The Case of the Sophists and Useless Tribal Bigots (Part 1)

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Dr. Otto 10 years ago

Then Lungu and Kwarteng are very classic examples of sophists, senseless and tribal bigots.

Then Lungu and Kwarteng are very classic examples of sophists, senseless and tribal bigots.
Kweku trouble 10 years ago

I am beginning to suspect you are the one who stole the moniker "Prof Lungu".

I am beginning to suspect you are the one who stole the moniker "Prof Lungu".
Dr. Otto 10 years ago

Kweku(idiot)trouble, before you can suspect anything at all you must be in the Position to think but unfortunately it is not the case with you so you can't suspect anything.

Kweku(idiot)trouble, before you can suspect anything at all you must be in the Position to think but unfortunately it is not the case with you so you can't suspect anything.
Dr. Otto 10 years ago

Then Lungu and Kwarteng and obviously classic examples of sophists, senseless and useless bigots on Ghanaweb.

Then Lungu and Kwarteng and obviously classic examples of sophists, senseless and useless bigots on Ghanaweb.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

Dr. Otto,
Your name suggests "prosperity", "wealth", in some circles.

So, it is with sadness that we must inform you your comments have absolutely little worth.

You do not/never come with facts: What we get is an emp ...
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Dr. Otto,
Your name suggests "prosperity", "wealth", in some circles.

So, it is with sadness that we must inform you your comments have absolutely little worth.

You do not/never come with facts: What we get is an empty bucket producing worthless discordant noises.

That is, unless, you, Dr. Otto, or someone you know, together or alone, was/were behind the impersonation, the subject of our critique in this essay.

A "Dr." indeed, you must be!
SARPONG 10 years ago

It is sad Professor Lungu has gone bonkers on people like us who don't believe in Nkrumaish and cast aspersions on our intergrity just because somebody has used his moniker to post tribal comments.

I remember correctly def ...
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It is sad Professor Lungu has gone bonkers on people like us who don't believe in Nkrumaish and cast aspersions on our intergrity just because somebody has used his moniker to post tribal comments.

I remember correctly defending Professor Lungu on that post saying that comment didn't sound like something our political nemesis will post and it comes as a shock to me Lungu has determined without any forensic evidence that comment was made by Danauah/Busiah/Dombo fraternity.

First of all, people have used Dr SAS, Okoampa,and many others who support the Danquah tradition and rhey did not accuse everybody in CPP and Ndc as the culprits.

Lungu, you might have a lot of time on your hands because somebody using your name to make an ethnocentric comment should not call for an article. You wrote a comment under the said comment and that was enough. Even before you wrote to deny making that comment, some of us have already defended you that you could not have made that comment so what is the need to write this article with innuendos? If you know as you seem to infer in this article who made that comment, have cojones and name names instead of this juvenile behavior.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

YOUR: "...people have used Dr SAS, Okoampa,and many others who support the Danquah tradition and they did not accuse everybody in CPP and Ndc as the culprits..."

WE SAY: It is their choice. We do not control what "Dr SAS, ...
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YOUR: "...people have used Dr SAS, Okoampa,and many others who support the Danquah tradition and they did not accuse everybody in CPP and Ndc as the culprits..."

WE SAY: It is their choice. We do not control what "Dr SAS, Okoampa,and many others..." write, nor the responses they receive as a result.

For our self, we do not take that impersonation for that precise purpose lightly. So, it was worth the time and the effort - to respond in this manner.

It is a response to ensure the record is known.

It is a response to that particular instance, and to others we may have missed, or will miss in the future. After all, when a tree falls in the darkness, in the forest, and there is no one to observe the event, we cannot assume that fact of the "fallen" will never be known.

So, in exceptionally dramatic personal terms, it is a record of our position on bigotry and xenophobia in Ghana today, and going forward.

Thanks.
Simon 10 years ago

Andy-K, do you really know that you and your mother are from the same father?

Just ask your father, the ex-Customs officer(Tema). It is normal with you Ewes.

Andy-K, do you really know that you and your mother are from the same father?

Just ask your father, the ex-Customs officer(Tema). It is normal with you Ewes.
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago

Prof. Lungu,

A big thank to you for devoting your valuable time to write this. We need more of such denunciation of the daily, hateful bigotry and vile prejudices some Akan members of the NPP I have dubbed "these Akans" h ...
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Prof. Lungu,

A big thank to you for devoting your valuable time to write this. We need more of such denunciation of the daily, hateful bigotry and vile prejudices some Akan members of the NPP I have dubbed "these Akans" have been spewng on Ghanaweb against Ewes and those from Northern Ghana. It is simply unacceptable and CANNOT be allowed to continue without serious repercussions! A couple of days ago, I responded to them by posting spiced up version of my "These Akans" on the story of the goat allegedly giving birth to a humanlike offspring.

My record in assailing them is unparalleled so far but I intend to increase the tempo pretty soon. I have been binding my time for years now, even though I have been ready with my arsenal all along.

This Sarpong is one of the worst elements in the pack. Won't surprise me if he replies to this with trokosi this, incestuous child molester that. I am ready for him and his ilk.

As for Dr. SAS, I've to admit that he is above the Brotherhood of Nimcompoop on the NPP side that indulge the vile action. Unfortunately, his distorted views on Nkrumahism and hatred for Nkrumah cos of some family brushes with the CPP decades ago have forced him into their camp as bedfellows. What freedom is talking about? Freedom to throw bombs with reckless abandon and plot treason? Or, take money from foreign intelligence bodies? Oh! I recollect his bragging that he'd do that himself!

Andy-K
ANDY-P 10 years ago

C.Y. Andy-K, even after burning the sea you will still and forever remain a PRIMITIVE,SELFISH, ATROCIOUS and DIRTY TROKOSI EWE.

C.Y. Andy-K, even after burning the sea you will still and forever remain a PRIMITIVE,SELFISH, ATROCIOUS and DIRTY TROKOSI EWE.

Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 10 years ago

Why are you always pitching camp with the lowest of the low? What is the use of your education if you must always descend into the gutter with the gutter dwellers? Even the very acceptance of the notion that there is a group ...
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Why are you always pitching camp with the lowest of the low? What is the use of your education if you must always descend into the gutter with the gutter dwellers? Even the very acceptance of the notion that there is a group called Ewes who are always at the receiving end of insults and another group called Akans who are always insulting is per se stupid.

And by your self-confession that you have been assailing others based on this trashy conclusion, you have earned for yourself an imperial status in the Brotherhood of Nincompoops.

Nkrumah is the worst leader Ghana ever had because he lied about our independence, incarcerated others without trial, imposed a one party state on the country with himself as life president....He was also the archetypal traitor who betrayed his benefactors. He then trained a militant group of youth whose brains were forever screwed. All these so-called young pioneers know is to tell the most heinous lies against the martyrs of freedom and to chant that Nkrumah never dies, or that Nkrumah does no wrong!

For all these reasons, I am patriotically hateful of his actions and would do everything in my power to prevent these from recurring.

