Kpegah`s timorous letter to Kofi Coomson over Togbe Afede (part 2)
By Ghanaian Chronicle - Ghanaian ChronicleOpinion Blogs | Tue, 30 Jun 2009
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26
. I must emphasis that I am a detribalized individual and do not care when Voltarians are referred to as "Ghanaians by plebiscite" by our brothers and sisters from other tribes. Ashantis, for example, are among my most trusted friends; the late Asantehene Otumfuo Opoku Ware II was my personal friend so also was his son Nana Adusei Poku, the Akyempimhene and Oheneba Arnold Prempeh, son of the late Sir Osei Agyemang- Prempeh II. Others like Nana Akwasi Agyemang and Rt. Rev. Archbishop T.K. Mensah of Kumasi come to complete the list.
27.
I think I have to explain to you personally, your "secret mentors" and the reading public why the Volta Region has become the bastion of the N.D. C (World Bank) and the danger in your mentors taking this for granted and hoping that they can continue to freely target Voltarians for systematic elimination as they did under the regime of Ex-President Rawlings which we felt could protect us. They must have an enormous capacity for self-deception if they feel they can do so this time; it will be at the risk of support for the N.D.C, the party they claim to love so much. 28.
We Ewes are fully aware that we are a minority tribe in Ghana and that there is no love lost between us and those who consider themselves as the majority tribe.
29.
During the transition from the PNDC government to the N.D.C government under the 1992 Constitution, we started hearing across the country, very tribalistic political slogans like:
"YE gye yEn mman, YE gye yEn nua baa, Akonta bEsi fom."
30.
Naturally, we felt we needed security and would have it under the N.D.C whose flag bearer then was ex-president J.J. Rawlings; only to be disappointed as key Ewes were gradually targeted and "eliminated by the so-called midnight advisors who, having succeeded in putting themselves in influential positions, made sure he never knew the facts on the ground; but only the untruths they peddled to him.
31.
As I said earlier, we Ewes are fully conscious of the fact that we are a minority tribe in Ghana and that there is no love lost between us and some of those who feel they belong to the majority tribe and therefore Ghana belongs to them; the situation became more terrifying when, as earlier pointed out, hostile political slogans like: Ye gye yen mman, Ye gye yen nua baa, Akonta besi f:J m" were emanating from some Regions.
Do I have to remind you of the equally derogatory remark of "Voltarians being "Ghanaians by plebiscite"? Not to mention the earlier infamous and shameful insult of Ewes by the late Victor Owusu, a former Attorney - General and a politician that "Ewes are inward looking".
32.
Aside from all these scenarios, the late Lawyer Obeng Manu, and if my memory serves me well, at the suit of the late Dr. Bilson, a medical practitioner cum politician, actually issued a writ in the High Court, Accra, against Ex-President J.J. Rawlings, a citizen of Volt a Region, that he was not qualified to be president of Ghana because he was not a Ghanaian. The action was of course dismissed.
33.
Lest you regard this letter as a mere Pro-Ewe Propaganda, which you and your mentors are likely to do, I must say that I did not set out to discuss what Volta Region has always meant to the N.D.C. I bring this up as a small example so that we may not add unnecessary conflict in these early days when the N. D. C has come back to power and is expected to be counselled by all who are competent and dedicated to solve the many problems of the good people of Ghana. This is certainly not the time to indulge in any surresptitious undermining which can easily lead to a serious "implosion" in the N.D.C family. Is this too much to ask of a true and dedicated N.D.C member?
34.
The voting pattern in the Region is always mis- interpreted as due to the tribalistic tendencies of the Ewes. As an individual, I do not think ethnicity is inherently bad since the good book teaches us that God made us in his own image.
I therefore hold the view that as Ghanaians, we should emphasise and celebrate our diverse cultures and differences rather than let them divide us. I do not think there is a group which can claim to be the ARYAN tribe with blue blood in this country.
35.
Even in a regime under which Voltarians felt they would be safe, the POWER BROKERS craftily targeted for elimination almost any Voltarian of substance in the then N.D.C government. I will only mention my own case in which a false article, full of venom, about me was planted in the Chronicle with your connivance because your mentors thought I was a threat to their "country man" - Chief Justice I.K. Abban. This article was in the Vol. 5 No. 537 - Wednesday 6th -Thursday 7th August, 1997.
