CHI (A) NAGirls’ Crocodylidae Tears

“Poor parents, poor homes, squalid surroundings. A good Samaritan … hands you a completely free senior high school…and you go on the offensive cursing the hand that fed you, in unprintable language including vulgar references to the neither parts of the human anatomy” - Kwesi Yankah (Kwatriot)

Daily Graphic 16 January, 2023
CHI (A) NA, close to Paga in the Kassena-Nankana District of the Upper East Region of Ghana, may not be as large as the country called Chine with a population 1,150 billion, but just take out the first letter (a) and you will find the two places sound alike. And some of the teenage girls look quite like the Chinese then you must have got struck by the vituperations by these “ntotofeewaa” (kids, teenagers, youth, youngsters, children), addressing the President (and his noble mother: Akufo Addo, wo maame… No! no!, no!. We would have liked to see, vividly, the public condemnation: from the teachers, the headmaster, the parents, the chief of the town, the DCE the MP of the area, etc. for these 8 girls bringing great opprobrium to the noble town. Noam Chomsky, the great political scientist thinks: “It is the responsibility of intellectuals to speak the truth and expose lies.”

And when the Ghana Education Service dismissed the girls, Child Rights Association “dared” the service for denying the girls their constitutional right (Article 25 of the 1992 Constitution). We thought “rights” go with “responsibility”.

Martin Akeleyira, father of one of the girls was “unhappy with the (GES) decision”. Martin explains that the whole conundrum erupted after gari and groundnuts their colleagues bought was thought to be exorbitant. “They weren't happy with the price and quantity and they started talking and insulting but we don't know who recorded the video because phones are not allowed in the school, so they probably took it to school on our blind side.”

And you could see the girls pleading – the body language, and the tears like the reptiles in the float of Crocodylidae inhabiting the pond in Paga. Then, as we waited in bated breath to see what the President would do, a press release signed by Kwesi Kwarteng of the Ministry of Education was published: “PRESIDENT INTERVENES IN DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST EIGHT (8) STUDENTS OF CHIANA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL: “The President of the Republic, H.E. Nana Addo Danquah (sic) Akuffo (sic) Addo has intervened in the above subject (matter?) after his attention was drawn to it. Consequently, the Minister of Education Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, has directed the Ghana Education (Service?) to consider an alternative disciplinary action instead” We thought we understood the truism in: “W'ano aba, a na wo nsa aba” (loosely translated: if your mouth goes loose, prepare for war) and that “akwadaa bo nnwa, na ommo akyekyedee (loosely translated: a child removes snails from their shells and not those of a tortoise)

Who would deny the impact of “Free SHS”? The school enrollment in Ghana being 881,600 in 2016 escalated to 1,261,125 in 2021. And we know the position of Nana Addo: “This process of expansion of educational opportunities has to be the bedrock of educational policy in the 21^st century for our nation if we are to make the rapid transformation of the social and economic lives, we all seek.” But do we continue to provide free tuition, free meals for both boarders and day students, free textbooks, free library fees, free boarding, free science laboratory, free examination and utility fees…. And government spends over GH¢3.6 billion on education alone, representing almost 20% of the budget, given our present economic circumstances?

Emeritus Professor Addae-Mensah, Ex – Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana, thinks the current financing regime is not sustainable and calls on cost-sharing between the government and “better endowed members of society.” He adds that “review” is not “abolishment” and that we should go the Caribbean and Latin American way where, those who can afford for all or part of their education do so, proceeds from which can then be used to support those who really are needy. At least, those who can afford it ought to pay for the feeding of their wards in boarding schools.

On the question of insults of our political leaders, we have a plethora of examples (of course, nowhere by secondary school – level students, and girls, for that matter). One may recall the insulting behaviour of the market women towards Dr. Abrefa Busia as he moved from his Odorkor residence to Accra. And a Legon student went and sat on the seat reserved for the Prime Minister, Dr. Busia pardoned him.

Rawlings was not spared the “politics of insult” in many of his “boom speeches”, he lashed at his own party's (NDC) “babies with sharp teeth”: referring to young men in the party who dared to challenge him with “biting” words: fingers (correctly or wrongly) pointed at Okudzeto Ablakwa, Kwakye Ofosu, Fifi Kwetey, Sammy Gyamfi…

In July, 2011, the Young Patriots (a youth wing of NPP) issued a statement deploring the “culture of lies, personal attacks, fabrications and swear campaigns against NPP leaders as a deliberate political campaign strategy of the NDC…(describing) NPP leaders as thieves, drug addicts, drug barons, fruit cakes, uncivilized, uncouth, perverts…” and warned that if these were not stopped, they would “retaliate” with equal venom. True to form, John Kumah, then a law student, went to Asempa FM and charged President Mills for homo-sexuality (naming a respectable male as his partner). The next time John Kumah was live on Hot FM, the security agencies pounced on him…President Mills promptly ordered his release because he was not “interested” in the case.

In the Presidential Election Petition, in 2013, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie (Sir John) was convicted for contempt, alleging that the panel of judges showed bias and that their families should plan their funerals. What did he mean by this? Justice Atuguba and the 9-member panel, in passing sentence on Sir John and Adorye (after vibrant pleas by Lawyer Ayikoi Otoo and NDC lawyer Chris Ackumey) on purging themselves…quoted Sir John had been attacked by “Gbeshie”. He pleaded leniency for Sir John as his birthday gift. Justice Atuguba asked repentant Sir John: “How do you feel? We will take your temperature level before judgment is passed…” Sir John replied: “Certainly, my Lord I'm humbled by this baptism of fire.” The Editor of the Searchlight was jailed ten (10) days for same offence, because his lawyer, Atta Akyea, had chosen a different approach.

Why would our children indulge in the politics of insults, character assassination, and unbridled show of disrespect, and the display of this on the social media. Can we blame the youth alone, and extricate ourselves (as adults) though the laws on defamation and label have been relaxed? We should not relent in our efforts to ensure that we play our politics clean. Charity, they say, begins at home but certainly, does not end there. Remember Rwanda – the pogrom that resulted in the death of a million people started when a Hutu sat on radio and repeated Leon Mugesera's call on Tutsis as “cockroaches” who should go back to their original country, Ethiopia. Have we protested loud enough?

Africanus Owusu-Ansah
[email protected]