Is Inward-looking a General Ghanaian Malaise?

How Adversely Can it Affect Kumawuman in Her.........?

Education without decency is meaningless. The higher theoretical paper qualifications without commensurable practical justification and usefulness to society are as useless as the nonsensical Ghanaian mentality of over-venerating the holders of such degrees. In much the same way, a chief or a queen without integrity and respect for their subjects is not worthy to wear the distinguishing regally crown, and also deemed as not worth a farthing in the eyes of God. The vicious inward-looking once noxiously pinned on the "Ewes" as their preserve, having taken Victor Owusu, the Dr. Busia's Progress Party's Attorney General, out of context in his direction of anger at the divisive anti-social behaviour of some Ewes, is in truth, a general social demise affecting almost every Ghanaian, both home and abroad. This maliciously impaling attitudinal malaise, the root cause of the depravity being envisaged in Ghana among many families and homes must be strangulated at all costs. Those who in all their myopism think delusively to be wiser to play cunningly on an entire community, must have themselves to blame when they are counteracted in time by their subjects who are getting sensitized to their needs and rights by day and at each ticking of the clock. These same people who in their little wisdom desire to take the majority for fools, resisting their popular call for change for the better, but are stubborn enough to be in tune with God's directions, will surely live to regret when faced brazenly with the anger of the people, and when the wrath of God also comes to bear upon them. Our forebears were right when they said, "Obstinacy is the cause of the horns of the hornbill" ("se antie ene onwam atiko po"). As you don't blame Jesus when you don't go to Heaven, so also are you admonished not to blame anyone when you are compelled to taste the sour repercussions of your unyielding obstinate stance on your choice of candidate to wear the kingly crown come the opportune time. It is never true that the departed souls will ever defy the wisdom of the living by choosing and imposing a chief on a people inimical to their expectations. It simply amounts to throwing dust in people's eyes when a queen comes out to tell her subjects that the dead, in her trance, have predetermined who should be crowned as the next Kumawumanhene, but wouldn't tell anyone until that fateful day. This same person goes on to say the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency, J. A. Kuffour, has advised, and also agreed with her confiding in her own ability to select someone with similar qualities as the late Barima Asumadu Sakyi II to be enthroned.

I am amazed at the request of the President be it as asserted by the queen. What qualities of the late Chief are to be taken into consideration and used as a yardstick to determine who should be the next Kumawumanhene? In the eyes of many, such a demand from the highest authority is adjudged preposterous though, the queen as usual, is lying between her unrepentant teeth just to alleviate herself of some sort of pressure. President Kuffour has said nothing, so to speak. And who cares if he has said as being alluded? For his government is callous to the plight of Kumawuman, partly because of the dismal performance of the Kumawuman MP, who never presses upon Parliament the urgent needs of his constituency. On the other hand, the elders of Kumawuman, with the queen in pre-eminence. are culpable for the lack of development in Kumawuman. They had/have been too inward-looking; ensuring only their selfish gratification, while the masses wobble in total absence of anything deemed a human basic want. Inward-looking is not an insult but a detrimental social vice with the capacity to militate against development of any sort. It is simply, selfishness. I see the recent public utterances of the queen of Kumawu and in this respect Kumawuman, as simply, inward-looking. She asserts without the least remorse that one Kwame Adu claimed to have been bashed by her is only a concocted story. However, as a liar will always be caught in their web of lies, she narrates the story as Kwame Adu had his finger on the nose of "Kontirehene", about to beat him black and blue. But being swift as lightning, she intervened to forestall the looming omen. To cut this long story short, Kwame Adu had come to her weeping, pleading for forgiveness for having caused this international sensation and begging her to release to him the cloth she had intended to offer him to be worn at the funeral of Barima Asumadu Sakyi II on the 29 October 2007. This goes to tell there is an element of truth in the issue of Kwame Adu been aggressed at Kumawu palace as someone might have reported. Why does the queen allege that "Kumawufo ye nkurasefo" (the citizens of Kumawu are barbarous) but had no reaction from the Kumawuman Diaspora she was addressing? Anyway, since the statement was made in generality without exemption, then she is the first among the "nkurasefo" by the presumption of her position.

