President-elect, Nana Akufo-Addo
By Rockson Adofo
The Son of Man has no place to lay his head. However, Rockson Adofo counted himself a lucky person when he went to Ghana on a special mission. As one of the honest, dedicated and dynamic NPP supporters, he decided to proceed to Ghana to join other NPP faithful and sympathizers as well as the financially-strapped Ghanaians who yearned for a change in government, to campaign to bring Nana Akufo Addo and NPP to power.
Before going to Ghana I was not well. I had been taken ill for the last five months. I was a complete shadow of my former or normal self. My wife would rather not have me go to Ghana because of how I looked like a ghost (“osaman”). I had lost thirteen kilos in less than three months and looked shabby in my usual shirt and trousers sizes.
Nonetheless, I told her how could I stay back in London when it was the last and final attempt by my adorable incorruptible Nana Akufo Addo to secure the presidency?
Would I not feel guilty vis-à-vis the following two quotations if I had chosen not to go to Ghana to campaign alongside the teeming economically-suffering Ghanaians who were clamouring for a change in government?
“Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph”, said the Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. Mark Twain on the other hand said, “In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his course succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot".
I wanted to be seen when it mattered most and did not want to be a coward. I told my wife no amount of resistance from her could stop me from going despite her other concerns about my safety and security.
On the day of my departure to Ghana, she made me kneel down, prayed and committed my life, safety and security into the hands of the Almighty God.
When I landed at the Kotoka airport, within a few minutes, I noticed two problems of which I offered the two immigration officers attending to me a brilliant suggestion. I followed this up with a publication on Modernghana and Ghanaweb of which the following web link takes you to.
https://www.modernghana.com/news/738424/undesirable-problems-at-the-arrival-hall-of-kotoka-internati.html
While in Ghana, my brother-in-law, a lawyer by profession, was of great help to me. My aunt Julie and her children ensured I was properly fed because they wanted me to regain some of my lost weight before returning to the UK. My friend Joseph Baidoo’s sister, Angela Nkrumah, allowed me to use her laptop until my return to London.
One Kofi Basoah and my younger brother Kwaku Osei kept my company day in day out whenever I went to the Ashanti region. What about the two trusted Saviour Church of Ghana prophets who offered me immense spiritual assistance in times of need?
What about Fati, Nana Yaa, and the “Koko ne dokono wura” (the porridge and kenkey sellers) from whom I normally obtained my breakfast or at times my supper? Shall God richly bless all of them!
Unlike Jesus Christ who had power but could at times have no place to sleep and food to eat, I had all such things in great abundance so I say a big thank you to God and all the above mentioned persons.
As said by Julius Caesar, “vini, vidi, vici” meaning "I came, I saw, I conquered", so do I wish to tell Ghanaians that we all went to the polls hoping for a change in government and change have we obtained.
By spotting an existing problem at the airport and suggesting a solution with Nana Akufo Addo and NPP winning the election, I can confirm to my wife that my journey to Ghana was worthwhile.
All the “burgers” who came down to assist with Nana Akufo Addo and NPP’s successful election can proudly say, we came, we saw, we conquered.
