The souls of 44 Ghanaians - Who butchered them alive?

Ghanaman is a restless creature. You can find Koo Nimo alias Kofi Abdulai in Las Palmas earning a living as a tug-mate on a fishing vessel.

You will be surprised to find that the chief-cook on the same vessel is none other than a fellow native of Sikaman, called Kwame Nyante alias Oogo Moro.

Oogo has become a chief-cook not by default. Way back in his village, he had been a chief-steward in his own home, specialising in the preparation of cocoyam pottage. The recipe normally included the grasscutter or its bow-legged first cousin, okusie, which is either marinated or smoked, in addition to wild mushrooms.

Oogo's new-found vocation in Las Palmas as a cook is only the application of his native wisdom in culinary matters to his new sea-faring environment. Getting a job on a fishing vessel needs a lot of brawn, precisely the macho physique. Otherwise, you had to be a cook or pantry-hand.

It is all too known that when Ghanaman is out there in the cold, he is more than possessed with the spirit of his homeland.

He has left his family and loved ones to look for 'cashito'. There is no room for failure! He must strike gold or return no more to his kith and kin.

Isn't it also known that Ghanaman is the only West-African who has been able to live in the white man's land for 20 years without even a passport, much more a residence permit? It isn't an allusion to Ghanaman being a criminal. The fact simply is that the Ghanaian knows his way about. He uses brain-matter. The average Ghanaian is a genius.
All over the world, a Ghanaian is resident. The good thing about Ghanaians sojourning abroad is that they cause very little trouble. They don't want to wake up the next morning and see a signboard that reads 'Kotoka International Airport'. To be deported is worse than putting a noose around your poor neck.

Go to Alaska! The cold is biting and the place is barely habitable; but a Ghanaian is there hustling it out. Ask him why and he'll tell you that the earth is the Lord's; it is for no man. Halleluyah! Go to Greenland and find to your surprise Yaw Manu alias Wofa Yaw.

Wofa Yaw will tell you that he was nearly misled by his belief in the matrilineal system of inheritance. In any case, his only uncle did not own even a common rooster, not a guinea-fowl. His story behind his relocation to Greenland is only between him and his God.

But Greenland is too far off. Ghanaians are all over Africa. Some are in transit in various countries waiting for an opportunity to scale over to Europe or where their star can direct them. Some start from Ghana through Burkina Faso and wind up in the desert to Libya. When they get caught, they are locked away. If they commit crime, they are executed. End of a life-history.

Ghanaians often end in Guinea and practise herbal medicine before getting to Mauritania and changing faith from born-again Christianity to die-hard Islam in order to survive. When you see a born-Presbyterian reciting the Koran with fervour, you'll be impressed.

Some Ghanaians use Gambia as transit for their green-pasturing adventures. In Gambia, Ghanaians are known to be law-abiding and working alongside their Gambian counterparts to scrape a modest living. The •Ghanaian is like the cockroach, surviving in every environment. That is his only sin in this miserable world.

The problem with the Gambia is that, the country has a very unusual character as its leader. Unusual in the sense that he takes very strange decisions when it comes to any real, perceived or imagined threat to his position as head-of-state or president, which ever he is.

So for him to quickly order the execution of 44 Ghanaians for allegedly plotting to overthrow him, but with no ready proof of their complicity, shows the strangeness of the man's character.

Equally strange is the way the world is being charitable to Yahya Jammeh for his crimes against humanity. His own people tell harrowing tales of how they live under this man who has no regard for human lives. When Yahaya Jammeh descends on you, better say your last prayers.

If Gambians choose to live under such a heartless leader, that is their business. But the truth is that the souls of those 44 Ghanaians slaughtered in such senseless manner, cannot rest until Jammeh is brought to book to answer for his actions.

I personally find it a bit remiss on the part of Ghana to have become too quiet over the issue. I understand it from the diplomatic point of view, but when as many as 44 of your nationals have been butchered like cowleg, diplomacy must for once take a back-bench.

Ghanaians are not saying Jammeh is guilty of killing 44 Ghanaians. What they are saying is that, he is a prime suspect. And so long as he deserves a fair hearing, he should be put to trial to defend himself. It is only then that this matter will end peacefully.

I guess the world order is changing and dictators can no longer have their way. The days of Idi Amin who even went haywire to declare himself lord over the British empire are over.

It the likes of Yahya Jammeh are not nipped in the bud early, their megalomania will continue to destroy his people •and other nationals. Where is Yahya Jammeh anyway?

And why won't Paul Blya of Cameroun just quit for peace to reign?