Listen to that pepeni, the NPP will win without your support.
Listen to that pepeni, the NPP will win without your support.
Ghana man 10 years ago
I hope intelligent Ghanaians can dissect the main idea behind this article. Manasseh never justified what Dzifa said, he only entreated that the actions of some leading members of the NPP makes it possible for the NDC to capi ... read full comment
I hope intelligent Ghanaians can dissect the main idea behind this article. Manasseh never justified what Dzifa said, he only entreated that the actions of some leading members of the NPP makes it possible for the NDC to capitalize on the naivety of most Ghanaians of the minority tribes. An example are some of the articles written by the notorious patapaa Kwame Okoampa Ahoofe a nephew of Nana Addo and a prominent NPP member in New York.
This fool has written many articles where he openly declared his hatred of some tribes especially Anlo Ewes and at times Nortnhers. How can a leading member of the NPP who claims to want his uncle to become president write an article and title it " Atongo and Trokosi alliance" in reference to current NDC leadership whiles at the same time wooing those same people to vote for the NPP so his uncle can become president?
Animals like him in the NPP makes it easy for the NDC to win elections in Ghana despite its poor performance record.
Mercy 10 years ago
Mensah u are one the guys who will bring Akufo Addo down and loose coming election big. Wise up. Do u expect pepeni to vote for Nana with this comment. Is Bawumia an Ashanti or Akyem?
Mensah u are one the guys who will bring Akufo Addo down and loose coming election big. Wise up. Do u expect pepeni to vote for Nana with this comment. Is Bawumia an Ashanti or Akyem?
Hanson 10 years ago
Please don't allow yourself to be deceived. That fellow Mensah doesn't support NPP. These days, the plot gas been to throw unwarranted insults against people of northern extraction to cause disaffection for the NPP. No intell ... read full comment
Please don't allow yourself to be deceived. That fellow Mensah doesn't support NPP. These days, the plot gas been to throw unwarranted insults against people of northern extraction to cause disaffection for the NPP. No intelligent person will insult the way this fellow insulted the writer, even if Manasseh wrote nonsense.
Nana Kwaku 10 years ago
Mercy it's unfortunate that comment is made by a Mensah. But, I can assure you that this Mensah is an assumed name for a non Akan or npp person. That's the challenge for npp and Nana Addo.
Mercy it's unfortunate that comment is made by a Mensah. But, I can assure you that this Mensah is an assumed name for a non Akan or npp person. That's the challenge for npp and Nana Addo.
Sam 10 years ago
Thank you for telling Mensah the truth. I however pity Manesseh for trying to do the bidding of the NPP. I have read all his writings and that seems to be his agenda but like Bawomia they will show him where power lies when ... read full comment
Thank you for telling Mensah the truth. I however pity Manesseh for trying to do the bidding of the NPP. I have read all his writings and that seems to be his agenda but like Bawomia they will show him where power lies when they have the opportunity. Ethnicity cannot be washed away so long as the NPP and its cohorts continue to think that there is no blood in other tribes me and my likes who feels this way will never have anything to do with them even if the NDC does not know how to govern.
Klinker 10 years ago
You will not wait for the writer to end before you start your tribal comments. This is exactly what the writer is trying to address.
You will not wait for the writer to end before you start your tribal comments. This is exactly what the writer is trying to address.
Africanus 10 years ago
Grow up Mensah.... it is people like you who have put all Ghanaians in our under develop state.... There is no telling that you have a small mind.
Grow up Mensah.... it is people like you who have put all Ghanaians in our under develop state.... There is no telling that you have a small mind.
Charles Agbenu 10 years ago
You could be an NDC sympathizer saying this in the name of NPP to create Northern hatred for NPP. And NDC have used these tricks several times.
You could be an NDC sympathizer saying this in the name of NPP to create Northern hatred for NPP. And NDC have used these tricks several times.
Dada Anim 10 years ago
So the most hardvworking person in the NPP is Dr Bawumia. He has worked harder compared to the founding members since 1992. Who are you comparing him to. Appointment as a Vice candidate is a platform given to you by on Presid ... read full comment
So the most hardvworking person in the NPP is Dr Bawumia. He has worked harder compared to the founding members since 1992. Who are you comparing him to. Appointment as a Vice candidate is a platform given to you by on Presidential Candidate, so if you both lose elections it is the perogative of the party delegates make a clean break from the losing streak or continue with 50% of the tick. After 3 electoral loses and Dr Bawumias weakness in helping to halt the downward slide in senseless factionalism I would be surprised if he is not declared persona no grata if the NPP loses. The party has supported the Nana and Bawumia losing ticket for 12 years. If that is not enough what is TRIBE regardless.
Osei 10 years ago
Even though a bit of vacillation here and there and hardly touches ground the import of the message was well delivered.
Aside the ethnic and tribal card is the dangerous posture and the sense of entitlement of the npp as p ... read full comment
Even though a bit of vacillation here and there and hardly touches ground the import of the message was well delivered.
Aside the ethnic and tribal card is the dangerous posture and the sense of entitlement of the npp as posited by Osafo Marfo that it is either us or nobody else attitude of the npp.
Unnecessary challenge of institutions like the ec to do things their way with their own interpretation as against the constitutional role of umpires is what will eventually destabilize this nation.
This is a good start even though you were very careful not to be accused of conflict of interest,your message is a timely intervention.
G. K. Berko 10 years ago
Thanks, Osei! Your comment is a cogent, concise summary of deserving plaudits for the Author.
I agree that he hit the nail on the head firmly enough without raising the temperature of the truth impact embedded in it.
... read full comment
Thanks, Osei! Your comment is a cogent, concise summary of deserving plaudits for the Author.
I agree that he hit the nail on the head firmly enough without raising the temperature of the truth impact embedded in it.
I had, prior to this Article, commented on the hypocrisy of those NPP folks who blatantly and conveniently have long overlooked similar comments and utterances as Dzifa made by the Party's leaders but chose to descend heavily on Dzifa.
I am an Akan and have never condoned tribalism and ethnocentrism in our Politics. And I have never shied away from pointing out to perpetrators of that insidious behavior I encounter the impropriety and danger in that habit.
We should acknowledge that there are bigots on both sides. And we all bear the responsibility of doing what is right to make each other feel belonging to the country.
It is not where one comes from that makes him or her more of a Ghanaian than the other, if ever we were to seek any criteria for such characterization.
Patriotism is not evaluated with where one comes from within the unit of Nationhood but what one does for the country.
I have been called 'goody-goody two shoes' by fellow Akans who find it difficult to concede the truth about our Ghanaianness. But that has not deterred me from insisting that we all deserve reciprocal respect and mutual pride of being Ghanaians.
What we need to bring to the fore in this argument is how opportunities for improving people's lives are shared by our Central Government. That is the most controversial phase in our Nation building.
The argument that people with more valuable natural resources in their areas deserve more opportunities than others was long settled at the birth of the Nation when our forefathers and -mothers rejected the kind of Federalism that was advocated by the Danquah-Busia Royalists who sought to preserve the exclusive privileges of the Traditional leaders under the guise of seeking any deserving quota of the benefits of exploitation of Economic resources to the areas where the resources originate.
The corruption we see today are woven into that tribal and ethnic Politics very intricately, and it behooves all decent, honest and fair-minded Ghanaians and Institutions to be more vocal on this problem, if we hope to keep the Nation intact and cohesive for uniform development.
Thanks again!
Long Live Ghana!!!
Mallam 10 years ago
Well said Mr. Berko but research from around the world has proven that African and Middle Eastern nations will struggle to develop due the arbitrary nature in which the European colonialist demarcated and divided the 2 contin ... read full comment
Well said Mr. Berko but research from around the world has proven that African and Middle Eastern nations will struggle to develop due the arbitrary nature in which the European colonialist demarcated and divided the 2 continents. Bringing people of different cultures together has never worked anywhere unless the different cultures fuse together as one which is sadly the case in Africa and the Middle East.
What is the way forward then for these two continetes?
Kosia Teni 10 years ago
Mass, this frafra boy is becoming too known. I blame Despite for employing him. He should have been resting dog meat in Bolga market by now.when Akans exposed them small they want to be oga.
Mass, this frafra boy is becoming too known. I blame Despite for employing him. He should have been resting dog meat in Bolga market by now.when Akans exposed them small they want to be oga.
G. K. Berko 10 years ago
Please, stop the tribal insults. They feed into the escalation of the problem.
Once you begin dehumanizing people with such derogatory insults, they naturally have to fight back to affirm their existential significance. A ... read full comment
Please, stop the tribal insults. They feed into the escalation of the problem.
Once you begin dehumanizing people with such derogatory insults, they naturally have to fight back to affirm their existential significance. And scheming to control the economy could be one one way for them to do so. And that further drives us deeper into chaos.
Long Live Ghana!!!
Sadiq 10 years ago
For the first time I have seen an animal that refers to itself as an akan write some announce its bullsh*t!!!
For the first time I have seen an animal that refers to itself as an akan write some announce its bullsh*t!!!
Alien 10 years ago
Deep down the article describes u as a NDC member creating the impression that u are npp man
Deep down the article describes u as a NDC member creating the impression that u are npp man
Christus Legatus 10 years ago
Well said Manasseh. I am an Akan and I agree with what you've said. I have fought against this tribalistic ideas within my own family. As a Christian, I believe all human beings are of equal value and dignity because we all a ... read full comment
Well said Manasseh. I am an Akan and I agree with what you've said. I have fought against this tribalistic ideas within my own family. As a Christian, I believe all human beings are of equal value and dignity because we all are created in the image of God. The fact that certain historical events favored some groups over others or certain people are predisposed to certain issues does not suggest some ethnic groups are inferior to others. Every honest and reasonable Ghanaian will admit that, we have been exposed to certain toxic ideas about other tribes. Indeed, no rational human being will join a group where he or she is only welcomed but not respected. As Blacks, we loathe it when some Whites treat us as inferior beings. What makes us think treating our fellow citizens the same way is ok? It is time to accord each other the same respect and dignity we deserve.
Kofi Ata, Cambridge, UK 10 years ago
MANNASEH, you have a point in saying that both NDC and NPP are engaged in divisive politics by playing the ethnic or race card but totally wrong to claim that NDC is engaged in "tribal politics of inclusion" and whilst NPP is ... read full comment
MANNASEH, you have a point in saying that both NDC and NPP are engaged in divisive politics by playing the ethnic or race card but totally wrong to claim that NDC is engaged in "tribal politics of inclusion" and whilst NPP is engaged in "ethnic politics of exclusion".
There can be no tribal politics that is inclusive. There is nothing like that. First the context within which you use the term "tribal politics" is offensive. This is because the concept, "tribe" was and still often used by western society to refer to uncivilised groups/communities mostly in developing countries, whilst ethnicity is used to described civilised groups/communities in the developed world. To use the word tribe to describe ethnic groups in Ghana is therefore insulting. This is not to suggest that there is no tribal politics. Indeed, there is tribal politics everywhere including the developed democracies like the US and the UK but in a different context.