Nkrumah never did anything against my family. In fact my father, Kwasi Agyei, like many Ghanaians, supported Nkrumah until he abolished the freedom and independence which he claimed to have fought for. Then like many Ghanaians, he opposed Nkrumah until his ignominious overthrow and premature death in exile.
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago

Dr SAS,

Unfortunately, you can't sweep away dirt of this kind and magnitude without getting messed up, even if you are wearing protective clothing to deal with the noxious dirt as these bigoted miscreants you also tried to ...
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Dr SAS,

Unfortunately, you can't sweep away dirt of this kind and magnitude without getting messed up, even if you are wearing protective clothing to deal with the noxious dirt as these bigoted miscreants you also tried to deal with sometime back by extolling the virtues of Ewes, something which made me cringed.

One may be forced to descend into the mudpit to restrain the swines with human hands throwing mud at you, and may be get dirtied with mud splashed on your face. Not many people rue the prospects of doing something like that, except a very few of us. I am ready to dirty my hands and risk mud on my face to deal with the menace these bigots and jingoists with mayhem, murder and ethnic cleansing on their warped minds pose to us.
You should therefore not mistaken me as one of them simply because you see me in the mudpit now and then.

They come from the gutter and I simply want to throw them back into the gutter where they come from! The mudpit is for the real pigs, not these miscreants like Sarpong. Btw, are you denying that some Akans have been spearheading the insults? Some Ewes had responded to them by insulting Asantes wholesale. I dealt with them and explained to them that that was a stupid thing to do and they stopped. But, I hardly read the comments column and so can't say what goes on all the time. Not even aware of the incidence that triggered Prof. Lungu's write-up.

As for Nkrumah, your are grossly miseducated on his politics and politics in general and so your views are not considered as scholarly and with any levity at all by people like me. I stopped reading your pieces on him. Waste of time!

Lucky you are that none of your relations was imprisoned by Nkrumah. Did he imprison anybody at all? I thought the Police and govt authorities did. Indeed, Nkrumah wasn't aware of the vast number of people detained under PDA. I bet my maternal side provided more detainees by household than any other family in Ghana but my mother proudly displays Nkrumah's picture in our house in Anloga, where the revolt against the CPP started. When home some years back, she brought out a picture of my late father with a man dating back to 1953, before I was born. When I asked about the man by my father, she said that that was one of his half brothers, long dead, and the picture was taken after my father got him released from prison after the Buga-Buga War. Well in the '60s, my father was still getting her relations released from Nsawam, sent there on serious but false charges of collecting money from Olympio to foment secession! I hate to admit that one of my uncles from the paternal side was fingered by the Dzabanor Committee of 1967 as the culprit. How he himself ended up in Nsawam is another story. (The man no go school ooo but he fit speak pidgin English, French, Hausa, Twi, Ga and some other languages and so was no match for even far, far better educated people.) Those who couldn't be released came out after the coup. There was one man who used to give me red looks which could kill if looks could kill 'cos he said he was abandoned there. Auntie Pe (Patience) was wonderful though and used to treat we kids but she died suddenly not long after her release. We missed her badly, or maybe the treats.

By now, you should have known who I am, since I no longer hide my true identity. Knowing my name isn't enough, as I used to tell even friends who knew the family name and background that I was just a namesake. That way, I had freedom to be just an ordinary Joe Bloggs or Charlie, but certainly not Kwame Attia! I've got style, the one and only Andy-K, the vermins slayer!

Now, let me go descend into the mudpit! I've got some dzimakplas to deal with!

Andy-K
SARPONG 10 years ago

You idiot, you always introduce tribalism in every issue. Do you see anybody talking about Akans and Ewes here, you stupid incestuous trokosi daughter fucker.

You only see what you want to see. What about your trokosi chil ...
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You idiot, you always introduce tribalism in every issue. Do you see anybody talking about Akans and Ewes here, you stupid incestuous trokosi daughter fucker.

You only see what you want to see. What about your trokosi child molesters always insulting Akans, you stupid old fool.
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago

Look at this semi-educated jerk calling someone far intelligent than him an idiot!

Where did I introduce tribalism into this discourse on ethnocentric prejudices and attacks on Ewes using Prof. Lungu's moniker? You don't e ...
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Look at this semi-educated jerk calling someone far intelligent than him an idiot!

Where did I introduce tribalism into this discourse on ethnocentric prejudices and attacks on Ewes using Prof. Lungu's moniker? You don't even know the definition of tribalism. I was one person who commented on the post in which Akufo Addo said he didn't see what Osafo Marfo said as tribalistic. I agreed with that put pointed out that it was rather virulently ethnocentric! Ethnocentrism breeds racism, tribalism, xenophobia, ethnic cleansing, etc., etc.

Yes, I've noticed that MOST OF YOU ARE DOING YOUR BEST TO AVOID ADDRESSING WHAT GOT PROF LUNGU'S GOAT! It wasn't merely the impersonation of his moniker but the purpose to which it was put: insulting Ewes. Darn! He identified the likely source: Busia-Danquah-Domboist confederates.

I addressed the issue and source more squarely. I have family who belongs/ed to the UP tradition too, you know and must not be stained by the likes of you "these akans".

Now, I've told you that I've two wonderful daughters who are both graduates and doing far, better than me in their lives so far, and I am so proud of them.

I sacrificed my own ambition and career ambitions to give them a better upbringing and care. The younger one who wrote the article I posted on Ghanaweb would soon complete a year's teaching assignment in China on the ticket of the British Council. I must ask her to spend a year in Norway to revive and polish her Norwegian since she's into languages and refused to read law, etc. I know she'd prefer going to Korea to better her Korean and she loves it there too. She does brave things I couldn't imagine doing.

Her elder sister, when she completed Sixth Form took a gap year in order to represent her school and England on a year long international research (participants selected from participating countries) in high schools in Sweden, Hungary, Australia, S. Africa and the UK. Apparently, she so much impressed the Prof from Cambridge that he started asking her to accompany him to other countries which wanted to join the programme called Learning School. So she was in some more countries including the US to make presentation with the Prof. When he asked her to accompany him to China, I said no to that, as she was going to miss too many lectures at uni.

It is only in your dirty, sordid mind that you can conjure the kind of dirt you try to throw at me. Were it during the C19th before the Sagrenti War brought a halt to the insanity and mayhem that our ancestors were perpetrating, I'd have asked the Asantehene to give me your head, or pacify me! But since we are in modern times, I shall deal with you and your ilk personally. Here's something for you to be chewing on, dzimakplavi!

Andy-K

“THESE AKANS” AND THEIR HANGERS-ON

The long awaited searchlight on these particular breed of human kind is soon at hand. This is just an interlude to warm you up, WITH SPICE ADDED TO IT. It is opportune in the light of the current consternation caused by the senseless and completely intellectually and academically bankrupt political puke vomited by Prof. Mike Ocquaye, a hanger-on, on us again. Enough! Is Enough!

It has now become normal that when one logs into the comments section of news posts and articles on Ghanaweb with intent to provide what one thinks are sensible comments, or find out what fellow Ghanaians think on the subjects at stake, one is NOT surprised at finding out that some jaded, dirty-minded, foul-mouthed, over-bloated and overrated, jealousy and envy-ridden Akan cyber trolls, have found the news or article as just another opportunity to heap insults and vituperation on Ewes with intent to demean and demonise them. “Northerners” have been added since President Mahama assumed the presidency. So to the Ayigbe this, trokosi that, we are now also greeted with pepeni this, ntafuor that. However, I won’t be concerned about the recent addition here.

