Ghanaians in Houston Hold First Ever Ghana Unity Summit.

Events in Ghana as well as a thin but noticeable emergence of polarization along ethnic lines formed the basis for the first ever Ghana Unity Summit held in Houston, Texas. Organized by a duo called Concerned Elders, the summit concluded with several participants admitting to a truly eye-opening experience even though many of them went into it suspicious about the organizers’ motives and pessimistic about the prospect of any meaningful conclusions.

About 40 Ghanaians and others from Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania gathered in Houston last week for a first ever Ghana Unity Summit moderated by Houston Chronicle reporter Jemimah Noonoo whose Ghanaian father and Liberian mother raised her in Chicago, Illinois.

The idea emerged when summit initiator Jermaine Nkrumah began to notice attendance at Ghanaian social functions in Houston taking on a tribal identity. The new congregation along tribal lines, according to him, was an unwelcomed departure from only a decade ago when all Ghanaians socialized together. After a few friends, including Dr. Ben Asante, confirmed that they had noticed the same patterns, it was time to act. Nkrumah knew exactly whom to call – Reverend Fosu Akyea, a former president of Ghana Association of Houston. Akyea also noticed the disturbing trend as well. During the call both Nkrumah and Akyea found themselves finishing each other’s sentences because they both knew what needed to be done.

Upon arrival at the summit, some Ghanaians were surprised to see attendees from other parts of the continent given that the subject matter pertained to Ghana’s internal issues. They would soon discover the “foreigners”’ value. But Jermaine Nkrumah had to provide the background as well as the objectives of the summit. That was necessary because the Ghanaian community e-mail group discussion was flooded with comments questioning the need for such a summit. One commentator actually claimed that “Ghanaians are more cohesive today than we have ever been in our history.”

Tanzanian Engineer Alfred Ukanga kicked off the ”Peer Comparisons” phase of the discussion with his country’s best kept secret: the phrase, “Where are you from?” is almost never asked among Tanzanians. First president Julius Nyerere had set the country on a path that had led to a Tanzania where not only has there never been a civil war just like Ghana, there has never been a coup d’etat. Ukanga said he dated his future wife for three months before they knew which part of the country they each came from.

Next, Alexander Gomes, a Nigerian, shared his experiences living in Ghana. The first time he followed his Ghanaian wife to Ghana from London, he admitted he was not initially impressed. But gradually, he had grown to appreciate Ghana and Ghanaians so much that he now understands why his children claim to be Ghanaians and not Nigerians. Gomes added that it would be a shame if Ghana were to descend into a state similar to a country like his native Nigeria where nothing works, and tribal incompatibility forms the undercurrent of almost all the nation’s problems.

The final contrast was drawn by Kenyan Attorney Laban Opande. Seizing the opportunity to remind us the United States president Barack Obama has Kenyan roots, Opande walked a fine line between being proud of his country’s prosperous heritage and being disappointed over the civil conflict that afflicted his country two years ago. Asked to assess a pre-conflict Kenya on a scale of one to ten with ten being very peaceful, Opande quipped “fifteen” before seriously placing his country at ten underscoring the fact that civil conflict can break out if proactive measures are not taken.

Proactive measures are exactly what the Concerned Elders Jermaine Nkrumah and Reverend Fosu Akyea had in mind when they organized Ghana Unity Summit. But Nkrumah’s initial plan of having the panelists comprise the leaders of the various ethnic groups in Houston had to succumb to Reverend Fosu Akyea’s more argument-averting idea of having prominent members of the Ghanaian community speak on three issues impacting or resulting from tribalism in Ghana.

To that end, delivery of the first item, historic and religious perspective on the state of unity in Ghana fell on Reverend Fosu Akyea’s lap when the original panelist Reverend Ntifful could not attend. The speech focused on the united manner in which Ghana’s fore fathers fought for independence. With the colonial power being the common enemy at the time, they fought together as Ghanaians without regard for tribal affiliations. Reverend Fosu Akyea thus reminded attendees that the fight for independence received contributions from members of all ethnic groups in Ghana so no ethnic group can lay claim on Ghana.