"Tribal politics" is the kind of politics that groups or a whole political party take entrenched positions against the other and defend such positions no matter what. They begin to behave irrational as if in tribal societies where each tribe defended their territories at whatever cost, including killing each other. So the term tribal politics, that is they behave like tribal savages. The Tea Party wing within the Republican Party engages in tribal politics and often the Republican Party in Congress and the Senate actions against Obama policies are nothing but tribal politics and vice versa. The same applies to the Conservative Party's Euro sceptics and the extreme left within the Labour Party. They are at each other throat or attacking each other as tribal groups.
For the above reason, both NDC and NPP are engaged in ethnic politics of exclusion even if one party appears to be more inclusive than the other. The differences between NDC and NPP in terms of their support base are more complex than just ethnicity as it encompasses socio-economic as well as class dynamics in Ghana.
The question of whether Dr Bawumai could replace Nana Akufo-Addo or not as the NPP leader or flag bearer in the future cannot and should not be reduced to simply a matter of race or ethnicity. That will depend on a number of factors including ethnicity. For me and at this stage of his political careers so far, ethnicity is less important and let me explain why.
The first and most important factor would be the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. If Nana Akufo-Addo and Bawumia win the presidency, then Bawumia chances will improve after four years and even stronger if they win a second term.
On the other hand, if they fail on the third consecutive attempt, Bawumai has no chance not because he is a Northerner but for the truism that he would have been closely associated with failure after failure. He would become damaged goods and would have passed his sale by date. This is far stronger than his ethnicity.
The other reason is that Bawumia has no political base in NPP and without Nana Akufo-Addo, Bawumia would be like a fish taken out of water onto dry land. It would not survive for long for lack of oxygen. That is a weakness Bawumia has when it comes to future leadership of NPP, if the Nana Akufo-Addo-Bawumia team does not win the November election.
Of course, I do not dispute that his ethnicity may play a role but I suspect that may be detrimentally minimal. In fact, ethnicity becomes a stronger factor not necessarily because Bawumia is a Northerner but because immediately after eight years of Mahama I am not sure Ghanaians will replace him with another president from the north. That is a reality that Bawumia would have to come to terms with. Both NDC and NPP may make the case for someone from another region, especially Greater Accra. This is an incidental factor or just hard luck.
Jacques 10 years ago
I guess the politics of inclusion or exclusion was used by Mannaseh most probably because it sounded nice to him. He didn't carefully examine the full implications of the formulation. He felt victim at that point to the write ... read full comment
I guess the politics of inclusion or exclusion was used by Mannaseh most probably because it sounded nice to him. He didn't carefully examine the full implications of the formulation. He felt victim at that point to the writer's fault that puts more emphasis on form than content. He's young and still learning his art... But I think he wrote well in this case. He still has to learn to talk less about himself and putting himself in the centre or starting point of his writing.
Ata, your other points about a Bawumia presidency sound well argued. They make sense.
v.bowe 10 years ago
OH FOR ONES I AM ENJOYING READING GHANA WEB BECAUSE OF WISE AND EDUCATIVE CONTRIBUTION BY SOME OF YOU. KUDOS!
OH FOR ONES I AM ENJOYING READING GHANA WEB BECAUSE OF WISE AND EDUCATIVE CONTRIBUTION BY SOME OF YOU. KUDOS!
v.bowe 10 years ago
VERY EDUCATIVE SIR.
VERY EDUCATIVE SIR.
PRINCEWILLY@YMAIL.COM 10 years ago
A husband and wife were having a fine dining experience at their exclusive country club when this stunning young woman comes over to their table, gives the husband a big kiss, says she'll see him later and walks away.
His wi ... read full comment
A husband and wife were having a fine dining experience at their exclusive country club when this stunning young woman comes over to their table, gives the husband a big kiss, says she'll see him later and walks away.
His wife glares at him and says, "Who was that?"
"Oh," replies the husband, "she's my mistress."
"Well that's the last straw," says the wife. "I've had enough, I want a divorce. I am going to hire the most aggressive, meanest divorce lawyer I can find and make your life miserable."
"I can understand that," replies her husband, "but remember, if we get a divorce it will mean no more wintering in Key West, or the Caribbean, no more summers in Tuscany, no more Cadillac STS in the garage, and no more country club, and we'll have to sell the 26-room house and move to two smaller homes, but the decision is yours."
Just then, a mutual friend enters the restaurant with a gorgeous young woman on his arm.
"Who's that with Jim?" asks the wife.
"That's his mistress," says her husband.
She replies, "Ours is prettier."
MANASSEH ARTICLE IS VERY UNIQUE AND I HOPE ALL THE POLITICAL PARTTIES WILL TAKE HIS ADVICE.
THE MAN MAY WHO BOUGHT A PLANE FOR HIS WIFE AND DISRESPECTED HER,NOW HAS TO MAKE HER DECISION.
Fuad Awuni 10 years ago
Indeed we should condem all tribal and ethnocentric comments from our political actors. We need time to really talk about it thus that the perception that some tribes are more better than some will be put to rest and we all w ... read full comment
Indeed we should condem all tribal and ethnocentric comments from our political actors. We need time to really talk about it thus that the perception that some tribes are more better than some will be put to rest and we all will see ourselves as equal country men and women.
kk 10 years ago
I hv neva read anything from this guys that makes sense like today. Tribalism of inclusion (N.D.C) vrs tribalism of exclusion (N.P.P) is exactly what is going on in Ghana all this while. But if u want to tell the npp folks ab ... read full comment
I hv neva read anything from this guys that makes sense like today. Tribalism of inclusion (N.D.C) vrs tribalism of exclusion (N.P.P) is exactly what is going on in Ghana all this while. But if u want to tell the npp folks about their ethnocentric sentiments are the cause of their failures all the time, they will attack you further by telling u it is out of inferiority complex. But they should know that everyone is proud of where he/she comes from and for that matter wants to be recognise as such, so it will be difficult for them to vote for you when it comes to elections, because they feel disrepected, unimportant, insulted and abuse by the comments they hear from senior citizens like Nana Addo, Osafo Marfo, k. AGYEPONG, Sammy Awuku and the likes and so therefore have no businness voting for people who only regard them when it comes to elections. I repeat again today is my first time reading something objective from this guy.
Kofi 10 years ago
I disagree strongly with Manasseh's conclusions in this piece. put in their proper contest, most of the examples he gave, as bad as they are though, may not lead to such sweeping conclusions.
For me the fact is that, as a p ... read full comment
I disagree strongly with Manasseh's conclusions in this piece. put in their proper contest, most of the examples he gave, as bad as they are though, may not lead to such sweeping conclusions.
For me the fact is that, as a people, we had our tribal differences before the advent of the whiteman and we have unfortunately carried these suspicions with us up to today and that is what some people have sought to use as a political tool. Either than that, we can find similar caustic tribal comments from the NDC (Kofi Awoonor's book and Mill's great Ashanti project comments come to mind) but. It does not elicit the same response from the other.
Unfortunate as such individual tribal comments are, I'm not about to compare that to a Political party playing the tribal card as a policy, that is very reprehensible.
Mallam 10 years ago
Are you comparing events in a military regime to what is happening in a democracy? How intelligent are you? In a dictatorship we don't have a say but in a democracy people have a choice to go where they feel welcomed. If that ... read full comment
Are you comparing events in a military regime to what is happening in a democracy? How intelligent are you? In a dictatorship we don't have a say but in a democracy people have a choice to go where they feel welcomed. If that's what you wnat then lets go all the way from events in Nkrumahs time till now and you realize how stupid you are.
Hanson 10 years ago
You didn't understand what he meant so go back and dissect his comments before you rain insults. Insults in debate is for weak minds. What he meant was that all the tribes and political parties are guilty of these despicable ... read full comment
You didn't understand what he meant so go back and dissect his comments before you rain insults. Insults in debate is for weak minds. What he meant was that all the tribes and political parties are guilty of these despicable tribal remarks but whilst they do not trigger very strong response from others, some tribes rather play victims and respond very strongly and take those response to their graves. Worse things have been said and done against Akans but they seem to easily forget and move on.
C. Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
Twum Boafo has said it as it is without mincing words.
Having read what Mrs Ativor reportedly said, I agree 100% that it is simply hypocritical for anyone to come out to denounce her and ask her to apologise WITHOUT at fir ... read full comment
Twum Boafo has said it as it is without mincing words.
Having read what Mrs Ativor reportedly said, I agree 100% that it is simply hypocritical for anyone to come out to denounce her and ask her to apologise WITHOUT at first or ever condemning the ethnocentric utterances and actions of the NPP leaders and elements that gave grounds for her own utterance, which simply seek to benefit from the ethnocentric politics and actions of the NPP tradition when in power.
I myself had pointed out those things many times in articles. An anti-PNDC refugee, an Ewe himself, Dr Kodzi, even wrote a book in the early 1990s in which he pointed out the Anlos as the Ewes to be killed, in response to the rampant loose talk by some Akans that Ewes would be killed by them. That was long before Agyapong's loose talk a few years ago.
I had narrated and posted many times my own personal experiences in Nigeria with some of those would-be assassins. All of you pretending and insulting Ativor should therefore fcuk off! Hypocrites!
I welcome Manasseh's plead that we don't sweep the matter under the carpet but discuss. I have been doing that since the early '90s. I have a 10-series continuation of my Ethnic Imbroglio waiting on ice for years now. I shall post the Part I here to refresh the memories of all and inform those who didn't read it before.
Andy-K
Andy-K
Truthiness 10 years ago
Andy-K, you should know and do better than this. I've heard you repeat the things you heard in Nigeria from certain aggrieved fools venting their anger. What a guy like you should be dissecting now it the fact that NPP was in ... read full comment
Andy-K, you should know and do better than this. I've heard you repeat the things you heard in Nigeria from certain aggrieved fools venting their anger. What a guy like you should be dissecting now it the fact that NPP was in power for 8 years and no Anlo was killed. As for Dzifa, she conveniently left out the Peprahs, Mallam Issahs and the Sipa Yankeys who were also jailed by the NPP, or the dragging of the Asamoah Boatengs, Kwodwo Mpianis, Daniel Gyimahs and Wereko-Brobbeys to court by the NDC. They would have ended in jail if the courts had found them guilty. And they were all Akans.
C. Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
I know a couple who were stressed into early death 'cos of what was done to them: on leave while forensic audit was undertaken of your dept, and never recalled.
I regret to say that I teased one here in London, mocking hi ... read full comment
I know a couple who were stressed into early death 'cos of what was done to them: on leave while forensic audit was undertaken of your dept, and never recalled.
I regret to say that I teased one here in London, mocking him that it suited them very well, since they all remained silent when the threats were being made against Ewes, often saying that those of us who joined the fray to respond to the constant Ewe demonisation and vilification were idlers with time to spend.
Of course, I knew better. Read my long post below.
Btw, I don't hold brief for Mrs Attivor, one of those Ewes that pissed me off, eating in our beards in the NDC. My first reaction to what she allegedly said was to give her a blast. But having read another version, I think she has been misquoted and distorted in the first report. She was simply trying to profit from throwing back the NPP's own acid at them. interestingly, much of NAZI propaganda against Jews were picked from Zionist writings.
