Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa: Isn't It Time To Say Farewell to Arms?

In the early Nineties when Bashorum Moshood Kashimawo Olabisi Abiola, the Ona Are Kankanfo of Yoruba land was vying for the Presidency of Nigeria, he paid a visit to the Oni of Ife, spiritual leader of the Yoruba race, Oba Okunade Sijuade at Ife and the Alafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi at the ancient town of Oyo to seek their moral and spiritual support in pursuit of his presidential ambition..

As soon as he entered the palace of each of the above Chiefs, he prostrated himself before the overlord as a mark of respect. This symbolic gesture of according respect to whom honour was due was aired on all the TV channels in the country. Indeed, the news paper had their windfall. Reprints were ordered and they sold off in no time.

I have decided to start this feature with the above extract because I have noticed the trend that is taking over the lifestyle of Ghanaians. It is becoming crystal clear that we are gradually losing our culture of having respect for the old and adult. Youngsters get up and insult their parents and get away with it without even a verbal reprimand from the public. While others look on unconcerned, others act as coaches and urge their charges to heap more venom into the attacks on their elders.

Among the Ibos of Nigeria, there is the Osu Caste system which is gradually being eroded from their culture but used to be so embedded in the Society. An Osu in those days was dedicated to the gods and so was not expected to mix with the free borns. Nobody ate or interacted with them. An Osu could only marry from among his own caste. Whoever ate or drank from the same bowl or soup was ostracized. In the villages the Osus could only put up buildings at the outskirts. No allowance was made. And so in those days, you could even rise to the level of a President of a country, your background as an Osu made you a second class citizen when you went to your villages. This system applies to the Indians.

I am not saying the system was good. No it was bad in all its ramifications.. What I am saying here is that tradition dies very hard and that like it used to be in the good old days, the youth must learn to respect the elders in the society, no matter how big they are in polities. The norm these days is that the youth at every opportunity are heaping vituperative at their politics opponents.

My grouse is with the ˜hatchet man attitude posture taken by Mr. Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa, Deputy Information Minister. Of late, the lot has fallen on him to do the hatchet jobs of the NDC. Fiifi Kwetey and the MP for Sena, Honourable Twumasi Appiah have learnt a very useful lesson in politics. They have become very much matured and are now careful in their choice of words when they comment on national issues. These days, their voices are hardly heard at all. But not Samuel Ablakwa Okudzeto. The substantive Minister of Information and her other Deputy do not resort to insulting their Political opponents.

Jesus used Proverbs and Parables to explain his points and analyze situations. In that way one has no problem understanding what he was saying. But not he, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa! There is a saying that if Joseph had been discreet and kept his secrets himself he would not have courted the hatred of his brethren. But he was not. He bragged and we all read what happened to him. The utterances coming from the youthful Deputy Minister of Information will not do his credentials any good. A good example of an affable youthful minister who has been the toast of most people is Haruna Iddrisu, the ever smiling Minister of Communications. He does his homework so well that even if he twists facts and figures while analyzing situations such twists do not come out so glaringly. He is one capable minister that I admire from the NDC side.

But the role Samuel that Okudzeto Ablakwa has taken unilaterally upon himself will erode the little sympathy and respect any person has for him. Hear him the other day. He referred to Ex President Kufuor and Nana Akufo-Addo as criminals. Then as if that was not enough, he placed Nana Akufo-Addo in the category of serial callers. Last, but not the least, during the newspaper review segment on TV, he referred too members of the NPP as terrorists and bomb towers. Not done with his maligning of the NPP members he said it emphatically that, if it were to day, such NPP members would be sent to Guatanamo Bay.

The questions are: Does Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa know very well the history of Ghana? Is he trying to rewrite the cherished history of our beloved country? Can he tell us who made this utterance: This is my country and these are my laws. Those who do not like my laws can leave my country and go. What about Birebere amma, Asem amma? Â Can he chronicle the events which culminated in the granting of independence to Ghana? Does he know anything about Samori and Babatu? What about Sir Ekem Ferguson a native of Anomabo and Kwegyir Aggrey? Please tell me something about the Sagranti War. I have gone to greater lengths to ask these questions because anyone who claims to know the history of Ghana must be able to give answers to the above posers off hand.

If the Hon. Dep. Minister of Information knows the history of Ghana he must not make such unintellible statements which are not buttressed by facts. Does he know what culminated into the bomb throwing incidents and who the dramatis personae were? He did not live through the period and the information he is spewing forth on our air waves is not authentic. Is based on what Iku Kwesi Pratt and others who think and act like him have been spreading. Who were the bombs throwers at kulungugu were not UP activists. They were CPP activists. The records are there for all to read.