36.
The article started thus: "CHRONICLE Intelligence has picked up a complex plan to replace the wizened old man of Parliament, Mr. Justice Daniel F. Annan, with the man whose cold but comely features and performance has dragged public confidence in the Judiciary to an all time low, Mr. Justice I. K. Abban, the Chief Justice of Ghana".
37.
The said libelous article continued: "But worse still for the people of Ghana, the man whose views on civil liberties and personal freedoms are as anachronistic and retrograde as they are fiendish and dangerous, is on line to be made the Chief Justice Kpegah (SIC). Mr. Justice Kpegah shared the same chambers with the embattled Minister of Justice Dr. Obed Asamoah in Ho and are ideological soul mates."
38.
You put my picture and that of the late Chief Justice I.K. Abban on the front page under the said article. Under the picture of the late Chief Justice I.K.Abban was the following tribute: "Resisting subliminal pressure to bow out".
39.
Under my picture was a dirge; "F.Y. Kpegah as C.J. "Will the last person to leave Ghana please turn off the lights!"
40.
The implication of your story was that I and Dr. Obed Asamoah were involved in a conspiracy with some unknown people in the Castle, possibly Ex- President J.J. Rawlings, the appointing authority then, to remove Justice I.K Abban as Chief Justice.
If there was any FANTE CAUCUS involved in it was in the Castle; the very seat of government. Any Supreme Court judge who knows his constitution cannot resist the president's undoubted power to appoint a C.J. in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of parliament.
41.
When the Chronicle hit the news stands, several people called and they were "unanimous in advising": "Justice Kpegah, ignore Kofi Coomson in dignified silence. Continued
Source: Ghanaian Chronicle - Ghanaian Chronicle
. I must emphasis that I am a detribalized individual and do not care when Voltarians are referred to as "Ghanaians by plebiscite" by our brothers and sisters from other tribes. Ashantis, for example, are among my most trusted friends; the late Asantehene Otumfuo Opoku Ware II was my personal friend so also was his son Nana Adusei Poku, the Akyempimhene and Oheneba Arnold Prempeh, son of the late Sir Osei Agyemang- Prempeh II. Others like Nana Akwasi Agyemang and Rt. Rev. Archbishop T.K. Mensah of Kumasi come to complete the list.
27.
I think I have to explain to you personally, your "secret mentors" and the reading public why the Volta Region has become the bastion of the N.D. C (World Bank) and the danger in your mentors taking this for granted and hoping that they can continue to freely target Voltarians for systematic elimination as they did under the regime of Ex-President Rawlings which we felt could protect us. They must have an enormous capacity for self-deception if they feel they can do so this time; it will be at the risk of support for the N.D.C, the party they claim to love so much. 28.
We Ewes are fully aware that we are a minority tribe in Ghana and that there is no love lost between us and those who consider themselves as the majority tribe.
29.
During the transition from the PNDC government to the N.D.C government under the 1992 Constitution, we started hearing across the country, very tribalistic political slogans like:
"YE gye yEn mman, YE gye yEn nua baa, Akonta bEsi fom."
30.
Naturally, we felt we needed security and would have it under the N.D.C whose flag bearer then was ex-president J.J. Rawlings; only to be disappointed as key Ewes were gradually targeted and "eliminated by the so-called midnight advisors who, having succeeded in putting themselves in influential positions, made sure he never knew the facts on the ground; but only the untruths they peddled to him.
31.
As I said earlier, we Ewes are fully conscious of the fact that we are a minority tribe in Ghana and that there is no love lost between us and some of those who feel they belong to the majority tribe and therefore Ghana belongs to them; the situation became more terrifying when, as earlier pointed out, hostile political slogans like: Ye gye yen mman, Ye gye yen nua baa, Akonta besi f:J m" were emanating from some Regions.
Do I have to remind you of the equally derogatory remark of "Voltarians being "Ghanaians by plebiscite"? Not to mention the earlier infamous and shameful insult of Ewes by the late Victor Owusu, a former Attorney - General and a politician that "Ewes are inward looking".
32.
