Public participation ends after the public participates.

The forum began with a moving speech on the importance of listening, delivered by Simba for ninety-four uninterrupted minutes. Then a resident raised her hand to ask about the road that has been “nearly complete” since it was a footpath.

The Honourable gasped. He confiscated the microphone’s speaking licence, a document no one had seen and he produced from memory. When the microphone continued to work, he threatened to transfer it to a department with no electricity.

Aides confirmed the road was not unfinished; it had been rebranded as the National Corridor of Future Possibility, a visionary space where tarmac may one day emerge.

Participation was formally declared complete when the resident stopped participating.