ON KENYAN LESSONS
Prelude
I stumbled on this letter on my file three days ago. It was a letter written by Mr. Raymond Okudzeto to all Anlos which I received in London. It forewarned Anlos against that dark Thursday November 1, 2007 based on what he witnessed in KENYA earlier. Anlos and the forces against them did not heed his call, resulting in the chaos in Anloga.
If Anlo had lessons that it failed to learn from the disorders which heralded the KENYAN crisis, then GHANA as a whole has very valuable lessons to draw from the current confusion raging on in that country.
I must warn that no country in this world is immune to political violence. Mr. J.A. Kufour must be at his greatest wits when he asserted that there are no lessons for Ghana to learn from Kenya. I urge him to spend a few minutes to read this open letter from his party member, Mr. Raymond Okudzeto, way back in April, 2006. He should stop playing the ostrich, face the issues and make sure he hands over Ghana in the same peaceful manner he found it.
Professor Atta Mills must raise that very topic again. The more we talked about it and find genuine ways to remove situations that could lead to political violence in this country, the better it is for us.
Our own Kofi Annan may not be able to help resolve that in his own country. So the time is now for us to tackle the problem. An Open Letter To My Fellow Anlos 24th April, 2006
Recently I was in Kenya and witnessed something I have never seen before As many of you heard on the news, last week, Kenya declared Friday, 21st April, 2006 as a National Day of Prayer. This Day of Prayer was called as a result of religious leaders seeing visions that frightened them. They say catastrophes raining down on the country, one after the other.
Their visions about disasters came true. Sure enough, one disaster after another occurred. Plane crashes, killing top government officials. Flash floods sweeping cars full of people to death. Severe drought covering a large area in the north, killing many people and livestock, escalating crime waves, especially the theft livestock by tribes from across the border of Kenya. These and many, many more devastating incidents happened in a short span of time. The Religious leaders were convinced God was sending a message to the Country to stop and take stock of their lives before it was too late.
As I witnessed some of these things, it suddenly dawned on me that a similar thing was beginning to happen right under my nose, my own back yard. The land of Anlos was slowly being put in a vice and being squeezed until their courage is gone. The forces behind this grip are totally evil and negative and determined to change the course of history in our beloved land.
Our culture is rich, our traditions are transparent, the rules are there and have been followed since my mother’s ancestors carried the stool to this land. How, then, can one man, who had no blood ties to the royal clan decide to intimidate, bribe, coerce, and lie in order to become what he has no birth right to become. This man’s obsession has reached a point that he will do anything, change anything, ignore anything or anybody, who has tried to advise him to cease in his megalomaniac ambition.
I have had premonition upon premonition that if this man continues in his pursuit of the Awomefia stool, we, the Anlos, will regret it until the day we die. Misery is going to cover our people like a fog that will not blow away. Something I cannot logically explain is driving me to come out openly to fight this man with all I have, so that this cancer cannot take root. To my people I say, enough is enough! The Three Gates should come together within the next 21 days to elect a substantive Awomefia so as to put an end to this problem. Things have dragged on for far too long, all to this man’s advantage. Sooner or later, turmoil will erupt in Anlo and this will spread to other parts of the Volta Region. All of this disruption is being orchestrated by one individual, who is hell bent on becoming the next Awomefia by hook or crook. The destiny of our people lies in our hands. We can avert disasters, but it will take everyone working together. This situation began bit by bit, step by step. Let us now as a positive force against this evil, take a first decisive step in a new direction.
It is common knowledge that the detractors are engaging in all kinds of sorcery etc...to have their way, therefore our first step should be a call for prayers by all the churches in our area. Let us also include the traditional priests in this first step. They too have had pressure put upon them to submit to this man’s intimidating practices.
A day should be fixed for this prayer to take place across the entire Anlo state, from Ketu to Anyanui, covering Anyako, Galo, Afife, to Dzozde, Klikor, Agbozume, Galo Suta, Ave Fiadenyigba, Ave Havi, Woe, Dzelukope, Tegbi, Kedzi, Keta, Anloga, Atorkor, Salo, Atiteti and the entire area, to plead for Divine intervention. Why Prayer? Because without God, nothing can be done. Vox Populi, Vox Dei (The voice of the people is the voice of God. The people should pray to God to intervene in this situation which has the potential to explode into a serious disturbance. Our destiny is in our own hands, no one else’s. We have to take charge and be firm and speak as one. Our conscience, not someone else’s, must be what dictates our actions. Under no circumstance should we be led to the slaughter like sheep, never uttering a word of dissension. Our present and our future belongs to us, not to some dictator, whose sole intention is to destroy the peace and tranquility that is currently being enjoyed by our people.
Yours in the Service of Anlo,
(Signed by Mr. Okudzeto) Raymond Kodzo Okudzeto
To:
All Churches in the Anlo State All Anlo Chiefs All Hunuas All Eminent Anlos (local and abroad)
P.Y. Tsikata