Poor Chalk-People: A Collective Biography of Ghanaian Teachers

*By Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema Ph. D.; Post-Grad. Dipl.

“Mr. Kwadwo Adjei-Dwomoh, Nkoranza North District Chief Executive,
has commended teachers for their invaluable role and contribution to
the production of quality human resource and manpower needed for
national development” (Ghanaweb, Jan 6, 2010).

I. THE TEACHER
We say that Teacher’s pay is in Heaven
But in reality Teacher’s pay is in chalk
And chalk is a pearl of penury
In Ghana Teacher is a pest
That imparts ABCD
That mints our minds
Provides us with a social compass
That defines our future bearings
Teacher steers us toward knowledge
Of eternity of knowledge
Of integrity and honesty
Of veracity and reliability
But some former pupils partner wretchedness
Of exploitation
Of demagoguery and manipulation
Of thievery consumption
And so we have the Rawlingses
The Kufours
The Millses
Educated saboteurs of state
Like JJ Rawlings – Indemnity Clause
JJ who occupies a state-5-bungalow complex
Like Kufour – the Hotel-4-My Family
With children impregnated with stolen wealth
Like Mills – the Confused Patriot
Who has nationalized akpele on the Castle floor
Who lives on left-over tea in the Castle dungeons

II. TEACHER: GHANA’S POVERTY
Teacher is always famished
Like a dog in Accra’s Sodom-Gomorra
Teacher doesn’t steal state tractors
Even if Teacher steals state-owned chalk
Chalk is a pearl of poverty
Sweat always drains Teacher’s inner thighs
But Teacher can’t steal state-owned diapers
Teacher has taught for 10, 000 seasons
Yet lives in a rented vultured one-bedroom
Teacher can never build a mansion
Not even in 100, 000 seasons
But PV Obeng did it in one season
ET Mensah in one season
Edumadze in one season
Asamoah Boateng in one season
Hopeless educated mercenary-thieves
Who have never worked in this life
Except to steal from the state
And so unlike the Rawlingses among us
Teacher doesn’t get to live
Live in a state-5-bungalow complex
With palatial-roomed 15 toilets
JJ he who preached one thief one toilet
Unlike the Kufours among us
Teacher doesn’t get to live at Airport
Live near the Hotel-K4-My Family

III. TEACHER & GENRE OF JOKES
Teacher is the butt of popular jokes
Teacher is forever a church rat
Even if Teacher goes to hell
Teacher will remain a church rat
Of binding eternal poverty
Threadbare shirts and colorless blouses
Imprinted with bi-weekly sweat
Teacher’s suit of Kofi & Amma
Worn-out shoes with different sizes
Slippers slipping on one side
Monthly pay-advances from the bursar
Perennially sick-looking body
Never develops a BEER-STOMACH
Teacher always wears APIO-ED cheeks
Teacher’s hair is always like an oasis
Teacher’s deodorant is a flux of sweat
Teacher’s car is Onyame Fa Me trotro

IV. TEACHER: TIMELESS RESPECT
Teacher makes excellent contributions
Teacher is our light in tunnels of life
Teacher Abenaa Konsima of Denkyira
Teacher Kwame Opare of Akuapem
Teacher Tete Mantey of Krobo
Teacher Amina Abugri of Wa
Teacher Kofi Owusu of Juaso
Teacher Kwabla Akolatsey of Hohoe
Teacher Kwesi Panoo (Quincy Bread) of Ta’di
Teacher Afia Etzuban of Wassa Fiase
Teacher Yaa Boatema of Sunyani
And all our Teachers
Who parent us, teach us, discipline us
Who guide us, shape us, mould us
And who give us life to lead this life
They say your glory is in Heaven
But Heaven is here and now
In the end you have PEACE OF MIND
In the end you have LOVE & RESPECT
On this Earth
You don’t go about barking like Rawlings
You have not become a hopeless nomad
A nomad in your own home like Kufour
You are not as happily confused as Mills
Who thinks that being called a bastard
By a bastard is as palatable as a Milled akpele
Who thinks that being called Team B
Is as refreshing as a left-over tea
Left-over tea in the dungeons of the Castle
Teacher you have our timeless RESPECT
Teacher you have our timeless LOVE
Here on Earth

*Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema is a nationalist Denkyira beauty. She is a
trained oral historian cum sociologist and Professor in the USA.
She lives in Pennsylvania with her great mentor and teaches Africa-area
studies at a college in Maryland. In her pastime, she writes what critics
have called “populist hyperbolic, satirical” poetry. She can be reached at
akadumensema@yahoo.com