Flogging A Dead Horse - The Impunity of Valerie Sawyer

We have become a rather brave people. Well, brave or foolish, depending on which angle one decides to look at things from. And as I have said several times before, corruption is no disgrace in Ghana anymore. The more corrupt you are, the more influential you become in a society, where fiscal moral uprightness has been thrown to the dogs.


And so, the credible answer to allegations of corruption these days is not a denial of it, nor a resort to legal action to clear one’s name, but a counter reference to some other person’s corruption. In the end, we are all chopping and who cares.


And once “the horse is dead”, then it is hoped that sooner or later, people get bored of repeated allegations of corruption against a past government as the realities of their daily strife for survival kicks in and they naturally start to demand more of the current government. Millions of dollars would have gone down the drain, lodged comfortably in accounts round the world for the enjoyment of some few greedy individuals.


And so, where are the brave men of the NDC? Why are they not responding to President Rawlings? It is because of that same old reason that you know and I know. That their hands are steeped in the mud of the unprecedented stealing of public resources that took place in a government Valerie Sawyer was proud to be a part of.

That is why I would gladly listen to the booming or buzzing or whatever silly description this barely known deputy something in Mahama’s office chooses to describe President Rawlings speeches, rather than to people who bought and distributed V8 like confetti, took cars from Burkinabe contractors, engaged in unprecedented inflation of the cost of government projects and paid 51 million Ghana cedis to one man for no work.


I am happy not only for that dead horse to be flogged, but also for it to be butchered till we have retrieved every dollar stuck in its belly and if in four years in power, that is the only thing President Akuffo Addo does, he would have won my vote, for all its worth, in 2020.


Papa Appiah

The Presidential Meet The Press - I Worry About Vice President Bawumiah

President Akuffo Addo’s maiden meeting with the press could generally be viewed as a successful one. Perhaps, that is the reason why days after the event, we are still talking and writing about it. The wily old president was in good form. His eloquence, charm and wit were on full show. But the question asked by KABA, the host of Ekosii Sen on Asempa radio about whether he had been tamed by the presidency, seemed to suggest to me, that I am not alone in thinking that this charming part of the president had not been evident before he was elected. Then, he had come across as an angry old man desperate to be president.

As much as one admires a seventy-two-year-old president trying hard to appear fit and strong, there have been cracks on the wall about his general health and well-being. The coughing fit during the inauguration, the “cold” during the May Day celebration and what looked like a sore throat or some upper respiratory tract infection during his recent engagement with the press give cause for concern. While these symptoms may be brushed aside in a fifty-year-old, they cannot be ignored in a man of his age. It takes one serious bout of pneumonia to cause havoc. And perhaps, the president himself is aware of this. And that is why he seemed to suggest, that he might not be on the ballot paper for the next election in 2020.


A president is expected to be regularly and thoroughly briefed by his ministers and handlers so at every material moment, he is fully on top of all issues. In the end, we voted for the president and not for his ministers and so do we demand accountability directly from the president. I am of the view therefore, that putting his ministers on the spot by simply passing on controversial or difficult questions over to them to answer, was a bit of a low point in this encounter. It created the picture, perhaps erroneously but who knows, of a tired old president unable to cope with the complexities of his job. And then one begins to wonder why he missed the presidential debates prior to the election.

And so, Vice president Bawumiah protested! When asked by the president to deal with the question relating to the uncompleted vice-presidential bungalow, he blurted out something to the effect, that it was not fair to be asked to deal with that question, before he had had time to think. I have heard people argue, that it was said on the lighter side and that it reflects the cordial relationship that exists between the president and his vice. I beg to differ. In Ghanaian culture, when the president, in full view of the press and the rest of the country watching live on TV asks you to do something, you just give it your best shot. There should be absolutely no argument about that!


But there is a reason why Bawumiah blurted out what I see as his hidden frustrations in the manner he did. Here is a vice president whose authority is being usurped by the day. He looks on while others assume responsibility for important national issues only for him to be put on the spot before the press. And his answer to the question gave his feelings away. He admitted he had no clue what was going on with the building and rather hopelessly suggested it might be a good idea to come to some form of compromise with the contractor so the country does not lose money.