I wonder if the queen has a caring human heart. She is worse than Barima Asumadu Sakyi II when it comes to not showing an iota of interest in the development and welfare of Kumawuman and her inhabitants. She claims Kumawu has more than needed supply of drinkable water with easy accessibility. There are trucks carting water from "Wonoo", a village three miles from Kumawu and five from Besoro or Bodomase, for sale to the people. She goes on to say Kumawuman should count themselves fortunate and far better than those in Accra where if there was a water supply "outage", there wouldn't be anywhere for them to get water to buy? I will not comment on this as I have nothing good to say but foul. Yes, she can bad-mouth her subjects with impunity because nobody reacts to shame her there and then. Also, we still have people squatting before her when she sits either in public or private, as long as it takes. These same people doing so in dictates of tradition are seen by her as lazy and uncivilized. They are in no win situation or are in a dilemma. It is also inward-looking on the part of a midge, calling himself "nkabomohene" (Unity Chief), who does not unite but rather causes division and spies to inform on others to the non-performing traditional leaders of Kumawuman. All that concerns him is maintaining his position. For all these years, what has he done to warrant keeping that useless stool name whereby he goes public with a black plastic band around his wrist, the identification tag of his position? This "Nana" has been roaming about gossiping that he has consulted with Nana Serwaah Amponsah II, the queen of Kumawuman to install one Yaw Sarpong, note, not Akwasi Sarpong, as the next chief of Kumawuman. He insists they are resolute in their determination that the stool remains with the "Ankaase" Aduana Gate but not the "Ananangya" Gate as wished by the majority of the inhabitants of Kumawuman. It baffles any discerning mind to hear the queen say she will never reveal the choice of her candidate as revealed to her by the departed souls, ("Nananom") until the D-Day while her confidant boastfully walks the streets of London mentioning the queen's candidate to people. It is again inward-looking for people to consult Oracles to petition them to kill or cast evil spell on those with whom they compete for a position, especially when vying to succeed a deceased chief. This practice has become an across-the-board traditional practice by all the tribes in Ghana. What a sad practice ?.

There should rather be a fair play without the resort to such "Ku no ma me " game. Anyone who does that is a failure in the game in advance, hence resorting to absurdities. Or, by so doing, they are acting in perfect accord with the adage, "we at times resort to evil means to solve our evil problems?"

Finally, the prerequisite for becoming the next Kumawuhene should not stringently be a University graduate but someone full of wisdom, who will dedicate their life to rendering selfless service to the people. An honest person who knows the history of Kumawuman, ready to respect all and sundry, ready to listen to the

people's good advice and see their collective problem as his personal problem requiring an urgent attention.

Such is the person, I hope, Kumawuman needs. That person will then govern with the wise and all the

intellectuals from within the area and fromGhana to achieve the best results for the people of the

Kumawu traditional area, who by the actions of a few dishonest persons, have been made to suffer

destitution. I then appeal to all the suffering Kumawuman masses to stand up tall and be counted. They

need to negate the secret ploys in execution by a few supposedly educated people who are desirous to

impose their wish on them by calling for one with a minimum paper qualification of a University degree,

without bothering to know if the person cares about the needs of the people and his ability to deliver

towards these needs or not. These people calling the shots are please advised to re-examine their set

pre-condition. I will on the other hand propose that the people go for someone who will be of service

to them. The next people's chief should be like a father who suffers insomnia when he sees his children go

to bed starving, deeply worried about not been able to feed them properly. Don't allow yourselves to be

fooled by a few self-centred individuals who look down on others they see as not their par. Such is the

awkward inward-looking character of many a Ghanaian, causing problems within the Ghanaian community.

We shall defeat the evil forces. In the duel of the Good and Evil, the good will always emerge triumphant despite the odds. Kumawuman, fight the good fight. The battle is almost won, and the victory crown is yours for keep. Your next Omanhene, Barima Tweneboah Kodua IV is in the making and he is from the Ananangya Aduana Gate!!!

John Fosu, USA email: j.fosu@hotmail.com