Aside from all these scenarios, the late Lawyer Obeng Manu, and if my memory serves me well, at the suit of the late Dr. Bilson, a medical practitioner cum politician, actually issued a writ in the High Court, Accra, against Ex-President J.J. Rawlings, a citizen of Volt a Region, that he was not qualified to be president of Ghana because he was not a Ghanaian. The action was of course dismissed.
33.
Lest you regard this letter as a mere Pro-Ewe Propaganda, which you and your mentors are likely to do, I must say that I did not set out to discuss what Volta Region has always meant to the N.D.C. I bring this up as a small example so that we may not add unnecessary conflict in these early days when the N. D. C has come back to power and is expected to be counselled by all who are competent and dedicated to solve the many problems of the good people of Ghana. This is certainly not the time to indulge in any surresptitious undermining which can easily lead to a serious "implosion" in the N.D.C family. Is this too much to ask of a true and dedicated N.D.C member?
34.
The voting pattern in the Region is always mis- interpreted as due to the tribalistic tendencies of the Ewes. As an individual, I do not think ethnicity is inherently bad since the good book teaches us that God made us in his own image.
I therefore hold the view that as Ghanaians, we should emphasise and celebrate our diverse cultures and differences rather than let them divide us. I do not think there is a group which can claim to be the ARYAN tribe with blue blood in this country.
35.
Even in a regime under which Voltarians felt they would be safe, the POWER BROKERS craftily targeted for elimination almost any Voltarian of substance in the then N.D.C government. I will only mention my own case in which a false article, full of venom, about me was planted in the Chronicle with your connivance because your mentors thought I was a threat to their "country man" - Chief Justice I.K. Abban. This article was in the Vol. 5 No. 537 - Wednesday 6th -Thursday 7th August, 1997.
36.
The article started thus: "CHRONICLE Intelligence has picked up a complex plan to replace the wizened old man of Parliament, Mr. Justice Daniel F. Annan, with the man whose cold but comely features and performance has dragged public confidence in the Judiciary to an all time low, Mr. Justice I. K. Abban, the Chief Justice of Ghana".
37.
The said libelous article continued: "But worse still for the people of Ghana, the man whose views on civil liberties and personal freedoms are as anachronistic and retrograde as they are fiendish and dangerous, is on line to be made the Chief Justice Kpegah (SIC). Mr. Justice Kpegah shared the same chambers with the embattled Minister of Justice Dr. Obed Asamoah in Ho and are ideological soul mates."
38.
You put my picture and that of the late Chief Justice I.K. Abban on the front page under the said article. Under the picture of the late Chief Justice I.K.Abban was the following tribute: "Resisting subliminal pressure to bow out".
39.
Under my picture was a dirge; "F.Y. Kpegah as C.J. "Will the last person to leave Ghana please turn off the lights!"
40.
The implication of your story was that I and Dr. Obed Asamoah were involved in a conspiracy with some unknown people in the Castle, possibly Ex- President J.J. Rawlings, the appointing authority then, to remove Justice I.K Abban as Chief Justice.
If there was any FANTE CAUCUS involved in it was in the Castle; the very seat of government. Any Supreme Court judge who knows his constitution cannot resist the president's undoubted power to appoint a C.J. in consultation with the Council of State and with the approval of parliament.
41.
When the Chronicle hit the news stands, several people called and they were "unanimous in advising": "Justice Kpegah, ignore Kofi Coomson in dignified silence. Continued
Comments To This Article
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Wise up. Tribes won't help Ghana
LAAS | Suhum-Ghana (Sweden) | 7/13/2009 12:59:00 PM
This is one of the reasons why Africa is still considered backward. We tend to cling onto our little insignificant tribes and ethnicity and fight each other instead of uniting to fight hunger and poverty.Something has been written about a chief and we have a whole former chief justice spending time to write to defend him instead of thinking about how to improve infrastructure in the country. Even presidents Obama and Bush are sometimes insulted and ridiculed even though they are the most powerful men in the world how much more a mere paramount chief? I am in no defending the Chronicle what I am saying is that politics is a very dirty game in deed and once the King has decided to partake in it then he must be prepared to accept the games that are played in it. He cannot eat his cake and have it again.
It will serve him best if he stays out of politics but once he decides to leave his traditional role and become a politician then he must be prepared to dance to the tunes and rhythms of the game.
I admire the King very much but his involvement in politics will not be in his interest and those of his people who will not like their King to be insulted.
