Is Vekle Dividing The Great Elephant Fraternity?

It's a bizarre title, isn't it? In my mind's eye I see you asking the meaning of 'vekle'. It was the same question I asked myself when I first heard the Ewe word from my octogenarian friend by name Efo Komla Ahiave.

Efo Komla is a man revered by everyone in my community. Our reverence for him is not only because of his old age, but also because he exudes wisdom. He is a political animal so I usually go to him to engage in political discourse and for some words of wisdom.

I was having my usual weekend morning nap last Saturday when my wife called to inform me that I had a visitor. My confusion was heightened when she said the visitor was an old man. 'Who could this be?' I wondered.

I quickly rushed to the sitting room to meet my visitor. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the visitor was no other than my good friend Efo Komla. For the two decades that I've known him, the man had never walked to my home. For him to do so at that age clearly shows that what brought him to my humble abode was very important to him.

After exchanging pleasantries and having it at the back of my mind that he loved proverbs, I addressed him thus: 'The rat does not come out of its hole for nothing. It is either it is being pursued or it is pursuing something. I hope all is well, Efo.'

He first gave out a hearty laugh before calming my nerves that all was well. He told me he decided to come to me so I would know the importance he attached to the matter at hand. His main reason for the visit was to tell me what he thought about the ongoing turbulence in the Great Elephant family. He attributed it to 'vekle'.

He explained to me that 'vekle' (pronounced vekley) is a strong spiritual charm used in creating confusion in an otherwise peaceful union, family or group. He explained further that the charm was commonly used in separating two lovers whose relationship did not meet the approval of either family.

He lamented the absence of Major Courage Quarshigah and said he had no doubt that the late Major would easily have uprooted and neutralised the efficacy of the charm if he had been alive. He explained that acknowledging the fact that one was under the influence of the charm was a great step in neutralising its effect. He therefore impressed upon me to use this column to echo his voice, which I obliged.

I'm not as superstitious as Efo Komla. But the more I ponder over the tsunami in the Osono camp, the more I become convinced of the efficacy of vekle. If not for vekle, why would Chairman Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong go to Kumasi without the knowledge of the regional chairman, a repeat of what they did in Bolgatanga which subsequently led to the acid-pouring episode?

The Kwabena I know is very calm and diplomatic even under pressure; he is not the Kwabena who would go on air and spit fire and brimstone. Kwabena the Press Secretary at the Presidency, who could handle very difficult situations with ease, has suddenly given way to a combative Kwabena who refuses to listen to the voice of reason. Could vekle be the hidden force behind it all?

I do not know if Otiko Hafisa Djaba, Osono's Women's Organiser, believes in the efficacy of vekle. But the call for a one-week fasting and prayer is definitely in the right direction. The country can simply not afford the disunity among the rank and file in the Osono family.

The government is clueless as dumsor continues unabated. Businesses are folding up, while many people continue to lose their sources of livelihood as a result of the incompetence of the government. The dollar and pound sterling also continue to sprint like Usain Bolt. The resultant effect is the suffering being endured by businesses and the country at large.

It is painful enough to endure such suffering. But it is more painful to see your potential political saviour engaged in self-destruction. The suffering masses will never forgive the leadership of the party if they persist in their self-destructive tendencies and fail to grab power from the incompetent Dead-Goat President and his cronies.

The Osono leadership had better heed good counsel and accommodate Chairman Afoko and Kwabena Agyepong. The impeachment option is going to be arduous, tortuous and disastrous. It is better to accommodate the two gentlemen and then neutralise them internally than go the impeachment way. For sure, the last thing we wish to see them do is carry their meat baskets long after the hunter's gun has blown up.

See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!

By Agya Kwaku Ogboro