And as if that was not enough he was called upon, as chairman of the Economic Management Team, to answer the question about government borrowing. Not only did he fumble badly, at one point he seemed to be asking for help when he mentioned that the finance minister was there and he had been putting everybody in check. What that meant was, that Bawumiah’s hands were tied as everything was controlled by Ken Ofori-Atta. Please look at the images of Ken’s face while Bawumiah rambled on. He clearly seemed to be wondering what the guy was faffing about.


And so, I worry about Bawumiah. The one-time superstar of the NPP seems to be harbouring a lot of pent up feelings about the way he is being treated at the seat of government. And as often happens with pent up feelings, there is bound to be an explosion at some point, and my brother, what an inferno that would cause.


Papa Appiah

The "Whining" Ahomka-Lindsay - A "New Money" Little Plonker

I almost missed this one. But I still need to have my say. I know the NPP have made a valiant and admirable attempt at apologising, but I am not satisfied. And I am not satisfied because the man himself, in trying to “apologise,” rather sought to explain, that his visibly contorted face of fury, and the frantic brandishing of his “ever ringing” phone in the faces of his guests were all in the spirit of a nationalistic zeal to offer a gentle word of advice to “diasporans” on how to do business in Ghana.

I would not want to be anywhere near this man when he is actually angry, if his general composure and attitude while talking these distinguished Ghanaians intending to spend money to help our economy, was merely brotherly advice. And these were guests, remember, who had bought their own tickets and travelled thousands of miles, at the invitation of the president, to explore business opportunities. One wonders if the minister’s attitude would have been any different had the guests been Chinese or Americans. We simply do not value our own.


You see, anybody could be gentle, polite and courteous, especially so when you happen to be part of a government that has swept into power with an impressive majority and is enjoying such goodwill as has never been experienced in the country before. Anybody can be polite when journalists are asking about their wives and kids and inviting them to funerals and birthdays on air. But the tide always changes. And soon, there will be those aggressive probing questions, the ever-ringing phones and the persistent “diasporan” whining. That is when, the men are separated from the boys, and the wheat from the chaff.

Arrogance is probably a word that is often overused in Ghana. Omane Boamah, the Communication Minister of the previous NDC government is a fine gentleman and an intelligent medical officer. He is, however, hardly the best politician one ever saw and he did not easily endear himself to people. But anytime he had been accused of arrogance, it was because he was fighting with all the vigour he could muster to defend the president who had appointed him and who he had come to like and respect. Sometimes he crossed the line and viciously attacked opponents of his master. Naïve? Maybe. Misguided? Could be. Unfair? Probably. But never arrogant. It was never ever about Omane Boamah. He fought hard for his president and his party.


If you want to understand what true arrogance means, play Ahomka-Lindsay’s speech to his diaspora visitors over and over again. Therein lies the sound, the look and the smell of arrogance in its purest unadulterated form - See me Lakayana with my spear! I am Ahomka-Lindsay and how dare you speak to me like that.


Back in school several years ago, there were two kinds of rich kids. There were the recently rich politician’s children, who, bemused by their new money and status, craved attention and respect. They came to school with a chop box, sometimes two, filled to the brim with provisions, and they had the money to spend. They were arrogant and boisterous and often got themselves into trouble. Then there were those we called, the true Dada Bs. These were boys who had never known poverty in their lives but had been brought up with discipline and were often the most humble and well-behaved boys even as they flew round the world for their holidays. Every word of Ahomka-Lindsay betrayed him as “new money” arrogant buffoon and one that needs to be booted out of government.


Papa Appiah

National Maths and Science Quiz - Too Much Noise About Nothing!

Television does wonderful things to us. When the NMSQ competition started several years ago, few would have thought that it would grow this big and be an important annual event Ghanaians of all ages and educational standards and inclination cannot get enough of. And many of us do not even care about or understand the Maths or the Science. We are simply captivated by the drama.

The format of the competition means that a school needs just one exceptionally brilliant student to do well in the competition. Winning the competition therefore, is no reflection of how generally good a school is. A school is judged on how the average student does and not by the performance of gifted students who would excel whatever school they went to.


And there are a lot of other things that make a school great rather than just a couple of exceptional Maths and Science students. What is the school’s performance in Sports, Music, the Arts, Business and general upbringing? Is your school training you to simply be an inward-looking exam machine or training you to be an all-round individual who fits into every society. In other words, is your school a St Peters Akwatia, or a St Augustine’s College Cape Coast, if you get what I mean?


