JM@60 Ashanti Region’s Sankofa Birthday Gift

The second leg of former President John Dramani Mahama’s campaign tour of the Ashanti Region ended last Wednesday, November 28 2018, a day before his 60^th birthday. This leg covered the 20 constituencies carried over from the first leg which saw him traversing 27 out of the total 47. They included the following: Bosomtwe, Bekwai, Odotobri, Manso Nkwanta, Manso Adubea Atwima Kwanwoma, Bantama Sekyere West (Afram Plains), Asawase, Oforikrom, Asokwa, Suame, Tafo Pankrono, Manhyia North, Ejura Sekyidumase. The others: Akumadan, Offinsu South, Afigya Kwabre North, Afigya Kwabre South and Manhyia South.

His progress through this often-difficult region for the NDC showed a remarkable warmth towards the former President as distinct from 2016 which was out-and-out hostility.

Two years on, something must have gone wrong – or right! From one constituency to the other, the enveloping cuddly embrace on the eve of his 60^th birthday was surely one great birthday gift to him. The constituency visits, targeted at the delegates who would be voting in the NDC presidential primaries were all taken over by the general public ending up as political rallies. Some critics have tried to downplay the effectiveness of such a format, but the public, that is the voting public in general elections gave it the thumbs up and revelled in it! Not even NPP Regional Chairman Wontumi could spoil the fun with an earlier threat to deny John Mahama entry into the Ashanti Region. Ominously, on the very first day of the tour, an NPP youth leader in the region had issued blood curdling warnings on an fm station to John Mahama not to approach Obuasi because the youth of the town would bar him. Obuasi turned out to be one of the most subscribed venues of the tour as the town was brought to a standstill in exuberant welcome. The police that had been dispatched to prevent any clashes ended up having very little to do, spending time only to clear traffic and helping keep the throng from self-hurt in the ensuing rush to welcome the former President.

The concept of “Sankofa” in Akan cosmology is both spiritual and earthly – accepting your antecedents and also conceding your past transgressions so you “go back and pick the positive things”. It could also refer to rediscovery of lost values or just making amends for past transgressions. Sankofa is therefore not invoked with levity. You do not go back to pick up wrong, evil or bad things. When Sankofa is invoked it is always in the positive. You cannot Sankofa for the negative. The Sankofa symbol with the mysterious bird with an egg in its beak looking backwards is one of the most potent symbols of Akan iconography.

From one constituency to the other, the sankofa for John Mahama kept recurring over and over. One of the chiefs he paid a courtesy call on, summarised it into a new NDC-Ashanti Region paradigm: He advised the former President to approach the region not with the mindset of expected hostility as in the past, but as a new territory to be wooed and won over. Since the advent of the 4^th Republican Constitution, the NDC has not had much welcome in the region. The best acceptance of the NDC in electoral terms has been around 30%, which was whittled down to under 20% in Election ’16. Mahama’s challenge therefore is not to give up on Ashanti Region as a territory of no-hope but one with great expectations. He has to snatch back the 30% and more in 2020.

His whirlwind tour of the 47 constituencies of Ashanti and the warmth with which he was received, may yet be the beginning of major shifts in Ghana’s political culture…And on his 60^th birthday, with such energetic physique and confidence, the future could not look any brighter…

By a Correspondent embedded with the JM Campaign Team

Obuasi