Justine fixed her with an icy look. ‘If you’ll allow me to continue, I’ll bring you and Sam up to date.’
‘Sorry!’ apologised Bree, thinking ‘No need to get snooty about it. I was only asking.’
Justine continued, recapping what had already been discussed at their previous meeting regarding their camp in Namola, before handing the meeting over to Ali for the latest update.
‘We’ve been in contact with some of the workers we recruited from the refugee camp. It seems President Lattua has not been idle. He and his brother have moved a large proportion of their army into our encampment and made themselves comfortable. Fields that our people cleared of rocks and were preparing to plant with maize have been turned into parade grounds and vehicle parking lots.
Added to that, Lattua has invited ex-President Francis Bollan of Sonateria to join him there. Bollan is in the process of forcing the refugees from his own country to clear more of the valley for the erection of a home for himself and his troop of special forces. I’m told that his men are nothing more than a bunch of ex-criminal bully boys who swore an oath of loyalty to Bollan on the promise of high wages and having a blind eye turned on their previous transgressions.
Bollan’s men have been going among the males in the refugee camp seeking further recruits and with the desperate condition they find themselves in, many of them are flocking to the cause, if only to be able to feed and protect their families. He’s proving especially popular with orphaned boys and doesn’t care how young they are. If they’re strong enough to pick up a gun he’ll enlist them. I don’t think it will be too long before he has a large enough force to attempt an incursion into his former homeland.’
‘Will he be able to retake control of Sonateria?’ asked Rod.
‘He’s not strong enough yet, but whatever he attempts will result in more resentment from the Hansa government in Sonateria, and therefore less chance of getting a peaceful diplomatic solution to the problems out there. He has to be stopped, but that’s just one aspect of a very complicated situation that exists out there.’
‘Perhaps we can appeal to Joseph Lattua. Convince him to have Bollan expelled from Namola. If Bollan is forced into exile he won’t be a problem and his special forces will disband if they don’t have someone to pay them,’ said Rod Taylor.
Ali nodded, ‘I thought much the same thing. When I found out that Bollan’s men were recruiting among the refugees I rang Lattua and pleaded that very case to him.’
Eliza piped up, ‘That scheming bastard was all smiles and fine words but what it amounted to was that The Fund is not wanted out there, especially if we intend to reclaim the land which we legally leased. They’ve taken our property and have no intention of giving it back. As for Bollan, it seems he’s quite welcome to stay and train with Lattua’s army as long as he has the money to pay for his accommodation and equipment.’
Justine, from her seat at the end of the table, saw Bree and Sam exchange a further look. ‘Do you two have something to contribute to this?’ she asked like a stern schoolmistress to a pair of first formers.
They exchanged a further glance before Sam nodded, indicating that Bree should be the one to speak.
‘What you said about Lattua is just how we remembered him.’
‘You’ve met Lattua?’ asked Eliza.
Bree nodded, ‘Joseph Lattua was the subject of our first assignment together with Inland Security. The World Bank had made Lattua’s government a substantial loan for them to invest in setting up local business enterprises. However, Lattua channelled the funds directly into his own bank accounts and bought himself a yacht. Then he sailed it to Monte Carlo and gambled the rest of the money away.’
Sam added, ‘We followed him to Europe to see if we could find where the money went, in the vain hope that the World Bank could recover some of their funds, but he was too quick for us. What he didn’t spend or gamble away disappeared into secret bank accounts.’
‘That’s where they say all Bollan’s money is as well,’ said Justine, ‘In the years before he was overthrown, the entire Treasury of Sonateria was systematically looted by him.’
‘They’re very much alike,’ agreed Rod Taylor, ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if they both use the same bankers.’
‘So, other than the World Bank’s money, where does Namola get his money?’ asked Justine.
‘It’s been a while, but I’ll see if I can recall what we found out about President for Life Joseph Lattua and the country of Namola,’ said Bree, ‘Let’s see. The West African country of Namola is located on the Bight of Benin. Its capital city, Lobacra, is located on the Tombine River and has a population of approximately one million, while the population of the entire country is about ten million, most of whom are farmers and graziers and live in the country around the provincial capitals. Like their neighbour Sonateria, most of the population are Sontars, which is why the refugees from that country were allowed to cross the border when the uprising took place.
Namola was originally a German colony, but fell under British control during World War I, when they introduced a system of government based on the Westminster system.
In 1975 the country gained its independence, but remains a part of the Commonwealth.
The country is, and always was, largely rural, with exports limited to some maize and beef. However, the country’s true wealth comes from an open-cut gold mine in the country’s north which is owned and operated by the Canadian company Yukon International.
This was added to in the past decade by the discovery of a significant oil-field off their coast by an American corporation.’
‘What about Lattua?’ asked Justine.
Bree continued, ‘Like a lot of sons from poor farming families in the years after independence, Joseph Lattua and his brother joined the army while still teenagers. It was while Joseph was in the army that he came to the attention of his superiors, not for his prowess as a soldier, but as a boxer. He represented Namola in the Commonwealth Games and became in instant hero when he became the first Namolan to win an international sporting gold medal. He was rewarded with a commission in the army and went on the represent Namola in the Olympic Games, where he won a silver medal. As a result, his fame within Namola skyrocketed and more promotions followed.
With his brother by his side, he continued in the army for several more years and eventually rose to second in command of all Namola’s armed forces.
Then fate took over. Namola’s Vice President became upset because the aging President refused to retire and allow for the normal transfer of power to his much younger underling. Not satisfied to wait, the Vice President tried to take matters into his own hands and launched a coup aided by the army’s commander.
The President appealed to Lattua for help, and he used his popularity with the troops to convince them to support the President. The coup was quickly brought to an end with the Vice President and head of the armed forces being arrested. The ringleaders disappeared, and were never heard from again while Joseph Lattua was rewarded with the now vacant Vice Presidency, and his brother became the head of armed forces.
The old President died suddenly a year later, apparently of natural causes, and the brothers suddenly found themselves masters of Namola.’
‘But what about the opposition? Operating under the Westminster system they would have had to submit themselves to regular elections, wouldn’t they?’ asked Brian Reynolds.
‘Joseph Lattua was very popular to begin with and had no trouble winning early elections. It was only when his bad governance became apparent that the population began to shift their support to the opposition parties. Lattua was able to file false charges against them and they too were rounded up and ‘disappeared’. Then he had himself voted President for Life and introduced his own style of democratic rule.’
‘Which