The Founder's Fury And The Bastards' Silence
If it was Kofi Wayo who used certain words in Rawlings' speech quoted above, I would not have worried my head over anything.
Kofi Wayo uses filthy words like, “bullshit”, “mother fucker”, “God damn”, “fuck shit”, “fuck you”, etc. What he learnt from America, where he once sojourned, is what he has been spewing out to Ghanaians.
One can forgive him because the slaves in America used these words out of frustration.
That is why their descendants still use them. The other day, whiles addressing chiefs and people of Nsawkaw in the Brong Ahafo Region where he went to donate some cutlasses to the people for voting for the NDC, he begun this way: “Menuanum, papanum, mamanum, wofanum Nananum and all the God damn nums”.
The people laughed and clapped because they did not know he was insulting them.
This Wayo man sometimes helps us release tension in this austere period through such jokes.
But when a man like the former Head of State and the founder of the NDC, a man who ruled this country for nineteen years, mentions such words in his speech, we need to consult our dictionaries.
I must confess that I seldom consult my dictionaries (and I have a lot of them) because I have enough vocabulary in my arsenal to deal with any topic that I intend to deal with.
The other time when Rawlings referred to Mills' ministers as “mediocre and some characters”, hell nearly broke lose.
On that day, I quickly went for my dusty Concise Oxford Dictionary and hear what the dictionary says: “Of only moderate and average quality”.
If really what Rawlings is telling us is true, then we the people of this country are the losers. If we have fine brains in the system, and mediocre ministers and some characters are in control of affairs, then God save our homeland Ghana.
What prompted me to write this piece is the use of “greedy bastards” to describe some men and women in Mills' government.
And so for the second time, I was forced by Mr. Rawlings to go for my Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary in order to find the meaning of the words used.
I first looked for “bastard”, and this was what my lexicon said; “An illegitimate child. “Something that is spurious, irregular, inferior”. Ah?
So some of Mills' people are illegitimate children? We never knew until Rawlings told us so.
This is very serious indeed. If you dare tell a Moshie man from Burkina Faso (Land of Dignity) that he is a “tampiri' (bastard), your days on earth are numbered. You will never see peace unless you unconditionally apologize to the man.
Sometimes one is forced to move in sympathy with Rawlings when he uses such words. The man is angry, and he deserves to be. Look at the scenario:
A certain man was working at the University of Ghana as a Law Lecturer. He did not have any political ambition as he went about teaching his students over there at the Ivory Tower.
The chance came knocking on his door when Arkaah rebelled and stormed away, leaving behind a vacant seat to be occupied by who ever cares to occupy the seat.
Rawlings looked around to find another Fante to be his Vice President in order not to incur the displeasure of the Fantes, and his eagle eyes fell on Professor Mills. Continued
Kofi Wayo uses filthy words like, “bullshit”, “mother fucker”, “God damn”, “fuck shit”, “fuck you”, etc. What he learnt from America, where he once sojourned, is what he has been spewing out to Ghanaians.
One can forgive him because the slaves in America used these words out of frustration.
That is why their descendants still use them. The other day, whiles addressing chiefs and people of Nsawkaw in the Brong Ahafo Region where he went to donate some cutlasses to the people for voting for the NDC, he begun this way: “Menuanum, papanum, mamanum, wofanum Nananum and all the God damn nums”.
The people laughed and clapped because they did not know he was insulting them.
This Wayo man sometimes helps us release tension in this austere period through such jokes.
But when a man like the former Head of State and the founder of the NDC, a man who ruled this country for nineteen years, mentions such words in his speech, we need to consult our dictionaries.
I must confess that I seldom consult my dictionaries (and I have a lot of them) because I have enough vocabulary in my arsenal to deal with any topic that I intend to deal with.
The other time when Rawlings referred to Mills' ministers as “mediocre and some characters”, hell nearly broke lose.
On that day, I quickly went for my dusty Concise Oxford Dictionary and hear what the dictionary says: “Of only moderate and average quality”.
If really what Rawlings is telling us is true, then we the people of this country are the losers. If we have fine brains in the system, and mediocre ministers and some characters are in control of affairs, then God save our homeland Ghana.
What prompted me to write this piece is the use of “greedy bastards” to describe some men and women in Mills' government.
And so for the second time, I was forced by Mr. Rawlings to go for my Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary in order to find the meaning of the words used.
I first looked for “bastard”, and this was what my lexicon said; “An illegitimate child. “Something that is spurious, irregular, inferior”. Ah?
So some of Mills' people are illegitimate children? We never knew until Rawlings told us so.
This is very serious indeed. If you dare tell a Moshie man from Burkina Faso (Land of Dignity) that he is a “tampiri' (bastard), your days on earth are numbered. You will never see peace unless you unconditionally apologize to the man.
Sometimes one is forced to move in sympathy with Rawlings when he uses such words. The man is angry, and he deserves to be. Look at the scenario:
A certain man was working at the University of Ghana as a Law Lecturer. He did not have any political ambition as he went about teaching his students over there at the Ivory Tower.
The chance came knocking on his door when Arkaah rebelled and stormed away, leaving behind a vacant seat to be occupied by who ever cares to occupy the seat.
Rawlings looked around to find another Fante to be his Vice President in order not to incur the displeasure of the Fantes, and his eagle eyes fell on Professor Mills. Continued
