Reaction to Archbishop Duncan Williams' explanation of why his first marriage broke down

The honourable Archbishop makes a shallow explanation of this, that he was aged 24 a boy and not a man. There are males younger than age 24 who settled down earlier than that age and do not need to make any excuses for any marriage failure which did not occur so come up with the true reasons.

After 26 years of marriage, it was time to transcend into the skies and get an African American lady to jump the queue. I am struck by how, only a year after the divorce, the Archbishop remarried. I am inclined to think that he may have known his current wife as he contemplated his options for another woman he married, who smacked of prominence. That was a strategic move.

She is a woman who studied Political Science, worked in Congress and lobbied for some African Investments and tariff-free concessions for Africa to access the US market. Being in a country like America and working in Congress placed her in a strategic position but she is not able to influence against police brutalities against African Americans etc. because those kind of issues are bigger than her and quite systemic.

How is it that from humble beginnings, couples can evolve over time and forget their humble beginnings? if in time, one partner looks to find fault with the other until eventually you look for trouble and actively break up a union in the hour of no need? This is replaced by another woman claiming that it was a God-directed marriage, of purpose etc. She and the Archbishop are both referred to as Africa’s power couple and their union was strategic, for fame and progression.

Even more concerning is how, when you have a last-born son, of Archbishop Duncan Williams, ‘Dee Wills' who is deeply troubled by how it all started and ended, in particular when he is 50% composed of Archbishop’s DNA and 50% that of his mother, and his father refers to his mother’s as 'a witch', this will rather exacerbate any mental health condition he may have.

We know that when a man is drunk, in that state, deep things are uttered so it is given that 'Dee Wills' has bipolar, but some of the sentences uttered do not emanate from outer space, aspects of it formed his lived experience. The pursuit of his father’s fame I hope did not bring about all this? The crack is being revealed.

I am happy that honourable Francisca (I would have reverted to my maiden name, bull-dozed the English slave-master-sounding name for an African-sounding one) has added value to herself, has double Masters, PhD, in Theology and is a force in her own right and oh, even more beautiful. In 8 years she applied her time well to earn her degrees abroad, in about same 8 years the Archbishop lived in America married.

A Western accent for English may fascinate some Ghanaians, but some great inventors, scholars, Nobel price winners, were not necessarily English. I urge her to continue to be scholarly and carve her own niche. Charity begins at home and I am sure she has been a good mother, but I like all to reflect back on the trajectory path and experience of the Archbishop who is the head of the family before God and take lessons from it.

What is hidden can be brought to the fore. Mama Francesca does not necessarily need to marry but woe to anyone who gets jealous when a man of substance seeks her hand in marriage, it will be a bonus, but for now, she is fulfilling her purpose.

My own past is a hybrid of the Western world and Ghana. As a Ghanaian of dual nationality and born in Newcastle, UK my father was a dental surgeon who trained at the prestigious St Andrews University in the mid-1950s but he decided that he wanted me to grow up in Ghana and imbibe the culture of his motherland, we migrated to Ghana early in my life.

I am resident in the UK and would retire to Ghana in a few years. I feel well placed therefore to make my comments about a change of strategic alliances spanning the West and Ghana. I saw the beginnings of the Action Faith ministries at the Airport residential area near the diplomatic shop, was familiar with the snack bar, joined the choir briefly and was in the shadows at Action Chapel before I got married at the Calvary Baptist church circle branch.

I note that with all the noise going on about racism, we do see a 'pecking order' within the brown (black) community as opposed to the pink (white) community. It is about diversity, no one type whether full African or African-American or African British is better than the other.

We need to appreciate our beginnings because they shape our end and our accountability to God and uneasy lies the head that wears the crown as head of a family. Outcomes for your family, in the long run, will be rated against your leadership.