Of African politics before and now — just a tidbit of my thoughts

A Quick Insight into “Five Nights Before the Summit” by Mukuka Chipanta

I have some mixed feelings when it comes to this read. From a bigger-picture perspective, it’s a good read — quite suspenseful and mildly entertaining. It kept me on the edge of my seat.

Mukuka is well-read if anything and you can tell he put a lot of work into devising the plot of this book. He’s also studied the art of suspense and I cannot illustrate how surprised and satisfied I was with the twist at the end of the book. It was worth all the book’s shortcomings.

Unlike his first book though, this wasn’t as well executed, and even from an editorial point of view I feel like certain elements were rushed to get the manuscript out and into the hands of the public. Certain points of the book felt quite superficial and others just felt unnecessary. I remember thinking at some point in the book why he felt the need to give the backstory of every single character. That was a weird sentiment for me because I usually lament how most writers hardly give enough character development and this time, I was complaining about someone giving too much of it. I think it would have added to the mystery had he not felt the compulsion to explain each person’s every action.

However, I have to admit that I was impatient throughout the read because I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next and who had done what. It’s the reason I didn’t put down the book — I just had to know whether the perpetrators would be caught or not. The progression of the book was quite intense and ultimately, the final big surprise was truly worth the whole read. I was quite satisfied.

I still think he did a better job with his debut novel.

I think with both his books, Mukuka has managed to bring to the page the truth of what he believes of African politics, in this case, Zambia, since that’s his homeland and sadly, I relate to it. Our socio-political affairs as Africans are largely driven by greed, pride, and to be frank, bootlicking. Our leaders are so concerned about how the rest of the world perceives us and we’re mostly still subscribed to clientelism — in client politics, an organised minority or interest group benefits at the expense of the public (Wikipedia). This book illustrates that through the lens of a public servant who has to make sacrifices to appease higher-ups and at the end of it all, it hardly benefits him in any way except making sure he can provide for his family. The book also shows how abject poverty has driven the common man to drastic measures to make a life for themselves and how the consequences faced are hardly impartial — wealth trumps justice in this world.

What’s mostly sad is that this book is set in the late 70s and as a millennial, I don’t see the difference in the times then and now. Change surely takes time and one wonders if some of these things will ever change.