocinante.
That’s when General Bapoto, seemingly out of nowhere, stepped in front of them, surrounded by scarlet-uniformed guards.
Every one of them had a gun pointed at them, most at Toby.
Turk, Crowbar, and the Gray Guard security quickly surrounded Toby, guns pointing back. But more scarlet men poured in—Bapoto’s Red Guard—and soon the sea of red greatly outnumbered the Gray Guard.
“You are under arrest,” Bapoto said.