Gadangme hope on its Unions in Europe

… Adjei-Klu discloses in an interview with Ghanaweb

Albert Adjei-Klu, a native of the Greater Accra Region (Gadangme) in Ghana, is an established journalist and a Radio presenter on ‘Obonu’ FM - a local Radio Station in Ghana, which is a subsidiary of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (G.B.C). The station communicates with its listeners mostly in the local language of the Region called ‘Ga’. His presentation of programs, using deep rooted grammatical expression in ‘Ga’ and his wide knowledge of his natives’ history and traditions earns him extensive listeners when on air. He was in Paris recently for the Gadangme Union in Europe Conference and took some time off after the meeting to visit Italy and observe an election of Executive Committee members of the Gadangme Union in Emilia Romagna Region. Reggie Tagoe, our correspondent in Italy, caught up with him for an interview in the city Modena where the election was held. He disclosed a series of issues confronting the Gadangme people and said the hope of the Region, which has been divided by internal strife and politics, is on its Unions in Europe where there is unity and through their efforts can help bring about the kind of change the Region needs. Below are excerpts of the interview.

Reggie Tagoe (R.T): It’s a pleasure meeting you again, after seeing you in Paris, during the Gadangme Union in Europe Conference. Is it your first time in Italy and what’s your impression from what you have seen so far here?

Adjei-Klu (A.K): Yes, this is my first time in Italy. And since coming here, I have observed the Gadangme natives here have a strong bond of unity. In Ghana or can I say elsewhere among Ghanaians communities, we are being told Ghanaians in Italy are working on tomato farms. This is contrary to what I have seen here. They are hard working, some working in factories in the manufacturing industries where they produce machine parts, ceramics, tiles and also at factories in the production of Fiat cars. Have also seen Gadangmes here are not people looking for money through illicit ways. I am impressed and feel at home, Italy is a beautiful place.

R.T: How did you see the Gadangme Union Conference in Paris?

A.K: The Gadangme Unions in Europe are much stronger and more united than what we have at home in Ghana. Politics has taken over the Gadangme Union in Ghana. You don’t see that in Europe. In Ghana, the Union is divided with self-centredness, hatred and quarrels among members. The hope of Gadangme is now on its Europe Unions. Let me here commend the Gadangme Union in Italy for their strong participation at the Conference, People were surprised when they turned up with a delegation of 48.

R.T: You speak the ‘Ga’ language very well. I am talking about the way you express yourself grammatically using deep rooted words to explain things. Tell me briefly about yourself, your background and how far you went studying the language.

A.K: I was born at Teshie, a suburb of Accra, in 1962. My father is from Teshie – ‘Okwewe Krobo’, my grandfather is Nii Adjei Wulu who is from the ‘Manklalo’ clan. My mother’s descendants come from the family of Nii Abladze We at Teshie. I attended Teshie 2 and 3 Boys School and continued to Accra High Secondary School between1978 – 83. To further my education I went on to Aquinas Secondary School for my Sixth Form course and did my National Service between 1986- 87. I started writing scripts after my National Service for Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (G.B.C.) under various programs in the Ga language. Was employed by the G.B.C. in 1990 as a Program Assistant where they sponsored me to a Radio Training School to learn about news gathering, news dissemination, program presentation, production, drama script writing and public speaking technique. G.B.C. also gave me a scholarship to the World Bank Institute, a branch of the school located in Accra, to learn more about Radio Presentation techniques after which I joined the Ghana Journalists Association. The Association in 1999 gave me an award as the best Radio Presenter in Ghana in the local language. I was selected against Radio celebrities who have made a name in Ghana as Radio Presenters in the local language, among these people were: Efia Konadu and Sekyere Boateng. After the award, G.B.C. again gave me a scholarship to Cairo to study at the Cairo Institute of Broadcasters for 9 months. I rose through the ranks at GBC faster and from Program Assistant I was appointed Programs Director at ‘Obonu’ FM in January 2008.

About my deep knowledge of the ‘Ga’ language, I studied ‘Ga’ at Accra High School and took it to the final year where I got Grade One at the ‘O’ Level. Didn’t continue with the study of the language at the ‘A’ Level but when I started work at G.B.C. writing scripts, I got closer to people who have a deep sense in the language, among them were Amaa Amartey, Martey Markwei, ‘Teacher’ Adokwei, Nii Tei Adumuah and they taught me a lot. I joined an Association they formed and was the youngest among them. Secondly I lived with an old lady at Teshie called ‘Arma Noko’. The old women speak ‘Ga’ very well and this old woman knows all the A–Z about the language. We were given knocks on our head and sometimes beaten if we don’t speak well the language in terms of pronunciations and expressions. What also helped me was, I humbled myself to learn the language. Whatever you are learning you can only learn it well if you humble yourself. Also at G.B.C

I followed people learning from them, among these people were Naa Ashidaa Merley, Tawiah Sackey, Afodu Fekyian. Above all, I read a lot of ‘Ga’ books including the ‘Ga’ Bible which is very educative.