For “these Akans,” no doubt some Asantes and others from within the former Asante Kingdom without a history of their own except that of Asante, being subjects, vassals and scions of their slaves, and their hangers-on from among the Fantes they used to war on, enslaved and slaughtered in thousands in the past, everything is about dissing Ewes as dirt and evil impersonated; while proclaiming at the same time that Ewes are dominating them in the civil and the security services besides other unfounded accusations. Some of them had even written books incorporating such accusations. This anti-Ewe vilification and demonisation, as I had shown elsewhere, were simply a fall-back on the virulent anti-Ewe campaign of Busia and his Progress Party during the 1969 General Elections against Gbedema’s National Alliance of Liberals which introduced the Akan/Ewe schism into Ghana’s politics, which is still lingering with us. Afterall, back in Ghana, some of their political leaders within the NPP which they invariably belong to, openly advocate attacking and killing Ewes and they are all so mentally warped that they find nothing wrong with it! And they have the temerity to be condemning xenophobia in S. Africa! Too many people, including Ewes themselves, have become too comfy with these threats and insults which have been going on for decades now!

Some Ewes who think the minds of “these Akans” are impervious to reason have unfortunately also taken to wholesale insult of Asantes in particular, whereas a Bono jerk and a scion of former vassals like Osei Tawiah might be the offender. Or, even someone with origins from the Elmina area, known for their close historical links to the Asantes since the latter got the Notes to the Castles after the defeat of Ntim Gyakari might be the culprit. Of course, they were all known as Asantes before, including even the Denkyira rebels that joined the other Denkyira subjects to overthrow their king. Well, it is the collateral damage innocents suffer in case of conflicts like this; just as all Ewes are subjected to these insults, stereotyping and demonization because of the actions of a few. So, those smug ones who think they are above descending into the mud-pit shall have some mud hitting them too. And when the shit hits the fan, they better take cover! Nobody shall be left unscathed.

Of course, these claims of dominance are not supported by any of the available statistical studies but was inbred into the psyche of “these Akans” by Dr Abrefa Kofi Busia and his Progress Party during the 1969 General Elections, the records of which I had drawn attention to several times by quoting Dennis Austin, even though the memories of that anti-Ewe campaign are indelibly implanted in the minds of some of us who were old enough to know what was going on. They have coined a word for it: “Ewenisation”! BUT then, curiously, they’d claim Ewes envy them (often mentioning Asantes as the major victims) when they are challenged, and often calling on the “brave Asantes” to do their dirty jobs for them! Envy them whaat??? When Ewes were supposed to occupy even ALL the late President Mills’ ministerial posts, as claimed by a Phd holder Kwabena Akurang-Parry, masquerading as Akadu Mensema, and many of “these Akans”, such as Justice Sarpong, were praising him for "telling the truth"??? What truth??? Such warped and convoluted thinking is hailed among them as articles of faith and the eternal truth to guide their sorry lives!

Some go about insulting Ewes as thieves. Now, if the prison population of Ghana is taken, can any one of you prove that Ewes dominate significantly those in prison for stealing? What about Ghanaians imprisoned abroad? Which ethnic group from Ghana predominates; not almost all people from the Akan ethnic group? Who are often cited among the most corrupt in Ghana?

I am sick and tired of this JJC sons of peasants, newly miseducated foolish and ignorant wannabes, constantly insulting we Ewes simply because they think, in their warped and prejudiced minds, that some Ewes have taken what belonged to them, presumed former overlords of what is now Ghana. So can anyone tell me what “these Akans” had which I, Andy C.Y. Kwawukume, a scion of Alfred K. Kwawukume of blessed memory; I, grandson of NC (Nathaniel Cooma) Kwawukume, Court Registrar and Chief of the Native Police of the Eastern Province, Keta, and of course, nephew of Torgbui Sri II (privately known as Cornelius K. Kwawukume), KMAC, OBE, MCE, the first Gold Coaster to be co-opted into the LegCo in 1916, all of us who can trace our ancestry to the leader of all Ewes before they split up way back in history to far back in Nigeria, do not have and I envy? By the way, times have changed and so I have been eking out a living off my own business for over the past ten years in London. Not easy keeping my nose above the raging meltdown but I had given jobs to Sri Lankans, Nigerians and Ghanaians and survived the credit crunch while many didn’t! Hurraayy!

I won’t say I don’t know about how some other Ewes feel, and I speak for myself and family only. I know most don’t have a clue as to how to respond to these abuses. Glibly proclaiming, as the Anlos do, that they are just “dzimakplaviwo” – unbred people (which they are); “gbemelawo” – bush animals (which they are not despite the deceptive appearances of some); “egbe tso mo na wo” – bush has covered their faces (which is debatable); “mi da asi le wo nu” - leave them (the docile and pathetic Don’t Mind Them Mentality Syndrome I have little respect for), are not the appropriate responses at this time in our association with the Akans, even if they were decades back when Ewes were first penetrating Akan areas after WW1. As for many non-Anlo Ewes, especially from northern Eweland, the problem is an Anlo one which is bringing opprobium on all Ewes, and they should deal with it. One of them, the late Dr Kodzi, even wrote a book in the 1990s in which he pointed out the Anlos as culprits to be targeted by “these Akans” in case of the reprisal attacks being threatened from way back in the 1980s, just as that demented man Kennedy Agyapong in Ghana recently advocated on air! Holy smokes! Can “these Akan” Avengers tell the difference between an Anloga man and a man from Hohoe? Neither is the renewed, open calls for secession (no longer a clandestine activity in the VR; perhaps, thanks to the demise of my notorious, secessionist busting uncle?), with same Antor’s divisive slant that derailed the Ewe Unification quest started by Torgbui Sri II in 1915, which will see the Anlo, Tongu and Peki areas left behind in Ghana, the way to go. “These Akans” will jump though with joy, and proclaim: good riddance! They won’t have that satisfaction though. I have what I think are the appropriate responses to them and the situation: the personal and collective. This one is personal - a case study you may call it - heralding the collective which comes later. Komla Dumor also did it his own way with his “Ayigbe Jokes” series on MyJoyFm in the late 1990s, in response to the wholesale abuse of Ewes in the pro-NPP press then, which mortified me tremendously. Something like that on radio in Norway would have seen him and his employers in jail!

So how many of the parents of “these Akans” could afford to buy and use a Mercedes from proceeds of their private enterprises like my late father did from 1960, after parking the Jeep he used in the North, when he and his British partner were liquidating the Gonja Settlement Scheme at Damongo on behalf of the departing colonial authority? Yes, we were there when President Mahama was born, just as two siblings after me at the same Government Hospital, no doubt. Were my father alive, I’d have heard all about the courtship that led to one of my many aunties giving birth to Ibrahim, step-brother to the President. Oh! The Tamakloes are not just members of the Adzorvia Royal Clan founded by my ancestor, Torgbui Sri I but a daughter of Tamakloega himself gave birth to my paternal grandfather. As for the Gonjas, we go a long way back. It is a pity that we haven’t as yet unraveled the saga that led to my own great grandfather reportedly marrying 32 of their women, earning a sub-titleship over what he built up and becoming one of them but that is another story situated at the Daboya area. It is, of course, such stories that shaped some of us while growing up. We don’t look up to anyone; others look up to us, so why on earth must I envy “these wretched Akans”?

