The village you were born and raised in needs a leader. Now, that leader is you.
Your choices will shape Bambali's future and reveal the kind of leader you are.
How will you lead?
— the village —
Somewhere in the highlands, far from any colonial post, far from any king, lies a village of red earth and thatched roofs. The rains come and go. The cattle fatten in the pens. The baobab tree at the centre of the village has watched many seasons and many chiefs come and go.
Today, the village has chosen you.
Let us first learn who you are.
What shall the village call you?
Choose the face that will be known in every homestead.
Bambali is home to some five thousand souls — a sizeable settlement by the standards of the highlands. Houses of mud-brick and thatch cluster in neighbourhoods around the great baobab where the council meets. Cattle graze the slopes in their hundreds. Women grind millet at dawn at the edge of every homestead. A stream runs past the southern fields; the forest and the red-rock hills rise beyond.
It is the turn of the century. Distant capitals plot empires, but they have not reached here yet. The village governs itself — by custom, by the voice of the elders, and by whoever has been trusted to lead.
That trust has been given to you, Chief —.
But the village is not of one mind. Five groups live within it — each with its own wisdom, its own wounds, its own vision of how life here should be. To lead is to decide whose voice guides tomorrow.
Good morning, Chief —. I am Aminata. I will stand beside you throughout your chieftainship — as your counsellor, and as the one who brings news from the homesteads when you cannot be everywhere.
Before anything else, the village needs decisions from you. Small matters, some of them. But each one shapes the next, and together they shape the village you will lead.
Shall we begin?
The five voices of the village — hover to hear their general view. Numbers show overall standing; green/red pops show how they react to each matter.
— The Chief's Reckoning —
one who holds what was given
Leaders from across the continent whose style or philosophy echoes yours. Not perfect matches — no leader is — but the family resemblance is there.
Every decision sharpened you toward one kind of leader. Here are the others, each shaped by a different set of instincts. Your chosen path is marked.