A Message From A Former Odikro, A Senior Semi-Citizen, A Very Experienced And A Politically Active Ghost.

Rejoinder to: Chief Lizard on the Stumps, by Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

Nana Asantehene,
His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II,
Manhyia Palace
Kumasi,
Republic of Ghana.
Your Majesty, Nana Otumfuo Osei Tutu II,

With all respect, please kindly permit us to use this occasion to wish you well. We humbly suppose that in an electoral season, where all the political parties are moving in and out of Kumasi and each paying homage to his majesty, who like a good father, has been receiving all and sundry, this must be obviously a heavy schedule season for the Manhyia Palace. We therefore wish that Nana gets enough time to rest and to be of good health and of the wisdom of which we are his majesty's new convert.

As a king of all Ashantis, regardless of their political hues, shades, and colour, they in turn regard you as their father, and rightly so, because you seem to exhibit the qualities of a good father. May the real Otumfuo, God almighty, the He that is, keep you safe from all the dangers of life, and bless you, and your household, amen!

Foremost on my mind is the fear that innocent people may be losing their lives in the aftermath of the impending elections. These fears have been heightened by the mounting tensions and unprofessional political swipes coming from both sides of the political divide, which do nothing to calm down an already precarious situation. Which is why we humbly submit that it is about time that some one who commands the respect that you do and the wisdom and focus that you have shown, would do your best to help in the civilisation of politics in Ghana.

Your majesty, it is our humble wish to propose for your consideration as a part of this initiative, the drafting of a national charter for the respect of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, which, we believe, could be fine-tuned to cover all citizens of Ghana, irrespective of party political affiliations, in order to bring to a halt an installation of a system of politically-motivated judicial vendetta remotely controlled by the Executive, regardless of which party is in power, before this becomes the order of the day, as it appears to be the case under the current government led by the NPP, a political party which, if we can go by their own claims as champoins of liberal democracy, are supposed to even know better.

Your Majesty, I am sure you would agree with me that such politically irresponsible acts, will do nothing to improve our system of justice, nor promote peace and progress of our country. This is why I profoundly agree with you. I believe that the more people from both sides of the political divide clamour for peace and support your initiative, the more both parties, the former President, Mr.Rawlings and President Kufuor, would narrow down their perspectives to a national consensus of geniune reconciliation, and a peace that will endure.

We are absolutely certain that all Ghanaians, including people like our own grandson, a certain charlatan who currently calls himself Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr. Ph.D., Associate Professor of English, Journalism and Creative Writing at Nassau Community College of the State University of New York, Garden City, whose latest civil-war propaganda tract against this noble initiative that has provoked this message, would also benefit from it, if you do indeed succeed.

Fortunately most Ghanaians already know people like that, who so far as they succeed in sabotaging such an initiative, any argument would do. These are the people that every peace-loving Ghanaian must watch first, if the noble initiative of Nana Otumfuo must be actively defended and supported by all peace-loving citizens of Ghana. We are all Ghanaians, not oil and water. The only common denominator here is peace and social progress. Very few Ghanaians are yearning for war. An overwhelming majority are for peace!

Your Majesty, we have not been a great fan of the Ex-President Rawlings, but we do agree with you that he, at least, conceded to the demands of the people without turning it into a civil war that we see surrounding and engulfing us, all over here in Africa. To sustain our little oasis of peace in Africa, we need to constantly pay attention to it, and take tender care of it. We need to attend to it with great circumspection and wisdom, qualities which Nana has so graciously made clear are not missing in his Majesty's very important and crucial national mission.

Nana, whilst wishing you all the best in your endeavours, please permit us, for the want of a better word on it, to ask you to ignore our grandson, Kwame Okoampa -Ahoofe, Jr., who considers your noble initiative as one of "those misguided Ghanaians who still believe that he [the Ex-President, Mr. Rawlings] bequeathed our country with an enviable democratic culture".

It is much too easy to dismiss this as simply an act of childish stupidity. We believe that is is about time that you came out very clearly and eloquently to the extreme right-wing fringes of the NPP such as my grandson about the indispensable national imperative to at least fail, trying to counter increasing messages such as "JUSTICE FOR AKANS not UNITY" and another one by a famous Julor Jato (JJ) Rawlings on Ghanaweb, who posts messages such as:

You Can't Mix Oil and Water !
"Otumfuo, please you can't mix crude oil with water, so please don't try this game at all.

It is never possible to turn a kuborlor into a gentleman and no gentleman will like to associate himself with a gangster.

Otumfuo,as overlord of the Ashantes, we know you command a lot of respect and we will not want this kuborlor to take undue advantage of your peaceful intent to show off his stupidity.

We all know that this Kuborlor has no respect for any Ghanaian because of his Ofiri Jato colour, so please leave alone and let him gloat in his idiotic lunacy.

This kuborlor of a Julor Jato Rawlings, is the first head of state of Maaaaame Ghana to be told by another former head of state(the great Yakubu Gowon of Nigeria)to learn to behave himself.

Please Nana Ashantehene, please stay away from this kuborlor.

He insults everyone including Archbishops,intellectuals,Nananom,Military Officers, and the whole of cape coasters.