Andy-K
v.bowe 10 years ago
WAITING TO READ SIR
WAITING TO READ SIR
olu 10 years ago
I hope this guy rethinks his childish stand that he is for the nation.we have seem it several times. There is no success full coup staged In this country without the involvement of northerners. What they get after the coup is ... read full comment
I hope this guy rethinks his childish stand that he is for the nation.we have seem it several times. There is no success full coup staged In this country without the involvement of northerners. What they get after the coup is passive references with not position in government. Your employer will use you to bring down your fellow northerners. Period. Do you think only northern business men are crooks? Why is it that your employer has never asked you to investigate the southern business men? . When they get the cleu they would sit on it and prevent it from coming out but that involves a northerners they send you to destroy them. You managed to ditch Agambiri and we the northerners are the worst off. Grow up for we the northerners have been used and dump severally.
KOJO 10 years ago
I think Manasseh is cleverly inflamming passion on ethnicity and tribalism against NPP,he should have rather let the sleeping dogs lay and condemn Dzifa.
I think Manasseh is cleverly inflamming passion on ethnicity and tribalism against NPP,he should have rather let the sleeping dogs lay and condemn Dzifa.
kaketonti 10 years ago
KOJO BE SMART.FIRST CONDEMN KEN AGYAPONG,SAFO MAAFO BEFORE MADAME DZIFA.MANASSEH WRITE UP IS WELL INTENDED AND GOOD.HOWEVER,THE WORD AKAN IS LIMITED TO A CERTAIN QUEER AREAS.THIS IS A METAPHOR USED BY THE BRITISH.ASK THE BRIT ... read full comment
KOJO BE SMART.FIRST CONDEMN KEN AGYAPONG,SAFO MAAFO BEFORE MADAME DZIFA.MANASSEH WRITE UP IS WELL INTENDED AND GOOD.HOWEVER,THE WORD AKAN IS LIMITED TO A CERTAIN QUEER AREAS.THIS IS A METAPHOR USED BY THE BRITISH.ASK THE BRITSH.PERSONALLY,I'M A FANTI BUT NOT AN AKAN.THANKS
Concern Citizen 10 years ago
Manasseh i like your piece but the fact must be told. The lady's comment may not sound palatable but that is the reality. The enemity that exits between the two tribes since Adam is still existing. Only Jesus Christ can unify ... read full comment
Manasseh i like your piece but the fact must be told. The lady's comment may not sound palatable but that is the reality. The enemity that exits between the two tribes since Adam is still existing. Only Jesus Christ can unify them. God bless us
kojo nzo ekangaki 10 years ago
Residents of the Volta Region tend to follow the NDC mainly because the party extended electricity to the region during their tenure,and not because Rawlings hailed from the area.In 2012 ,Rawlings more or less,left the NDC,b ... read full comment
Residents of the Volta Region tend to follow the NDC mainly because the party extended electricity to the region during their tenure,and not because Rawlings hailed from the area.In 2012 ,Rawlings more or less,left the NDC,but the electorate still voted for the party led by a Northner
kofi kafui 10 years ago
Manasseh as a jounalist must grow up and know that this same ndc and npp supporters on social media uses names that are align to their politucal opponent to do dirty politics. For instance my nme is kofi kafui can be usd by a ... read full comment
Manasseh as a jounalist must grow up and know that this same ndc and npp supporters on social media uses names that are align to their politucal opponent to do dirty politics. For instance my nme is kofi kafui can be usd by an akan person to attack northners on this plateform so that any nothner may think that ewes hate northners and the Akans also do same. l will say 80% of the people who comment on ghanaweb uses fake names for their stupid agenda. One of this person is MENSAH who comment first on this aticle,he began by insulting manasseh pepeni
C. Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
WILFULLY BLIND OR JUST PLAIN IGNORANCE?
I have been amused, and somehow puzzled, at the rumpus being raised about what crazed Agyapong said. But what I find surprising is the virtual hypocrisy and mendacious attempts to br ... read full comment
WILFULLY BLIND OR JUST PLAIN IGNORANCE?
I have been amused, and somehow puzzled, at the rumpus being raised about what crazed Agyapong said. But what I find surprising is the virtual hypocrisy and mendacious attempts to brush this issue under the carpet by some linked to the NPP as just a one off aberration. These people pretend or do not seem to know that Agyapong’s threats were not the first admonishing the killing of Ewes, something the readily available facts betray. Facts I have been referring to from 1994 in cyberspace, recounting my own personal experiences with some of those advocates of Ewe killers in Nigeria during the early years of the PNDC. Of course, I have not as yet told the full story. But as Fela said, “I no kpata de finish!”
Hmm! As I found out when I was insulted “basabasa” by a man who turned out to be one of my many uncles, (when I apparently misspoke on the hike in petrol prices in the 1993 budget, on a bus from Anloga to Dzelukope in 1993), - being mistaken for a Quashiga hireling who had joined the “Eblutorwo” (Akans) preparing to come and kill them - my people back home were fully prepared and waiting for the quislings to start the attacks; I was assured. That was long before anyone heard of Justice Kpega as a political pundit! Phew! Me, a die-hard Nkrumaist in league with NPP assassins, to go and kill my fellow Anlos? Well, after all, it was in Lome, an Ewe centrepiece city even if many are of Ga-Elmina(Anyi) extraction, that they first congregated and started those loose talks against Ewes, thus forcing most Ewes in exile opposed to the PNDC to abandon the opposition to the PNDC and the anti-Ewe bent it had taken. So, many of us Ewes knew about their evil intents a long time ago, as they were eating our akple and fetri detsi and planning it in our kinsmen homes! Hardly any of them knew that much of the land of Lome is owned by people from Aflao and environs. Ignorant morons come in all shapes, you know. They were lucky no one poisoned them in Lome.:-)
Equally, I have read opponents to Agyapong’s utterances, including some Ewes, made some false and misleading statements, which shows that they are ignorant of the facts of the origins of the ethnic imbroglio in Ghana, despite my persistent efforts and write-ups sketching that sordid history, from the pre-colonial to the post-independence era. I read someone situated in the 1979 elections period Victor Owusu’s scathing attacks on Ewes as “inward-looking” during the exchanges with Dr Agama in Parliament after the Apollo 586 sacking of mostly Ewes by the Busia regime! How come?!
Ignorance and superstition are recognised as key cogs in the vicious cycle of backwardness that is our lot as developing people but the extent most so-called educated Ghanaians wallow in these two inhibiting traits is just stupendous and disheartening!
Many try to claim that Rawlings introduced tribalism into Ghana by employing predominantly Ewes into sensitive public posts, especially the security sector; whereas the same claims of Ewe domination of posts had already been used effectively against Gbedema’s NAL by Busia’s Progress Party during the 1969 General Elections, as I had quoted from Dennis Austen to show but something all grown-ups at the time knew about. It was therefore unfortunate that the late Prof Adu Boahen, as a historian who knew or ought to know better, fed into these fabrications of Ewe dominance, creating his own when he reportedly claimed in a British Council lecture in 1988 that Prof. Akilagpa Sawyerr, a Ga who was given the VC post which he thought he deserved at the time, was an Ewe; and promised in his interview granted to Mahoney and his Africa Watch magazine to redress the presumed ethnic disparity when the NPP was elected into office. To me and many discerning Ewes, especially the Ewe elite, it was all déjà vu. But I was still surprised to find out that some decade long opponents of the PNDC voted for the NDC in 1992! It would not even surprise me if someone who knew Justice Kpegah’s political views very well in the 1980s came out to say that he was an arch-enemy of the PNDC in the Bar Association. I was visiting Ho in 1990 when the people of the VR angrily rejected the no party idea that the PNDC was then lobbying for, effectively halting the campaign for it. Those in BA had already voted yes.
Yes! The NPP had itself to blame for their dismal reception in the VR, as they lost the plot with their tribal agenda reminiscent of the 1969 campaign. In Accra, they lost a lot of Ga support when the same Prof Adu Boahen at a rally, in trying to whip the anti-Ewe venom made that gaffe about Gas being pushed by the PNDC to be sleeping 10 persons to a room, besides many of the main speakers speaking in Twi which pissed off the Gas! In 2000, they (NPP) won simply because of JJ’s unwholesome Swedru Declaration and the disrespectful Obed Asamoah led attempts to impose sitting candidates on their constituents, which nearly got him beaten at Dzelukope/Keta. My own Anlo Constituency elected an independent MP though linked to the NDC too, having rejected the NDC official candidate Rtd Captain Sowu.
Fact is, I have been aware, just as many other people, since the early 1980s of various threats by some Akans opposed to the PNDC to have Ewes killed and had written about that many, many times on Okyeame and SIL. Perhaps, adding Gas to those to be killed is just the new dimension added by Agyapong, since it appeared, this time, the Gas, in Agyapong's warped mind, had acted in prosecuting the "Ewe agenda" by beating up Ursula on behalf of the Ewes! Well, warped minds think in strange, circular terms!
After all, the threats were so opened and so rampant that one Ewe, the late Dr Kodzi who died here in London in exile, pointed out the "Anlos” in his own virulently anti-Rawlings/ PNDC book, "Ghana: Worse than Apartheid S. Africa," as the Ewes to be killed, for being the culprits of the complaints and angst of the Akans! That was long before anyone heard of Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe and his renewed “war” on “Anlo-Ewes,” a war his ancestor joined the Akyem Gen. Dompey to fight in "Krepi" against the Asantes and lost way back in the 1860s and got stranded there, lucky enough not to have been killed like others. That’s another story I had re-told elsewhere and needs a re-visit soon in order to let the populace know what makes bozos like Ahoofe tick. For a man, (I mean Dr Kodzi, not the jerk Ahoofe) who, due to his sterling stewardship when in charge of the Keta Govt Hospital, was much beloved by the so-called Anlo-Ewes, regarded as an hononary Anlo and entrusted with pouring the libation at the Hogbeza celebration of the Noviha association here in London, that was something to write! How could he be sure that the would-be killers would not mistake him for an Anlo man, in spite of the pain he took to identify the other Ewe groups in his book? Well, the failure of the so-called Ewe elite - academic and traditional and the political - to deal rationally with this animus against Ewes is itself an intra-Ewe shambolic intellectual failure I shall deal with by and by. I have right here on my table the rantings of some other Ewes from northern Eweland based in the UK, (Ewedome as we Anlos refer to the area referred to by Europeans as Krepi), against the PNDC and Anlos in particular which I have not even as yet dealt with in my writings.
I must, however, make exception here, as Prof. Kofi Awoonor’s much distorted and maligned prison book (in league with Soyinka’s The Man Died) is probably the first book by a Ghanaian which tried to explain the tribal imbroglio and to point the way forward. His only mistake was that he fell prey to the standard Western simplistic, linear and reductionist methodology of reducing what is without doubt a complex articulation of interests and forces which cut across the ethnic divide with people from all ethnic groups found in both or all contesting camps for political ascendancy, or “hegemony”, as he put it, in Ghana. So, for instance, those who imprisoned him for helping Brig. Kattah to escape to Togo were not only “Akans/Asantes” but included Ewes, Gas, Gonjas, etc., as Kutu’s NRC comprised a cross-section of Ghanaian ethnic groups.
