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Unity yields positive success. However, those who conspire to do evil for their own egocentric gains end up failing causing misery to themselves or other people. With close reference to John Lara's The Samaritan, write an essay to validate the truth of this statement.

The whole municipal leadership hold a crisis meeting to plan on how to destroy The Samaritan App. They are in panic following their exposure in the App and the newspapers. A virtual lobby group comprising mostly of lawyers that calls itself The Samaritans is calling upon people to volunteer as witnesses and help in their prosecution for corruption and abuse of office in the Municipality. They are also planning to petition the Local Government, the Prime Minister, and the Chief Justice to take action against them. Baneta Express prison is glaring at them. The Samaritan is the source of all the damaging revelations of meticulously researched and carefully choreographed assault they have been finding every day in the daily newspapers. The Mayor says that the App reveals a lot of personal information on municipal leaders, including their individual lifestyles, where they live, the kind of houses they live in, their businesses, the vehicles they own, other properties in their possession and when the properties were acquired. For example, everyone is already talking about where Inspector Bembe got money to put up Madingo Golf Club. Hon. Seymour and Hon. Ted have been exposed for not rendering any service/supplying air yet their companies bill the Municipal Council huge sums of money monthly. The Municipal leaders conspire to issue a circular that no App should be in use in Maracas Municipality unless and until authorized either by the Prime Minister or Maracas Municipal Council, feigning the municipal authorities’ concern over proliferation of suspect innovations, particularly spy Apps that are finding their way into the Municipality, posing the risk of theft of confidential information such as bank account details and cyberbullying and the sharing of pornographic materials in schools. Mayor Mossi also suggests getting computer experts to mess up/hack The Samaritan. Seymour advises that Harvester can claim that some seemingly good Apps are actually clever innovations for spying on banks and the confidential documents of the Municipal Council, so the official can work under the guise of confirming whether the Apps have spyware. Without a legal framework supporting this course, such malicious destruction of private property is criminal. Harvester panics when he is exposed for abuse of office following the letters he did banning the use of Apps and directing their ICT Officer to take steps against suspect innovations. Information about The Samaritan App reaches the Chief Justice. He contemplates taking action on the legal issues associated with the App. A lot of beans are spilt by The Samaritan and the wheels of justice are about to turn. Worried, the leaders meet together to find a way out. They however, fail to woo Nicole with Director General bait and are eventual handcuffed, arrested and taken to the Anti-corruption Investigation Bureau Headquarters for interrogation by Inspector Tajo. 

Mayor Mossi and Bembe conspire to deal with The Samaritan. The countless accusations of corruption, violation of human right, drug peddling and extortion in The Samaritan App is giving Bembe the willies when his blood sugar isn’t good. At one time, he suspected he drifted into a coma. The Caribbean Watch has also exposed him as a member of the Ghettoboyz, a shadowy gang that robs people all over the Municipality. Inspector Bembe’s Madingo Golf Club and the home adjacent to it was built with the funds his officers collect from motorists every day. There is a wide range of documentary evidence, some of which is classified, posted on the App about municipal capture by Mayor Mossi. Determined to escape Baneta Express Prison, the duo decide to talk to Teacher Nicole into editing or filtering some of the defamatory information. Mayor Mossi visits Sagrada Secondary school the following morning and talk to Nicole. He asks Nicole if she wrote to the Minister for Education. Nicole tells him that she did a letter to the Ministry detailing his - Mayor’s – concerns and the Minister wrote back directing that a joint team of the Education Ministry officials and the President’s Office Representatives is now responsible for all the arrangements in preparation for the national launch of the App and that Mossi should refer to his office directly should he have any issues with the App. Mossi says he has come to own up his mistakes and seek her understanding and help in finding a way to eliminate some of the negative information being posted about him since he is very vulnerable to falsehood as a leader. P.60 Nicole informs the Mayor that she cannot help him since she is not an administrator and despite being the kids’ mentor, prevailing upon them to help him is of no use because The National Information and Communications Corporation has taken over the App and is making decisions on behalf of the two students. She informs him that the Corporation is in talks with some venture capitalists towards commercializing the App. Still desperate to achieve his aim, Mossi offers to bribe Nicole and the kids. “We all need money. The young kids need money, and you surely can do with some cash. Just quote your figure, however big.” Ms Nicole is so disappointed that the man in whom they have entrusted the affairs of their Municipality, including fighting corruption, is offering to bribe her. She tells him that she has never been and will not be part of these kind of schemes. He cows at Nicole’s threat to expose his offer of bribe on The Samaritan. Mayor Mossi suggests that she allows him to invest in the commercialization of the App instead of looking for venture capitalists elsewhere. He is ready to inject the necessary seed capital as Nicole brings in the technical expertise. Nicole adamantly refuses to fall for Mossi’s schemes and strongly defends the App. She tells him that she has no proprietary claims that would entitle her to make any decision regarding the App because it is the intellectual property of the students. This leaves Mayor Mossi desperate for help in surviving the onslaught in The Samaritan. Mayor Mossi leaves in a hot temper throwing his card at Nicole.