On the Political and Economic Perspective, Dr. Ben Asante first cautioned attendees to “hold onto (your) seats” given that he, an engineer, was picked to speak on politics and economics. Then he went on to highlight the trend in Ghana whereby, the ethnic identity of the civil service changes along with a change in governments, and he accused both leading political parties of being guilty for this trend. Dr. Asante would later ask the critical question during the open discussion phase that would shape the summit’s discussion to arrive at the main conclusions drawn.

The third item was on the Social and Cultural Perspective. With his name plate reading “Mr. Nii Obli Armah” and being introduced as such, Nii Obli Armah quickly said that in Ga, “Nii” actually means “Mister.” This was an almost perfect introduction into his speech on cultural differences between Ghanaians. Obli Armah went on to assure the summit that social and cultural differences will always remain, but how we transcend beyond the obvious and work together as a nation is what will determine Ghana’s future.

A surprising feature of the open discussion was that the panelists from other African countries drew an unexpectedly large volume of questions. While participants wondered how Tanzanians could achieve what appears to be an insurmountable challenge for Ghanaians, they also wondered how Kenya, as apparently peaceful as Ghana; could descend into chaos so abruptly. But Dr. Asante’s question quickly trained the focus on Ghana. “Is tribalism driving politics or is politics driving tribalism?”

The question was hotly debated. After five occasions of democratic elections in the Third Republic, many agreed that tribalism reared its ugly head months leading into and following elections. Then everything would slightly diminish even though some dangerous perceptions would already have been sowed. The reason for this trend is that politicians hungry for votes tend to bank on the surest thing to inflame enough passions to vote, and that is the whipping up of tribal sentiments.

Nevertheless, something must be done to set some systems in place before the next election rolls around. If the nation came close to civil conflict during the last election it would be foolhardy to leave the next election also to chance. In light of this, the summit arrived at a few recommendations for the government. The first one is to hold politicians accountable for whipping up tribal sentiments for political gains. Although it was not formally called for at the summit, a “National Unity Commission” would be an ideal watchdog as well as a body charged with coming up with programs and policies aimed at improving relations among the various tribes.

Other recommendations include improved education since the more educated generally find it easier to transcend tribalism. Jokes about other tribes should be actively discouraged as they cause more harm than the jokers realize. The government must be mindful of its policies that have adverse impact on certain ethnic groups. Finally just as governments are assessed on the state of the economy, the public must begin to assess governments on the state of the tribal unity or lack thereof during their tenure.

After more than 52 years of post-colonial self-determination, Ghana is one of only a handful of African nations fortunate not to have suffered a major civil conflict. Besides the agony of lost lives, which can run up into the millions, these conflicts have largely cemented global perception of a continent utterly incapable of “getting it.” Two years ago, Kenya, once known as a bastion of peace and prosperity, fell victim to civil conflict that played all too visibly to a global audience. The culprit? Election disputes, which quickly degenerated into tribally toned violence.

With Kenya’s unexpected plunge into civil conflict as a backdrop, it came as no surprise to many that events surrounding the just concluded national elections in Ghana raised serious concerns. Said World Bank’s John Afele: “I don’t think people realize how closely we came to losing our country.” Indeed the unusually high level of tension brought about mainly by the most closely contested election in Africa had Ghanaians walking on edge, and that tension has hardly diminished in the aftermath

When the planning of Houston’s Ghana Unity Summit was unfolding, Ghanaians in other cities like Washington DC and New York City expressed interest in holding similar events in their cities. Concerned Elders strongly encourages this development since this is a national dialogue. It is in our best interest to build a Ghana devoid of tribal conflict. For most of us, tribalism among like people denies us the moral authority to criticize others for racial prejudice, which is assisted by more visible differences. .