So a modicum of modesty, dignity and respect is expected from schools which win this competition. The raucous over-the-board celebrations intermingled with a missing bag here and there, and over-the-top zebra “fur” coats to boot, smack of a distinct lack of class.


While on this issue, would it not be nice if more competitions were organised to give similar opportunities to our Arts brothers? What about a National Debating Competition to give platforms for some of our very eloquent Arts students to display their talent?


If television has been able to promote such a specialist programme that seemed initially on a hiding to nothing into one loved by all Ghanaians, then one wonders what else television could do for other school activities. Is it not time we started showing our Inter Colleges Athletics and football live on TV? If well–promoted, we would succeed in making our school sports as popular as
college sports are in the United States and new talent would be more easily identified.


By the way, before I am accused of sour grapes, let me grudgingly say, congratulations to Prempeh College.


Come ooooooon Augusco!!


Papa Appiah

Ghana - A Country of Liars (sebi ooh)

Is it just me? Does anybody believe what they hear people say in Ghana anymore? I understand they have a new word for lying these days in Ghana. It’s called propaganda. Just say anything you feel like and hope some of the mud sticks.


I’ve realised the more vociferous a person is, the bigger the lies. A politician who argues passionately and repeatedly says he has got all the evidence is telling lies. Don’t be fooled. Ask him to produce the evidence immediately or stop speaking and come another time with the evidence to speak.


“I’ll expose them all unless….” is another famous expression that is again, a big lie. What would you expose? Why don’t you just go along, as a good citizen of your country and not merely a spectator to expose crime or give any such evidence to the police? Why would you make that exposure conditional on somebody else cooperating with you or not?


One of the biggest exponents of the latter is the Honourable Ken Agyapong. I heard him say live on TV that he felt threatened by some NPP bigwigs because of his criticisms of the party and that if they were not careful, he would expose their naked videos. Of course, being so clever, he deliberately failed to mention names or give any hint what those videos were about. But really, as a country, why should we tolerate such a culture where anything goes.


We threaten to sue just as a face-saving measure. How many people have actually carried through their threat to sue to its end? Next time you hear a politician threaten to sue without actually doing so, you must know immediately they are guilty.


“I used my own money…..” Sorry, you are NOT supposed to use your own money. Believe me, anyone who says I have used my own money to help a party or government venture, is either justifying theft or looking for an opportunity to steal. If you genuinely wanted to contribute out of charity, you would not even care to mention it publicly.


So Julius Debrah was receiving 3.9 million gh monthly from BOST. Really? So why is he a free man in Ghana? And who said so? Abronye DC! And who is he? A Brong Ahafo regional youth organiser of the NPP. So what business has he charging people with Economic crimes? And is that what journalism in Ghana has descended to? Quoting Abronye DC on matters pertaining to Economic crimes?

We allow such lies to fester on our radios because of our largely do-nothing radio hosts. Just listen to Ekosii sen on Asempa FM. They have a format where the host KABA, nice guy as he is, is merely a timekeeper. He allots fifteen minutes to each of his panellists to spew whatever rubbish that tickles their fancy.


And woe unto you if you tried to interrupt them. There would be the usual… “wait for your turn; I was here when you were talking; I can also treat you the same way when it’s your turn…” and the latest one .. na the one de make me laugh… “Take a paper and pen and make notes.” Hahahahahaha……..!!

Papa Appiah

Why NDC Lost It Seems Corruption Does Not Count

I wonder if corruption is seen as a crime in Ghana anymore. The fact of the matter is, that if we were to take corruption seriously in Ghana probably more than half of the adult population would have to go to prison for either taking or offering bribes. So we let it be. Not only that, we actually expect our public officials to accumulate as much wealth as they can while “it is their turn” and pray fervently that we would be the next in line for the booty.



Maybe we need to stop using the word corruption – it has lost its real meaning in the Ghanaian experience. Let’s stop using expressions like financial malfeasance and misappropriation of funds. Let’s avoid the words bribery, extortion, fraud and unscrupulousness- they make crime sound like normal administrative practices in Ghana; and call them what they really are – thievery, awi, fiafito, jolo ee jolo. Maybe then, we would all sit up and take notice.



