The Great Age of the African Coup De Tat
Posted on: March 31, 2012
Following the armed seizure of power
in the Mountain Capital
unspeakable things occurred
the networks and the dalies
had a field day
They competed for headlines
and fought for breaking news
and hurled them with abandon
hell blew open
death and destruction spread
like bush fire
An orgy
the networks said
age old tribal animosities
bound to boil over
once White control was lifted
the networks said
Excited and excitable
like a virgin on her nuptial night
naive and totally a novice
the General reveled in the media blitz
when newsmen and women called him
Strongman and Big Daddy
the General was ecstatic
He took to their words
he loved the sound of his name
on white lips
he wished his mother alived again
Who knows Nyerere?
Al Bashir
de Clerk
General Gowan
who knows them?
who is Olusegun Obasanjo?
See me Lakayana with my Spear
my name and face are everywhere
the strong man boasted
and in this he spoke the truth
for that very week Newsweek
and Time Magazine
had him on the cover
and there his moon face beamed
truly a face to charm babe in arms
From the capital of the modern world
came that icon of science and adventure
the National Geographic arrived in a flurry
camera blazing
and gave the new regime
the blessings of the world
even as blood flowed
Reform minded
the erudite editors wrote
and splashed colorful pictorials
of naked tribesmen leaden with gear
across glossy pages of their prized magazine
Now from the old Empire hurried
a baroness of the old lines
pure of blood
honored state guest
she fell in love with the manhood
of the Black Giant
Her royal highness
was a woman of great passions
and great learning
she penned down a portrait
of the great leader:
the people’s General
she wrote
the Napoleon of the Modern World
heroic figure of great proportions
International adulation brought results
beside himself with pride and conceit
the General went on air
with his own fresh mint doctrines
that he called for good measure
the great lakes doctrine
Now there were rumours
making the rounds in the Mountain Capital
that the irrepressible and world renowned
Professor of Modern African Studies
at the Great Lakes University
had a hand in it
now when the final product went on air
suspicion solidified into beliefs
For sure the evening’s broadcast
was in the General’s own coarse and uneducated voice
what else?
but the broadcast bore the unmistakable stamp
of the professor’s famous and flamboyant
bombast
We will divert
the mighty waters of the Nile
and let it flow into the Indian Ocean
we will blow up Mount Kilimanjaro
the rubblle from the mount
we will fill the valleys of the Rift
The next morning the headlines
across the great metropolitan papers
went heywire
the great powers could not belive
what they heard
Good heavens! Is the fellow insane?
what is the matter with him?
they fumed and rebuked the General
but their action contradicted
every word they spoke
when the General would have run out
they kept him supplied
even as blood flowed
Whisky and electronics
to keep the boys satisfied
tanks and automatic weaponens
to keep the people in check
technicians and advisors
to keep the system oiled
the system!
John Otim
copyright 2012
Suncolor's Blog 
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