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21.10.2015 Feature Article

Ghanaian Feminists Seek Weave-On Wigs, Not Gender Equality

Ghanaian Feminists Seek Weave-On Wigs, Not Gender Equality
21.10.2015 LISTEN

“An 18-year-old second-year student of the Kumbungu Senior High School (SHS) in the Northern Region has been dismissed for accusing the assistant headmaster, Chief Musah Seidu, of rape. The headmaster and other tutors of the school have been accused of conniving to dismiss the victim to cover up the incident. According to the distraught student (name withheld), the assistant headmaster of the school in charge of academics, Chief Musah Seidu, allegedly raped her in his bungalow in December 2014, but all efforts to get justice have been thwarted by the school authorities, including the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) chairman. Narrating the incident to The Finder in Tamale, the victim said she needed a document from Chief Musah Seidu to enable her collect school uniform from the school's stores. When she went to Chief Musah's office to request for the document, he asked her to come for it at his bungalow, and when she went, Chief Musah allegedly raped her and warned her not tell anybody. According to her, she quickly reported the issue to her housemistress, whose name she gave as Madam Dora [who] led her to the senior housemaster to lodge a complaint. The case was subsequently reported to the headmaster, who surprisingly asked the victim to vacate the school. Confused and not knowing what to do, the victim said she reported the case to the PTA Chairman, who told her to come at a later date, by which time he would have met with the headmaster on the issue. To her disappointment, the victim said the PTA chairman, after meeting with the headmaster, told her to go back to Tamale with the promise that he would get her a school in Tamale” (Ghanaweb October 21, 2015).

*Dedicated to all females in Ghana who silently endure the violence and stigma of rape.

Raped girls
Who speaks for them
Who fights their battles
Where do raped girls go
With torn ligaments
With deflowered petals
Raped girls
Where do they go

The feminists are silent
Ah! Our loud Feminists
Legon Feminists
Cape Vas Feminists
KNUST Feminists
Torched by theories of equity
Platitudes of justice
Dogmas of gender equality
The feminists are dead
Like the sun on dead petals
Dull, furled, and crumbled
They are theorizing
Looking for grants
To buy Brazilian weave-on hair
To buy bleaching creams

The girl-child
Raped by the teacher
Raped by the headmaster
Raped by the family member
Raped by the church leader
Raped by the chief
Raped by the MP
Raped by all men

Raped girls
Oh! Our daughters
Oh! Our sisters
Oh! Our nieces

Ah! Our loud Feminists
Preachers of equality
Of gender equality
But exploit females
Exploit their kind
Ah! Our loud Feminists
They exploit house-helps
They exploit maid-servants
They exploit poor Kayayei
They exploit the underclass
Ah! Our loud Feminists

Where do they go
The raped girls
Raped girls
Oh! Our daughters
Oh! Our sisters
Oh! Our nieces
Who speaks for them
Who fights their battles
Where do they go
With broken hearts
With torn ligaments
With deflowered petals
Raped girls
Where do they go

The Legon Feminists
The Cape Vas Feminists
The KNUST Feminists
They are theorizing
Flying all over the place
Like vultures looking for prey
The Feminists are praying
Preying for grants, allowance, aid
To buy Brazilian weave-on hair
To buy bleaching creams
To buy househelps

The raped girls
Who speaks for them
Who fights their battles
Where do they go

Ah! Our loud Feminists
Preachers of gender equality
Set ablaze in sordid silence

The raped girls
Who speaks for them
Who fights their battles
Where do they go

Submitted by Akadu N. Mensema October 13, 2015. Can be reached at [email protected]

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