R.T: Many people, especially natives of Gadangme, across the world listen to you on the special program, on Hot Digital Radio, called ‘Bo Ba’ hosted by Bishop T in London on Sundays at 5p.m. You are the correspondent for news from Ghana, especially about Gadangme people. Tell me how you manage to source for all those interesting news you put across.

A.K: I know that every week on Sundays I will be giving information and news from Ghana on the programme, especially about issues in the Greater Accra Region, so throughout the week I gather all the news coming through and go over it thoroughly. If I find out there is an issue that concerns an individual or a group of people I follow it through contacting them to know the inside stories. Any of those information that is not clear to me I ask questions and so before I come on air I’ve made a lot of research.

R.T I heard you mention, sometime ago on the ‘Bo Oba’ Show, that the Gadangme people came from Israel or they are descendants of the Israelites. How can you explain this?

A.K Yes, the Gadangme people are descendants of the Israelites. Many people will not believe this, but there are facts to prove that. In the first place chiefs don’t lead the people of Israel, they were lead by priests known by the natives of Gadangme as ‘Wulomei’. Going back to the Israelites when they were about to leave Egypt, during the time of Pharoah, there were three divisions - the group that followed Moses, the group that went to the East and another group to the West. The group of Moses went towards the Red Sea, the second group went to a place called Nuba that is between Sudan and Egypt border – where the Blue Nile and White Nile meets. These people were attacked by Arabs called Caucasians and were again divided one group taking to the East and the other group to the West. The Eastern bound group were the Ethiopians and Uganda Jews, they were also called Nubians, you can remember them through the Queen of Sheba. The group that turned towards the West were the old generation of the Gadangme people. When they started their journey, they stayed in Sudan and later migrated to Congo to a place called Boma (a place people of Teshie in the Greater Accra Region today call ‘Aboma’). This group again moved on to Ile Ife in Nigeria and the journey later continued to Boney in Dahomey (now Benin). At Boney they separated into five divisions and came to the then land of modern day Ghana where they settled at present day Greater Accra Region. These divisions were: ‘Wosagba’, ‘Wodoku’, ‘Woklowo’, ‘Wokple’ and ‘Dangme’.

This is just a short history on the journey of Gadangme people but before they left Egypt there was a feast known as ‘Passover’ which was celebrated and was also celebrated by our forefathers when they came to settled in their new land. They celebrated this feast by using the blood of sheep to mark doors and if they cannot buy sheep for this tradition they use red clay called ‘ntsuma’. It was believed that their people don’t die on such occasions and if someone dies it’s considered the person has committed some sin. They were not buried the normal way, the corpse is taken to the cemetery going by the back of buildings, running and mourners don’t cry, this was the custom of the Israelites.

Another connection of Gadangme people with the Israelites was they take their names from their fathers and the names are given seven days after birth as instructed by God. Also seven days after birth, the male child is circumcised and this was also done by the people of Israel. The Gadangme people were the only natives then on the land (the old Ghana) that carry out circumcision on their male children. Also of significance to note is the ‘unleavened’ bread eaten by the Israelites which is synonymous to the food ‘Kpokpoi’ eaten by the ‘Gadangme’ people during their yearly festival. The ‘manna’ for the Israelites also has similarities to the food ‘Kpokpoi’, both have a sour taste after a day. All these show our connection to the people of Israel.

R.T: What were some of the customs of these people in those days?

AK: The Priests called ‘Wulomei’, who led them in those days by tradition, should not see the dead, the same as the Priests of the Israelites. They don’t dress in black, always in white, they don’t have to cut their hair or shave their beard. This was seen of Eli and Samson and it was the custom of the Gadangme people too at that time. Also they worshiped the Almighty God, creator of the universe, known among the people as ‘Okpledze’, singing songs of praises which has now become known as gospel songs.

The natives did not have any gods they worship, the gods associated with them now were used during the time of wars but they did not bring any gods throughout their travels from Egypt.

R.T: Let’s look at the area of your job. What do you like most about journalism or for that matter being a broadcaster hosting programs?

A.K: What I like about my job is, I tell the truth because of that people like me. There are people also who don’t like me because when you speak the truth you may step on people’s toes. Journalism offers great opportunities and you gain respect, if you do your work well. You may not make the monetary gains but good name is better than riches. One of the gains is me coming here. Journalism is also used to defend the poor people who are being cheated. People in Government and other high places are often afraid of journalists because they believe they will be exposed if they do the wrong things.

