The Stories yet Untold

Ayi Kwei Armah is arguably the most famous and well-read Ghanaian novelist. We love and appreciated his art because, he spoke for us. He spoke our minds. He brought out the gossips that have lingered in our chambers, barbering shops, hair-dressing saloons and of course, Makola market. He spoke boldly and succinctly. His themes were our own observations of a Ghana and an Africa we knew so well in history and in personal lives. His period however, was locked up in the casket of a deaf century. I guess by now, we all know the famous stories of The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born and my personal favorite, Two Thousand Seasons.

After him, many writers attempted telling our stories and mysteries through the novel. In my opinion, however, none is a-par with Ayi Kwei Armah's sharpness of tongue, fearlessness and quintessence. Then in the twenty-first century another fearless writer emerges to remind us of recent histories of shrouded political and religious murders, high-place thievery, kayayo, child prostitution, gonzo journalism, tricky and vicious politicians and their bolder good oppositions. This he is doing with the sharpness of a two-edged sword and the mastery of ancestral griots.

He is a calm fellow but writes like an angry lion. He talks less, observes keenly and describes with precision. Just look at this description:

A large hurricane lamp placed on top of a dwarf table lit the room generously. In one corner was a sideboard on top of which was an assortment of items arranged to impress. There was a large thermos-flask, a white plastic tray with six large beer jugs covered with a transparent white linen and a glass bowl full of cutlery; there was also a medium-sized radio cassette player and a stack of cassettes. Inside the sideboard were neat rows of Lux, Imperial Leather, Sunlight and Fa toilet soap, four tins of Exeter corned beef, about six tins of canned Geisha mackerel and a box of cube sugar among other items. They were for showmanship only; not for use. (2012:102)

He is funny and serious at the same time. He is scientific, technological, artistry and political at the same time. Observe this other description:

In their sedentary positions, they produce such a stupendous amount of flatulence that the whole market was engulfed in a lethal fume of methane. A young daredevil electrical engineer from Accra Polytechnic once suggested that, given the necessary support, he could generate enough electricity from Makola's flatulence to power half of Accra. (2011)

He published only two novels but I know there are much more in his closet. His other novel Taboo (2012) is almost a house-hold name as it tackles a very familiar but mysterious issue: the ritual murder of women prior to the 2000 general elections in Ghana. There was lots of noise with one political party blaming the other for the murder but when one party won the elections, no investigations were made to ascertain the veracity of the phenomenon. As at 2014, we still do not know the identity of the murdered women and/or their families. We also do not know who the probable culprits are. Our silence on the issue after the elections was as loud as a monastery at mid-night. Embedded in this novel are many subplots of fake Pentecostal pastors, the saga of a Catholic priest with uncontrollable libido, religious clashes and illicit sex e.t.c. At the end, he says “Taboo is not the story. It is only an idle gossip and wild fantasy about the real story. The mystery continues. The real story is yet to be told.” Yes indeed. But who will tell that real story and when shall that be?

His first novel tackles the all-glaring issue of the north-south exodus coupled with all its unpleasant realities of kayayo, child prostitution, political exterminations, institutionalized corruption, robbery, ɖumsɔ –load shedding, open-air defecation in Accra, speaking in self-constructed tongues by some Pentecostals, the unstoppable noises by churches, and the effort of a good few like James Morgan, an investigative journalist. It is history and current affairs mixed up in a beautiful tapestry of the real Ghana devoid of all propaganda and pretense.

Literature is seen, in our parts, to belong to a chosen few to read and enjoy. Some people say the language used is usually sophisticated and elitist. So difficult it is that an Oxford dictionary is their only savior and since they cannot afford it, they abandoned the whole idea of appreciating literary truth and beauty. This writer's language is as simple and down-to-earth that a learner of English language in Ghana can read and comprehend with ease. Descriptions are in-depth for a any stranger to Ghana to picture. The historical events and contemporary issues are lucidly true as the front page of a newspaper.

What Ayi Kwei Armah did (and is still doing) for Ghanaian literature is what Mawuli Adzei is doing in a more forceful and bold way. Dr. Mawuli Adjei's (who writes under the pen-name Mawuli Adzei) creative career started in Keta Secondary School. He won the Southern Volta Poetry Competition for secondary schools under the auspices of the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) for FESTAC '77. He is a British Chevening Fellow who has taught English in Nigeria, Libya and Ghana. Currently, he is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of English, University of Ghana, where he teaches African Literature, Postcolonial Literature, Popular Literature, Practice in Criticism, Creative Writing, and other courses. His collection of poetry, Testament of the Seasons (2013), received the VALCO Fund Literary Award for Meritorious Writing (Unpublished Poetry Category) in 1996. His novels are The Jewel of Kabibi (2011) and Taboo (2012). His works have been read across Ghana, Togo and Norway.

Indeed, creators are never extinct and Mawuli Adzei is one that we must watch out for with a keen sense of nostalgia as he promises surprises.

G. Edzordzi Agbozo is a poet.
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