As they had agreed, Bembe visits Nicole to use trumped up charges to make her switch allegiance when Mayor Mossi fails to make her comply with his demand to edit damaging information about him on the App. This follows their panic as a result of accusations by The Samaritan and the dailies notably The Caribbean that accuse Mossi of municipal capture and Bembe of abuse of office, drug peddling, extortion, abuse of human rights, transforming the Municipal Police Force into his personal outfit for collecting bribes from both the guilty and the innocent and being a member of a shadowy Ghettoboyz gang that robs people all over the municipality. This gives Bembe the willies and fears that he may untimely die because his blood sugar isn’t good. The duo dread Baneta Express prison so much that they conspire to escape by putting Nicole on the line. He goes to Sagrada Secondary School to arrest Nicole and arraign her in court on Monday over a wide range of accusations (trumped up charges). These include disobeying Mayor Mossi’s order to edit the damaging information on the App, the signal of her phone being detected at a crime scene and stealing the school generator. She confirms that she didn’t do what Mayor Mossi told her to do because she only has an obligation to do the right thing and not to blindly obey leaders who tell them to do the wrong things. Bembe warns her that the matter of The Samaritan is weighty, can destroy and is threatening the lives of many powerful people who are fighting back and they will destroy her life. He tries to convince her to play ball by obeying Mayor Mossi’s order instead of fighting a losing battle in exchange for a chance to secure her life. Nicole insists that she has made a choice to do the right thing and that is not negotiable and she has no control of the App because it is now in the hands of The National Information and Communications Technology Corporation. Nicole warns him not to fabricate anything against her because it will get him nowhere, and if he insists, this will become the darkest day in his career adding that he must not break the law by accusing her of crimes she has not committed. Nicole defends the App and refuses to tell the two students to shut The Samaritan because she has no right to dictate what they do with their App. Bembe suffers greatly for ordering his men to handcuff, drag Nicole, arrest and take her to court. Bembe lost terribly because thousands of people stood with Nicole. He is badly embarrassed because the people he had sent to steal the generator failed so the case was dismissed by Justice Jaden and Nicole was set free. He feels he has been ruined by Nicole since his bosses have summoned him to the headquarters in the Capital on account of her arrest. He prays to God to have mercy on him since he has no doubt that these are his last days. His situation is out of hand – he has no more ideas left, except perhaps flee into the mountain, dig a hole and live in it. Being diabetic, he is afraid that he can’t last a week in prison. Moreover, his stomach has been running and his knees, elbows and head are aching after he stepped on one of his shoe laces this morning, got entangled and fell very badly. Mossi comes to realize that Nicole is a force to reckon with. 

