The Silence Of The Nation On The Murder Of An Innocent Teacher – What Crime Has The Teacher Committed?

Police grab the last suspect in the death of a teacher at Asiakwa is how the 3news.com captured the arrest of the sixth and last suspect of the murder of one Mr. Somuah Bosompem, the headmaster of the Salvation Army Basic School at Asiakwa.

This incident has generated little talk across the country. Somehow, it feels like this brutality has not generated the heat we saw in the brutality meted out to Captain Mahama two years ago. Has the relevance of the teacher to the society faded or is the sense of injustice the whole country realised in the Mahama incident washed away?

A teacher was brutality murdered and somehow, the media who devoted several hours for justice to be delivered on time has somehow found the closure of two radio stations without a proper operating license fascinating more than the former.

One baffling revelation as well is that, former president Mahama, who was a critic of the mob that killed his relative and even made a donation to support the family, has also commented on the closure of radio XYZ and Radio Gold, calling it a political act without paying tribute to the murder of the teacher. To, Okudjeto Ablakwah however, in a statement issued, although Radio Gold’s FM Frequency Authorization expired in 2000, the station was not forced to shut down under former President Kufuor’s administration.

He was quoted as saying “What the chronology further reveals is that the John Agyekum Kufuor-led Government had every legal basis to in a similar fashion carry out a Gestapo-style shut down of Radio Gold during the eight years the NPP was in power, and which period Radio Gold was still an ardent critic of his Government, however, President John Agyekum Kufuor’s Administration just like its successor Prof. Mills and President Mahama Administrations, refused to do what President Akufo-Addo's Administration has done.” To Ablakwah, if three people fail in their duties, the fourth should continue in the same footprint. Are these the lawmakers we voted for?

Another annoying party in this whole enterprise, the media, look like they only follow and cover stories that will be financially beneficial to their economic development. Not surprising, the Ghanaian media for some time has lost a sense of direction. Their belief is only in politics to the detriment of their core mandate as the voice of the people to assiduously seek accountability from our leaders. O blame me, how can they carry out their accountability mandate when they are owned by those they are supposed to question. It is a dead end actually.

As it stands, the police are yet to establish the motive behind this gruesome assault which led to the demise of the deceased, but the big question is, whatever it is, is it a justification for the action of this students on their headmaster? Was the teacher unfortunate that his brutality was not filmed for the viewing of the whole country as was done to Mahama? Maybe, that will have generated a major outcry. Who knows? Maybe, the headmaster is unfortunate to have found himself in the wrong profession or maybe he is unfortunate to have come from a low-class family.

There have been several incidents in the past that have undermined the integrity and relevance of the teacher but as it is clear, nobody cares. Not even the employer nor the noble labour associations teachers nationwide ascribe their affiliations to, the majority of which are only interested in deducting the dues from the pathetic salaries teachers receive.

On the 14th of April, 2019, pulse.com.gh reported that an over speeding white police KIA truck, assigned to the workshop Department of the Ashanti regional branch of the Ghana Police service, rammed into a primary school teacher on his motorbike from school killing him instantly. As to how many people the law has dealt with in this avoidable accident had the police car not been over speeding, nobody knows and nobody may ever know simply because the unfortunate happened to a teacher who may not have anybody in authority to fight for his right.

On the 29th of May, 2017, video of a fallen soldier who went down fatally via barbarism of a mob in the Central region went viral on social media and news platforms. Two years down the line, the nation has not yet forgotten and those in authority are immortalising the fallen soldier who they are yet to find justice for, with a statue at the Airport Hills Roundabout.

The unveiling marks exactly two years since Ghanaians learned to their horror that, the young Captain with the 5th Infantry Battalion had been clobbered to death in Denkyira Obuasi. He was stationed there to check the menace of illegal mining. What a blessing to be a military man?

Have you ever seen a statue of a teacher erected under a national spotlight in the history of this country? Let me tell you what Wisdom Bonuedi wrote in his article captioned “I Have Killed My Teacher”. He said in his introductory paragraph that, “I have many young adults I mentor daily and I take time always to coach them on a career. None has voluntarily wished to be a teacher. You know why…..? One girl openly said when asked by another teacher if she will use her eloquence and intelligence to be a teacher and she unconsciously shouted, “God Forbid” ….. She had to apologize later for her straightforwardness. You know why……? …Because teachers die every day.”

It is absolutely normal for a teacher to die in these parts of the world regardless of what killed him/her. It will only be news for the distribution of the pathetic Ghanaian media who are enthused by political debates if the teacher is the one who creates carnage in one way or the other. The Ghanaian is happy to hear that a teacher has raped a student, impregnated a student, slapped a parent and even caned a student in the name of correction and discipline.

Who are you to complain of all this injustice? Well, whatever the politician will do to show that they are smart regardless of their gross failures, the teacher will not be perturbed. The people who killed Mahama are still alive and walking as free men and women. What will a simple statue do about injustice? Is mob justice a thing of the past? It is a good thing those in authority had a taste of what the ordinary Ghanaian goes through every day in the hands of injustice. And in a way of comforting themselves, they are using the tax payer’s money to do irrelevant things.

One other thing the teacher will never get in this world before he dies is a defender in times like this. (If you can, read my earlier article entitled “Behind the Murder of Major Mahama Lies Several Untold Truth” [https://www.modernghana.com/news/782543/behind-the-murder-of-major-mahama-lies-several-untold-truth.html] and you will be amazed how the military and other agencies take care of their own). Do you think the teacher unions to whom our dues furnish their apartments and our employer, the Ghana Education Service cares about us? If they do not, then who will?

If you are a teacher, know that you are on your own. Your reward is what you make it. Nobody knows you exist. To your employer, you are just code. To your union, you are a revenue. To your students, all teachers die and no one cares. Until our rotten teeth are pulled out, let us chew cautiously. But in all these instances, God shall bless us all.

Should it please the politician or anyone in control of our resources, name Major Mahama after the Ho airport or even the Kotoka International Airport. It will not make any difference because justice was not served either to the poor souls who suffered in the past, Mahama and those that are yet to meet the same fate. Beware, one way or the other, the claws of mob justice will soon hit one of ya’ll.

Would it have been better if we use the money for molding the statue in educating one Ghanaian child on the negatives of mob action? Your guess is as good as mine.

If you can read and write, thank the teacher.
Elorm Kpedator
Teacher, Tokuroano M/A Primary A