You have to be wilfully blind or totally ignorant of what has been happening in the opposition to the P/NDC camp in order to claim today that you are not aware of talk of and even attempts to foment what would have become an ethnic war in Ghana prior to 1992. I personally had to intervene and quelled a serious fracas on Okyeame between two well known non-Ewes when the “brave Asantes” were queried again by a non-Asante why they could not deal with the apparently Ewe P/NDC which allegedly committed atrocities on they Akans only, I suppose. I bet many can remember J.H Mensah's arrest in America for allegedly attempting to buy weapons to prosecute their “liberation war” to get their country back. It is no wonder the NPP gurus, many of whom shared in those nefarious ideas, talked about it, plotted to carry it, etc., are finding it very hard to distance themselves from this public utterance of it again. How can they desert their fellow journey man, without being double hypocrites? At least, there must be some honour among thieves (and tribal bigots, if we may add).
There are many questions to ask and many issues to take up. Had my PC not kaput and eventually leading to the loss of a huge part of what I had painstakingly written with references while in Norway with additions in London, my intended book taking up those issues would have been out years ago.
Incidentally, my next intended article after writing "How Some "Ewes" Became a Part of Ghana" is titled "Who Are the Ewes". It is just a revisit to my first ever post to a cyber forum in early 1994, Okyeame precisely, which Azar should remember so well, as in spite of my providing a reference, he still challenged me to give that! It was sent as my contribution, incidentally, to another NPP instigated scare against poor but hard working Ewe and Ada fishing cum farming pioneers (won't call them settlers) displaced by the effects of the Akosombo Dam on the neglected downstream people who opened up the mosquito infested and disease-ridden Afram Plains. The claim was that the NDC wanted to carve a district for them there and thereby claim the land for them! Wives and children were hastily sent home in order to keep them out of harm’s way in the event of attacks on the communities. That was when I decided not to sit any longer on the fence, just like the majority of my fellow educated Ewes, who think responding to such attacks on Ewes is beneath them, since madmen, "dzimakplawo" and "gbemelawo" were responsible! That was the common “wisdom” repeated by Rawlings at Tsiame, when he was queried by the worried chiefs and people about the ongoing Ewe demonization in the opposition media and political platforms in the ‘90s.
Gratuitous counter abuse, especially directed at Asantes ad nauseam, is not the way to tackle the issues, as some are presently doing on Ghanaweb. In the ‘90s, the Ghanaian stage was left to a novice like Komla Dumor to deal with on JoyFM with his “Ayigbe Jokes” series, which horrified and mortified me when I first listened to it online in 1997 or so. A programme like that would have found him and JoyFM foul of the Anti-Vilification Laws of any of the Western Europe countries and sanctioned appropriately. I doubt though whether half of our “honourable” MPs have heard of such a law, but that is the way we must go and huge revision of the school curricula. But that calls for another article.
Well, simply, many do not know how to deal with the madmen who repeatedly take their loins cloth while in the bath house! I know how! After all, I know the story of how the Anloga man dealt with the mad man of Tegbi and remained sane; the mad man who used to way lay the “asisiawo” - the market women - from the Keta market with a club and the question: axor a ava lo, alo axor a ekpo?, i.e., do you want penis or do you want club? And one day he raped and killed the heavily pregnant wife of the Anloga man. Of course, it is a taboo to deal with mad men in our society, but he did and nothing untoward ever happened to him afterwards.
Ahoofe and his ilk’s tribalistic insults directed at “Anlo-Ewes” in particular and Agyapong's call to mayhem can be placed in perspective if you are informed about their origins. They used the tribal card so well in 1969 and think they can continue using it forever. No! Some of us decided long ago that ourselves and children shall not remain objects of demonization and vilification for the political objectives of some people who are still suffering from the mental “warpedness” that the slave trade had foisted on their ancestors. We shall therefore make sure that these appeal to ethnic differences backfire big time on their stupid faces!
I am therefore re-sending and shall continue re-posting this short piece I had put together especially for the readership of Ghanaweb and shall continue with my series on the Ethnic imbroglio in Ghana. Agyapong's outburst is simply the tip of the canker that permeates our body politic that must be dealt with at its roots. They are not the only Akans who suffer from what I have dubbed “Ewe angst and fears”, which afflict the generality of Akans due to how they are weaned and socialised. What do you expect from people who, as kids, are frightened to drink their Mist Alba, behave themselves or go to bed early with the Ewe bogeyman imagery?
Andy C. Y. Kwawukume
cyandyk@ymail.com
London
THE ETHNIC IMBROGLIO IN GHANA: THE ORIGINS, PART 1
The tribal imbroglio, rather than starting in recent times, has been brewing for a long, long while now. In fact, the roots of the prejudices and the insults we see some raining on others date back to pre-colonial times. So, any attempt to understand the worrying phenomenon must address the canker from that era. That is what I intend to do, with special focus on the apparent cleavage between Ewes and Akans (and any others). But now, I’d begin with the colonial times. When you hear the cry of lamentation:
Dza le le leeeeeee!
Me zu kluvi
The road to Kontsiabu
Strewn with gold dusts.
Only those without
in their eyes gold dusts
felt the pangs of hunger and thirst…
then you’d know that the time to narrate the doleful tales of the pre-colonial era, where it all began, has arrived; but you’d get a glimpse now.
Not to waste time apportioning blame, the Akans (and Gas, if I may add them), started these tribal abuse and attacks on Ewes many decades ago; nay, centuries back, as I said earlier. But as mentioned above, I won't delve as yet into the pre-colonial times when it was free for all, with even some Ewe states joining in marauding and plundering other Ewe states for the slave markets of the Gold Coast. I had indeed provided a write up on that sordid era on Ghanaweb’s SIL in the 1990s, which is available. One German businessman with biz connections to Ghana who used to read the nonsense on SIL wrote a private mail to me saying that he was always wondering why Africans sold each other into slavery to Europeans and Arabs; reading my detailed historical account enlightened him on how and why it happened for the first time. That story must be re-told all over Africa in other to understand the roots of the conflicts that bedevilled the continent after independence.
In Ghana, the colonial times modern version started after the WW1 when Anlo, Tongu and Peki migrants from within the Gold Coast and those from the newly acquired TVT from the Germans started moving to the Akan and Ga areas to either fish, farm or seek paid employment. Ewes from Togo and Benin Republic (Dahomey) escaping from French repressive rule came later. Some Ewes, esp. the educated ones, also got jobs with the commercial houses and the colonial administration. Some, such as Gbedema and Nkulenu, started their own private businesses. Soon, they were becoming prosperous in their chosen fields and/or rising up in the ranks wherever they were employed due to the usual hard working nature of most migrants. After all, the far superior German missionary vocational educational set up, compared to the British, had equipped them much better with skills in the crafts and building, such as carpentry and masonry, which were in much demand by the colonial authority and the other natives of the Gold Coast and Asante. That was when trouble began and the attacks started, as far back as the 1930s.
Below is a brief quote from S. Greene about how the Fantes started perceiving Anlo-Ewe fisher folk; a perception or prejudice which is not much different from what permeates the Akan ethnic group as a whole up to today (not only a few bigots on Ghanaweb). Ewes find out to our chagrin or amusement, often as a kid, that that was how our fellow country men and women perceive us. The encounter is therefore a personal story too.
Not much has changed in the prejudiced minds of too many Akans, as we daily witness on Ghanaweb, even though many too have developed over the years an obsession or desire to marry Ewe girls, failure which often brought in its wake stories of tribalism heaped against Ewes. As I told some Akan teacher colleagues in Nigeria, it was the scary and “irrational” Akan “wofa” (uncle) inheritance system, stupid! Horrible stories of how Ewe widows were in particular dispossessed and treated shabbily were enough to dissuade any idea of marriage to even a most love besotted Akan man! It is no wonder that, with the interstate law of inheritance in place, marriage to Akan men has been on the increase.
I know an Ewe from the Peki area who swore that it’d never be possible to change the jaundiced perception of Akans of Ewes from his own experiences attending Mpraeso Teacher Training College, and then teaching at Mpraeso and in Kumasi. He said one particular woman - a cook in the school - they used to go to church with wouldn’t believe that he did not have any “akpeledzi” under their bed! I said it was possible and gave an example of my own experiences in Nigeria. I managed to convince my fellow Akan teachers that I don’t indulge nor believe in those things - juju or voodoo or even any god (white or black), and wouldn’t drink “ogogoro” with them – when there is original Gordon’s gin and lime cordial to have – and they somehow lost some “respect”, (or was it fear?) for me. They’d say I wasn’t a proper Anloman and fool around with me!
Between 1982-4, when their Anti-Ewe diatribes had reached fever point and they were advocating massacring Ewes as done to the Ibos in Nigeria who they claimed were also allegedly dominating Nigeria in the 1960s, I thought of putting some fear into them by creating some “kporsi” (“see-and-run”) to scare them. Fact is, practically every smart Ewe knows how to scare Akans and Gas even though they don’t have “foko” (anything), as we say in Anlo but I will keep that out of this write up. Good I didn’t do so, otherwise they’d be giving testimonies up to today about what an Anlo teacher did to them in Nigeria – they’d have packed out and run from their rooms on the ground floor of the storey building we were hiring. I “protected” myself practically by chocking the door handle with a chair, as I had seen in movies, before I went to bed, in order to prevent them from making me the first casualty of their let-us-kill-Ewes mania! Funny some of them even became staunch PNDC supporters, only to change their minds again years later when I met some on a visit to Ghana.
Anyway, enough with the digression into the personal narrative and to Sandra Greene.
From p.148 of Sandra Greene I quote:
"Increased Anlo identification with their northern Ewe-speaking neighbours may have also been enhanced by the experience many had while participating in migrant fishing. After World War I, numerous groups of Anlo men and women traveled to other coastal areas, including the Fante area of the Gold Coast, in order to pursue their commercial fishing activities. For many, this was probably the first time they had traveled outside their home area, and/or to a district where they were a distinct linguistic minority. In these locations, they conducted themselves as they had in their own home villages, but those among whom they come to live - often temporarily, just for the fishing season - came to view the Anlos' prosperity with jealousy and suspicion. Stories circulated that associated the Anlo with "blood-curdling" crimes. R.W. Wyllie indicates, for example, that from at least the 1930s "Fanti [children] learned to view the Anlos as thieves, kidnappers, sorcerers, and ritual murderers." The social tensions that accompany these beliefs - and the very fact that these beliefs were held by a non-Ewe speaking people - must have heightened the Anlo's awareness of their linguistic and cultural background and generated some sense of identification with their Ewe-speaking peoples whom they would have encountered in the Gold Coast."
The encounter with the Gold Coasters was enough to turn any Ewe into a paranoid schizophrenic, developed a siege mentality (become “inward-looking”?) and very resentful towards any idea of union with the Gold Coast, not to mention marry an Akan.