Allotey Jacobs, the central regional NDC chairman, is a man I’ve grown to like listening to on Adom TV and on various other radio stations for his sense of humour and grasp of the Fante language. He also appears to talk lots of sense most times. But when on one occasion he playfully tapped the back of Sam Payne, the Ashanti Regional NPP secretary on Adom TV and said “why are they not giving you any appointment? If you are not careful they will chop everything behind you”, I knew my country was in trouble.



In effect, the reason why people go into politics and lobby for posts is not so they can be of service to their country. It is only so they can also, in the words of Allotey Jacobs, chop! That is taken for granted. And interestingly, the more corrupt one is, the more money one has to induce equally corrupt and corruptible party functionaries to keep one in positions of responsibility and power in the party, in a never-ending revolving cycle, leading our poor country to its doom. And that is why, there may soon be no good people in politics at all – they might simply, not be corrupt enough.



In the wake of the release of Kwesi Botchway’s report on the NDC electoral defeat, I have heard several reasons from various quarters as to why the NDC lost. Some have blamed the then communication minister, Mr Omane Boamah, for not releasing information needed for campaigning. Really? Seriously? Others have put the blame on Lordina Mahama who was said to have usurped the powers of the then vice president Mr Kwesi Amissah-Arthur. Some have blamed John Mahama – he was too truthful, they say. Others have blamed Kofi Adams.



People have blamed NDC splinter groups and celebrity campaign teams who were overly rewarded financially at the expense of people at the grassroots, and actually did no work. Many have blamed ex-president John Rawlings – he deliberately sabotaged NDC with his public criticisms of the party and his new found admiration of President Nana Akuffo Addo.



It’s all well and good. People have the right to voice their opinions and perceptions. What nobody is talking about, however, is the rather serious issue of corruption! And you know why? Nobody cares about corruption anymore. It’s become a noble venture so long as you remain generous to others as you chop. Even the NPP, now they are in power, have toned down their hitherto vociferous utterances against corruption…it’s their turn to chop!



How on earth could we forget, that we had a president who was prepared to sacrifice his integrity and accept a Ford Exploration from a Bukinabe contractor seeking contracts in Ghana. If everybody in Ghana forgets, I will not, because I believe it is an impeachable offence. How on earth could we forget GYEEDA, SADA, guinea fowls flying to Burkina Faso, Woyome, the bus branding saga and the rot at COCOBOD amongst others?



Omane Boamah did not give us information? … Indeed!!


Papa Appiah

Ebenezer, Thus Far Has Akuffo Addo Brought Us

Since when did it become “politicising” to criticise a sitting president? Suddenly, there are several “wise men” in Ghana advising against politicising issues, especially when they involve criticisms of Nana Akufo Addo. And then you dare not attempt to defend yourself. You would be accused of “equalization.” There are attempts to gag us from criticising or expressing dissenting views by the sheer force of the verbal terror that would be unleashed on us. And it is only the beginning. There is worse to come.



Who else could we blame when the very next day after the NPP took over power, a senior police officer was beaten to a pulp in front of cameras and in the presence of military men right in the courtyard of the seat of government, the Flagstaff House? No one has been convicted of the crime. That one singular act showed a certain mind-set imbued into young male NPP members while in opposition and which subsequently, is beginning to bear fruit.

Since then, there has been one incident after the other - the impunity of the Delta Forces invading a Regional Security Office to molest a government appointee and then charging into a court to free their colleagues. There has been the impunity of a man like Abronye going round seizing people’s cars when we have security institutions in the country. There have been recent eruptions in Somanya, and then now, the murder of a soldier.



Following the unfortunate death of Captain Mahama, Owusu Bempah, the president’s “spiritualist”, came on air to attribute the killing of a young military officer related to our former president, to spiritual punishment for wrongs committed by the previous Mahama government. I have not heard a single condemnation of that politically charged statement. Its politicisation if it comes from Asiedu Nketsia and perfectly fine when the source is Owusu Bempah. And this is a man who advises our president and who, Nana Akuffo Addo holds in such high esteem as to have mentioned his name in his inaugural speech.



And then at the seat of government, we have the impunity of the clearest demonstration ever in our history of nepotism and tribal bias in ministerial appointments. Forget it if you are not from the NPP stronghold of the Ashanti Region or from Nana Akuffo Addo’s Eastern region. And if you happen to have an “Akufo” tucked somewhere in your ancestral name, then the world is your oyster in the new Ghana.



