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.

That was the beginning of his climb to stardom. Rawlings again supported him through the Swedru Declaration to be the flagbearer of the party when his term of office came to an end. 

Mills went to the polls and lost. Rawlings continued to support the man until he became the president that he is today.   

Rawlings has consistently told Ghanaians that Mills has refused to listen to any advice he gives him. As a man who founded his own party, what do you expect him to do in this situation? 

The man has reached the end of human endurance and has to fight back like a man pushed to the wall.

Rawlings' problem is that he has the strong weakness of frankness, and uses strong language in his attempt to be accurate.

That is why he has been labeled as a gadfly, bombastic and garrulous. In this case, he saw no reason why somebody he nurtured and groomed to be the President of Ghana should defy his orders and surround himself with “some characters” and “greedy bastards”. 

Rawlings has come to realize that with Mills and the New NDC, he is gradually losing his delusion of grandeur. Rawlings used to be afflicted by intimation of immortality and indispensability until things started to change with Mills in full control.

This most offensive use of language has threatened to question his motives and feelings. When he started using foul language against the late Dr. Hilla Limann, little did we know about his intension until he came storming on 31st December 1981. Mills may be sitting on tenterhooks.   

But why are the “bastards” silent? If they are not bastards let them talk. Or is it a matter of “don't mind him.  Who is greedier and a bastard than him”? 

I have always insisted that silence is golden, but as for this one, I am afraid it will not help the “bastards” if they chose to be silent.

At least one of Mills' men or women should come out to condemn the statement of Mr. Rawlings, to prove to the world that they are not bastards and greedy as Rawlings has made the world believe.

Unless, of course, they want to tell us they fear the wrath of the man noted for beating up anyone who dares challenge him in the party.      

What is the Council of Elders of the NDC doing to calm the storm? It seems they are also divided and do not want to help matters.

As for some of us who are sitting on the fence observing, we will not worry our heads over this impending disaster because if you go to your farm one day and see the eggs of a black cobra burnt into ashes, you only thank God for small mercies.

Who knows, if the eggs had hatched you could have been bitten by one of them some day. When the sea is rough, the fishes don't give a dime. Sayooo!!!