So what were the parents and grandfathers of “these Akans” when my father was appointed the first African Administrative Manager of John Holt Bartholomew with over 20 whites underneath him when S. Africa was getting Apartheid? So where were the forebears of “these Akans” when my great, great grandfather, father to Torgbui Sir II who was in the Legislative Council from 1916-42, sat in prime position to negotiate peace with the British after the Sagrenti War? So what do “these Akans” and their hangers-on have in privileges, educational attainment, material well-being, physical looks - name it - which I as an Ewe who writes against the prejudices “these Akans” express against my ethnic group [and others] does not have and I envy? When we are supposed to be monopolizing all the goodies already? Doesn’t make sense! What has happened to the “Ewe hegemony”?

A couple of weeks ago, one of such ignorant fools, O.T. Oheneba, wrote on SIL that had it not been for the largesse of Nkrumah with his grandfather’s cocoa money, I, Andy C.Y. Kwawukume, would have been an illiterate; just as they often blame Nkrumah for allegedly allowing us to be a part of Ghana! You see, that is their images of us, based on their utter, bloody-minded ignorance! They have no clue that the VR was a major grower of cocoa and Ewes also own cocoa farms, besides engaging in other productive activities which add more to our GDP than cocoa! Yes! Growing maize and cassava can be more remunerative in some years than cocoa, and indeed add more to overall agricultural GDP than cocoa! If Adjei Marfo doesn’t that, how can we expect “these Akans” to know? All that reminded me of how much the late Torgbui Tamakloe VI was upset when Kofi Koomson in early 1993 devoted a whole centre spread in his “The Chronicle” insulting with reckless abandon the Tsikatas - fellow members of the royal Adzorvia clan of Anlo and unarguably one of the most educationally accomplished families in Ghana - calling the long deceased mother of Kojo an illiterate woman, blissfully ignorant of the fact that that woman was a Gold Coast icon and an educationist who was the first Gold Coaster to head the Catholic Convent for Girls in Keta, which is now Ola Secondary School in Ho. Yes, the school the wife of President Kufuor attended and learned to speak Ewe in Keta. As Torgbui remarked then, because their parents were illiterates, they just assumed that the parents of all Ewes were illiterates too! The issue is taken up in the collective response; such crass arrogant ignorance must not be allowed to continue to fester and poison the body politic. I therefore devoted a whole chapter to that! In that chapter, I deconstructed what was aptly expressed by no less a person by an Asante thus:

CONFRONTING THE ETHNIC DEMONS, PART 3

NEW MYTHS: WHY ASANTES DISRESEPCT THE GBE AND “NORTHERNERS”

Below we read Marc's reasons, given during exchanges on the Okyeame forum, for why there is "phenomenal disrespect" of the Gbe people and people from the north of Ghana, classified as “Northerners”, among his ethnic group the Asantes, and how he thinks this could or would be eradicated. What follows is my cross-examination (deconstruction) of his views to see if there are any merits to them, and if not, then what are the real reasons behind the disrespect and how to eradicate it.

"Date: Wed, 6 Aug 1997 13:15:00 +0200 (MET DST)
From: Marc < > Subject: ETHNICITY AND TROUBLES

“The problem of 'disrespect' towards migrant workers in this case, Ewes and people from the north, is phenomenal and indeed happens in any part in the world. Had it been back-migration, in this case Asantes going in large numbers to those areas, that problem would still be there. Migrant workers normally take on the worst jobs and that creates some social barrier, but I think such a problem can only be solved with time when the new generation fight their way up the ladder through education.
This, I think, is where we lack the contributions of sociologists on the net when it comes to such issues. Screaming that Asantes are this or that is meaningless. It only fuels the already loaded tension."
-------------------------------

There are poor Ewes and there are poor Akans. There are educated and uneducated Ewes just as same for Akans. Yes, we have our Adaklu Amangotsidekas so do you also have your wicked adobe hovels with occasional buruli ulcer infected inmates. That much I saw and was horrified when I travelled extensively in parts of the Central, Western and the Ashanti Regions in December 1992 and early 1993 collecting data for my dissertation on the rural banks. As for the Eastern Region, I know it quite well. I did my National Service there. By the way, Akurang-Parry, aka Akadu Mensema, I didn't write on the appalling lack of toilet facilities in Ghana, though it is a topic deserving urgent attention by scholars too! Teachers are now falling into those monstrosities that pass for places of convenience! [Since writing the foregoing, a journalist had written on the disgraceful toilet situation in Ghana.]

Are “these Akans” aware that 33% of present Asantes are descendants of the slaves they kept, that is, those "lucky" not to be sold or killed in grissly rituals, and some of them are Ewe in origins? Are they aware that some ancestors of Ewes even fought on the side of the Asantes in those predatory pre-colonial inter-ethnic, genocidal wars of plunder and loot, including against the English? Indeed, the time to break the “afisem” taboos, etc., has arrived. I am pissed off mightily! These ignoramuses and fools need to be taught some proper history, not that Mansa Musa died in a pair of trousers and Yaa Asantewaa the heroine folk tales (she actually wanted the slave trade to be re-introduced by the British!) we were all fed in basic and secondary schools. As a matter of fact, same refined and polished yarn (anansesem) are taught in our universities.

To the Asantes specifically, from the former Asante Protectorate which included the Brong Ahafo Region, let me tell them that they have indeed made much progress in joining the Civil Service and the security forces, considering the fact that they were not part of the Gold Coast colony until 1946, whereas a large section of the Ewe homeland was from the C19th. They were therefore not recruited into those bodies until after 1946 unlike southern Ewes who were part of the Gold Coast colony decades before the annexation of Asante and the Northern Territories (NT). That's why out of the 29 Gold Coasters who had reached officer ranks in the Army (I have their full bios data), Afrifa was the only officer in the Ghana Army from both present Ash/R and B/A combined on the eve of independence. Northerners, specifically from among the “Frafras”, though not in the colony, were recruited into non-officer positions in both the Army and Police because of their presumed fighting spirit and undoubted loyalty to authority similar to the same beliefs about the Gurkhas of Nepal. Only Col. Bawa who was shot and killed allegedly by Afrifa himself during the 1966 coup made officer rank from the NT, thanks to the fact that he came from the TVT part of it with better education under the Germans. Ewes were recruited for similar reasons but to fill middle level and senior positions too because they had education. Because of the very early missionary activity and formal education in the Ewe areas, which stretch from the Atlantic coast to the Peki/Ho/Hohoe areas, it meant that many Ewes acquired formal education from the early C19th. Even some coastal people, Ewes included, who did not go to school in those days learned to speak European languages through working for white people. And then there were those with European parentages who even had it better, taken to Europe to be educated and returned, or educated by their parents to serve them as clerks, factors, etc, in their businesses.

In fact, those mulattoes, from the Western Region to Angola, ran the slave trade from the coast and formed the core of the earliest educated Africans/Gold Coasters. Yes, the slaves the ancestors of you the Akans used to bring to the coast from the interior to be sold were bought and sold by those people after fattening them up to gain back weight lost on the grueling march to the coast. That's why a former white VC of Legon said the Fantes made more money from the slave trade than the Asantes except that you won’t catch them boasting about how rich they are! Wait until I tell you all about it, bloody-minded ignorant fools! If you are really educated and read, you should have known about that already by the way.