As some of you know, the Anlo area through Tongu to the Peki area had been part of the Gold Coast colony proper, effectively from 1874 though the British “bought” and claimed the area from the Danes in 1850; hence the freedom to move to other parts of the Gold Coast and Asante later. Besides, many southern Ewes are descendants Ga-Adangbe, Elmina and Denkyira fugitives dating back respectively to 1687 when the Akwamus first thrashed the Gas for cutting the “bolobolo” (foreskin) of their prince sent to the Ga Mantse Okai Koi’s court to understudy courtship, and 1700, when the Asantes defeated the Denkyiras and took over Elmina from the Denkyiras. Going back to Ge (Accra) and Sima (Shama) with their new kinsmen was just like returning to the ancestors' land. In fact, it was the descendants of those fugitives who were the first migrants, having maintained links with their ancestral lands during their long period in exile. Reindorf had written about that back and forth movement among the Ga fugitives long ago. That’s how Osu-Anecho came to be founded and how all Ewes got the derogatory epithet “Ayigbe” (Ayi refuse), whether they were descendants of fugitives or not. The “dzulor” bit the Gas added originally referred to the Okai Koi stool regalia which the Ga-Ewes in Togo refused to return to Accra and still claim to be its protectors. Remember the trips with pre-colonial undertones their chiefs made to Ghana when the NPP took over power in 2000?
I can make long comments on the above quote but suffice it to say that it was the beginning and end of the love affair which started as unification with the Gold Coast movement ending up as the drive to secede from the Gold Coast. So we read from the December 6, 1919 edition of the West Africa magazine a letter sent to the colonial government of the Gold Coast:
“We PEOPLE of Togoland, descended from two principal countries, Elmina
(Ane) and Accra (Ge), both of the Gold Coast Colony, ask to have British government because it is the government of our fathers, whose customs are our customs, and a British Colony is half-an-hour distant from us.
We ask to have British government because it is the government of our kith and kin, our race and our tribe.
We ask for British government because of our relationship with our people on the west, which must assert itself..” (culled from West Africa 12-16 Dec. 1994)
And so on it went. One may wonder why the petitioners did not even acknowledge the Ewes, Dagombas, Konkombas, Akans and the host of other ethnic and tribal groups in Togo who also have their “kith and kin” within the Gold Coast and the Northern Territories. I guess this piece of history may come as a surprise to the ingrates who make a living of always reminding us that Ewes come from Togo, some of whom carried a video to Lome to trace the roots of Fiifii Kwetey there, instead of doing so in Accra! Well, he said he was from Nogokpo, which rubbed a sore spot for me, but that’s another story.
THE EWE BACKLASH
By the 1940s, Ewes, Anlos in particular, in the Gold Coast had had enough of the vilification and undeserved demonisation their successes were arousing. The returnee Anes (Anyis) and Ges (Gas), now fused as the Genyis through intermarriages, as Anlos refer to them, also soon discovered that they were not welcome, or often welcomed with shouts of “Ayigbe dzulor”! Disenchantment set in and secession from Ghana became a far better option. The result was the 1956 plebiscite and the rest is history.
Then comes the post Feb 24 1966 coup era, when Busia and his PP turned this traditional vilification of Ewes into a political tool to win the 1969 general elections. It was preceded by an internal struggle within the NLC to share the spoils of office after the coup. An extended quote from Dennis Austin, that great chronicler of Ghana history, captures the gist of it, so here we go:
“A surprising and disagreeable novelty of the election was the extraordinary anti-Ewe sentiment that was expressed in conversation with many of those who were against Gbedemah and his party. One can explain this strong animus not simply by a dislike of Gbedema’s reappearance in political life but in relations to events after the 1966 coup. Suddenly there were the soldiers and the police, and everyone burst out singing, but when the music died down away it was noticed that the NLC (it seemed) was commanded by minorities: Ewe and Ga. When Ankrah (a Ga), was moved out, and charges were brought over-hastily by Harlley against the Chief of Defence Staff, Michael Otu, the evidence to many was overwhelming. It was all an Ewe plot. Soon Ghana would be run for the benefit of an energetic minority, operating first within the armed forces, and now behind Gbedemah. ‘Appoint an Ewe to a public corporation or to a government department and within a year the entire hierarchy down to the messenger will be an Ewe.’ So the argument ran. And there was always some evidence for it, since the Ewe, deprived of any natural wealth in their own barren region, have been energetic in seizing the opportunities of public employment, including positions in the army and the police, which wealthier communities (like the Akan) did not wish to occupy. In practice, looking through the list of senior officers in government department and the public corporations, the evidence is certainly not clear of any Ewe domination: it could hardly be in view of their number. But a belief does not, of course, have to be true before people hold it fervently.
Now there is an Akan-dominated government of an Akan dominated society. Were I to become, by some improbable chance of fate, leader of the governing party I would be much less apprehensive of my Ewe opponents in front than of the large and expectant following behind. I would be fearful too of the ambitions of those now excluded from power, remembering the Songs of Innocence that:
The strongest poison ever known
Came from Caeser’s laurel crown” (D. Austin 1976:125)
Austin was writing with hindsight about what befell Busia’s regime, overthrown in a coup led by an Asante.
In Part 2, I intend to examine the hate campaign against the Ewes and the consequences or reactions from the 1970s which led to Kofi Awoonor’s infamous prison book, The Ghana Revolution, which he claimed he wrote in prison when gaoled for helping Brig. Kattah to escape from Ghana. It’d be necessary to focus on the Ghana Army, from its origins and recruitment trends since it is at the crux of the matter.
.
Andy C.Y. Kwawukume, better known as C.Y. Andy-K, is a freethinker, Pan-Africanist and an ardent Nkrumaist.
cyandyk@ymail.com
References:
Dennis Austin (1976): Ghana Observed: Essays on the Politics of a W. African Republic.
Manchester Univ. Press.
Sandra E. Greene (1995): Gender, Ethnicity, and Social Change on the Upper Slave
Coast: A History of the Anlo-Ewe. Heinemann and James Currey
Robert W. Wyllie. “Migrant Anlo Fishing Companies and Socio-Political Change: A
Comparative Study.” Africa, XXXIX, 4 (1969), 396-410.
Hanson 10 years ago
Sir, I tried reading your whole piece but unfortunately time would not permit me. However, the import was not lost on me. I want to state strongly that, contrary to what your mind tells you, Akans don't hate Ewes. I'm a full ... read full comment
Sir, I tried reading your whole piece but unfortunately time would not permit me. However, the import was not lost on me. I want to state strongly that, contrary to what your mind tells you, Akans don't hate Ewes. I'm a full blooded Asante but throughout my existence, I've never seen or felt any hatred from my people against Ewes, let alone plotting to kill them. What the average Akan perceive about Ewes is their desire for juju and eliminating their competitors at the workplace. That I'd the common perception. The Ewes in our mix have also contributed to that negative perception by their detached attitude towards Akans, especially Asantes. They never open up, they usually don't show their emotions, always cold. So the issue is most Akans are just wary of Ewes but we don't hate them. We have lived with hundreds of thousands of Ewes in Kumasi and other towns in Ashanti Region for many years and there has never been any ethnic clash. In fact Ewes are so composed. It's rather northerners who speak their minds and show some degrees of emotions. I want to repeat for emphasis, Akans do not hate Ewes. And to be honest the average Akan cares very little whether or not Ewes succeed. Whatever evil any Akan may have plotted in the past, if what you're saying was true, may be a response to Rawlings' despicable attitude towards many Akans during the days of AFRC/PNDC. But we have moved on. The fact that the NPP hailed Ken Agyapong for his stupid comments against Gas and Ewes does not mean Akans are in support of his comments. Even in these modern days Gas are agitating for the changing of Akan names on national monuments to Ga names. How about that? Meanwhile, Akans are comfortable seeing the names of "aliens" on monuments in their home regions. I think the way forward is to be honest and sincere with ourselves as a people. Let's discuss actions instead of theories.
C. Y. ANDY-K 10 years ago
Hanson,
No where have I made any claim that Akans, i.e., all Akans, hate Ewes. That would be vert foolish on my part. Didn't I mention how some Akan men hunger to marry Ewe women, out of love for them? So, let's address th ... read full comment
Hanson,
No where have I made any claim that Akans, i.e., all Akans, hate Ewes. That would be vert foolish on my part. Didn't I mention how some Akan men hunger to marry Ewe women, out of love for them? So, let's address the issue without arguments over ridiculous distortions of what the other party said. That's a common fallacy.
And thanks for admitting how the "average Akan" perceive Ewes, even the most devoutly Christian of them, as people who wield jujuistic powers. We know that already and I wrote about it too. And you think Ewes should be grinning and grinning sheepishly at you when you encounter them, knowing what's at the back of your mind?
If you're serious, please read my article in full before addressing it.
Andy-K
v.bowe 10 years ago
THANKS A LOT SIR. I AM NOT A STUDENT OF HISTORY THOUGH, HOWEVER I THINK YOU HAVE , BY THIS WRITE-UP, EDUCATED THE YOUTH( WHO WOULD CARE TO READ ). SUCH PIECES AS WOULD HELP US ALLEY OUR FEARS, AS WE WILL KNOW THE SOURCE OF OU ... read full comment
THANKS A LOT SIR. I AM NOT A STUDENT OF HISTORY THOUGH, HOWEVER I THINK YOU HAVE , BY THIS WRITE-UP, EDUCATED THE YOUTH( WHO WOULD CARE TO READ ). SUCH PIECES AS WOULD HELP US ALLEY OUR FEARS, AS WE WILL KNOW THE SOURCE OF OUR DIFFERENCES.
still rastafari 10 years ago
the cure for tribalism is education, exposure, development
the cure for tribalism is education, exposure, development
still rastafari 10 years ago
the victim needs exposure education & development to gain respect from the culprit
the victim needs exposure education & development to gain respect from the culprit
Eric, Kumasi 10 years ago
Good evening Manasseh, I admire and agree with your position, but please Ibrahim did not buy a jet because his brother is president.He got it through brun and brain (excuse my new word)
Good evening Manasseh, I admire and agree with your position, but please Ibrahim did not buy a jet because his brother is president.He got it through brun and brain (excuse my new word)
G. K. Berko 10 years ago
Every suppressed group fights to emerge out of the subjugation. The resultant chaos could either be insignificant or massive, depending on how deep the subjugation is.
So, as a Nation, our primary responsibility is doing ... read full comment
Every suppressed group fights to emerge out of the subjugation. The resultant chaos could either be insignificant or massive, depending on how deep the subjugation is.
So, as a Nation, our primary responsibility is doing our utmost to make all Citizens feel belonging to the Nation, and avoid an environment in which some feel suppressed by others, psychologically or physically, economically or Politically. Every Ghanaian should be responsible to honor this commitment.
Thus far, since our Independence, and thanks to our First Republic, we have managed to keep the superiority complexes among various ethnicities low enough to afford every Ghanaian the desire to proudly own our Citizenship. What most threatens that equilibrium now is the massive Corruption among our Politicians which they have found very convenient to weave around our ethnic and tribal diversity.