R.T: Are there any disadvantages or do you have regrets jumping into journalism? A.K: The difficult part of the job is you get enemies when you shouldn’t. People don’t want to be exposed when they are doing wrong things. There are also dangers involved because if you wrongly speak or write about a person, the person can sue you. I have used my position in Ghana, however, to solve many problems or shaped up things within the Greater Accra Region. Through my effort and that of Oko Kpene (now deceased) we made the shipping company, Ghapoha, remove their old ships they have disposed of as wastes on the Kpone land, we forced Valco through Environmental Protection Agency to raise their chimneys high to avoid hazards on the land of Kpone. Through my Radio programs, we have managed to curb the indiscriminate sale of Gadangme lands. People are afraid to sell these lands because they will be exposed if they do.

R.T: The issue of selling of lands and internal squabbles among chiefs in the Greater Accra Region has been on the debating table for some time now. Coming from Ghana how serious is the problem and what is being done about it?

A.K: Our ancestors protected our lands and had a foresight. This cannot be said of our present people who are selling our lands. People have been saying that other natives are taking our lands but the truth is that we are giving lands to them. Another area of concern is about the Lands Commission in Ghana. Under the Executive instrument, if the Government takes a land from the people, it’s the Land Commission which is responsible to take care on behalf of Government but they are rather using unlawful means to sell some of these lands. The Chiefs and Leaders of our communities are not helping matters either; they are also indiscriminately selling the lands. The danger is that they are not visualising the future as our forefathers did and our existence is under treat. It will affect future generations. It calls for unity among our people, most of then are doing these out of ignorance and they need education. We also need to sue the Land Commission for their unlawful acts and lack of transparency in their activities and we cannot do that if we are not united

R.T: Tell me, why is it that Gadagme Chiefs appear not to have authority over their people?

A.K: When you do what is right you will have authority on your children. Most of these Chiefs in the Region have not been doing the right things. They are untruthful and don’t think about the people they rule but their comfort and self-centredness. They are selling properties from which their people will benefit and when you are not thinking about the future of your people you lose their respect.

R.T: There was an issue about the Gadangme language, ‘Ga’ which I want to refer here, and was mentioned at the Paris Conference. That, the language is losing its essence and credibility among the natives of Gadangme to the extent that it’s no more being taught in many schools in the Region as was done at first and also the ‘Ga’ Bible is no more a lucrative business. What is your take on that and how can the situation be resolved?

A.K: It’s under the Ghana Education Service principle that the dominant or indigenous language of a particular area be used in addition to English to teach in the basic education. This is not being done in the Greater Accra Region. The Gadangme people should unite to enforce this principle in the Region. Secondly, natives in the Region should be awarded scholarship to the Universities to properly learn the language and come to teach it after their education – the Gadangme Union in Europe should help in this area and bond people who go for these courses to come and teach the language. The Gadangme Union should also organise refresher courses for ‘Ga’ teachers through the Gadangme Teachers Association. In addition, the Region should enforce that every local FM Radio Station in the Region give 1hour a day transmission time for ‘Ga’ programs.

R.T: Give me a brief history how the station ‘Obonu’ FM was established?

A.K: G.B.C. has subsidiary FM stations in all the Regions of Ghana except the Greater Accra Region. On these stations, the language of communication is the local language of the Region and English. The FM Radio station of G.B.C in Accra (housed on the same compound) was then called Unique FM but there were only two programs in the ‘Ga’ language, the rest were ‘Akan’ and English. The Gadangme natives protested against this and their Union in U.K. got involved demanding that the Region should get its separate FM station like the other Regions. A delegation was sent from the Unions in U.K. on the matter which eventually led to the changing of the name Unique FM to ‘Obonu’ FM and more programs in Gadangme language. The station initially employed among others Odai Enyinka, Naa Shormeh, Nii Martei Sankah and me as presenters. All these while it was based in the compound of G.B.C till it was later moved to Tema. There was not much revenue generated at that time because our programs were not too good. I was appointed Program Director and we began to change the nature of our programs targeting workers and their problems in the society. We also began programs on the natives of the Region educating them in many areas. We threw invitations to members of Government, people who are Heads of various institutions on sanitation, welfare and other areas. ‘Obonu’ FM became the only FM station in Accra that broadcasts programs for all age brackets from toddlers up to 6 years, (an old program called ‘taa-taa-tee’), from 7 years to 14 years (a program called ‘curious minds’), from 14 years to 18 years (a program called ‘generational hour’), different programs for women, the aged, for sports, drivers, workers, farmers, fishermen, for religion and current affairs. Our programs began to cut across many areas and that made a giant leap in terms of our revenue shooting up to over 300%.