Now, the ignorant fools on Ghanaweb, like the rest of them in Ghana, do not know that trokosi came from among the Adangmes to Eweland. It is thus found along the Volta River in the Tongu Districts where the Adangme fugitives from the Akwamu wars settled among the Agaves and other places in Eweland, to as far as Togo, where those fugitives settled. That's why trokosi is found in the Ada area, which area, by the way, was first settled by the Agaves before the Adas came as fugitives to join them. An examination of the clan origin of the trokosi priests would reveal their Adangme origins. That's why trokosi is not found in the Ewe areas where the Adangmes did not settle for long, specifically, the whole of northern Eweland from Ho, Peki to Hohoe areas [they left the Avatime area where they settled to Agortime]. The northern Ewes therefore have no clue what it is! We in the south know because the Ga-Adangmes settled among us and are now part of our clan system. Only some very few uneducated, particular clan members, mostly with Ga-Adangmes origins, still patronise those trokosi shrines.

The vast majority of Ghanaians, literate or illiterate, are superstitious beyond belief. It is a topic I have been grappling with for over two decades now. It is simply some ignorant and foolish “these Akans” and their hangers-on who believe that all Ewes practise juju and trokosi. That Ewes who are mostly Christians now and, increasingly, Muslims and Buddhist as I found out in 2003, practise traditional religion too can only be claimed by ignorant Morons with capital M. I don’t even believe in the myths found in the Bible and, for that matter, the Qur’an, about a god creating this universe, human beings, the flora and fauna and causing floods and what not! I did not go to “school plenty, plenty”, come from a fourth generation educated background and still have my cosmology and cosmogony rooted at the Weberian primitive, substantive rationalisation level like the mass of you miseducated “these Akans”, your hangers-on and others! I knew that most Ghanaians were/are not civilized as a child in the 1960s before Ken Kuranchie came out of prison for contempt of court and pronounced sweepingly that Ghanaians were not civilized, as if Ghana was ever wrongly classified among the comity of acclaimed developed and civilized nations.

Yes, there was a time Ewes were encouraged to burn the cliché mid-night candle, as we're told education was our cocoa. Many Ewes therefore shined in their studies, leading to their recruitment by the colonial authority and the merchant houses to run their administrations. Upon independence, Ewes were thus among the top elite with experience to take over the positions the whites were vacating. My father and uncles, not to mention a host of clansmen, women and tribesmen, were among those people recruited from the private sector to set up and run the myriad of new projects the CPP started. The 1966 coup saw my father in the role of the Acting Financial Comptroller of the Workers Brigade again from his role as the substantive Deputy from its inception. The incompetent Brit the CPP had recruited again, still under the cloud of white superiority, with my father doing all the work for him to be signing, had deserted post too after getting what he wanted. Some of those CPP Ministers couldn't hold a candle to my father during the colonial era, not to mention white people, and Papa used to be so incensed with their unwise decisions and actions, which included sending that fair complexion man (name withheld) to the house to convince Papa to help them steal public monies! You see, Papa never took a penny home which didn't belong to him; that's why I am writing publicly about it now, even though the Kom Commission Report is there to support me. Those corrupted upstarts thus refused to pay him his full contract entitlements because they said he thought he was rich and so would not share in stolen public money and so did not need the extra money for acting as the head. Even after a number of court judgments in his favour, the full entitlements were not paid before his passing away in 1982! The lawless bastards and nobodies that took over the running of the Ghanaian state have since increased in their numbers! Today, it is thievery and lawlessness that are the badges of honour! That is not how the model colony of the Gold Coast was built by the grand and great fathers of some of us under British supervision.

Now, which dog born you these trolls, you “these Akans”? Where were your great, great grandfathers when the Gold Coast was being formed? Mine were at the negotiating table after leading the battles against the British too! I refuse to be insulted and demonized constantly with reckless abandon by the scions of nonentities and so-called royals of ill-repute alike! Is it because the ancestors of the latter plundered, massacred, kidnapped and sold the relations of some present Ghanaians more than my ancestors did, things which still make you proud today, mentally warped that you are? We sold a few too and is part of our shame, you know? Eweland was not known as the Slave Coast for nothing. Our misfortune was the great cowry inflation of the C19th that turned most of the “hotsuitorwo” (lit. owners of cowries) into paupers when it was over and cowries ceased to be medium of exchange in Africa. Yeah! I know you haven’t heard of this super hyperinflation before but I read long ago that even a very good teacher could only teach about 45% of what a student needs to become educated. I have done my part, start doing yours, bloody fools!

I shall return with the bazookas, as I go on the offensive! I did warn you all repeatedly before.

Andy C.Y. Kwawukume

cyandyk@ymail.com
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

C.Y. ANDY-K's said there would be some reckoning!

We see now!

Some records, we dare say!

C.Y. ANDY-K's said there would be some reckoning!

We see now!

Some records, we dare say!
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago

Prof. Lungu,

This is just the "common disc". People have been begging me for years not to release the real McCoy, a horror movie of a rare genre, as they fear what might emerge from Pandora's Box of Nasties.

When I rel ...
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Prof. Lungu,

This is just the "common disc". People have been begging me for years not to release the real McCoy, a horror movie of a rare genre, as they fear what might emerge from Pandora's Box of Nasties.

When I released this common disc, I even got an early morning call from my senior brother, Efo Solo, that after a family meeting he was called by some junior members and given a message that I should leave them alone. I sent a message back that they should rather go and change their names if they don't their august royal name to be dragged into the mud-pit! I didn't buy mine. People are whipping up their followers to kill you and they sit on their arses to be saying what?! And I heard Akufo Addo was condemning xenophobic attacks in S. Africa.
Ha ba! Did Agyapong also condemn the "proud" Zulus whose pride is based on how many fellow Africans the hordes of Shaka Zulus killed? Forget the couple of Englishmen killed in a sortie.

Tweah! If the English had deployed one 100th of the forces they deployed against Napoleon at Waterloo against the Zulus or the Asantes and their allies, we'd be writing about heir genocide against them today!

Andy-K
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Nyebro Yao,

Whoever impersonated Prof. Lungu also impersonated me in the same article Prof. Lungu referred to.

The same person might be impersonating me here again (see 36th moniker). I don't what this other "francis k ...
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Nyebro Yao,

Whoever impersonated Prof. Lungu also impersonated me in the same article Prof. Lungu referred to.

The same person might be impersonating me here again (see 36th moniker). I don't what this other "francis kwarteng" means by this part Asante, part Fanti nonsense all about!

This is what they do and when they are caught, as Prof. Lungu, has done they go beserk and become self-defensive.

What sort of cowardice is this?

I am going to respond to this 36th impersonator with my name capitalized!

Have a great weekend!
C.Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago

Nyebro Yaw,

I was baffled by that piece abt being half Asante and Fanti.

They are skunks. You know how mean they are to even their own party members, so nothing shld surprise you.

I hope you have a sound sleep and ...
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Nyebro Yaw,

I was baffled by that piece abt being half Asante and Fanti.

They are skunks. You know how mean they are to even their own party members, so nothing shld surprise you.

I hope you have a sound sleep and great day tomorrow.

