An Open Letter to Nana Dormaahene, Justice of the Court of Appeal

Nana,

Permit me to extend my warmest congratulations on your recent appointment as a Justice of the Court of Appeal. This is no small feat; it is a rare distinction that reflects not only personal accomplishment but also a broader national trust in your wisdom, integrity, and intellectual rigor. It affirms what many of us have long observed: that you are not only a custodian of tradition but also a man deeply grounded in the law, scholarship, and the pursuit of justice.

Your dual role as Dormaahene and as a learned appellate judge places you at a unique intersection of Ghana’s cultural heritage and its modern institutions. It signals to us that leadership is not singular but layered: one can serve as a steward of Akan tradition while simultaneously shaping Ghana’s jurisprudence. Indeed, this marriage of tradition and intellectualism holds profound promise for our nation’s development.

I have followed, with admiration, your bold forays into historical narration. At times, I reflect that diplomacy might soften the edges of some of these truths; yet, I concede that Nana knows far more than I do. What remains undeniable is that history matters, and by invoking it, you remind us of where we have come from and how memory shapes identity. Still, I humbly suggest that your powerful narratives could gain even greater traction if they were institutionalized.

Imagine, Nana, if you were to establish a Research Chair in Akan and Ghanaian Historical Studies at one of our universities. Such a chair, endowed and guided by your vision, could commission graduate students and researchers to rigorously investigate, document, and publish the historical accounts you so eloquently voice. This would ensure that our discourses on history move from the realm of public controversy into the pages of peer-reviewed journals, scholarly books, and classroom curricula. In so doing, the contest of memory becomes not a source of division, but a crucible for knowledge creation. The battles would no longer be fought in anger, but in libraries, seminar halls, and scholarly conferences.

Further, Nana, you have it within your grasp to leave behind a body of written works: books authored by yourself, that future generations may consult. To speak is powerful, but to write is immortal. As a judge you know that words recorded on paper carry the force of permanence; as a chief you know that tradition rests not only on orature but also on institutional memory. Ghana would be deeply enriched if your narrations were captured in print.

Your Majesty, we live in a time when culture, law, and science must all meet if we are to transform our society. By blending the jurisprudence of the appellate bench with the wisdom of Dormaa stool, you exemplify how intellectual discourse, culture, and governance can intersect for national development. You embody the possibility that tradition need not retreat before modernity but rather can refine and even inspire it.

It is in this spirit that I offer my humble congratulations and my equally humble challenge: to channel your intellect and authority into building enduring intellectual legacies for Ghana and for Akan culture. The peace of our land will be safeguarded when debates are fought in books and ideas, and not in conflict.

May your reign and your judicial service be long, wise, and fruitful.

With highest respect,

Dr. Enoch Ofosu

Research Fellow, University of Waterloo, Canada.

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