Jaden and his mistress, Ivy connive to win tenders from the municipal council and make profit. In the Prime Orchard Limited, they have been rearing rats then letting them loose into the farms, kill some of them, parade them for the people to see, bury them and then introduce more rats. The whole idea was to undermine domestic production in order to increase demand for importation of grains by Prime Orchard Farm, one of the largest corn importers in Maracas Municipality. Last year, Jaden sent his mistress, Ivy to him to be awarded a contract for killing rats and other rodents that were ravaging rice and corn farms in the municipality, using pesticides and cats through a company known as Vertebrate Pest Control, registered as subsidiary of Prime Orchard Limited. Several weeks after sending away Ivy because the Municipality had no such problem, Mayor Mossi got reports that there was an invasion of rodents that were wreaking havoc in the rice and corn farms. Ivy came immediately and Mayor Mossi decided to give her the contract on account of being a senior officer’s (Jaden’s) lady. When the Municipal Council rejected the contract and insisted on competitive bidding, Jaden the advised Ivy to go to court on grounds that the company had already made costly commitments and procurement. He then ruled in her favour that given the urgency to safeguard the grains, the idea of single sourcing was permissible in the public interest. Ivy bribed Hon. Basdeo, Hon. Ramdaye, who were threatening to expose the Rodent Affair, with dollars and made them shareholders of Prime Orchard Limited to make sure they will never speak. The Prime Orchard Farm was later sued for being the source of the rodents. In a complicated ruling, full of reference to invasions of locusts narrated in the Bible, Justice Jaden held that the occurrence of pests was a natural phenomenon and could not be blamed on a particular farm. Consequently, the rats and other rodents that were introduced started breeding very fast, found their way into grain stores, depleting grain storage. Using public office to amass a fortune for himself, Jaden received money from litigants to determine cases in their favour, accumulated wealth, celebrated and looked forward to retiring soon to enjoy the fruits of his labour. However, Mayor Mossi and Inspector Bembe put him under pressure to convict Basdeo and Ramdaye for their involvement with the Prime Orchard, a fraudulent company he is equally involved with. Otherwise, his name will enter the roll of dishonour as the lowest wretch that ever sat on the bench in Maracas Municipality. He feels like the foolish rich man in the Bible who prepared to retire and enjoy his wealth only for God to call him a fool, regrets and sees his end, his ulcers attack him again and starts hallucinating, seeing the rodents. P106, 111

Seymour, Ted and Ramdaye come together to plan a vote of no confidence against Mayor in a bid to oust him. Mayor Mossi had called for a crisis meeting with all Maracas Municipal leaders to fight The Samaritan, the source of all the damaging revelations about them. Seymour and Ted, for example, had been exposed for billing the council huge sums of money monthly yet their companies were not rendering services. They decide to look for enough money to fight any cases that might be brought up against them and if necessary, enough for dealing with those who insist on pursuing them. Seymour suggests they find a way of getting that money from the Municipal Fund by doing some reallocation of budget line items to set aside money to take care of investigators, lawyers, prosecutors and judges. While Mossi feels that the deal will get them deeper into problems, Seymour insists that they will be better armed to deal with the trouble and even more of it. The Mayor refuses saying it is against the law which clearly states that a Municipal Council cannot spend any money at any time of a financial year except as provided in the national estimates and as contained in an Appropriation Act approved by Parliament. Seymour advises that the law can allow them to submit a supplementary estimate of expenditure, but the Mayor insists he will be blamed and get into trouble for the misallocation. Mossi blames them for having forced his hand into misallocating funds by making unreasonable demands including regular travel with enhanced allowances for members of the Municipal Council, sitting allowance of unnecessary committee meetings and loans and mortgages. Ted and Seymour threaten to mobilize the members of the Council Chamber against him and ensure that he takes responsibility for the rot in the Municipality. They plan to speak to Councillors and Aldermen to support the no confidence motion. Ted is tasked to call all of them overnight. When they learn that the members are of different types and convincing them becomes hectic, they decide to co-opt Basdeo to alienate Mayor Mossi from the people. The new arrangement will see Basdeo deputizing Seymour, the Mayor. They plan for a rally at the Atobold Stadium where they will alienate Mayor Mossi by spreading disparaging propaganda against him. However, they fail in their scheme when Mossi violently disrupts the no confidence meeting by making the Municipal Headquarters a no-go zone. He sends hooligans comprised of the Red Eagle gang, the Ghettoboyz and undercover police officers. The hooligans were so brutal that Seymour had to brandish his gun to escape, a rock so huge that Ted never thought he could not handle fly past his head like a rocket-propelled grenade and misses his head by the thickness of a pig’s bristle. He had to whizz pas Seymour like an express train to save his life. Pg. 36,75,76, 81, 85

