Okyehene Gets Seventy-Two Lizards of Galamsey

“The Okyehene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panyin II has broken his silence over allegations linking him to galamsey operations in his area. A member of the Asona royal family of Kyebi, Odehye Nana Adjei Boateng who claimed the Okyehene backed the illegal mining he publicly denounced has a fine hanging around his neck. The Okyeman Council had imposed a fine of 72 sheep and 36 crates of schnapps on Odehye Kwame Boateng… But the Okyehene has only been having a laugh at the development. 'Recently in the news, you've heard my name all over the place that the Okyehene is involved in galamsey, and I laugh...I think if I want to do mining, anybody can't stop me…why will I go and hide to steal my own property?'” (Ghanaweb Dec 1, 2011)


Our eternal chiefs/Kings
The Nanas of oppression
Hostages of the past
Swaggering on myths
Seductive past narratives
Of evocative declarations
Of power-driven trips
Of psychic allies of the gods
The deadwoods of culture
Pompous troubadours
Of erstwhile, static culture
Of power-drunk decisions
Of sterile birthrights
Of anathema to progress

Ah! Odehye Boateng said it
Ah! Asona Prince of Kyebi
Has said it all and for all
Galamsey is a bane
Galamsey is destroying all
Destroying farmlands
Destroying riverbeds
Destroying watersheds
Destroying burial sites
Destroying forests
Yet Okyehene is silent

Ah! Seventy-two lizards
Adorned in galamsey
Galamsey's colors of gold
Fit for the Okyehene
For tolerating galamsey
Galamsey is a bane to all
A bane to Great Okyeman
Yes, Okyehene ISN'T involved
Okyehene's hand is not in it
His royal hand is not in it
But Okyehene is the culprit
Okyehene is the royal cause
The cause of galamsey
Okyehene must not sit by
Sit by &laugh at galamsey
Okyehene must not sit by
His silence is galamsey
His passivity is galamsey
His laughter is galamsey
His inaction is galamsey
His apathy is galamsey
His lethargy is galamsey
His docility is galamsey

Let us all pay the fines
Pay on behalf of Boateng
Yes, for Odehye Boateng
Poise the fines like petals
Ah! Seventy-two lizards
Dancing in the Akyem forest
Ah! Thirty-six crates of water
Fetched from the Birim River
Poisonous Birim Schnapps
Let us pay the fines
To the Great Okyehene
Pay it on behalf of all
To the besieged Birim
To the badgered forest
To the battered farmlands
To the beleaguered burial sites

The Okyehene laughs
Nana likes to laugh
Laughs at galamsey
Laughs with Galamseys
His potion of solution
Solution to galamsey
Solution to illegal mining
Okyehene is laughing
Laughing at it all
At the Birim River
Besieged Birim
Badgered forest
Battered farmlands
Beleaguered burial sites

The Okyehene
Mighty Okyehene
Custodian of the Birim
Drinks from the Birim
But Okyehene is laughing
Our eternal chiefs/Kings
The Nanas of oppression
Hostages of the past
Swaggering on myths
Seductive past narratives
Of evocative declarations
Of power-driven trips
Of psychic allies of the gods
The deadwoods of culture
Pompous troubadours
Of erstwhile, static culture
Of power-drunk decisions
Of sterile birthrights
Of anathema to progress

*Akadu N. Mensema, Ph. D., is a nationalist Denkyira beauty. She is a trained oral historian cum sociologist and Professor in the USA. She lives in Pennsylvania with her great mentor and teaches Africa-area studies at a college in Maryland. In her pastime, she writes what critics have called “populist hyperbolic, satirical” poetry. She can be reached at [email protected]