Why always zongo?

As a typical Zongorian, I feel heavy in heart, when this

under-privileged and under-developed Community that raised me, is in

the news for all the wrong reasons. A regular

Columnist on this web, Rockson Adofo, and few others accused Alhaji

Moro Guarma of organizing the Kumasi Zongo Community to unleash

violence on the Staff of Kessben F.M.

Alhaji Moro Guarma may be the brain behind that

irresponsible assault on the Staff of Kessben F.M, but I take strong

exception to the generalization of the attack, as an Orchestration by

the Kumasi Zongo Community, even though I also condemn that savage

and uncivilized attack on Kessben F.M.

Off course, Alhaji Moro Guarma is a member of the

Zongo Community, but he's not the embodiment of the Zongo, and he can

never be. Any idiot can organize thugs from his Community to

perpetrate violence on the citizenry.

The leadership of the Zongo Community, from the

Council of Zongo Chiefs to the Sarkin Zongo chiefs should bury their

differences, in their Struggle for traditional authority and rescue

the sinking image of the Zongo Community.

If the alleged attack on Kessben F.M was to have been master-minded

by a Citizen of Kumawu, would Rockson Adofo had accused the whole

Kumawuman for the attack?

Would it be fair on our part to accuse either

Bantama, Asafo, Ash town, Dichemso or any native Community of crimes

committed by individual hooligans, and hoodlums from such Communities?

Intolerance and violence; radicalism and extremism

is not peculiar to the Zongo and I don't intend to rationalize this

matter.

In any case "there's Mensah in every home"

Having said that, our

leadership in the Zongo Community have been reduced to symbolic and

ceremonial tigers and lions who have failed to change the face of the

Zongo from scorn and ridicule.

Many were those among us who blindly sacrifice

their logic and dignity to religious, ethnic and political bigotry and

dogmatism.

Out of Homo-phobia and stereotypical "hogwash", we

tolerate, accommodate and encourage demagogues, propagandists,

populists and the bourgeoisie, to incite us against some group of

people, organizations, and individual opinions and beliefs.

The paradox of this scenario is that the

bourgeoisie, populists, propagandists, and the politicians dump the

Zongos, and treat us like fake useless coins which are only needed

for dirty transactions in the event of violence and mayhem.

And because we have failed to realize that

democracy transcends an event; is rather a process, but not an

electoral event, those politicians and the bourgeoisie will have no

cause to worry that the Zongos would have the logical and intellectual

ability to read between the lines, in holding them accountable for

their promises, and stewardship, by keeping them on their toes, from

the commencement of their mandate till the end of their tenure.

We leave them off the

hook, and go to sleep for three years, only to wake up in an election

year to demand "a bite at the political cherry" which is nothing more

than cups of rice and sugar, and some few Hajj tickets to some of our

so called opinion leaders whose leadership neither helps develop nor

empower the Zongo Community. As the rap musician Tupac Amaru Shakur,

put it "role models Today are not meant to be put on the pedestal;

they're more like Angels with broken wings"

The Zongo Community do not need ethnicity,

propaganda, religious, and ideological bigotry to survive; the Zongo

Community need three square meals a day, a good health care, and

economic empowerment through easy access to affordable education that

will lead our youth to the path of empowerment and enlightenment.

Tanko Ali Yahaya,

Independent Minded Zongorians.

Skiliwonda@gmail.com