Mossi and Bembe also conspire to have Ted, Seymour, Basdeo and Ramdaye convicted. The quartet are organizing a no confidence motion against Mayor Mossi. In a meeting with Harvester, Mossi and Ted decide to put Justice Jaden on the line in order to convict Seymour and Ted for supplying air to the council and Basdeo and Ramdaye for their involvement in the grain scandal. Having involved himself in the grain scandal, Mossi and Bembe blackmail Justice Jaden to help them destroy Mossi’s opposition. Mayor Mossi informs the judge that Maracas Municipal Council lawyers will lodge the case tomorrow morning, in Justice Jaden’s chambers and he must work on them expeditiously. This makes Jaden regret his involvement in the grain scandal, He feels like the foolish rich man in the Bible who prepared to retire and enjoy his wealth only for God to call him a fool, sees his end, his ulcers attack him again and he starts hallucinating, seeing the rodents. P25,101,103,104,105,106, 107,111, 112.

Mayor Mossi and Inspector Bembe connive to make the Municipal Headquarters a no go-zone for Ramdaye, Seymour, and Ted who want to remove him from office. The trio were responding to Mossi’s refusal to allow for reallocation of budgetary estimate or supplementary estimate of budget. Mossi fears that they will send him to Baneta Express Prison, a damned place that he sees each time he closes his eyes and can smell the revolting stench that has given him insomnia for two nights. To make sure that no meeting to deliberate on the vote of no confidence ever takes place anywhere on the face of the earth, Mayor Mossi’s Red Eagle network of young supporters is used to cause violence. Mayor Mossi will send the Black Man (the head of the Red Eagle gang and coordinator of the Mayor’s political networks) to Harvester early the following morning to be given enough money for transport, paying the youths and buying tyres, mattresses, sacks and polythene papers and tear gas to be burnt in every corner of the town and especially in the vicinity of the Municipal Headquarters. Bembe offers to use the Ghettoboyz to support Mossi. He also assigns a contingent of police officers to support the Red Eagle by shooting in the air constantly so that Mossi’s opponents know that he leaves thunder and smoke in his wake. Similar to a military operation with speed and organization, the well-orchestrated assault helped clear people from the whole vicinity of the Municipal Headquarters in no time, causing panic and shock to Mossi’s opponents who scamper for their lives. The hooligans were so brutal to Seymour that he had to draw his gun and dare them to touch him. One of them aimed a rock so huge at Ted that he never thought he could handle. It flew past his head like a rocket-propelled grenade and only missed his head by the thickness of a pig’s bristle. Despite his old age, Ted had to whizz past Seymour like an express train to save himself. 

The whole Municipal reassemble to woo Nicole into Maracas Municipality Council so as to help them stop The Samaritan. The App has spilt a lot of beans about them and the law will soon take its course. As a result, the public is up in arms, keen on holding every one of them to account. In addition, the Judiciary and Minister for Local Government, very concerned about what is happening at the Municipality, have put a spotlight on them. P.122. The Minister for Local Government has scheduled a high-level meeting this afternoon to discuss Maracas Municipality and the Chief Justice is contemplating taking action on the legal issues associated with The Samaritan. In a desperate move to escape Baneta Express Prison, the leaders conspire to play power politics to win Nicole to their side by offering her a high office – Director General. Nicole show her willingness to play a prominent role because she owes Maracas Municipality and her country as a whole a civic duty and she is ready to work with patriotic citizens to enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public affairs. However, she turns down the offer arguing that more offices will only burden the people. She advises that the change they need must come from within their hearts and spirits to fix the problems they are facing. P.135. Desperate, Mayor Mossi asks Nicole how she was going to help them, but she lectures them on their selfishness which has destroyed Maracas Municipality. Inspector Tajo arrives under instructions to escort all the leaders to the headquarters of the Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau for clarifications on a variety of issues. Panic sets in among the leaders as Inspector Bembe staggers and almost falls while trying to escape, Justice Jaden crouches under the boardroom table as the Mayor tries to hide behind Nicole while others shuffle around on their feet in confusion. The leaders are handcuffed and led outside. Pg. 124-127, 130,139. 

In conclusion, the whole of Maracas Municipal leadership are arrested for their collusion to feather their selfish whims.