Don’t Condemn Them Yet: A True Story Of A KNUST Student

Bright Addae was admitted to KNUST on August 15th, 2008 to pursue a 4 year degree course; however, it took him 8 years to complete KNUST. The question is: what happened?

Bright Addae was admitted to KNUST as an innocent promising child full of great potentials. He was the hope of the family. Expectations were very high that one day the promising son will salvage the whole family from poverty through the knowledge and skills gained from his university education. Unfortunately, when Bright Addae got to KNUST, the tables turned. The promising and brilliant child was hooked up by the devil. Of course, who else do I blame apart from the devil? Bright became an agent of all kinds of diabolic deeds in KNUST. He became a professional drunkard, an occult, a fornicator, a thief, gambler and a smoker. He was among the traditional leaders of one of the male halls in KNUST.

Bright stole many phones and laptops, and that seemed to be his daily work. But as the saying goes, “every day for a thief one day for the owner,” on one faithful day at Indence Hall around 2am in 2010, Bright was caught after stealing a laptop. He was beaten mercilessly and was eventually withdrawn from KNUST. However, that didn't end his evil needs. He proceeded into the streets of Kumasi and committed all manner of flagitious acts that were beyond the imagination of man. He became hopeless, rejected and a social outcast. No one approached him so as to advise him. He slept on the streets of Kumasi for a number of months without bathing and brushing his teeth.

On 3rd November 2012, Bright had a revolution of life when he was approached by Pastor Michael Adu Twum of Deeper Life Bible Church on the streets of Bantama. Pastor Michael preached to Bright and took him to his house. For the first time, he experienced true love and affection. He was taken to Church and he willingly accepted Christ. Through prayers and the miraculous works of God, Bright was admitted to KNUST again in 2014 to continue his program. By the grace of God, he successfully finished his four year degree study. The one-time thief, drunkard, fornicator, gambler and smoker has changed. He is now an astute preacher of the gospel.

There are a number of people like Bright who are in their prisons, who probably need just counseling and advice to change from their bad deeds. There are a number of students like Bright who were dismissed from our elementary schools and universities, who committed minor offenses out of frustration and poverty, and needed counseling to change their lives. Bright wasn’t born a thief but financial constrains and peer influence propelled him into such deviate life.

The other day, a third year Chemistry student was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for snatching a bag from a female student. Nana Yaw had no gun or bomb on him but yet was given 10yrs imprisonment and the bag he snatched contained only an I phone and GHC300. Very pathetic

In our part of the world, heroes are regarded as “Our heroes” and the criminals are regarded as “their criminal.” We easily judge people than we make efforts to change them. We prefer to gossip and talk about them to advising them to change. It is high time we ended this attitude. No one was born a thief or a prostitute; unbearable conditions often times propel people into such unpropitious acts.

Our religious bodies have a role to play. Miracles have been performed, prophesies have been said; it is time to hit the streets and make pragmatic impact. The religious bodies must go to the streets and restore hope in the hopeless, the broken hearted and the social outcast.

Mob justice must be discouraged from burning people alive for committing minor crimes on the streets. We burn them out of emotions, forgetting that these people may not have any idea about the items that were once stolen from us. We must learn to act with our senses rather than emotions. It doesn’t take laws to create a great society; it takes men of good conscience and hearts to create a great society. Let’s care for one another.

Be slow to judge, and don't gossip about people. In one way or the other, we all commit sins in some way every day, and we have no moral right to judge others of their actions. The best thing we can do is to pray, advice and counsel people when we see them living deviate lives. God willing, Bright will graduate from KNUST in July and we extend our unexaggerated gratitude to the Almighty God, Pastor Michael Adu Twum, the school authority especially the office of the Dean of Students and the Guidance and Counseling unit for their roles played to help him pursue his course. We have a long way to go, but certainly, we shall get there. God bless you.

*”We are not children of a lesser god”.*

*Ntenhene Felix*
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