USuzwe is an African country rotten with corruption. Its rulers, Prime Minister Lincoln ‘Ten-per-cent’ Kisingo and his brother Jester, systematically pillage the economy, rob the charities which struggle to save the millions dying of AIDS and malnutrition, and drain the aid budgets of gullible countries like the United Kingdom.
But a group of citizens rebels against the poverty, raging inflation, food shortages, bankrupt social services, disease and early deaths which USuzwe’s people suffer. Led by Ephraim, a reclusive computer genius, its members plan to topple the regime within a week, and their unsuspecting instrument is ex-Royal Marine Commando Johnny Strowger.
Johnny arrives in the Kingdom of USuzwe like any other tourist, intent on enjoying its palm-fringed beaches, game parks and beautiful girls - and hoping to see a secret annual ceremony, the Elephant Dance, in which USuzwe's girls dance semi-naked before their King. But his brother mysteriously disappears and he finds himself the object of a huge police man-hunt. Guided by Ephraim and the beautiful Lindiwe Dhlimani, Johnny, code name Black Mongoose, succeeds magnificently in the systematic destruction of the snakes of the Kisingo regime – but at a terrible price when tragedy engulfs the last Elephant Dance.
But it is more, asking questions about the millions of pounds of aid which is wasted in developing countries and arguing that there are much better ways to help Africa's people than the present system, in which only 20% of foreign government aid reaches the ground in the recipient country.
Some of the principle characters in the novel are based on men such as Zaire's Mobutu, who is estimated to have stolen some $7 billion, and President Sani Abacha who pilfered $4 billion of Nigeria's wealth but died in the arms of three prostitutes before he could spend it. The plot suggests a novel way of dealing with such tyrants. Jon also explores issues such as the role of women in African commerce and politics, and the problems suffered by some of Africa's forgotten minorities, such as those with albinism and the women who have been subjected to Female Genital Mutilation.
The book is written through the eyes of a first-time visitor to Africa, a tourist, arriving, like millions of others, intent on enjoying the excitement this great continent has to offer. For Johnny, as for most of them, there was little awareness of what happens behind the facade that shields tourists from Africa's grim realities.
Read the Prologue 'The Elephant Dance' here.