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Opinions of Monday, 15 March 2021

Columnist: Kormi Nobert Goodsman

A letter to to Mr Daniel Yaw Domelevo

Daniel Yao Domelevo, Former Auditor General Daniel Yao Domelevo, Former Auditor General

Dear Mr. Domelevo,

I hope you are doing well by the grace of our Lord. I am very thankful for the life of a kinsman and a colleague advocate against corruption that the whole world has seen in you. And indeed if the rumour from the grapevines that you have landed a big role with a certain international institution is in place, then receive my goodwill wishes. I know you will shine over there too.

Efo Yaw, circumstances leading to your orchestrated removal from office are no secret to both the local and the international media. It is not so because you put them there as some of your crucifiers want us to believe but because every clean-hearted man, woman, boy, and girl knows you were the last hope we had if we truly meant the fight against corruption– what the speakers of the Ewe language call “Zanu dudu".

Interestingly, you were put in a position where most of the fight isn't even against the literal meaning of “zanu" among the Ewes because it no longer receiving a brown envelope at night. Now it is just plain thievery! Where public officials use a fraction of monies that have been withdrawn from the Consolidated Fund on part of the intended purpose and embezzle the rest. You did so well in your position. In fact every clean-hearted man, woman, boy and girl know you did well.

Sadly, Efo Yaw, the people we are dealing with are “dugbalawo". Strangely, their secret conviction throughout their generation has been that they own this land. They told their children’s children that they own this space with everything on it and under it. But remember one of our greatest poets and a hero of the Mighty Volta Region, Kofi Anyidoho wrote few lines long ago which could as well admonish those elements in his poem, “RODNEY" from his Earthchild collection of poems:
...We have not been the tools of fools although the finer urges of our being have grown so blunt from careless hands of small-faced men They swear they own the Earth on which we shit and there are no disposable diapers for the droppings of the poor so they lick our ass with tongues of flame...

So I was not surprised at all when I heard them say you're Togolese. Remember that has been an age-long thing for them. They ignorantly refer to all of us who hail from the Mighty Volta Region as Togolese.

It is meant to spite us. I don't know which history books they read. Oh I remember! There are a handful of self-acclaimed historians amongst them who literally became historians just to obliterate Our ethnic group. They have written loads of hogwash about our identity to feed their bloated ego and that of their children. Sadly, their gullible children also believed them.

Sometimes, I wonder why their children don’t ask them who wrote the two renditions of the National Anthem for this country. And also the National Pledge that have become our greatest national identities.

Why did their children not ask them the name of the composer who brought the words “Yen Ara Asaase Ni" to life even though he was not Akan. I wonder why We have given them so much as a country yet, they spit in Our face whenever We turn to look at their face.

Efo Yaw, the tribal bigots who forcefully removed you from office did that because of two reasons. The first is because you are an Ewe and the next is because you were uncovering their thievery. They never appreciated all that We have done for this country. I don’t know what they have done for themselves.

If we gave them (Ghana) their biggest identity in their National Anthem through Dr. Philip Gheho and Kormi Gbordzoe, gave them the National Pledge though Philip Gbeho again and also gave them a song to sing to praise their land, yet they still call us Togolese, then why haven't they thrown those identities away?

Why must “Ghanaians” sit down for “Togolese" to project their identity? Or they mean their forefathers who lived back then had no brain of their own? These are some of the things I never understand. Let the word go to those elements of Akan tribal bigotry that Ewes from the Mighty Volta Region are one of the smartest, cleverest, honest, modest, dedicated, hardworking human beings in this space. Our work ethics is second to none. WE serve both men and country well.

Once upon a time in this space, when honesty and truthfulness flew out of the window, it took a certain young man from the Eweland called Jerry John Rawlings to restore them. They might not agree with how he restored sanity to this country, but every clean-hearted man, woman, boy and girl knows that it was because he punished the fathers of those Akan tribal bigots who stole from us severely. Some even lost their lives. Yes! They did not die honourably. They died as thieves because they were thieves. We know that it still hurts them but WE take no hostages! OUR fathers were honourable men who gave this country a voice.

So Efo Yaw, mega fa konyi o. You have already won. And once again, they have been badly exposed for all to see. Your work as an Auditor-General has saved us millions of Ghana Cedis. You were about to save several million from the Kroll And Associates’ daylight robbery before you were hounded out of office.

Before you assumed that role, very little was seen and heard of the A-G. But you gave us hope. At first we thought once politicians and other public official steal money, no trace can be found and nothing can be done until you were appointed to that office. We didn’t know that your office could instruct public officials to return stolen monies until we saw you did it.

Your only offence was to dare ask the then Senior Minister, Osafo Marfo to show us the evidence of work done by Kroll And Associates. He refused and claimed they could compromise national security.

But he forgot that the firm he hired was a foreign firm and there could be no other serious security threat than having our security information in the hands of foreigners. So why did he think the position of an Auditor-General was created in the first place? Was he not aware that you are vested with the powers to investigate his long-time friend, the President’s office?

Meanwhile, Efo Yaw, remember that one key institution which was indirectly responsible for your fate was the Supreme Court. They failed you on two occasions. Firstly in the substantive case in which they endorsed Osafo Marfo’s position to withhold such vital information from you, and secondly, their calculated delay of the CSOs case against your forced leave. As you know, koklo fenya medzor na le awako fe wornu o.

I learn they never heard that case until it was withdrawn just a couple of days ago, after you exhausted the 167 days they forced on you and returned, only for them to say you can’t serve Ghana because you’re Togolese. So blame the Supreme Court too. Make sure you remember them in your prayers too, because these days weird things happen there.

Efo Yaw, take my word that WE are proud of you. The entire Eweland is behind you. Remember in RODNEY, Kofi Anyidoho assures us soon after the last line above: But come fertility time and history’s garbage dumps shall give new birth to the hunter’s dog to hunt the hunter down give him up to the mystery of the storm...

Thus, I pray fervently that one day, Our Side shall rise again as it happened a few decades ago. But let the word go out to them that when We rise, they must endure, for they have oppressed us for so long.

We saw the hate, swallowed the insults and lived like aliens in our own country. We shall rise again and nobody can stop Us.

Take heart, Efo Yaw Domelevo.

Sincerely yours,

Kormi Nobert Goodsman