body-container-line-1
17.12.2014 Feature Article

Books And Development

Books And Development
17.12.2014 LISTEN

“Arthur K, I have called to ask you not to go ahead with the publication of your book”, my friend and lawyer on the end of the phone said. “Why ?” I asked. “Because they say it attacks many people in our party and will cost us the next election”, he replied firmly. “Have you read the book?” I asked. “No but they say it is bad”, he replied, his voice rising. “Did any of those people who spoke to you say whether they had read the book?” “No”, he replied candidly, “but I have been asked to call you.”

So, here was a well educated attorney, asking me not to publish a book he had not read and admitting that even those asking him to do so had not read the book. If you were wondering which book I am talking about, I deliberately withheld the name of the book. Whichever of my books you guessed, you would be correct. Indeed, those who honestly admitted not to have read them were the least of my problems.

There were those who made up stuff that was not in the books and started disseminating the lies. And these unfortunate tendencies were aided by some journalists who should have known better. In the US, it is claimed that if you wish to hide something from a black person, put it in a book! This is unfortunately true—we not only refuse to write--- we do not read much.

As Prof. Larry Gibson, the strategist who has helped elect two African Presidents and helped elect Clinton and Obama once told me, “Arthur, your big men have convictions without data!”

The truth is that books can and do change societies, for better or for worse. Ralph Nader's “Unsafe at Any Speed” and Alesandr Solzhenitsyn's “Gulag Archipelago” were books that transformed, not just nations but the world.

Today, I want to commend my friend Ben Ephson, for his dedication to research and to writing. I am anxiously awaiting a copy of his book on the 2012 election. He has been a pioneer in researching and chronicling our politics. I remember the day he made me a believer, in retrospect. It was a few weeks to the 2008 elections and I had been invited by the UCC Friday Club—together with him to discuss the 2008 elections. After our respective speeches and questions, we started talking. I asked him what he would do if he were running the NPP campaign. He responded that he would do 3 things—increase advertising to persuade voters in Greater Accra and Central region and then mount a vigorous turnout operation in Ashanti region.

I was surprised by his take on Ashanti. Upon inquiry, he responded that while the NPP would win Ashanti, the turnout would be below historic levels due to frustration with the Kufuor government and that would hurt the NPP. When I took his insights to the higher echelons of the campaign, it was dismissed. It is now generally accepted that another three hundred thousand people turning out in Ashanti might have given the NPP a one-touch victory in the 2008 election.

From this book, I would look for why people voted the way they did and what lessons can be learned. I wish that we could have more data on voting. For instance, who did young people vote for? Who did women vote for? Why did Nduom do so badly? Why do Ewes, born in Kumasi who have never been to the Volta Region support the NDC so disproportionately? Why is the NPP winning only two regions when it won six under Kuffuor?

Over the years, I have read many books with pleasure that have enriched my life immeasurably. Amongst these are biographies of Nkrumah, Mandela, Lincoln, FDR, Den Xiaoping, Lee Kwan Yew and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. In addition, historical books like “Lenin's Tomb”, “THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT” series by Theodore White and memoires by Nixon and Bush have been enlightening—as have speeches by Martin Luther King( I have a Dream), JFK's inaugural, Nkrumah's O.A.U. inaugural speech( required reading for every African) and Lincoln's second inaugural address. Even fictional books can enlighten so much. Think of Shakespeare's many books, Achebe's “Things Fall Apart” Cameron Duodu's “The Gab Boys” and Harper Lee's “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

Looking forward, it would be a blessing to read books on politics and elections by Mc Manu and General Mosquito, books on Governance and Leadership by Nana Atto Dadzie and Kojo Mpiani—as well as by Rawlings and Kufuor. Sam Okudzeto has a profound book in his mind and heart about “The Law and our Development”, while Kwaku Sakyi Addo, Yaw Boadu Ayeboafo or Alhaji Haruna Attah would be great writing about our history from a journalist's perspective. Next, Nana Akufo-Addo would render an immeasurable service with a biography of J.B. Danquah that will bring him to life as a major architect of our independence up to the moment he took his last breath in the prison of the nation he helped to found.

I belief that we should welcome and encourage writing, books, reflection and the very idea of ideas. I have been fascinated by books since I walked into that small Library of OKESS—it was the biggest library I had seen till then.

Till I draw my last breath, conscious of the millions of my fellow citizens and human beings who cannot read and write, I will forever be grateful to the illiterate mother who sent me to school and Ghana which gave me a world-class education for free—as well as to those who write so that I can read.

Finally, while we must vigorously engage with speeches and books we disagree with; we must steadfastly defend and encourage the idea of writing.

Let us move forward together.

Arthur Kobina Kennedy

body-container-line