A couple of months ago I wrote a feature which was kindly published by,
ghanaweb, myjoyonline and modernghana websites. Gratitude to them for the dais
offered. The title was “Ghana, the road to Rwanda, 2012”. It is still pasted
there you may comprehend it, if you can.
Africa is a unique continent that has suffered all the mayhem that the ink of
history has been shocked to chronicle. Talk of slavery,colonization and the dual
policy of the developed world. Read from Walter Rodney's “How Europe under
developedAfrica”. In all these, Africa is said be far from behind. In the
earlier feature as indicated above, I painstakingly enumerated chronologically
how the Rwandan genocide in 1994 had travelled from the 1950s to a horrific
anti-climax in the 1990s. It was a trouble ignored, which became a crisis
ensured. Dear reader, I myself an African and a proud Ghanaian as such. But, I
am worried, whether the African and for that matter the Ghanaian is or has been
capable to learn from the mistakes of the past, and of others? Also whether the
Ghanaian has ever read that, the mistakes of the dead are examples for the
living?
It is said that, he who the gods would destroy they first make proud. Let
Ghanaians not relegate the 1994 Rwandan distasteful and senseless blood shedding
to the gallons with the weird and erroneous perception that the Ghanaian is
immune to that unfortunate incident. That is the surest way for Ghana to repeat
that horrible and the greatest human tragedy after the holocaust.
The Italian historian and poet, Titus Antonio Cicero once said, “To live and
never to know what transpired before you born, is to forever remain a child” In
the case of Ghana, whether by accident or design, all the killings in Rwanda,
including that country’s stressful long walk to identify their uhuru came to us
via radio and television (TV). Do Ghanaians need a prophet from the blue to tell
Ghana not to throw caution to the air and jump into tomorrow?
In the recent past, political debate has assumed the dimension of vicious
language, which goes to polarise the peace in the country. This is the very
country reputed to be the shinning example and a beacon of hope in Africa and
the West African sub-region. The new addition has been the wrongful
appropriation of money in the production of ‘T’-shirts first by the main
opposition, the New Patriotic Party (NPP), with the inscription of some verbal
flaws of the incumbent government and past officials. This has necessitated the
incumbent, National Democratic Congress (NDC) to follow the trail blazed by the
NPP. No fire starts with a glow, though with some exceptions. This is leading
Ghana to the city of destruction, where we would be living on the street of
chaos, with the flat number as pain. Are the members of the International
community observing this ugly trend? What about the National Security apparatus?
This is a country which calls herself the gateway to Africa; sorry the portal is
frost with bad information.
According to the Greeks freedom of expression, is expressing what is true and
naturally exist. But how can articulating natural slips which serve as a peace
eating moth pass for self expression? Whatever occurred in Kenya remains vivid
evidence to all Ghanaians. The 2012 general elections is a period when Ghana
would be exposed to the rest of the world about the skeletons in our cupboard.
It would be of zest to mentally stroll through the Ten (10) regions of Ghana.
Most of the regions are complete and comprehensive ethnic groupings of
particular people. Besides, some of the names of the regions give indications to
even a stranger about the citizens there. Of course there are a few of the Ten
(10) regions that have two or three ethnic groups. Do you honestly believe
should our intended omissions retrogress Ghana to what happened to Rwanda, this
country would be able to co-exist together again? In fact there are real cracks
which we should not allow any irresponsible behaviour to get us to slip through.
Nevertheless, do you not think the world has had enough of these unnecessary
upheavals in Africa? The unfortunate ‘T’-shirts are anticipated to the market
soon. Let every well meaning Ghanaian not patronize. We should also restrain our
friends, loved ones, and family members from purchasing them. With this weapon
we can prevent ourselves from committing the mistakes of others. Also the frown
and total abhorrence of this ‘T’-shirts would savior this beautiful country’s
future. For those who prefer to pull it on, let them be told that should the
unfortunate happen, posterity would not spare them of the guilty verdict on the
altar of judgment. To those whose desire is to generate the utility of confusion
and be benevolent with it, should know he or she might be the first victim. But
if the modification of their brains is to raze Ghana, then, let them be told
that, the fetish priest who desire is to destroy a village, should realize he
will also get himself sandwiched in the debris.
Once a French colonial Administrator was queried concerning the lack of higher
education in the Francophone Africa as compared to the Anglophone’s universities
of the Gold Coast, Ibadan etc. He claimed, “The African needs nothing like
education, because you will force him to read and write what he does not
understand, what he is best for, is to be trained to become a business partner
and go to propagate the gospel.” It sounds derogatory, but lets us do away with
emotions. Because from the stand point of objective inference, the very
Ghanaians who spearhead these wrongful necessity are those, one can claim have
the best of education from the so called ‘A’ class schools. What are they giving
back to our dear country Ghana, with some haven study on state scholarship? I
hold the personal axiom that, a life of scholarship is a life of service. Are
these so called well educated assets or a liability to the nation? Unfortunately
most of the elites of our land have become the source national draw backs. The
best brains are always parading in the front lines of social upheavals. What
have we gained from all the degrees that we bear?
In all these, lets us admonish ourselves to rescind from honouring an invitation
to a festival of ignorance, sheer pride and self destruction. Again we should do
all in our power as responsible citizens not to have the door of Ghana receive a
knock from the soul taker, because we are the next victim of a useless blood
spilling. Many of these so called “Big men”, start or embark on such activities,
which bring about mayhem, some for their own pride, others for their own glory.
But for innocent citizens to senselessly lose the dear lives due to the greed
and pointless ambitions of the few is unfortunate, tearful, regrettable and so
painful. Every Ghanaian should remember that it was the downing of the Falcon 50
aircraft which was carrying the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, Juvenal
Habyarimana and Cyprien Ntaryamira respectively which ignited the despicable
Rwandan genocide of 1994. So could this aimless ‘T’-shirts also brew unnecessary
tension.
Ghana should be on the look out for what tripped Rwanda and not where that
country fell.
Patrick Twumasi
(0209045931)