Let him live with his stupidity !"

Author: Julor Jato (JJ) Rawlings
Date: 2008-11-07 11:14:10
Comment on I Will Unite JJ And JAK - Asantehene, Ghanaweb.com, General News of Friday, 7 November 2008.

We strongly believe that the Ex-President Rawlings has apoint: "The upcoming elections... not about whether one is an Ashanti, Akyem, Ewe, Fante or a Dagomba, but an opportunity for the electorate to show the NPP the inglorious exit into opposition, after mismanaging the affairs of the country in their almost eight years of governance."

The attempts by our grandson to malign you and Mr. Rawlings on this very important matter, is most unfortunate. We pray that your words act as a dart of light to pierce into his darkness, which like Dryden's Shadwell, admits no ray, and has never been known on any occassion, to have ever deviated into sense! Hence our entreaty to your Majesty to kindly ignore him. We wish to urge you on, and we believe that even if you failed, you would have done your best for the best interest of every Ghanaian.

It gives us so much pleasure that we can say thank you so sincerely. We do humbly avail our self of this opportunity to extend to you, and to your faithful and diligent subjects at the Manhyia Palace, and to the great Ashanti Kingdom, our heartfelt felicitations from our base here at Apedwa cemetary, and to express to you, your Majesty, the assurances of our highest esteem,

Nana Akyea Mensah,
The Odikro of Apedwa.

Post Scriptum:

Let the doubting Thomases take note and listen to the message of peace coming from the Otumfuo. This follows a series of spins led by the NPP friendly media to throw Mr. Rawlings in a bad light in the past week, during his trip in the Ashanti Region:

"He said as the former President, Mr.Rawlings set the country on the path of democracy when he agreed to introduce constitutional rule with the election of leaders through the ballot box, and subsequently handed over power peacefully to his successor after his term came to an end, adding that it was his duty to make sure that the democratic seed which he planted years ago yields the desired fruit. The Asantehene stressed that since the whole nation has embraced democracy as the best political option for governing this country, there was the need for all the political parties to conduct their activities within the confines of the law and avoid negative practices that have the tendency to plunge the nation into chaos and anarchy. "I have always maintained that the best way to secure the confidence of voters is to address the myriad of problems which confront us as a nation and tell the people what you can do to solve them when voted into power, and not use insults and intimidation."

Nana Asantehene, His Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II,
General News of Friday, 7 November 2008
I Will Unite JJ And JAK - Asantehene

Message to all Ghanaians:
YES, WE CAN!

We are happy to note, from across the country, prayers in the churches, mosques, radio messages, that we are not alone, and that we can already breathe into the lungs, the fresh air of yet another peaceful and democratic change of government pleasantly caressing our noses. We must remain vigilant and vocal, stand up and be counted in our nation's deperate hour of a very great need for change and social justice, to say no to elitism and to drugs, no to more of the same thing and busines as usual, and pigs-with-lipstick socially-exclusive property owning democracy. We take great consolation in the fact that the expiring date of the NPP, soon at the polls, shall be more overwhelmig than in 1951, when the Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, first delivered the body blow to this monster. This repeat of Obama-style change, is being awaited with increasing delight and sheer frenzy from here in my cemetary.

We are however not too much amused as regards the level of the needed public pressure on the NPP government to come out and properly help clear the air concerning disturbing allegations that the NPP is in bed with drug dealers. The fact that the Minister of the Interior, the Honourable Addo Kufour declined to a recent request for an interview, by the BBC West African Correspondent Mr. Will Ross, demonstrates once more, the opacity that has surrounded law enforcement and the administration of justice in respect of known, identified, and duly arrested suspects, caught red-handed in attempting to traffic drugs into the United States, at the Kotoka International Airport, Accra, and never prosecuted, set free to continue their normal activities of financing the party campaign efforts. All of them are of the Womens Wing of the Dzorwulu NPP, including the Treasurer of Dzorwulu NPP.

From what we hear about and see in the news about the fate of a narco-state the warning from Dr Kwesi Annig, Head, Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution Department (CPMRD) of the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), that the "very fabric" of Ghanaian society is under threat is more than just alarming. The BBC reports that :

"Every year, at least 50 tonnes of cocaine from Andean countries are transported through West Africa towards Europe, where they are worth $2bn (£1.3bn), according to the UN.

The problem is getting worse, the UN says, with seizures of drugs representing the "tip of the iceberg".

Ghana's politicians say they are determined to fight drug trafficking, but many question whether the political will exists in a society where corruption is a major problem, BBC West Africa correspondent Will Ross reports. "

The only good news that has come out of West Africa this week on the war on drugs came from Guinea Bisau but not yet Ghana. It is our chance to turn this tide at home, and to collectively escape the international stigma of citizens of a narco-state, with all the attendant dehumanising and humiliating experiences we would all be routinely and systematically be receiving at international airports because of a few drug-elite.

So far, everything shows that we also can.

May the peace of the Lord which passeth all understnading guide your hearts in the historic choices that you are soon going to be called upon to make.

Yes, we can! !! !! !! !! !

Nana Akyea Mensah,
An experienced and experimented ghost.
Apedwa, 2008-11-07 13:23:02