The problem has deeper roots in our deteriorating morals than in any deliberate scheme by any group to control our national assets at the expense of others.
That is why I had in recent times looked up to the NPP with its preponderant presence of elitist intellectuals, mostly Lawyers, who claim to be at the peak of human refinement, to lead the Nation in GUARANTEEING all Citizens fundamental fairness in all aspects of our lives.
Sadly, a number of high-profile incidents involving our Politicians have shown the NPP to be as unprepared as many in the other Parties, especially, the NDC, to keep the bright radiance of Civilization and equitable growth in human development shining to all parts of the country.
We could cite numerous examples from the Coup days, when Corruption began seeping into every nook and crevice of our lives, to most recent, when the evil is wrapped in multi-layered facade of dubious authentication.
The corrupt Politicians are using our traditional units of relationship to organize insulation around themselves from genuine criticisms and possible legal prosecution. They have been invoking
unfounded tribal and partisan reasons to supplant the real crimes they might have committed to deceive masses in their groups to form a shield to protect them.
As a consequence, cases that deserve full, honest and swift legal redress are truncated or abandoned, leaving the society at large to bear the burden.
From our Divestiture program to contract awards for major infrastructural projects, our Laws are broken to illicitly enrich few individuals, denying whole communities the resources to develop.
Our Schools, Hospitals, Roads, and Energy infrastructure have all fallen victims to such widespread corruption. And when the Political leaders responsible are confronted, they quickly scream to their 'home' tribes and Parties that they are under siege by others who hate all of them.
Having sold their integrity to their cronies, these leaders do not have the balls to call out the crimes the cronies also commit against the Society. And so, the cycle keeps revolving.
Manasseh's Folder has therefore ripped up the charade of what we have been manipulated to condone. And we must now boldly without prejudice, tribal, political or other, hold our politicians accountable, and take our moral guardian institutions to task to be more demanding on morality of their members than they have ever done.
Long Live Ghana!!!
Richard B Eshun 10 years ago
Good read. Well done young man !! Peace.
Good read. Well done young man !! Peace.
Jacob 10 years ago
I LOVE THIS STATEMENT:
"When you look down on people and make them feel inferior, they will not vote for you."
I LOVE THIS STATEMENT:
"When you look down on people and make them feel inferior, they will not vote for you."
samuel villa 10 years ago
Well written, in a in simple terms is it NPP or NDC the author of ethynic and trible politics? I don't want to be sound bias but I am inclined to believe NPP is the author of this dangerous thing we are commenting on.where is ... read full comment
Well written, in a in simple terms is it NPP or NDC the author of ethynic and trible politics? I don't want to be sound bias but I am inclined to believe NPP is the author of this dangerous thing we are commenting on.where is Andrews Awuni?Where is Abubakari Sadique? Where is Ambrose Dery?just to mention a few in the North.What are their positions in terms of decision making in NPP?Paul Foko, what crime has he caused?No one hate NPP but the invisible forces within NPP that determines geographical location of an NPP flagbeareraship an untouchables.
kolani Minak 10 years ago
Well done Azure. But there's too much hypocrisy in ghana that's why we will continue to have these. People who should say the truth. They only speak when it's convenient to them. Did the peace council chairman condemn the com ... read full comment
Well done Azure. But there's too much hypocrisy in ghana that's why we will continue to have these. People who should say the truth. They only speak when it's convenient to them. Did the peace council chairman condemn the coming of the SA three? Did he condemn Kennedy Agyapong when he asked Npp members to kill ewes and gas? Did he condemn Nana Add when he told the Nzemas to vote for him because his regional and national chaimen are Nzemas? Was it not tribalism is enough?
OLIPH 10 years ago
-Mr Mannaseh,
Your general thesis is right -- tribalism is evil and we must eschew it. But your diagnosis of the ethnic situation in Ghana at the moment is flawed.
The NPP cannot help having Akans as the majority of its ... read full comment
-Mr Mannaseh,
Your general thesis is right -- tribalism is evil and we must eschew it. But your diagnosis of the ethnic situation in Ghana at the moment is flawed.
The NPP cannot help having Akans as the majority of its supporters, not because it was formed to promote ethnicity but because its history determined that it should start from Akanland. All parties start with a core group and then branch out to seek allies elsewhere. That is what happened when the NLM joined hands with the NPP to form the United Party. This alliance, led by S D Dombo, held up well but when in 1969, the Progress Party came to power, it wasn't Dombo who became Prime Minister but Busia. These decisions were openly discussed and arrived at. In other words, BARGAINS were struck by people of different ethnic groups who wanted to work together. Nobody complained that the PP Government was tribalistic although certain members of it, like Victor Owusu, made some
unwise and insensitive statements. You will notice, however, that William Ofori Atta broke away from the PP group to form his own party, the UNC, although both he and Victor Owusu, leader of the PFP were Akans.
The Akans, Mr Manasseh, just cannot win, can they? When Victor Owusu condemns Ewe ethnocentrism, everyone trumpets it and remembers in perpetuity. But when William Ofori Atta breaks away and makes the Akans lose the election, nobody remembers that.
The are stupid Akans,and there are stupid non-Akans. TRhey should be looked at as indicviduals, but it pays political parties to paint broad pictures, so that they can use such distorted pictures to appeal to the base instincts of their membership.
I share your frustration of the moment because it must be very uncomfortable to be a Northerner. The ruling clique is so power-drunk that it doesn't mind appointing some of the least-efficient Northerners into sensitive positions. Some of these people are not even efficient at stealing money!You have seem it at SADA and GYEEDA. Yet when the brazen thefts are criticised, some Northerners take it that they are being criticised because they are Northerners.
That is political blackmail of the first order. Mahama and his brother are raising eyebrows all over the place, but they shouldn't be deemed corrupt because they are Northerners? It won;t work, because, fortunately, there are many Northerners decent and clever enough to fully comprehend how their name is being used for the self-gratification of a few individuals.
People are not fools. And in Ghana, nothing can be hidden for long. So those who steal will be named and shamed. They cannot hide behind ethnicity any longer, because everyone knows that ethnicity will be their first refuge. If they didn't, Djifah has demonstrated it for everyone to see. "I stole, but don't vote for my opponents because if you vote for them, they will jail me because I am an Ewe!" How many sensible Ewes will buy that? The sensible , honest Ewes will tell her, instead, "But you too, why did you go and disgrace Ewes like that with such blatant thievery?"
When those who can analyse events in that way find their voices then alone can we boast that Ghana has become mature. Political blackmail won't cut it for us.
Africanus 10 years ago
I like your comments. Hiding behind tribe to loot the country should not be accepted. But coming back Manasseh's argument again.... the NPP can't win because the NDC has liberalize corruption, and has made it easy for everyon ... read full comment
I like your comments. Hiding behind tribe to loot the country should not be accepted. But coming back Manasseh's argument again.... the NPP can't win because the NDC has liberalize corruption, and has made it easy for everyone to not only be part of of it, but also to benefit from it, and be protect from the justice system in the manner in which Woyome has been protect from going to prison for all these years.
LETTRUTHPREVAIL 10 years ago
Well written, because it was well researched with references being as fresh as yesterday.
For once I am happy of a write up by a Ghanaian Journalist!!!
Thanks.
Well written, because it was well researched with references being as fresh as yesterday.
For once I am happy of a write up by a Ghanaian Journalist!!!
Thanks.
KOFI KWABLA 10 years ago
NONSENSE !!!! JUDGE YOURSELF. TELL EVERYBODY IF NPP DID NOT JAILED EWES DURING THEIR TIME.WHO THIEF PAST ASHANTIS AND HOW MANY OF THEM WERE JAILED?? BECAUSE THEY USED CORRUPTED LAWYERS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.HYPOCRITES
NONSENSE !!!! JUDGE YOURSELF. TELL EVERYBODY IF NPP DID NOT JAILED EWES DURING THEIR TIME.WHO THIEF PAST ASHANTIS AND HOW MANY OF THEM WERE JAILED?? BECAUSE THEY USED CORRUPTED LAWYERS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.HYPOCRITES
ama 10 years ago
peprah was asante but was jailed by npp.
ndc took only asantes to court and the courts said they committed no crime. asamoah boateng, mpianim, osei agyei and wirekko brobbey. Ndc is indeed anti asante. how many asantes are i ... read full comment
peprah was asante but was jailed by npp.
ndc took only asantes to court and the courts said they committed no crime. asamoah boateng, mpianim, osei agyei and wirekko brobbey. Ndc is indeed anti asante. how many asantes are in the cabinet even though they make the majority
LETTRUTHPREVAIL 10 years ago
One significant thing the writer got it totally wrong is the reference to Ibrahim Mahama's jet as if his brother the President aided him to acquire.
Watch it! Be truly neutral please, don't try to play with our minds. No pro ... read full comment
One significant thing the writer got it totally wrong is the reference to Ibrahim Mahama's jet as if his brother the President aided him to acquire.
Watch it! Be truly neutral please, don't try to play with our minds. No proverbial 'okura fee ', which fans and bites at the same time. Ok?
Awotse 10 years ago
If tribalism is the epicenter of Ghana's problems, this little man Manasseh helps to fuel it by what is totally anti-Akan, anti-Asante diatribe.
The NPP is a national party as does the NDC. That the NPP gets huge support f ... read full comment
If tribalism is the epicenter of Ghana's problems, this little man Manasseh helps to fuel it by what is totally anti-Akan, anti-Asante diatribe.
The NPP is a national party as does the NDC. That the NPP gets huge support from certain areas does not mean it is enthnocentric.
No matter what the NPP does, it will NEVER get support from Ewes. The Dzifa woman is merely saying in public what other Ewes have said. This woman is particularly tribalistic and she shows it all the time. Imagine what she did when she was Minister. What has this woma's parents and family contributed to the economic growth of Ghana? Zilch.
The Ho Chief Afede said the same thing when he claimed President Kufour "made us [Ewes] look like foreigners."
Why do you think northerners support NDc, is that not enthnocentrism?
Myself 10 years ago
The truth they say shall set you free
What this lady is saying here is the absolute truth though at this point in our nations democracy and in our efforts to move beyond ethnic politics some things are better left alone an ... read full comment
The truth they say shall set you free
What this lady is saying here is the absolute truth though at this point in our nations democracy and in our efforts to move beyond ethnic politics some things are better left alone and that's where I disagree with her public comments.
How many of you here both Non Ewes and Ewes can sincerely say you weren't witnesses to the Ewe hatred that was prevalent in Ghana especially during the reign of Jerry Rawlings? As a young child growing up in Accra I used to think we were all cool until during the 92 elections and that was when I quickly learned that things weren't as they seemed. Anti Ewe sentiments and suspicions became abound among Akans but especially Asantes, and those Akans that had vehemently detested the Rawlings regime. The burden of Rawlings all of a sudden became an Ewe burden. It was so bad that even kids my age 8, 9 year olds will come to school telling us how their parents had told them that Ewes were not good and all support Rawlings. I can vividly remember growing up in Accra.
