Rejoinder: The Re-writing of Ghana’s History

In an article written by our compatriot Yaw Opare-Asamoa (http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=163988) in response to my rejoinder (http://www.modernghana.com/news/220365/1/rejoinder-asantehene-new-progress-philosophy-etc.html), Yaw Opare-Asamoa failed to address and provide credible and authentic sources of information regarding the main issues that were under debate via-a-vis:

• The origin of Okomfo Anokye (aka Amega Atsu Tsala Akplormada) • • The Genealogy of Okomfo Anokye, and • • The Great ‘conspiracy’ towards the ‘aiding and abetting’ of ‘Ashanti hegemony’

Yaw Opare-Asamoa never gave answers to where exactly Okomfo Anokye originated from or any information about Okomfo Anokye’s familial lineage. He only went on and referred to my rejoinder as “endless rantings of dishonest intellectual discourse.” He got carried away and went on to rhetorically ask several questions that he already knew answers to! Some of Yaw Opare-Asamoa’s questions being: “Is Dotse Kobla ready to discuss the issue of hegemony?? Really?? Which group of people have a long-term plan of bringing their kith and kin, scattered across Ghana, Togo and Dahomey (present day Benin), together as one ‘unit’?” And Yaw Opare-Asamoa calls this noble cause of bringing together kith and kin as one unit, Ewe hegemony? Is that not what we need in Ghana as a whole instead of one ethnic group trying to dominate the others?

By the way, he deserves my thanks for being complimentary about Ewes by offering the statement: “In order to prevent any future occurrence of oppression and suppression, it was important and imperative that they put in place the necessary structures. The four areas that they settled on as ‘pillars’ of both offence and defence were: Education, Population, Marriage and Juju.” But I would like to add and remind Yaw Opare-Asamoa that Okomfo Anokye (aka Amega Atsu Tsala Akplormada) used the Notsie Dogbo-Nyigbo “juju” to conjure the Golden Stool and his miraculous sword to “bring the kith and kin of Kwaman, scattered across the then Gold Coast, together as one ‘unit." Do you see where we, Anlos/Ewes and Asantes as a people, with a common ideology, would always be friends and or allies?

If Yaw Opare-Asamoa had read Section 58 of the 2008 Chieftaincy Act and Section 49 of its predecessor Act 370 of 1971 and other relevant portions of The Chieftaincy Acts, he would have known for how long futile attempts at instituting present day Asante hegemony have been rearing their ugly head in the Ghanaian socio-political arena.

A little lesson here would suffice. After the exodus from Notsie under the tyrannical rule of King Agokoli, Ewes in their wisdom and experience swore an oath that never will they concentrate so much power in the hands of one person. This is the concept which is cryptically acknowledged by Lord Acton in his famous and immutable saying: "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” We are present-day witnesses to the corruption of absolute power in some traditional areas of the world. Thus, it is to prevent absolute power from corrupting absolutely that the Paramount Chiefs of the Volta Region do not wield absolute power. When, therefore, all the Paramount Chiefs from the various traditional areas in the Region meet to elect one of them as their President, the Paramount Chief so elected is regarded by Ewes as their “King.” Yaw Opare-Asamoa is also angry that the mythical figure, Okomfo Anokye, who has for centuries “belonged to him and his people,” is being “stolen” from them, despite the fact that he did not prove his origin and genealogy!

Quoting one ‘CYBERCOP,’ a contributor on ‘Ghanaweb’ comments section, Yaw Opare-Asamoa forgot an adage that says “a prophet is never welcome in his own home.” In my rejoinder, I gave reasons why Amega Atsu Tsala Akplormada had to leave Notsie prior to the migration of his Dogbo-Nyigbo siblings. Okomfo Anokye (aka Amega Atsu Tsala Akplormada) was a Dogbo-Nyigbo Ewe man just like his twin brother Tsali from Notsie. For our information, the settlement of Anlo was founded after the people had settled in the present day Ghana around 1650, and after Amega Atsu Madokpui Wenya, the leader of the migration had uttered the expression: "Nye amea menlo. Afia deke yiyi megale nunye o." (I am exhaustively ‘crippled,’ my limbs are shrunken. I can't go any further). The name of this settlement was then taken after "Menlo" and was contracted to "Anlo." The adjective "gã" meaning big was added to Anlo to create a township called Anloga, being the capital of the whole Anlo nation. 'CYBERCOP’ has admitted that "none is supreme: Ewe or Ashanti. We are all humans and all Ghanaians." This is indeed an honest and indisputable admission. "None is supreme."

Compatriot Yaw Opare-Asamoa partially quoted my writing, after which he asked an open-ended question, and I quote:

“…the Anlos and the Asantes have never directly fought any major wars in the history of pre and post Republic of Ghana!” The question is what happened in 1800?? The Ghana Statistical Service has a different set of records as far as ‘engagement’ between these two groups is concerned.” Unquote. If he has the facts, he must please produce them for authentication and discussion. History, however, tells us that in the 1800s several misfortunes happened to the Asante Kingdom or Empire. Some of these misfortunes perpetrated by colonialism should be vehemently condemned by all peace-loving Ghanaians in particular and Africans as a whole.

His loaded question above brings me to another revelation that would buttress the fact that the Anlos/Ewes, Asantes and their respective Kings have been and will continue to be centuries-old friends and or allies. This information would be published soon under the heading: The Issue of the Origin and Meaning of the Name “Bonsu.” As some of you may have known already, the name was assumed in 1807 after the then Asantehene Osei Tutu Kwame Asiba visited the coast and subsequently changed his name to Asantehene Osei Bonsu.

To conclude for now, I would like our compatriot Yaw Opare-Asamoa, to please come again and present to us the official and credible origin and genealogy of the great mystic Okomfo Anokye!

Source:

A. Kobla Dotse, Ph.D. dotse@earthlink.net