Dr Bawumia would definitely not admit it, but even he is feeling the heat. People did contribute large sums of money to the NPP campaign but money alone does not win an election. The vice president was almost singularly responsible for swaying public opinion against the NDC government with incessant intellectual analysis of the economy, much to the annoyance of the Mahama government. He is gradually being relegated to the background with Mr Osafo Marfo, a known tribalist, holding himself up as an alternate to the president at every opportunity.



And recently, Mr Kennedy Agyapong, NPP MP for Assin North and a known major financier of the party, has started criticising the vice president in public. In a recent TV discussion on Adom TV, he advised the vice president to stop the theory and concentrate on fixing the economy. Watch the space.



And so I am afraid. Something is wrong in Ghana. We seem to have moved from scandals and corruption and Ford Expeditions to something a bit more sinister. I feel uneasy about a subtle wind of change blowing across the country, more akin to a “democratic terrorism”. And if history is to be our guide, then Ghanaians ought to be afraid too, very afraid indeed.

Substitute one short man for another, both very eloquent and renowned for their oratory. Both took advantage of mass discontent and dire economic circumstances to drive themselves into power through the democratic route, with largely fanatical followings. Both loved their museums, cathedrals and acropolises, to serve as centres for the spirit of the nation.



Replace Owusu Bempah with Dr Jorg Lanz von Leibenfels, a former monk who had abandoned the Christian religion and had formed a new cult in a castle along river Danube and who remained an important advisor of the National Socialists throughout their rule. Replace the Invisible and Delta Forces with The SS men, a group of fanatical brutes who terrorised their people, then we have a recipe for disaster and Ghanaians ought to be very afraid.



Six million Jews may not be killed, but be careful if you are not an Ashanti or from the Eastern region.

Papa Appiah

Lexeve1@icloud.com

Ministerial Vetting - Alan Kyeremateng (A*), Gloria Akuffo (B-). Sack The Rest

Ministerial Vetting - Alan Kyeremateng (A*), Gloria Akuffo (B+). Sack the Rest!!


Whoever it was that conceived the idea of the live streaming of the ministerial vetting in parliament has done democracy in Ghana a great service. For, it has been ever so enlightening to see our parliamentarians at work outside the floor of the parliament, where handkerchief-waving and raucous chants have been the hallmark. For the first time it dawned on me, and I believe many other Ghanaians, that our parliamentarians actually represent a snapshot of some of the most intelligent and articulate young people (and old ones as well), in our country. They do take their jobs rather seriously. Even members who were NPP asked pertinent questions to, at least, draw the nominees attention to important issues they may never have considered. I must generally congratulate our MPs for a good job done, so far.


I have so far been able to watch four of the nominees - Alan Kyeremateng, Mr Osafo Marfo, Mr Ken Ofori Atta and Gloria Akuffo Addo. Of the four, I've been most impressed by Mr Kyeremateng. This is a clearly intelligent man who has an impressive grasp of the subject matter of Trade and Industry. He articulated his views so clearly, and yet was able to , at the same time, radiate a genuine humility and a readiness to imbibe new ideas as and when members of parliament expressed them. He also has a good sense of humour and once got everybody laughing with a story about a man who said Charlotte Osei had wasted three days in announcing the election results- three precious days Alan could have used to build three factories. I found him a credit to the presidency and to the ministry to which he has been nominated. I pray that God continues to give him wisdom and good health to continue his work. (A*)


Madam Gloria Akuffo! What can I say? This lady was so lovely and charming, it was difficult to summon the courage to say anything negative about her. She is the kind of person who would always pass an interview because she comes across as so vulnerable and yet so caring, friendly, warm, and honest. She seems to me one willing to learn and work hard. What more can one ask for? People would love to work with her and help her overcome what came across, and I may be wrong, as a lack of grasp of the subject matter relating directly to the area she has been nominated to lead. Simply saying you will put your best foot forward and deal with all issues landing on your table is not exactly what one was expecting from our next Attorney General.