These same anti Rawlings/Ewe Akans became the majority in the NPP and carried the same sentiments with them into the party so though there was no official document specifying Ewe hatred in the NPP it became more or less implied. Soon Northners were to be viewed in the same manner since most of them were also suspected of been Rawlings supporters.
And as things were with the suspicion and lack of trust in the NPP for Ewes/Northners it simply became normal and natural that they will gravitate towards the NDC, and the NDC cleverly capitalized on it.
But in our collective efforts to move on as a nation I will advise politicians to be mindful of their public utterances. God bless Ghana
kwame nyame 10 years ago
Manasseh,you are well aware that what you are saying about Akufo Addo and Ken Agyapong is way out of context. Please be a little objective with the facts of the matter. What you are doing is the extension of the NDCs propagan ... read full comment
Manasseh,you are well aware that what you are saying about Akufo Addo and Ken Agyapong is way out of context. Please be a little objective with the facts of the matter. What you are doing is the extension of the NDCs propaganda. Remove the veil and see clear.
ama 10 years ago
We in the NDC wud not allow Asantes any room. We have collapsed thier markets and they think we would contsruct them soon. Remember sofoline interchange.
No ashanti wud ever be in ndc cabinet. capitation wud always be for a ... read full comment
We in the NDC wud not allow Asantes any room. We have collapsed thier markets and they think we would contsruct them soon. Remember sofoline interchange.
No ashanti wud ever be in ndc cabinet. capitation wud always be for ashanti. Only ashantis have been taken to court in ndc time. dumsor wud be in ashanti only.
Asampana 10 years ago
Awuni get lost with your bull crap. If you objective write about your Npp paymasters and let's see if you have balls. Dimwit fool
Awuni get lost with your bull crap. If you objective write about your Npp paymasters and let's see if you have balls. Dimwit fool
Yaw 10 years ago
gentleman, go ahead and write whatever you want to write. Some of us are smart to read between the lines. did you write anything about ken agyapong and nana? If you want to be seen as objective then cut on both sides. Pastors ... read full comment
gentleman, go ahead and write whatever you want to write. Some of us are smart to read between the lines. did you write anything about ken agyapong and nana? If you want to be seen as objective then cut on both sides. Pastors and those who are calling on Madam Ativor to apologise were liptight when SA3 and mayhem at party headquarters and acid-bathing incidents. But have now come out of the woodwork to be preaching to us. Please, they should tell this to marines.
UMAR 10 years ago
u have said it all my brother. Ghana needs this kind of journalist. keep your good works up bro.
u have said it all my brother. Ghana needs this kind of journalist. keep your good works up bro.
samuel Azumah 10 years ago
I will read this always
I will read this always
Maxwell konlan 10 years ago
Dear Manasseh,
you have made my evening. I came home from work, very exhausted. However, after reading your wonderful and revealing piece, i am refreshed and energized. The truth, nothing but the truth!!!
Dear Manasseh,
you have made my evening. I came home from work, very exhausted. However, after reading your wonderful and revealing piece, i am refreshed and energized. The truth, nothing but the truth!!!
Nkwantabisa,Italy 10 years ago
This guy is good and brilliant, if this is the case who are the culprits? Ghanaians should know better. We shd not allow ourselves to be divided and ruled.
This guy is good and brilliant, if this is the case who are the culprits? Ghanaians should know better. We shd not allow ourselves to be divided and ruled.
Abubakar Garba Osuman 10 years ago
One other dangerous sign with the potential of dividing the country is the statement by the Police that presidential candidates should choose their security detail. Is the Police Service not supposed to be a state institution ... read full comment
One other dangerous sign with the potential of dividing the country is the statement by the Police that presidential candidates should choose their security detail. Is the Police Service not supposed to be a state institution that serves the interest of Ghanaians regardless of political affiliation? Or is it a horde of known persons with political colours that political parties can choose their adherents to provide them with security?
I am of the view that the Police should be proactive by provide security details to the flagbearers. The service should do that professionally to avoid tagging men and women in uniform as NDC, NPP or CPP police. This would make Ghanaians take a second look at how they see the security agency. Making the flagbearers choose their security would not only increase divisiveness among us but would also add to the woes of the Police Service.
Remember that already the police service is battling bad corporate image which needs rebranding, and not the Electoral Commission.
Abu Alfa 10 years ago
A good attempt. But you clearly ignored some objectivity though. You conveniently ignored the in-born hatred the other tribes nurse against Akans due to the fact that the have lived in a more naturally endowed environment mak ... read full comment
A good attempt. But you clearly ignored some objectivity though. You conveniently ignored the in-born hatred the other tribes nurse against Akans due to the fact that the have lived in a more naturally endowed environment making the other ethnic groups coming to settle amongst them to do jobs considered to be menial.This historical development has given rise to a mindset especially among us northerners that Akans have been masters and now that situation must reverse! This is an unpleasant truth which honest Northerners can hardly deny. How many times haven't the average Northerner asked his fellow northerner why he may be supporting NPP which is regarded as Akan party? So how do you expect the Akan to trust you when your hatred towards him is in-born? Again in which country on this planet called earth is marginalisation of the majority is accepted as normal? Not to mention the fact that this majority is the most endowed in both natural and human resources! If you sideline the largest ethnic group in terms of state or government appointments what do you honestly think would happen some day? Nothing may happen during our time but history teaches us that a time will come some day that the people will say no. Any rational being must admit that we are sitting on a time bomb.
Augustine 10 years ago
when it is about NPP you the so called meander never hits hard on the heard of the nail.You wait and see NDC to make a slippy mistake. It is then that you will known we have people in this country who knows how to talk on beh ... read full comment
when it is about NPP you the so called meander never hits hard on the heard of the nail.You wait and see NDC to make a slippy mistake. It is then that you will known we have people in this country who knows how to talk on behalf of everybody.Let as learn to call a white a white
Anthony. 10 years ago
Journalistic bullshit. Trying to justify your own criticism of certain individuals without making any journalistic enquiries of ethno-politics is quiet embarrassing.
Journalistic bullshit. Trying to justify your own criticism of certain individuals without making any journalistic enquiries of ethno-politics is quiet embarrassing.
Asem beba dabi 10 years ago
Wow wow wow!!! We are slowly sinking into depths of muddy tribal political quagmire. I think we should be looking at the performance of politicians rather than their tribal origins. We should be judging their performance as ... read full comment
Wow wow wow!!! We are slowly sinking into depths of muddy tribal political quagmire. I think we should be looking at the performance of politicians rather than their tribal origins. We should be judging their performance as a Ghanaian politician instead of looking at what region they originate from. Remember folks, we have only one Ghana and it must be Ghana first.
BALANCED ARTICLE AND THE TRUTH THERE IS NO NEED TO START CALLING NAMES AS THE WRITER JUST SAID THE TRUTH IRRESPECTIVE OF BACKGROUNDS SO WHY THE INSULTS HE SPOKE THE TRUTH AND THIS IS THE VERY CANKER DESTROYING THE VERY BEAUT ... read full comment
BALANCED ARTICLE AND THE TRUTH THERE IS NO NEED TO START CALLING NAMES AS THE WRITER JUST SAID THE TRUTH IRRESPECTIVE OF BACKGROUNDS SO WHY THE INSULTS HE SPOKE THE TRUTH AND THIS IS THE VERY CANKER DESTROYING THE VERY BEAUTY OF OUR COUNTRY IT IS TIME FOR US TO GROW AND STOP THE CHEAP PARTISAN ARGUMENTS AND RATHER STICK TO THE FACTS AND THE TRUTH GOD BLESS OUR HOMELAND GHANA
KOWUS, GERMANY 10 years ago
TAKE WHAT OSAFO MARFO SAID AND THAT OF MS ATIVOR! IT IS NOT TRUE THAT COCOA FARMERS CHILDREN PAY SCHOOL FEES AND GAS;EWES, AND NORTHNERS DON´T ? AND DID THE NPP GOVT. JAILED ONLY EWES? LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF MAHAMA´S APPOINT ... read full comment
TAKE WHAT OSAFO MARFO SAID AND THAT OF MS ATIVOR! IT IS NOT TRUE THAT COCOA FARMERS CHILDREN PAY SCHOOL FEES AND GAS;EWES, AND NORTHNERS DON´T ? AND DID THE NPP GOVT. JAILED ONLY EWES? LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF MAHAMA´S APPOINTMENTS AND COMPARE THEM TO OTHER ETHNIC GROUPS. LET US CALL A SPADE A SPADE! WE FROM THE BRONG AHAFO ARE BEING SUBJECTED TO A BUNCH OF NAME CALLing WHEN WE ARE IN ACCRA ?? THE POLICE IN ACCRA WILL CHASE A CAR WITH BA NUMBER PLATE! COME AGAIN !! THERE SHOULD BE A NATION DIALOGUE. I ASKED A FILLING STATION ATTENDANT THAT BOLGA AND BA WHICH IS CLOSER TO ACCRA AND SHE SAID BOLGA !!! I REST MY CASE,
Listen to that pepeni, the NPP will win without your support.
I hope intelligent Ghanaians can dissect the main idea behind this article. Manasseh never justified what Dzifa said, he only entreated that the actions of some leading members of the NPP makes it possible for the NDC to capi ...
read full comment
Mensah u are one the guys who will bring Akufo Addo down and loose coming election big. Wise up. Do u expect pepeni to vote for Nana with this comment. Is Bawumia an Ashanti or Akyem?
Please don't allow yourself to be deceived. That fellow Mensah doesn't support NPP. These days, the plot gas been to throw unwarranted insults against people of northern extraction to cause disaffection for the NPP. No intell ...
read full comment
Mercy it's unfortunate that comment is made by a Mensah. But, I can assure you that this Mensah is an assumed name for a non Akan or npp person. That's the challenge for npp and Nana Addo.
Thank you for telling Mensah the truth. I however pity Manesseh for trying to do the bidding of the NPP. I have read all his writings and that seems to be his agenda but like Bawomia they will show him where power lies when ...
read full comment
You will not wait for the writer to end before you start your tribal comments. This is exactly what the writer is trying to address.
Grow up Mensah.... it is people like you who have put all Ghanaians in our under develop state.... There is no telling that you have a small mind.
You could be an NDC sympathizer saying this in the name of NPP to create Northern hatred for NPP. And NDC have used these tricks several times.
So the most hardvworking person in the NPP is Dr Bawumia. He has worked harder compared to the founding members since 1992. Who are you comparing him to. Appointment as a Vice candidate is a platform given to you by on Presid ...
read full comment
Even though a bit of vacillation here and there and hardly touches ground the import of the message was well delivered.
Aside the ethnic and tribal card is the dangerous posture and the sense of entitlement of the npp as p ...
read full comment
Thanks, Osei! Your comment is a cogent, concise summary of deserving plaudits for the Author.
I agree that he hit the nail on the head firmly enough without raising the temperature of the truth impact embedded in it.
...
read full comment
Well said Mr. Berko but research from around the world has proven that African and Middle Eastern nations will struggle to develop due the arbitrary nature in which the European colonialist demarcated and divided the 2 contin ...
read full comment
Mass, this frafra boy is becoming too known. I blame Despite for employing him. He should have been resting dog meat in Bolga market by now.when Akans exposed them small they want to be oga.
