Section A: AFRICAN DRAMA FRANK OGODO OGBECHE - Harvest of Corruption How does Chief Haladu Ade-Amaka manipulate justice to his advantage?

Answer Details

Chief Haladu Ade-Amaka is the arch-villain of Frank Ogodo Ogbeche's Harvest of Corruption, and his survival for most of the play depends on his skill in bending the machinery of justice to serve his own crimes. He manipulates justice in several deliberate ways.

Buying public office. Ade-Amaka is a wealthy and powerful commissioner who treats institutions of law as things to be purchased. He surrounds himself with corrupt allies, notably the Commissioner of Police, whom he bribes to shield his drug-trafficking and other crimes. By owning the police at the top, he ensures that investigations into his activities are stalled or buried.

Corrupting the police and prison. When his agents such as Ochuole and the courier are implicated, Ade-Amaka uses his influence and money to try to quash the cases and to have inconvenient people silenced or set free. He relies on bribery to make evidence disappear and to keep the arms of enforcement loyal to him rather than to the law.

Attempting to compromise the judiciary. Confident that everything has its price, Ade-Amaka assumes he can reach even the courts. He tries to extend his web of bribery to the trial itself, expecting that the Judge, like the police chief, will bend to money and threats.

Intimidation and elimination. Beyond bribery he uses fear. He is prepared to eliminate those who know too much or who might testify against him, using his thugs and connections to intimidate witnesses.

The limit of his manipulation. His power over justice is finally broken. Aeatu (the incorruptible officer) and the honest Judge cannot be bought, and through the courage of Aloho's associates and diligent prosecution the network is exposed. Ade-Amaka and his collaborators are convicted, and the play ends with justice reasserting itself.

Ogbeche thus uses Ade-Amaka to show how the rich subvert justice through bribery, patronage and intimidation, while also insisting, through his eventual downfall, that a corrupt system can be defeated by upright officers of the law.