Ablade Glover's Bombshell

The Chairman of the Reconciliation Committee of the GaDangme Council, Professor Ablade Glover, has discredited assertions in certain quarters of the public that the GaDangme Council is ethnocentric and politically motivated, insisting that those who draw the Movement into ethnic and political controversy may have their own agenda which is clearly not what the founding fathers intended, when they initiated the Movement. 

 He disclosed that the group was established to unite all the GaDangme people to fight for their inheritance and legacy and use its rich natural resources to develop its people for the development of their society and Ghana as a whole. 

According to Professor Ablade Glover, "the GaDangme Council cannot achieve this difficult task alone and will therefore need the support of all the other tribal groupings in the country, which makes any claim that it is ethnocentric void.'

Speaking in an interview with The Statesman, Mr Glover emphasized that the agenda of the GaDangme Movement is not, like most misguided youth among its ranks portray, a ploy to set Gas against other tribes, maintaining that those who use its platforms to create animosities among the rest of the tribes are not only doing the nation a disservice but also running down the image and credibility of the leadership.

'It is wrong to say that the GaDagme's are against the Ashantis or, for that matter, any other tribal groupings in the country,' he added. He noted that the Council, which needs the sympathy and cooperation of the other tribes to lawfully secure its interests, should not be putting up confrontational posturing and creating instability in GaDangme communities.

In his view, the struggle must be conducted in ways that elicit support and sympathy not only fro Governments, but also other ethnic groupings with similar aspirations and interests.

Reacting to accusations that the platform had been hijacked by certain political elements to carry out a certain agenda, he pointed out that certain concerns being raised by a section of the GaDangme's may have nothing to do with politics, saying a majority of such issues had already been raised since the days of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

'In fact, we have being fighting these issues since Dr Kwame Nkrumah's time.'

He, however, regretted the politicization of every pertinent issue in the country on the part of a section of politicians and their supporters, who see only evil in the GaDangme struggle, stressing that if people looked at the concerns of the GaDangme's critically they would be able to appreciate them and grant them the moral support needed by the Movement and its people in restoring its lost identity and culture. 

He blamed succeeding governments for the numerous chieftaincy problems in the GaDangme traditional area for the woes of the GaDangme communities, saying whilst the various Governments have benefited immensely from its rich natural resources, they have woefully closed their eyes to some glaring disputes because a divided GaDangme people sometimes serves the interests of Governments.

He was of the opinion that government should establish a national commission to delve into some of these chieftaincy matters since the Ga Traditional Council does not have the moral capacity and competence to do so.

He explained, for instance, that some of the chiefs on the Ga Traditional Council are themselves involved in nagging disputes in their various traditional areas and as such cannot properly and lawfully sit on these same chieftaincy matters that affect other jurisdictions in the GaDangme area.

He also had a gripe with some of the chiefs for not being proactive in matters of statesmanship and development, adding that 'we on the Reconciliation Committee of the Ga-Dangme Council have done our best in these matters and are hoping that our chiefs will wake up to the realities of today.'

Most of the chiefs in the GaDangme communities, he lamented, have veered from the traditional roles and are engaged in areas that do not bring honour and glory to the institution. 'Our chiefs have veered from their traditional roles as our culture and tradition originally intended, and have taken on new roles that are tainted with selfishness and corruption.'

Professor Ablade Glover also took the opportunity to appeal to all the youth groups established in the name of the Ga-Dangme Movement to be circumspect in their utterances, and not to give wrong signals to others that the GaDangme Movement is irresponsible or has no set agenda.

Disclosing that the GaDangme Council has put in place measures to bring the entire splinter youth groups in the name of the GaDangme under one umbrella called GaDangme Youth, he urged all activists not to go behind the leadership in making statements that have no legs to stand.

He said for those in some of these splinter groups who think the GaDangme Council is too slow in its actions and therefore were moving from one radio station to the order engaging in all sorts of agitations, it is important for such people or activists to be reminded that results are better achieved if things are done properly.

In all spheres of life, it is noteworthy that time is taken to plan and properly execute programmes and any agenda of any group, warning that the youth should not allow people to take advantage of the plight of the people to achieve their selfish individual goals.

He also indicated to The Statesman that the Movement is putting plans in place to petition the new government concerning the grievances of the GaDangmes, just as the leadership had done in previous administrations.

He disassociated the GaDangme Council from a recent call for a special holiday to be set aside in remembrance of Sergeant Adjetey. According to him, the Council, since the Mills government took office, has not issued any such statement to that effect.

However, he personally agreed with the said call in principle, saying the February 28 Shooting Incident was pivotal in the struggle for independence in Ghana. He said this event is over and above any single event that led to Ghana's attainment of independence. 'Not withstanding the above, in my personal capacity, I think there are too many holiday's in Ghana,' he stated.