*By Akadu N. Mensema Ph. D.; Post-Grad. Dipl.
“If appropriate measures are not taken early to save the Birim River,
which is a source of water supply to many Ghanaians living along the
banks, from being polluted by some selfish and greedy miners, the river
would be dead, thereby denying millions of people access to drinking
water” (Ghanaweb Jan 12, 2010).
I. BIRIM: AKYEM GODDESS
Birim, the Okyeman beauty
Wombed in the Atewa Range
And birthed in endless Kyebi
The soul of Akyem
The talented, sparkling goddess
That brings smiles to Okyeman
That caresses the forest
That yarns diamond and gold
Fabric of Akyem craftspersons of old
Gold the eminent headgear of Okyenhene
Diamond the constitution of Okyeman
Birim
The home of proud golden crabs
The birthplace of poised mudfish
Birim that soothes the throats of thirst
The artery of evergreen farmlands
Birim of eternal Akyem
II. BIRIM IS GHANA TODAY
Birim is going the way of Korle Lagoon
Birim mirrors the whole Ghana
Where dirt is greased on as pomade
Where putrefaction and decay
Erosion and twin corrosion
Where environmental decrepitude
Of littering human projectiled feces
Of Aburokyire junk in Sodom/Gomorrah
Of Aburokyire used underwear, winter boots
Cherished as Whites’ designer items
Of used plastic containers and bags
Of gutters overflowing with putrid pride
All of which choke Mother Earth
III. SIBLINGS OF BIRIM
Birim is going the way of Korle Lagoon
And so is the Pra, Volta, Densu, Ankobra
But so are our forests
Where Odum is the sugarcane of Capitalism
Where animals are poached to extinction
Birim gold, diamond
Aborted for miragic foreign exchange
Feeds elite egotism and maniacal corruption
So is Mother’s Obuasi, Tarkwa, Akwatia
Where gold, diamond, bauxite are slayed
Slayed in the womb of Mother Earth
Carnage, poison, toxic, pollution
That desecrates Mother Earth’s children
Oh! Birim is dying
IV. BIRIM: A SEND-OFF
Birim, the center of Akyem ontology
The diamond sibling of the Pra
Gold the currency of Ofori-Panyin Fie
Birim the child of Mother Earth
Raped for its gold, diamond
Is going the way of Korle Lagoon
A symptom of our way of life
That denies another sunrise
That knows not tomorrow
Oh! Old pristine Akyem Birim
Birim’s crabs are today no longer heroic
Birim’s venerable mudfish are homeless
Desecrated gold has eclipsed the Birim
And yet we cheer toxic gold, diamond
Nana Okyenhene, Okyeman, Ghanaman
Rescue Birim
From the fawning fangs of capitalism
*Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema is a nationalist Denkyira beauty. She is a trained
oral historian cum sociologist and Professor in the USA. She lives in
Pennsylvania with her great mentor and teaches Africa-area studies at a
college in Maryland. In her pastime, she writes what critics have called “populist hyperbolic, satirical” poetry. She can be reached at
akadumensema@yahoo.com
