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20.08.2014 Rejoinder

REJOINDER- “Tamale Chief, Let's Have Sex And No Wars”-Justice Sarpong

By Abukari Ridwan
REJOINDER- Tamale Chief, Let's Have Sex And No Wars-Justice Sarpong
20.08.2014 LISTEN

The statement “Tamale Chief, Let's Have Sex And No Wars” was the title of a piece wrote by one Justice Sarpong and published on ghanaweb.web.com on August 19, 2014. It is not my character to respond to the views of people especially when expressed democratically. I do not also intend to glorify and to credit Sarpong with the cheap and undeserving attention that he is looking for. One of the cardinal tenets of democracy is free expression of the mind and as result; Sarpong has the constitutional right to air his views. It is also true that the fundamental purpose of a democratic society is a moral one, which political Scientists have come to agree on, and in expressing one's mind we should be mindful of the moral obligation imposed on us by democracy. Indeed, all the values, and for that matter the good of the society that a democratic society seeks to offer for its citizens are moral imperatives. This, I want Sarpong, and good readers of this rejoinder to see the angle I'm coming from.

In the said article, Sarpong could not phantom why the revered Chief of Tamale,Gulkpegu Naa Alhassan Abdulai would express displeasure on the silence of the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection, and wondered what was there to be investigated. I listen to the all interviews granted by the Chief to the media, through his spokesperson, and the crux of his concern was why a man would subject 'our mothers' thus the ladies in question to such a dehumanizing experience. It was and still is, this concern that triggered his taking on of state institutions including the Gender and Social Protection Ministry. Sarpong and his likes see no sense in the legitimate and moral concern being raised by the Chief.

The Chief also took on parents for serious dereliction of duty in imbibing good morals in their children. The issue of good parenting over the years has been a topical issue in our churches, mosques, schools and other platforms, and Sarpong would have a problem with the Chief commenting on good parenting in the so-called Tamale sex scandal.

With complete disregard for the authority of the Tamale Chief, Sarpong mocked at him and portrayed him as one thatbelongs to the medieval period. Nowhere has the chief said having sex with many women is a crime. What the Chief said for the education of Sarpong and his likes is that, it is Un- Ghanaian and alien to the custom and tradition of the people of the north to take nude pictures of people not to talk of having sex with women and takingvideo tapes of the act. Even in the 21st Century, it is rare to see dogs doing their own things in the full glare of the public, not to talk of recorded ones.

I believe that Sarpong comes from a tribe, and per the name, I can guess which part of the country he comes from, and I know with certainty that they have values, customs and traditions which he revers so much, and should have the courage as a democratic person to respect the way of life of others. Sarpong derogatorily made reference to the revered late Yaa Naa, and for one or two reason(s) I would not hit. However, it is better to legally marry forty wives and bring them to one's home than have more than forty girlfriends and concubines in town like some of our Chiefs, Pastors, Imams, do these days. It is also better to have more than forty wives legally, than sleep with one's own daughter and engaging in child-sex abuse that our churches are confronted with,forcing the Pope to continually apologize to victims of child sex abuse by some clergy. If I was to go into where Sarpong comes from and do a comprehensive analysis of his current overloard and past ones, he would be blaming himself for provoking such an analysis, but that is completely wrong and Un-Ghanaian.Ghanaians are trained as people with good morals and respect for the elderly and authority.

I expect men and women of pen and book, like Sarpong to appreciate the frustration of the Chief and do a thorough and dispassionate discourse of the entire so-called Tamale sex scandal, and the comments of the Tamale Chief and contribute positively to addressing the ills of our society. The young man at the center of the scandal is a university graduate and over ninety percent of the ladies in the tapes are also university and polytechnic graduates. What a very disheartening situation? For a parent to give forth to a child and educate him or her to the point of university, only for the child to agree to a 'sex partner' to take nude pictures of his/hers in a sexual act. And all that Sarpong and his likes could offer is to mock at a Chief for expressing a genuine concern in the sex tape brouhaha. Something is basically wrong with us!!

Sarpong (the cardinal of truth) is so excited to hazard a point that the ladies did not asked the pictures to be released for public consumption, which is true. It is however a truism, per the apology of the gentleman at the center of the scandal, that the ladies consented to the taking of the pictures.The simple question I want to ask Sarpong is, since he has a lot of information from the ladies, what was the motive behind taking those pictures and what future purposes were they meant to achieve? At nowhere in the Chief's concern has he said that the ladies in question would be sent to the village of Sarpong, this I think Sarpong should get it loud and clear!!!

In looking for a title for his article, Sarpong combed around all his vocabulary and could not escape the word war to paint Tamale a war zone. Tamale in recent times has experienced some isolated violence, but can Sarpong tell me which part of Ghana have we not have witnessed violence? On this issue of making Tamale a war zone, I would pause here and not be tempted to make certain comments and comparisons because of good readers. Indeed, I would end here with a simple advice to Sarpong to be aware that his right to the pen and tongue end at the tip of another person's own, and that if he is looking for a Chief to mock at(which is wrong and Un-Ghanaian) he should go to his village and get one and leave the Tamale Chief alone.

Abukari Ridwan
[email protected]

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