Andy-K
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 10 years ago

Prof. Lungu may not be a tribal bigot but he is indeed a congenital Nkrumaist bigot in all respects. After all, a bigot is anyone who spawns hatred for a group, and here, his deep-seated hatred for us Danquists is obvious in ...
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Prof. Lungu may not be a tribal bigot but he is indeed a congenital Nkrumaist bigot in all respects. After all, a bigot is anyone who spawns hatred for a group, and here, his deep-seated hatred for us Danquists is obvious in this toxic article of his. Here, he casts cowardly innuendos against us that we stole his moniker and imputed a bigoted comment to him. But unlike him, no Danquist needs hide behind any moniker to speak his mind. We are no cowards to hide who we are while freely foraging for information on others for purposes of blackmailing them.

Lungu is full of contradiction. He campaigns for freedom of information about others while depriving others of the freedom to have any information about him. Such a congenital coward spewing senseless hatred about Osagyefo Dr. Danquah, the martyr for freedom.
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law,
It is sad that you've never understood the difference between the "public" and "private", or cared for that difference. Confirms for us, perhaps, why your last essay on Responsibility In a Democracy ...
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Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law,
It is sad that you've never understood the difference between the "public" and "private", or cared for that difference. Confirms for us, perhaps, why your last essay on Responsibility In a Democracy was written, the way we saw it, from the point of view of a solitary individual, like a person making a confession before a priest (Wednesday, 13 May 2015 Columnist: Sarfo, Samuel Adjei Our Responsibility within the Democratic Dispensation, Part II).

Tell us this!

Where, in this essay, do you read us "spewing senseless hatred about Osagyefo Dr. Danquah"?

In that regard, you will only confirm your membership in the "sophistry" club, if you are unable/unwilling to prove you point here.

Now, if you want to call us the "blackmailing" kind because we simply make a point of reminding people what you said previously, that you now earnestly want to disown, then so be it! Even so, any good lawyer will understand there is absolutely no relationship or association to/with "blackmailing", as far as that goes.

And the same ought to go to you as well.

If you, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law, or someone you know, together or alone, was/were behind the impersonation, the subject of our critique in this essay, then we are even happier we are the "blackmailing" type, in faux book of laws.

Prof Lungu 10 years ago

....In that regard, you will only confirm your membership in the "sophistry" club if you are unable/unwilling to prove your point here!

....In that regard, you will only confirm your membership in the "sophistry" club if you are unable/unwilling to prove your point here!
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 10 years ago

You don't know much, Prof. Lungu, if you don't even recognize how much hatred you have spewed over the years against Osagyefo Dr. J. B. Danquah, the matyr for freedom, and those of us who are his acolytes and apostles. And wh ...
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You don't know much, Prof. Lungu, if you don't even recognize how much hatred you have spewed over the years against Osagyefo Dr. J. B. Danquah, the matyr for freedom, and those of us who are his acolytes and apostles. And what has been our sin? That we do recognize Nkrumah for what he truly is: a traitor and a dictator, and a nation wrecker on whom we expectorate daily with all venom.

And herein lie your hypocrisy and bigotry.

And as for your charade on FOIB, isn't it just another of your cover for political grandstanding? Because you don't even know any information about yourself, and yet you have been busy burrowing for dirt on me, and making false claims about me. How can one search for any information about anything when he himself has never volunteered the least amount of information about himself?

As a typical Nkrumaist propagandist and arrant liar, it seems fair to you to saunter around here with your identity firmly hidden, while you use the unfair advantage of your anonymity to research on others in order to cast aspersions on their hard-won integrity.

And you have the AUDACITY to accuse us, Danquists, for stealing your moniker? Do you think at all? Know that we have always shown that we are not afraid to use our names and addresses for whatever we say. We stand by our convictions, unlike many of the Nkrumaists who can only hide behind monikers.

It should strike anyone as odd that such a cowardly goon like you is leading in the quest for freedom of information about everybody and everything except about yourself.
Shame on you for being a bunch of living contradiction. Faceless coward!
James 10 years ago

They have already lost the debate.

They have already lost the debate.
Lawrence 10 years ago

Dr.SAS you call yourself. Don't disturb our ears with such silly and useless comment about a CIA Agent called Danquah.What was the use of thuis man apart from all the evil he did against this country? A terrorist of the highe ...
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Dr.SAS you call yourself. Don't disturb our ears with such silly and useless comment about a CIA Agent called Danquah.What was the use of thuis man apart from all the evil he did against this country? A terrorist of the highest caliber and a ritual murderer. A person who was disowned by his nown people. How would a norma perosn continue to hold such a wate in high esteem. JB Danquah was the bigest disgrace Ghana has ever had. Whayt has has taught you peopel is what you are practising today.Such characters.
Mr. Figure-Out 10 years ago

Sometimes it so hard to avoid using harsh words on some of these hypocrite, the so called "Ghana Centered" goons, whenever they go public with such uselessly bombastic ranting. I think Prof Lungu himself once stated on this ...
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Sometimes it so hard to avoid using harsh words on some of these hypocrite, the so called "Ghana Centered" goons, whenever they go public with such uselessly bombastic ranting. I think Prof Lungu himself once stated on this forum that he is apolical - If my memory serves me right . So for such a cowardly hypocrite, who hide behind monike when even writing essays for public consumption to prematurely single out the Danquah-Busia acolytes of criminally using his monike is senselessly hasty if the word 'charitable' is of relevance here.
What some of us have observed from the not-too-important writings of Prof Lungu and Kwarteng,about Nkrumah is not to help restructure Nkrumaism but run down the main opposition party( the UP tradition ) and/ or indirectly helping the corrupt NDC to continue destroy Ghana for us. My main reason is that, their Ghanaweb-limited noise making about Nkrumah, over the years, have proven to be ineffective since the supporting base of Nkrumah's CPP keep on dwindle by the day. The hypocrisy of these so called 'pretentious-Nkrumaist' come to the fore when they vote NDC, whenever they chance to do vote, and then run to Ghanaweb to continue their Nkrumah praise singing chorus. They should stop wasting our time.
YAW 10 years ago

Smoking "weed" did not prevent JFK,Bill Clinton and Obama from becoming presidents of USA. Malapropism,solecism,Spoonerism did not prevent George W Bush or Dan Quayle from occupying presidential seats in USA. What is "plain a ...
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Smoking "weed" did not prevent JFK,Bill Clinton and Obama from becoming presidents of USA. Malapropism,solecism,Spoonerism did not prevent George W Bush or Dan Quayle from occupying presidential seats in USA. What is "plain as pike staff" is that, bigotry,sophistry,conceitedness,arrogance,elitism,treachery,intimidation, bombing and maiming did prevent JB Danquah from winning any election in Gold Coast/Ghana.

The point is, those who call Nkrumah a "dimwit" or Lungu, a "weed smoker" portray themselves as "Ignoble Scholars". Fullstop!!

Their narrow-mindedness means they can always see through a key hole with two eyes.Needless to say,they make the loudest noise when they are in a fog.
Paul Manu 10 years ago

Simon,you were my neighbour.Ask your mother who her father is.I know your whole family.

Simon,you were my neighbour.Ask your mother who her father is.I know your whole family.
GOLD COAST 10 years ago

Big Bla Sarfo,you said "--- while freely foraging for information on others for purposes of blackmailing them."

