“The Basement People”

Election 2009 is over and the masses have made the choice; the veranda boys are back . What a shock! NDC back with Rawlings and Ewes after all the bashing , from slander to defamation? Ghana has scored another first . Great stuff . Well best of Luck especially to the President . Anyway as we wish the NDC well and the ‘elephant’ heads for the ‘ bush” there is a lot being written about ‘ what went wrong” My suggestion is to become ‘ inward looking” . Sorry I mean introspection. It is o k to blame the other side especially the referee. I know a lot of people are sore right now but time , the wonderful healer will do its work. It always does

There are things to remember though about ghanaweb .election time. One being ‘ Professor’ Ahoomfe Okoampa.’ His articles reminded me of a period before 1994 when South Africa became independent . On Sundays , there was a TV program ‘ Focus on Africa ‘ which specialized in degrading and demonizing Africa and its people . Fufu was described as a ‘mess of porridge’ and akranti nam as Ghanaians eating ‘rats’ so cats were roaming free and dog meat had become a delicacy . Some of us took it seriously and others as a sign of panic by the Racist government . Similarly I wondered what passed through the mind of “prof” ? A man from Pekyi who was domiciled in Akyem and so wanting to be more Akyem that the Akyems . This was a classic example of the outsider mourning more than the bereaved . Surely there is a psychological defect . Adolf Eichman , a Jew slaughtered fellow Jews so he could be more German that the Germans . Okoampa as a kid , and being sensitive may have been taunted about his heritage ‘ koklo deka ‘ and trokosi and developed a phobia .Alternatively he may have been humiliated by some Ewes as he will like to see himself a brainy fellow and saw his self esteem go down . I went to my ‘bible’ to get answers , My bible of ‘road map to success’ Why will he bring down Kofi Awoonor and Kofi Anyidoho when he never even met them Why did he hate Rawlings with such a passion? . Those kind of people in my ‘bible’ are known as ‘the basement people’ as opposed to the ‘balcony people’ In a metaphoric way one has a glass full of water . The bottom two thirds is murky and dark , while the top one third is clear water and they see clearly . The basement people are at the dead end of the street and so try to bring down every one to their level .They cannot see themselves in a better position so they try to bring everybody down .They want to level the playing field . Instead of climbing a mountain of their own they try to keep everyone down . They resort to name calling and degradation to convince the others they are worth nothing . However they cannot do it if we do not allow them . Eleanor Roosevelt it was ,who said ‘ no one can make you feel inferior if you do not let them’ You have to permit them . I saw a White person call a Black person “ kaffir “ a derogatory term for Blacks . The Black person turned round calmly and said ‘ja baas” ,yes master and smiled . Boy was that White embarrassed? He told us this story at a seminar , and I never forgot it .

Balcony people try to pull every one up . Their philosophy is there is room at the top for everyone . They are successful people themselves and so believe everyone can succeed . To succeed try helping others Perhaps that is the difference in philosophy between conservatives and progressives . Well which are you , a balcony person or a basement one Try asking yourself a few questions of yourself A Happy and Prosperous 2009 to all of you

Sebastian Tamaloe