Please, stop the tribal insults. They feed into the escalation of the problem.
Once you begin dehumanizing people with such derogatory insults, they naturally have to fight back to affirm their existential significance. A ...
read full comment
For the first time I have seen an animal that refers to itself as an akan write some announce its bullsh*t!!!
Deep down the article describes u as a NDC member creating the impression that u are npp man
Well said Manasseh. I am an Akan and I agree with what you've said. I have fought against this tribalistic ideas within my own family. As a Christian, I believe all human beings are of equal value and dignity because we all a ...
read full comment
MANNASEH, you have a point in saying that both NDC and NPP are engaged in divisive politics by playing the ethnic or race card but totally wrong to claim that NDC is engaged in "tribal politics of inclusion" and whilst NPP is ...
read full comment
I guess the politics of inclusion or exclusion was used by Mannaseh most probably because it sounded nice to him. He didn't carefully examine the full implications of the formulation. He felt victim at that point to the write ...
read full comment
OH FOR ONES I AM ENJOYING READING GHANA WEB BECAUSE OF WISE AND EDUCATIVE CONTRIBUTION BY SOME OF YOU. KUDOS!
VERY EDUCATIVE SIR.
A husband and wife were having a fine dining experience at their exclusive country club when this stunning young woman comes over to their table, gives the husband a big kiss, says she'll see him later and walks away.
His wi ...
read full comment
Indeed we should condem all tribal and ethnocentric comments from our political actors. We need time to really talk about it thus that the perception that some tribes are more better than some will be put to rest and we all w ...
read full comment
I hv neva read anything from this guys that makes sense like today. Tribalism of inclusion (N.D.C) vrs tribalism of exclusion (N.P.P) is exactly what is going on in Ghana all this while. But if u want to tell the npp folks ab ...
read full comment
I disagree strongly with Manasseh's conclusions in this piece. put in their proper contest, most of the examples he gave, as bad as they are though, may not lead to such sweeping conclusions.
For me the fact is that, as a p ...
read full comment
Are you comparing events in a military regime to what is happening in a democracy? How intelligent are you? In a dictatorship we don't have a say but in a democracy people have a choice to go where they feel welcomed. If that ...
read full comment
You didn't understand what he meant so go back and dissect his comments before you rain insults. Insults in debate is for weak minds. What he meant was that all the tribes and political parties are guilty of these despicable ...
read full comment
Twum Boafo has said it as it is without mincing words.
Having read what Mrs Ativor reportedly said, I agree 100% that it is simply hypocritical for anyone to come out to denounce her and ask her to apologise WITHOUT at fir ...
read full comment
Andy-K, you should know and do better than this. I've heard you repeat the things you heard in Nigeria from certain aggrieved fools venting their anger. What a guy like you should be dissecting now it the fact that NPP was in ...
read full comment
I know a couple who were stressed into early death 'cos of what was done to them: on leave while forensic audit was undertaken of your dept, and never recalled.
I regret to say that I teased one here in London, mocking hi ...
read full comment
WAITING TO READ SIR
I hope this guy rethinks his childish stand that he is for the nation.we have seem it several times. There is no success full coup staged In this country without the involvement of northerners. What they get after the coup is ...
read full comment
I think Manasseh is cleverly inflamming passion on ethnicity and tribalism against NPP,he should have rather let the sleeping dogs lay and condemn Dzifa.
KOJO BE SMART.FIRST CONDEMN KEN AGYAPONG,SAFO MAAFO BEFORE MADAME DZIFA.MANASSEH WRITE UP IS WELL INTENDED AND GOOD.HOWEVER,THE WORD AKAN IS LIMITED TO A CERTAIN QUEER AREAS.THIS IS A METAPHOR USED BY THE BRITISH.ASK THE BRIT ...
read full comment
Manasseh i like your piece but the fact must be told. The lady's comment may not sound palatable but that is the reality. The enemity that exits between the two tribes since Adam is still existing. Only Jesus Christ can unify ...
read full comment
Residents of the Volta Region tend to follow the NDC mainly because the party extended electricity to the region during their tenure,and not because Rawlings hailed from the area.In 2012 ,Rawlings more or less,left the NDC,b ...
read full comment
Manasseh as a jounalist must grow up and know that this same ndc and npp supporters on social media uses names that are align to their politucal opponent to do dirty politics. For instance my nme is kofi kafui can be usd by a ...
read full comment
WILFULLY BLIND OR JUST PLAIN IGNORANCE?
I have been amused, and somehow puzzled, at the rumpus being raised about what crazed Agyapong said. But what I find surprising is the virtual hypocrisy and mendacious attempts to br ...
read full comment
Sir, I tried reading your whole piece but unfortunately time would not permit me. However, the import was not lost on me. I want to state strongly that, contrary to what your mind tells you, Akans don't hate Ewes. I'm a full ...
read full comment
Hanson,
No where have I made any claim that Akans, i.e., all Akans, hate Ewes. That would be vert foolish on my part. Didn't I mention how some Akan men hunger to marry Ewe women, out of love for them? So, let's address th ...
read full comment
THANKS A LOT SIR. I AM NOT A STUDENT OF HISTORY THOUGH, HOWEVER I THINK YOU HAVE , BY THIS WRITE-UP, EDUCATED THE YOUTH( WHO WOULD CARE TO READ ). SUCH PIECES AS WOULD HELP US ALLEY OUR FEARS, AS WE WILL KNOW THE SOURCE OF OU ...
read full comment
the cure for tribalism is education, exposure, development
the victim needs exposure education & development to gain respect from the culprit
Good evening Manasseh, I admire and agree with your position, but please Ibrahim did not buy a jet because his brother is president.He got it through brun and brain (excuse my new word)
Every suppressed group fights to emerge out of the subjugation. The resultant chaos could either be insignificant or massive, depending on how deep the subjugation is.
So, as a Nation, our primary responsibility is doing ...
read full comment
Good read. Well done young man !! Peace.
I LOVE THIS STATEMENT:
"When you look down on people and make them feel inferior, they will not vote for you."
Well written, in a in simple terms is it NPP or NDC the author of ethynic and trible politics? I don't want to be sound bias but I am inclined to believe NPP is the author of this dangerous thing we are commenting on.where is ...
read full comment
Well done Azure. But there's too much hypocrisy in ghana that's why we will continue to have these. People who should say the truth. They only speak when it's convenient to them. Did the peace council chairman condemn the com ...
read full comment
-Mr Mannaseh,
Your general thesis is right -- tribalism is evil and we must eschew it. But your diagnosis of the ethnic situation in Ghana at the moment is flawed.
The NPP cannot help having Akans as the majority of its ...
read full comment
I like your comments. Hiding behind tribe to loot the country should not be accepted. But coming back Manasseh's argument again.... the NPP can't win because the NDC has liberalize corruption, and has made it easy for everyon ...
read full comment
Well written, because it was well researched with references being as fresh as yesterday.
For once I am happy of a write up by a Ghanaian Journalist!!!
Thanks.
NONSENSE !!!! JUDGE YOURSELF. TELL EVERYBODY IF NPP DID NOT JAILED EWES DURING THEIR TIME.WHO THIEF PAST ASHANTIS AND HOW MANY OF THEM WERE JAILED?? BECAUSE THEY USED CORRUPTED LAWYERS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES.HYPOCRITES
peprah was asante but was jailed by npp.
ndc took only asantes to court and the courts said they committed no crime. asamoah boateng, mpianim, osei agyei and wirekko brobbey. Ndc is indeed anti asante. how many asantes are i ...
read full comment
One significant thing the writer got it totally wrong is the reference to Ibrahim Mahama's jet as if his brother the President aided him to acquire.
Watch it! Be truly neutral please, don't try to play with our minds. No pro ...
read full comment
If tribalism is the epicenter of Ghana's problems, this little man Manasseh helps to fuel it by what is totally anti-Akan, anti-Asante diatribe.
The NPP is a national party as does the NDC. That the NPP gets huge support f ...
read full comment
The truth they say shall set you free
What this lady is saying here is the absolute truth though at this point in our nations democracy and in our efforts to move beyond ethnic politics some things are better left alone an ...
read full comment
Manasseh,you are well aware that what you are saying about Akufo Addo and Ken Agyapong is way out of context. Please be a little objective with the facts of the matter. What you are doing is the extension of the NDCs propagan ...
read full comment
We in the NDC wud not allow Asantes any room. We have collapsed thier markets and they think we would contsruct them soon. Remember sofoline interchange.
No ashanti wud ever be in ndc cabinet. capitation wud always be for a ...
read full comment
Awuni get lost with your bull crap. If you objective write about your Npp paymasters and let's see if you have balls. Dimwit fool
gentleman, go ahead and write whatever you want to write. Some of us are smart to read between the lines. did you write anything about ken agyapong and nana? If you want to be seen as objective then cut on both sides. Pastors ...
read full comment
u have said it all my brother. Ghana needs this kind of journalist. keep your good works up bro.
I will read this always
Dear Manasseh,
you have made my evening. I came home from work, very exhausted. However, after reading your wonderful and revealing piece, i am refreshed and energized. The truth, nothing but the truth!!!
This guy is good and brilliant, if this is the case who are the culprits? Ghanaians should know better. We shd not allow ourselves to be divided and ruled.
One other dangerous sign with the potential of dividing the country is the statement by the Police that presidential candidates should choose their security detail. Is the Police Service not supposed to be a state institution ...
read full comment
A good attempt. But you clearly ignored some objectivity though. You conveniently ignored the in-born hatred the other tribes nurse against Akans due to the fact that the have lived in a more naturally endowed environment mak ...
read full comment
when it is about NPP you the so called meander never hits hard on the heard of the nail.You wait and see NDC to make a slippy mistake. It is then that you will known we have people in this country who knows how to talk on beh ...
read full comment
Journalistic bullshit. Trying to justify your own criticism of certain individuals without making any journalistic enquiries of ethno-politics is quiet embarrassing.
Wow wow wow!!! We are slowly sinking into depths of muddy tribal political quagmire. I think we should be looking at the performance of politicians rather than their tribal origins. We should be judging their performance as ...
read full comment
God bless you Manasseh
Ftr
Nana Addo doesnt respect anybody includn Asantehene.
BALANCED ARTICLE AND THE TRUTH THERE IS NO NEED TO START CALLING NAMES AS THE WRITER JUST SAID THE TRUTH IRRESPECTIVE OF BACKGROUNDS SO WHY THE INSULTS HE SPOKE THE TRUTH AND THIS IS THE VERY CANKER DESTROYING THE VERY BEAUT ...
read full comment
TAKE WHAT OSAFO MARFO SAID AND THAT OF MS ATIVOR! IT IS NOT TRUE THAT COCOA FARMERS CHILDREN PAY SCHOOL FEES AND GAS;EWES, AND NORTHNERS DON´T ? AND DID THE NPP GOVT. JAILED ONLY EWES? LOOK AT THE NUMBER OF MAHAMA´S APPOINT ...
read full comment