Wolf had shown up at the meeting flanked by Macaque and Muscat. The hair bristled on Fox's nap: How dare he? Fox had won in the last party election fair and square. He might have lost his stripes after a month, but that was only because Rat had grown too fat to paint decent lines on him. During that time, he had proven himself to be a worthy leader.
Chair Speaker Beaver thumped a log with his tail, "Order, order! Butch and bitches, please take your seat. Now the matter of discussion today, Mr. President?"
Fox walked up to the centre of the clearing. "As we have all voted to sign over our loans to the Vultures, I wish to discuss the terms of the handover with you today."
The wizen pink-faced monkey screeched for attention. Beaver asked, "Yes, Macaque, what is it you wish to say?"
"Owl voted against the proposal Mr. Speaker. Although I have voted in agreement yesterday, in hindsight, I felt that I may have been too hasty. So I would like to request this august house to order Owl to tell us everything he knows about the financial situation now and why he thinks it has happened."
Claps of agreement and boos of rejection followed his words. Macaque had to shout to be heard above the din. "I believe that there are some information which Owl may have held back from us. I demand to be told the full truth."
The noise around him crescendo-ed and Beaver lost total control of the floor. Suddenly Wolf stood up and howled. The animals scattered, keeping their distance from him yet standing close enough to hear his every word, and in this manner formed a new circle around him. "Friends, fellow jungle inhabitants. This is no time to play politics. The future of our lives and the lives of our litter are hanging in the balance. Why don't we get more information before making such life-changing decisions?"
A mumble rolled in waves over the group of animals. Beaver thumped his tail and called for order again. Owl was called out.
The bird shifted his feet nervously as he stood between the line of sight of both Wolf and Fox. Owl said, "As I said the day before, even if we were to sacrifice all future projects, we still cannot afford to pay the Vultures their annual interest."
"Yes, yes, we know that," Wolf interjected. "But why is it that with so much jungle growth, we didn't try to pay the goats even the minimal amount they requested?"
"Because we have other things to focus on," Fox replied. "There is education and healthcare and future developments."
Wolf said, "But last year's Gross Domestic Product recorded an increase of 3 billion seeds. Only 4% of that GDP goes into building infrastructures."
Fox replied, "Those numbers included growth in all sectors. The government only collected a small tax from their profits."
Wolf sat on his haunches. "That is strange, the bamboo flowers are managed by government agencies. We should at least get 50% of the profits from their business."
"Yes, and we are. But the profit margin is not as high as expected."
"Maybe the margin would be higher if we cut down on the number of middlemen involved in the supply chain. What do you say, Owl?"
Owl's voice trembled as he rattled out a list of facts he had collected over the months. "The bamboo flower supply chain is made up of six organizations, other than processing and end-users. In the course of my investigation into these organizations, only two appear to be genuine. The other four are nothing more than empty burrow holes along the chain route. However, according to the billing papers I received, these four firms are made up of employees and professionals who are being paid at market rate. None of these individuals exists; I checked at the Bureau of Registration."
"So what does that mean?" Fox asked.
Owl blinked twice before saying, "The government is paying for the services of professionals and employees who don't exist, Mr. President. Someone is embezzling money from us."
"How could this have happened?" Fox barked. "Why didn't you do your job? You are involved, are you not."
The accusations shocked Owl into silence. Wolf spoke up before the murmuring voices rise to drown out any sense. "We can always form a committee and find out where the money are going. If Owl is involved then we will know for sure."
Macaque turned to Wolf and said, "But what if we cannot find out where the money has gone?"
Wolf assured him, "At the very least we will know that these firms are fakes, so we can cut them out of our dealings."
The representatives agreed with his plan. They elected five others to form a committee which comprised of Rat, Tortoise, Vixen, Macaque and Mule. Owl was ordered to release all his notes to them as they needed to go through the payment records.
When that matter was settled, Muscat stood to full height and said, "I propose that we open renegotiations with the Goats."
"Is your brain addle?" Fox barked. "They want to sue us."
A roar of renewed indignation rose, and Muscat had to shriek to be heard. "The goats will listen to sense because they want their money back." The noise subsided. "The goats will listen to sense because they loose more by selling off this debt to the Vultures. They would rather work with us and get the full principal back."
Fox asked, "And how would you know this?"
"I spoke with them," Wolf replied. "I asked if they were really intending on selling out to the Vultures, but they appeared to be very reluctant. In fact, they were approached by those carrion birds. Some are even opposed to the plan."
Fox realized that Wolf had won that round. The fact that it was not him who renegotiated for better terms with the goats had put his leadership in a bad light. He turned to Rat and the rodent nodded back in return. They would meet that night to decide on how to deal with Owl and his notes.
