...at the PAPA NANTWIE Festival, due for Sunday, 25/03.2007
Kumawuman has lately been the proverbial sleeping giant, a wounded toothless lion without claws, being preyed upon by the tiniest of animals, though, once the awesome king among his peers in the animal kingdom. One may by curiosity enquire to establish the reasons why? The answers are not far fetched. They are at your door step, serving your door mat requirements, being rubbished by your feet on a daily basis. The answer is an enigma to be unravelled by probing intelligent minds.
Are Kumawuman citizens still striding with that vaunting air of superiority, arrogating to themselves the historic fame, pride and audacity accorded Nana Tweneboa Koduah for offering himself, out of volition, as a sacrificial lamb to save the once terrific but then weakening Asante Kingdom? I sure hope not. They have no right to that until they have reformed their apathetic minds and started taking practical steps in the right direction.
The litigious wrangling scarring our minds and embittering us that much to the point of seeing no sense in reconciliation and forgiveness, is the demise of Kumawuman, robbing us of our eminence, leaving us in infrastructural destitution and making us objects of laughter.
To revisit the pain of the past is a total defeatist idea that will forever hold us in limbo. We need to move forward, and it is now, or never. Do Kumawuman citizens have any aspirations, discipline, commitment and self belief to fulfil their dreams of ever living again in wonderland? I am persuaded, yes. If in the affirmative, where then are the initiated evidential materials in acknowledgment of any such desires?
This festival should be viewed as a great occasion not only for family reunion in recognition and celebration of our once envious rich history but also, to prospect, explore and exploit ways to clothe Kumawuman in commensurable infrastructure.
I have thrown a challenge to all those having anything to do, or associated with Kumawuman by birth, by naturalisation, or by ancestry, to carry the responsibility of putting Kumawuman back on its pedals. I believe more in the practicality of good intentions, thus noble ideas seen through to realisation, than just having and cherishing such ideas and then eventually assigning them to the waste bins of inaction. No more much ado about nothing! This time around, we need positive action.
In order to set the development engine of Kumawuman rolling, I have volunteered to donate one million Cedis at the current value of Cedis, into any common fund we agree to initiate towards a serious undertaking to wrestle our place of birth from total dilapidation. This is just symbolic seed money to invigorate the spirit of patriotism towards Kumawuman in us. Once we get serious, more donations will follow.
The quality of leadership is paramount in realising our aims. I personally seize this near-unique opportunity offered by the festival to advise my fellow Kumawuman citizens not to dwell on the uselessness of the celebration when measured up against the non existence of development in the area for the past several years, to refuse to identify with our culture and the good things it holds for us as I am lately drumming up. We need to attend, then share ideas and discuss how best to revive the economically dying Kumawu traditional area and then put the solutions arrived at quickly into practice. We need to bend fate to suit us rather than letting the wind carry us wherever and whenever it wants.
I will get a website developed for Kumawuman in due course, where we can visit to share positive ideas. I entreat all those from our traditional area to contribute towards developing the area, has been neglected by the successive governments with the aid of "concurring" MPs reminiscent of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's "I concur" MPs to any government motion, Parliamentary bill, etc.
The District Chief Executive, Mr. Philip Basoah, should please organize and motivate the inhabitants of every town and village in his district towards self help projects. Our Development chiefs must be selfless and have positive dreams for their areas of control.
I personally appeal to all the chiefs within Kumawuman to release miles of lands for communal ownership to be cultivated through communal labour and the proceeds used to help the development of the areas. Their administration will be taken away from the traditional councils, placed under incorruptible committees to be set up by all stakeholders.
Let us all vow that at the next celebration of "Papa Nantwie" festival; Kumawuman would not be the same but much better, sparkling in development. I call on all Kumawuman people all over the world to come to the aid of our dying motherland to give her a kiss of life.
Please, forward this article to all interested people all over the world. Kumawu has no proper places of convenience, no access to disease free drinking water for the past thirty years, suffers periodic cholera outbreak and the problems are numerous to recount.
My fellow brothers and sisters, wherever you happen to be by chance or default, please attend my call with urgency, for "a stitch in time saves nine" and as a British Supermarket giant, Tescos, says, "every little helps", so do I encourage you to contribute your widow's mite towards the survival battle to breathe life back into Kumawuman.
There should be no differentiating as to where one comes from within Kumawuman to tag them as "villagers". It is not where one comes from that makes him a bush person but ones untoward attitude or incivility.
Kumawuman people should be one people from one area with one aspiring destiny. Long live Kumawuman, long live our dreams to get Kumawuman back on track. Long live the "Papa" Festival.
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