Iku Kwesi Pratt and others have fed us with the story that the UP gave a bomb which was implanted in a bouquet of flowers to be presented to Dr Kwame Nkrumah and that the bomb exploded killing the innocent school girl instantly and injuring Dr Nkrumah and others. This is the mother of all lies and I say stops there! There wasn't any school girl involved. If there was, could the perpetrators of such story give us the name of the school girl? And since the incident, why hasn’t any parent come out to complain about the death of his/her daughter. I heard a woman by name Elizabeth Asantewaa petitioned for some form of compensation, on account of injuries she sustained during that incident. But that is different from the stories such latter day saints are peddling about. We do not doubt the fact that a bomb was thrown during Dr Nkrumah's stop over at Kulungugu. But what we are saying is that nobody gave a bomb in a bouquet of flowers to be presented to the President.  And if I may ask, who was in time of protocol at the time of the time of the visit? The CPP, of course! So how come the UP activists were those who handled this delicate aspect of security? ‘The architects’ were known CPP activists which included Tawia Adamafio (Minister for Information), Coffie Crabbe, Ececutive Secretary of the party and Mr Arko Adjei, former Foreign Minister. Others were Joseph Yaw Manu and Robert Benjamin Otchere. The trial had Sir Arku Korsa, Chief Justice, Justices Edward Akufo-Addo and Van Lere as judges while the prosecution was led by the then Attorney General, Bashiru Kwaw Swanzy. The court dismissed the case against the first three persons but found the last two guilty and sentenced them to death.  The President was livid with rage. He dismissed the Chief Justice. The other two judges were later to lose their seats on the bench. Nkrumah used his majority to nullify the verdict and empanelled new judges’ headed by Justice Sarkodie Addo. That meant the death sentences passed on Joseph Yaw Manu and Robert Benjamin Otchere were nullified. The new trial of the first three accused took place and they were found guilty in line with the prescription of the then President. They were subsequently sentenced to death  It is a great attempt of intellectual dishonesty for revisionist historians to deliberately attempt to twist history in order to satisfy their own arrogant eyes. I spoke to the late Major Awaitey then retired to his home at Dodowa after being released from prison in the late seventies. He explained the circumstances which led to the arrest of the so-called ‘conspirators’ at a rendezvous. It was all a communist type of propaganda which had to do with a phone call from each of the “traitors” to the others to meet at a particular place. I had no reason to doubt the authenticity of his version. Infact, the supposed planned assassination of Dr Nkrumah by Modesto Apaloo, R.R.Amponsah and Major Awaitey was the biggest hoax story ever to happen in the history of our country.   If the Honourable Deputy Minister of Information and others like him don’t know, it was one Twumasi Ankrah, Ashanti Regional Propaganda Secretary of the CPP who stabbed E.Y.Baffoe, a U.P member to death that started the trouble between the NLM and the CPP. It must also be stressed that there were counter movements among the Ga-Adangbe to checkmate each other. The Ga Adanbge Shi Fimo Kpee was sympathetic to the cause of the NLM, whilst the Ga Ekomefeemo Kpee was sympathetic to the CPP. So, when we talk of violence no one party can be singled out for blame. All were involved.  Now to Nana’s Press Conference. In the first place, who says Nana has no locus standi to comment on national issues? And if I may ask, what rights do those who are making such spurious statements have? What rights do they have to comment on issues that affect our Great party? As far as we in the NPP are concerned, Nana has every right, just as I, an ordinary member of our party has to make my views known as a citizen of this country. And if ordinary members of the Great Osono fraternity ask Nana to speak on issues that affect the body polity of the nation, what is your problem with that? Mo haw ne sen?  What is wrong or not true of what Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said? Did the attack of NPP members at Agbogbloshie, Kumasi and Tamale not take place? His emphasis was that the leadership of the NPP had been hard put trying to restrain their supporters from reacting to acts of intimidation and provocation from their colleagues NDC supporters. It was just a wake-up call to the authorities to act fast before the fragile peace we all are enjoying degenerates to its lowest ebb.  Is cost of living not rising every hour, minute and second of the day? Maybe, they do not feel it because top activists of the NDC get their fuel supplies and other foodstuff from the various depots at the Castle. They do not go to the market to buy foodstuffs and other essentials at exorbitant prices like the rest of us do, otherwise they will not have the guts to repudiate what Nana said in his press conference. Just ask ordinary members of the NDC how they feel about the economy and you would be shocked at their reaction. If it is not so, why should they at the risk of their lives resort to forceful seizure of lorry parks at Ashaiman and other places. They had to do so because the economy is biting very hard and there appears to be no solution in sight.  And what about the state of insecurity in the country? It is getting to the point of no return. Not a day passes without one hearing of five, six and sometimes as many as ten armed robbery incidents at particular vicinity. On Thursday last week, my brother took his sick daughter at the Holy Trinity Hospital. H e parked his car by the side of the road getting to the Hospital since there was no parking place for him in the yard. Everything appeared normal when he returned. He started the vehicle and on the way he heard a noise as if particles of broken glasses were falling down. He stopped to check and what he saw amazed him. Some had broken the right hand side glass of the back seat and made away with his portfolio which contained his checkbooks, drivers’ license, some cash and other valuable documents. Fortunately, the money was not enough, for how could it be enough when the crunching economy is biting hard like the harmattan wind?  About five hours later, someone called him that he had found the bag by the side of the road near the Adodo Hotel. He went there to reclaim it. The money was gone but the documents remained intact.  Electricity supply has been a no go area when it comes to discussion of the state of affairs as the affect us. How could one comment when the expression, power generation and supply have disappeared all of a sudden from our dictionaries. It has become so erratic that when it comes into comparism with NEPA, one is at a loss as to which is better. Are we back to the era of load shedding or not. At least, the authorities should let us know since they claim they care for us. We should be told so that we braze ourselves for the difficult days ahead.  A colleague of mine told me that the five months of assumption of power by the NDC has resulted in Three Hundred and Eighty power interruptions. According to him, he has documented every instance of power outage showing which day, time and duration such outages took place. Doesn’t my colleague deserve an award for taking the pain to document such instances for posterity? At least, the Electricity Company of Ghana could go there for a verification exercise.

To conclude this piece, let me state that discretion being the better part of valour, don't you think it is time the junior Minister of Information, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa sheathe his sword and say farewell to arms?

Daniel Danquah Damptey Danieldanquah_damptey@yahoo.com 0243715297.