March, a month of key observances, but is the name ‘Ama Ghana’ cursed?

Commonwealth Day, March 13, is just one of the reasons why March is a month of
significant observances, international and domestic, not to mention some noteworthy birthdays.

For example, last Monday, March 6, Ghana marked her 66th Independence Day; and March 8, was International Women’s Day (IWD). Interestingly, the themes of the three commemorations had a common thread: the importance of inclusiveness.

The Ghana Independence anniversary theme was ‘Our Unity, Our Strength, Our Purpose’. For the IWD, it was ‘DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for gender equality’; with a campaign slogan of ‘EmbraceEquity’, illustrated by images depicting an embrace.

‘Forging a sustainable and peaceful common future’, was the Commonwealth’s. Being a moveable feast, no fixed date, Commonwealth Day is observed on the second Monday of March, the belief is that all school children in the Commonwealth, a major constituency, will be in school then, and thus be able to participate in related activities.

However, it appears that of the three celebrations, Commonwealth Day is the least known, although Ghana became a member of the 54-member group following the attainment of independence from Britain in 1957. Noticeably, none of the main Ghanaian dailies of March 13 mention this observance.

Poignantly, this year’s Commonwealth Day observance is the first without the customary presence of the revered Queen Elizabeth II, who died on September 8, last year, aged 96. She had been Head of the Commonwealth since becoming Queen in 1952. Now her eldest child, soon to be crowned King Charles III, is the Head.

March is also the birth month of some important personalities in Ghana, including President Nana Akufo-Addo (March 29) and his wife. First Lady Rebecca was born on March 12. Another famous name born in the third month is award-winning, distinguished author Professor Ama Ata Aidoo whose birthday falls on 23.

Most interestingly, Ghana’s cocoa pioneer, Tetteh Quarshie, too, is reportedly March-born, in 1842, his date given as 27.

But of course I can’t write about March-borns without touching on the age-old, recurrent day, name controversy of whether Ghana is truly an ‘Ama, as indicated by the general nickname for our country, ‘Ama Ghana’.

In this Independence month, or Ghana Month, it seems opportune to revisit that matter, because although people seem to have gotten used to the ‘Ama’ (Saturday born) actually, March 6, 1957, the day Dr Kwame Nkrumah declared Independence, was a Wednesday. Therefore, Ghana is an ‘Akua’ (Wednesday-born); NOT AN AMA!

Furthermore, as I have argued a number of times over the years on other forums, the day of the signing of the landmark Bond of March 6, 1844, from which the Independence date was derived, was also a Wednesday!

It’s hard to pinpoint the origin of the strange nickname, but my attention was drawn to the misnomer some years ago by retired Ghana Television colleague, Kofi Asamoah. He insisted that as March 6, 1957 was a Wednesday, our country should not be called Ama, even in jest.

I recall that growing up, I knew a fanatical, somewhat eccentric woman supporter of President Kwame Nkrumah who went by the name ‘Ama Ghana’. Also, people may remember a popular Ghanaian language film titled ‘Ama Ghana’. Could either of the above be the reason for the misnomer?

Still, there’s another intriguing aspect of the matter. Believe it or not, there is a view that Ghana’s economic woes can be traced directly to the use of ‘Ama Ghana’, instead of the logical ‘Akua Ghana’!

Indeed, popular gospel musician Nicholas Omane Acheampong (of ‘Tabitha-Kum’ and
Zaphanet-Paneah’ fame), felt so strongly about what he evidently saw as the curse of the ‘Ama Ghana’ name, that he even recorded two songs about it in 2014! The songs stress the negative effect on Ghana of changing God’s will, he told me, in a telephone interview at that time.

He said he was inspired by a “message from God” to tell the country that Ghana’s name should not be changed to Ama.

“God has given us everything in this country to make us a prosperous nation, so why are we wallowing in hardship?” he asked. “Instead of giving glory to God by using the God-given Akua, Akua Ghana, we have willfully changed the name to Ama.” In his opinion, this is a challenge to God and that alone can change the country’s destiny.

Of course, this being 2023, I have no way of knowing whether the gospel musician still holds the same views. However, what is evident is that there are still references to ‘Ama Ghana’ in the media, as well as elsewhere, notably in this Ghana Month.

In Shakespeare’s famous play, Romeo and Juliet, Juliet asks the now much cited question ‘what’s in a name?’ meaning, as one source explains, that “what matters is what something is, not what it is called”. But Ghanaian culture underscores the importance and role of names. After all, the influence of names is surely why parents are very careful who they name their child after.

Currently the one thing everybody in Ghana can agree on is that the economy is in distress. So, in the desperate search for solutions, nothing should be ruled out! Therefore, maybe it’s time to banish ‘Ama’ and install ‘Akua Ghana’ as the country’s rightful appellation!

Anyway, regarding March birth days, and matters arising, one reason the subject is of such obvious interest to me is simple: I, too, am a third month born. Today, March 13, Commonwealth Day, is also my birthday.