Is Ahoofe an Nkrumahist? Moreover,who has appropriated "Osagyefo" for a well known traitor and terrorist - Dan ...
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Big Bla Sarfo,you said "--- while freely foraging for information on others for purposes of blackmailing them."

Is Ahoofe an Nkrumahist? Moreover,who has appropriated "Osagyefo" for a well known traitor and terrorist - Danquah? Nkrumah is already in the pantheon of great African and "Third World" leaders of the 20th Century(including Gandhi,Nehru,Nasser,Ho Chi Minh,Castro,Nyerere,Sukarno,Abdul- Rahman,Yew,Mandela and Kenyatta), while your lilliputian Danquah is unknown beyond the shores of Ghana.

Kwarteng and Prof.Lungu have a lot for you to learn.Listen to them.As Einstein said:"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."

PEACE
MARCUS AMPADU 10 years ago

Who really were the sophists?
They were itinerant teachers in Ancient Greece.
The most famous being Protagoras, Antiphon, Thrasymachus, Gorgias, and others. They are known today through the writings of their opponents - So ...
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Who really were the sophists?
They were itinerant teachers in Ancient Greece.
The most famous being Protagoras, Antiphon, Thrasymachus, Gorgias, and others. They are known today through the writings of their opponents - Socrates, Plato & Aristotle, whose views of them was generally bias. The fallacious argument tag against the sophists was coined by their detractors.

Anyway, does brother SAS prefer using Danquists to Danquahists?
Giving the appellation "Osagyefo" to Dr. J.B. Danquah is funny and travesty & silly.
James 10 years ago

What can we learn from DR SAS,unlike Kwarteng whose writings are very intelligent and factual ? I lost interest in DR SAS writings when he informed the whole world that he is better than Nkrumah because he has bought 14 cars ...
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What can we learn from DR SAS,unlike Kwarteng whose writings are very intelligent and factual ? I lost interest in DR SAS writings when he informed the whole world that he is better than Nkrumah because he has bought 14 cars in United States.I don't know how to describe DR SAS.

MARCUS AMPADU 10 years ago

I will repeat my question and wait for SAS to respond. Does brother SAS prefer using Danquists to Danquahists?

I will repeat my question and wait for SAS to respond. Does brother SAS prefer using Danquists to Danquahists?
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 10 years ago

Danquists

Danquists
TUSEY 10 years ago

What more, do we need to stay alert if after all they have given us, we will still procced to give them our votes? They are not yet in power but look at their behaviour and their tribal supremacy. I may not like the NDC gover ...
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What more, do we need to stay alert if after all they have given us, we will still procced to give them our votes? They are not yet in power but look at their behaviour and their tribal supremacy. I may not like the NDC government for obvious reasons,but it will be the sad thing in my life to give my votes to these Asante/Akyem tribal bigots who have disdain for Ghanaians who are not from their villages. People who feel superior in themselves and have the insane thinking of being owners of this peaceful country. I rather perish under Mahama's rule/misrule than under Akufo Addo's rule. I might have a bit of dignity in death under Mahama government.They are all waiting and praying for Akufo Addo to become president, then they will flock in to fight for positions and lord it over Ghanaians. Honestly speaking, Akufu Addo's president will be a recipe for civil war in this country.Look at them breathing fire from their mouths. Such things! God forbid.
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 10 years ago

Stop massaging your conscience and go ahead and give your votes to the NDC. You think we don't know that all Nkrumaists vote NDC? The NDC is the only viable Nkrumaist party now existing, and people like you Nkrumaist bigots w ...
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Stop massaging your conscience and go ahead and give your votes to the NDC. You think we don't know that all Nkrumaists vote NDC? The NDC is the only viable Nkrumaist party now existing, and people like you Nkrumaist bigots who conjure up excuses to vote for the NDC are just doing it in tradition to your so-called Nkrumaist ideals, not because anybody did or said anything against you.

Otherwise, look over this page and recognize that your comment has nothing to do with any conversation here. Thus it is just in reaction to the noises in your own head, not because anybody provoked you to confess your hatred for a group of Ghanaians. In fact, your opening sentence sounds like what the hypocrites said just before they crucified Jesus.....

You may of course go ahead and release your Nkrumaist burden by voting for the NDC and thereafter perish all right. We the Danquists are generally self-made, and will therefore not perish, even under this lousy NDC/Nkrumaist government government which cynical citizens like you prop up in power.
Simon 10 years ago

Andy-K do you actually know that you and your mother are from the same father? Ask your father, the ex- Customs Officer(Tema)

Andy-K do you actually know that you and your mother are from the same father? Ask your father, the ex- Customs Officer(Tema)
Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law 10 years ago