R.T: What sort of potentials are there at ‘Obonu’ FM which will ensure talents, like you have, and the others will not phase out in the future?

A.K: Thanks for the question. At ‘Obonu’ FM young journalists come on attachment from the Universities and the Journalism Schools. Whilst there we source for talents and recommend them for contracts to further their education in the native language and presentation of programs. We then bond them when employed to work for the Station. This year we were lucky to have 3 students, one who can translate and read ‘Ga’ and ‘Dangme’ languages fluently, there is one with a good voice and very creative and the other who has a good sense of maturity in the language.

As I am speaking to you now, all three have started a course and to be employed later at the FM Station. We offer sponsorship package for the talents we get through National Service and attachments so we can in future leave our legacy to them.

R.T: Let me shift our focus a little bit. I understand Accra Sports Stadium now named after Ohene Djan (one of the best Sports Administrators that grazed Ghana sports) is also a ‘hot’ issue among many natives of Gadangme. They are calling on the authorities to change the name.

What is their point of argument here?

A.K: The method used to name the Accra Sports Stadium is not right. We have a Local Government Act 462 in the Constitution of the State which says: ‘the only authority permitted by the law to name monuments, streets and landmarks is the Local Council of the area which is the Municipal District and Metropolitan Assembly of the area’. The name of the Accra Sports Stadium was given by the Sports Council, which is not mandated by the law to do that. The other reason was, the initial preparation and looking for funding to build the Stadium was started by G.S. Laryea (deceased) who was the first Ghanaian to win an Olympic medal. We are also being told the name of Ohene Djan came on top because he was a good soccer administrator but the first soccer administrator was Richard Acquaye and he was the one who organised the first Premier Football League in Ghana. His track record in soccer administration is far ahead of Ohene Djan. It can also be argued that Ohene Djan had a criminal case during his administration and was sacked for embezzlement of money. Somebody involved in a criminal case is not a hero. The Gadangme people want to know the criteria for which Ohene Djan was named after the stadium since there were others who contributed to the building of the structure.

Lastly, what the ‘Gas’ are not happy about in the whole episode was that they were not consulted. Under the Local Government Act 462 before the local authority names a monument it has to do it in consultation with the traditional authority and this was not done.

R.T: Information I stumbled on tells me there are plans to form a Journalist Association which will be made up of natives from the Greater Accra Region (Gadangme). Can you tell me more about this development and what it stands for?

A.K: The idea was mooted by me and Naa Norley (of Chronicle Newspaper). We are yet to register it but have at the moment 4 members and work together; all of us work at different media houses. If there’s any news on Gadangme we interact with each other and put it across. The purpose is to defend our people. Through that effort we have managed to control among others the sale of Gadangme lands.

R.T: If resources are pulled together among natives of Gadangme in Europe for development project in the region of Greater Accra, which areas do you think should have priorities?

A.K: First, I will suggest we have a Gadangme Radio Station. ‘Obonu’ FM is a Government Radio Station under Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (G.B.C). We should have an independent Gadangme Radio Station which we can use to mobilize the people and address our issues. We should be in a position where we can put what we want on air without seeking permission from anyone or body. Secondly, we should have a Gadangme School, possibly a University, Polytechnic or Senior High Schools with a low cost of education to educate and help our youths. Thirdly, we should have scholarships for the natives who want to study the ‘Ga’ language.

R.T: On a more serious note, do you have a mentor?

A.K: Yes, I have someone I look up to. He is Prof. Konotey Ahulu, a native of Gadangme, who discovered sickle cells, world wide, now a Lecturer in one of the Universities in London. He came from a poor background but through perseverance, vision and hard work he’s made it in life competing with other intellectuals in the medical field. I look up to him for his humbleness, creativeness and to explore new idea and areas.

R.T: Finally, what message are you taking home about what you have seen in Italy, especially about the natives of Gadangme residing in this country? A.K: I have observed, especially about the Gadangme people, here there is seriousness in them, they know that they came here for a purpose and remain committed to their work, many of them have brought their spouse and children and knowing that they are natives form one Region in Ghana they are united and helping one another.

R.T: It’s a pleasure talking to you. You are an inspiration to many Gadangme people living today.

A.K: Thanks for this interview; it’s a pleasure talking to you too. My final comment to all Gadangmes in Europe is, there’s no unity among the natives in Ghana and the Unions in Europe should create the kind of unity that will bring the togetherness we want among our people back home. They must also note they came from somewhere and will one day go home so they should plan towards that.

R.T: I wish you a safe journey back home to Ghana.

A.K: Thank you.