On February 4, 1965, a great man, a great African died. He died as a political prisoner, in a 9 feet by 6 feet condemned cell. But, this was after he had successfully, along with other nationalists of his time, led the campai ...
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On February 4, 1965, a great man, a great African died. He died as a political prisoner, in a 9 feet by 6 feet condemned cell. But, this was after he had successfully, along with other nationalists of his time, led the campaign to liberate Ghana from colonial rule. His name was Joseph Boakye Danquah, the doyen of the Gold Coast, the man whose academic enquiries convinced the rest of our founding fathers to adopt the ancient name Ghana for our independent nation in 1957. The man whose anniversary we are here to observe.
Danquah was a poet, jurist, historian, philosopher, playwright, journalist, lawyer, politician and statesman. May I just highlight a few of the many great things that he did for Ghana. Danquah was the publisher of the first daily newspaper in Ghana, the Times of West Africa. He was the political head of the first political organization formed specifically to lead and win the fight for independence, the United Gold Coast Convention.
In 1947, the same year that the UGCC was formed, Danquah successfully led calls for the setting up of a national bank with central banking functions. Through his efforts, the Accra Sports Stadium was built. He proposed for the setting up of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing and lobbied for the establishment of the University of Ghana.
In his own words, “For economics and business, I sponsored the establishment of a National Bank and the Cocoa Marketing Board. For education, I sponsored the established of a University College, separate from that for West Africa at Ibadan. For general literature, I sponsored the first successful daily newspaper in Accra… In addition to these I tried to lead the way with books for an understanding and appreciation of Ghana’s institutions, religion, philosophy and art. Sports, too, could not reasonably be excluded from this plan, and I pushed the need for it in the same fashion as I pushed the other needs for the total progress of Ghana.”
Danquah made the ultimate sacrifice for standing for what he believed in and fighting against dictatorship, abuse of power and the Soviet economic experiment. He stayed bold and true to the rule of law, respect for human rights and individual liberty, the principles of democratic accountability, and the market economy. History has posthumously proven that Danquah had foresight.
The likes of J.B. Danquah, Obetsebi Lamptey, K.A. Busia and S.D. Dombo, at various periods in Ghana’s political history, suffered unjustified detention, exile and even death, just so that freedom, liberty and democracy may thrive.
Today, Ghana is on the march and there is no stopping. We have come a long way in our search for peace, democracy and stability. Danquah and the others made the case for the liberal economic principles that our party, the New Patriotic Party, stands for as the basis for moving our great nation forward and as the basis for which people should be interested in our party coming to power again. Well, as a proud adherent of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition, I cherish moments like this. But I must state that, events since the latter part of the twentieth century have vindicated our forbears, who way back in 1948 had argued for the adoption of multi-party democracy, liberalism and liberal principles as the basis for organising our society.
At that time, it was fashionable to play to the gallery and rubble-rouse and shout socialism and utopian ideals of equalising poverty. At that time the forbears of our opponents, labelled Danquah and his associates as capitalists and imperialists, whose ideas of liberalism, free market and competition, were inimical to the welfare of the mass of the people, who they labelled as “veranda boys and girls.” Danquah and his associates took exception to sections of our population being called “veranda.” They insisted that every citizen of Ghana is a royal in his or her own right and that they were entitled to a good home, a decent meal, a good education and a good job. Danquah, in 1928, described every Ghanaian citizen as an ‘odehye’ – a royal of the land of his or her birth. Born free, to live free. It follows that once every Ghanaian child is born free, that child must be afforded the opportunity and liberty to develop his or her God-given talent in order to put that talent and the skills acquired to good use. Danquah’s opponents on the other hand, insisted on a command economy, where the state presides over virtually every aspect of the people’s lives and dictating the prices of goods and services.
For the avoidance of doubt, I shall quote what he said about what the philosophy of our party should be. The party’s policy, in the thinking of Danquah, should be “to liberate the energies of the people for the growth of a property owning democracy in this land, with right to life, freedom and justice as the principles to which the government and laws of the land should be dedicated in order specifically to enrich life, property and liberty of each and every citizen.”
Today, these are the principles that reverberate across the world in what we call the wave of democratisation that has engulfed the world. We cannot have government literally sitting on the backs of the people and stifling their growth and development. The task ahead is to democratise capital, wealth, by creating societies of opportunities and aspirations for every child, regardless of the circumstances of his or her birth.
In 1948, Danquah had already advocated for the creation of strong institutions rather than the idolisation of a strong man. At that time, he was vilified for his visionary views, imprisoned and eventually became a martyr for democracy and development. Today, Ghana is held as a successful model in Africa, precisely because it has since 1992, chosen the path of democracy and good governance.
History has subsequently proven that liberalism is the best option for moving our nation forward. In the post 1983 era, when Ghana resorted again to liberal economic principles, we saw the turnaround in the stagnation that had engulfed Ghana in the years of state controls. And this is not an Akufo-Addo verdict. It is the verdict of the world; that there is a direct link between liberal democracy and development.
The 21st century challenge for Africa is to use the democracy and freedoms that we have regained to transform both our economy and society. A transformation led by an educated African workforce, operating a knowledge-based industrial economy, where we have made a deliberate, significant shift from being exporters of raw materials to manufacturers of finished products. Where those of us learning, earning and living abroad can take ideas, formulas, methods, tools and instruments that churn the industries of the developed world back home to Africa to accelerate the industrialisation of our land. We should begin moving away from sending home manufactured goods to things that will make us manufacturers at home.
Let me conclude with some words of inspiration from Danquah about his Maker: “He fashioned me and has used me in His own fashion, and, as I see it, the reason why I still live and breathe and am able to exert myself in life must be the simple one that my Maker hasn’t quite finished with me yet. There are lots more He wants me to suffer for, and to use me for. I do not myself mind suffering so long as it is not suffering for myself. To suffer for oneself is the emptiest of all suffering; to suffer for others is the greatest spiritual elevation.”
Let us suffer now for our nation, our continent, and lead this generation to make this Africa’s greatest century. Let us work together for that brighter future. Let us believe in Ghana. Let us believe in Africa.
Thank you.
God bless you.

By Nana Akufo-Addo
February 4, 2012 – Houston, Texas, USA
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

We must thank you, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law, for providing the text of a purported speech by Nana Akufo-Addo, in Houston, TX, USA, February 4, 2012.

We imagine at that time, Akuffo Addo had never heard of Singapore, or Chi ...
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We must thank you, Dr. SAS, Attorney at Law, for providing the text of a purported speech by Nana Akufo-Addo, in Houston, TX, USA, February 4, 2012.

We imagine at that time, Akuffo Addo had never heard of Singapore, or China, or even Cuba.

Or that there are temporal dimensions to the development of Nations.

That, there are even more than one definition of liberalism.

Suffice to say, this is all we will say about this Nana Akufo-Addo speech at this time.

Again, thanks!
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Dear Prof. Lungu,

Good day.

I am waiting to read the subsequent ones. This ethnocentric nonsense must stop.

In fact, I believe whoever impersonated you impersonated me too in regard to the same article you reference ...
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Dear Prof. Lungu,

Good day.

I am waiting to read the subsequent ones. This ethnocentric nonsense must stop.

In fact, I believe whoever impersonated you impersonated me too in regard to the same article you referenced.

I however did not directly respond to the impersonator because he could have told me I was not the only person who had that name.

This impersonation happened to Kwesi Atta Sakyi last. That impersonator used Sakyi's name to insult Ewes, like he did with my name in the article you referenced to. This is a shame.

Let us wait and see what you have for us in the subsequent installments.

Have a great weekend!

Thanks.
francis kwarteng 10 years ago

Lungu let us live a life and disregard those so-called Akans or Asantes. I like to be more Fanti than Asante, even though I am partially Asante.

Lungu let us live a life and disregard those so-called Akans or Asantes. I like to be more Fanti than Asante, even though I am partially Asante.
FRANCIS KWARTENG 10 years ago

I believe you were the same person that impersonated me in the article Prof. Lungu referred, trying to pit me against by Ewe brothers and sisters on Ghanaweb.

Mind you, they know who I am and will not buy into your theatri ...
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I believe you were the same person that impersonated me in the article Prof. Lungu referred, trying to pit me against by Ewe brothers and sisters on Ghanaweb.

Mind you, they know who I am and will not buy into your theatrics. They know I am not ethnocentric and respect every ethnic group in Ghana/Africa.

And I don't write because I am Asante/Fante. What has that background got to do with George Washington, Alexante Hamilton, and the myriad names I mention in my articles.

I have quoted from Busia (Bono), Kofi Awoonor (Ewe), Danquah (Akyem), Ako Adjei and Tawiah Adamafio (Ga), Nkrumah (Nzema)...I try as much as possible to present the historical record. All that has nothing to do with me being Asante/Fante!

Don't come nad say I am not the only one that name, "Francis Kwarteng." Are part Asante, part Fante? Is the Asante part "Francis" and the Fante "Karteng"? Now you tell. If you claim to be as bold as I am, then use your real name!

Try to understand that my core readers come from all ethnic and cultural background.

I relate cordially to Andy-K, for instance, because he is one the most knowledgeable men I have come across. That has nothing to do with his ethnicity. The same way I relate to others of various ethnicities!
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

Don't worry, francis kwarteng.

It does not even take 15 minutes to validate the authenticity of a voice/moniker on Ghanaweb.

Certainly, not 24 hours.

Their problem is, people who defend the Kwame Nkrumah legacy are ...
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Don't worry, francis kwarteng.

It does not even take 15 minutes to validate the authenticity of a voice/moniker on Ghanaweb.

Certainly, not 24 hours.

Their problem is, people who defend the Kwame Nkrumah legacy are by definition not of that sorry and pathetic sort!

Peace!
Prof Lungu 10 years ago

Thanks!

Greetings!

Thanks!

Greetings!

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The Case of the Sophists and Useless Tribal Bigots (Part 1)

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