And by the way, who was that ignorant MP who sought to pour scorn on and ridicule Gloria Akuffo for having had the temerity to put on her CV, that she had been a sports prefect and had actually represented Ghana in some sport discipline. How many of us could boast of such an achievement? And of course she has every right to put that on her CV. There is a lot to be said for bringing up our children to be rounded individuals with lots of extra-curricular engagements and experience, and in that regard, I doff my hat off for Madam Gloria Akuffo. I wish her all the best in her new job. (B+)


Mr Ken Ofori-Atta baffles me. This is obviously a very successful man. He studied in Achimota where he was an entertainment prefect. He is a sportsman who played cricket. He studied at Yale University and worked in America. He then set up his own bank in Ghana and is now a multi-millionaire. He is a man who has sat on several banking and school boards. He definitely must have been interviewed several times in his life and indeed must have interviewed many people in his life. So, when such a man comes to parliament and adopts a certain lackadaisical, perhaps condescending attitude, then we have to take it seriously. It could never have been because he is a shy man of few words. The way he came across to me, from his one line answers and general demeanor, was someone who saw the whole process as a waste of time and beneath him. He did not appear to be entirely honest either, denying for instance, that the NPP ever promised to reimburse the Brong-Ahafo microfinance scandal victims. As far as I am concerned, he failed that interview. A poor D grade would be generous.


But the person who disappointed me most was the so-called Senior Minister nominee, Mr Osafo Marfo. Again, there is no doubt about the man's academic pedigree. He has chalked successes all his life and came across as someone who has always been adored and not used to be being challenged. What people like him forget, is that for every seventy six year old who has chalked the successes he has in his life, there are several more forty year old Ghanaians more intelligent than him who have chalked more successes in their lives. The least he could have done was to have shown some level of humility. In the end, he sounded and looked like a defeated man in a witness box as he was drilled by the minority leader and coaxed into an almost violent refusal to apologize for ethnocentric sentiments he was said to have made sometime ago. It was an embarrassing sight to behold and one that did him no favors at all. He gets a poor D-.

I'll keep watching.


Papa Appiah

Lexeve1 @icloud.com

Nana Addo Failing Already

Nana Addo Failing Already


These are interesting times in Ghana. The enthusiasm with which Ghanaians welcomed Nana Akuffo Addo is in danger of beginning to wane already. And he's been in office for only three days. You see, Ghanaians voted John Mahama out, because he failed to do enough to win their trust. He allowed corruption to fester in his government and he allowed himself to be found in compromising situations like accepting a car gift. Ghanaians punished him for all these and the man accepted his punishment with grace and dignity. But do not get this wrong, Ghanaians do not hate the man.



A man says, I am entitled to a house as part of my retirement benefit. But I do not want one built. I have lived in this particular house as a Vice President and then as president and I would very much like to continue staying in it. A man gives him his word and request that he puts in an official letter only to see the said letter published on Facebook and the gentleman thrown to the dogs. There is total silence from Nana Akuffo Addo.



We are in a Ghana where the Invisible Forces reign. They attack with impunity and wreck havoc along the way. Apart from one press release "advising" them to desist from such acts, nothing seems to have been done. Again, Nana himself remains silent on the issue .



Now, our little children in school are having to endure the presence of big-bodied buffoons insisting that they are not fed because there needs to be a changeover of caterers in line with the change in government . In the melee in Ejura, gun shots are unleashed in our schools, in the presence of our little school kids, and four people are injured. Nana Addo says nothing.



We all agree there is a lot to do in the Jubilee House. There is a broken economy to be fixed, there are grand plans for an international standard railway system, one district one factory, one milllion dollars for every constituency, free Shs and so on. There is also the very important job of selecting the men and women with the pedigree to help achieve these targets. It's all well and good. Ghanaians welcome this.



But if Nana is not careful, he may achieve all the grandiose projects and yet be seen as a failed president. For at the end of the day, while the big things matter, it is the little things Ghanaians appreciate most- to be able to send their children to school, have them taught in peace, have something to eat for lunch, and go home without macho men firing guns on their school compound while our busy President remains silent.



Papa Appiah

We Saw It, We Loved It, We Chose It – The EC Logo Saga

We are virtually 6 months from an important national election and one would have thought that the Electoral Commission would have other priorities to introducing a new logo. That’s not all, they are introducing measures to rebrand the whole of the Electoral Commission, that’s right, rebranding, six months to a general election. So it was with baited breath that we all waited for what we thought would be an in-depth explanation and justification from the EC as regards the need for these changes at this time.

We were in for a shock. “We saw it, we loved it, we chose it” was all Mrs Charlotte Osei could say in defence of the introduction of the new logo. And when asked how she was going to fund all this rebranding, she said that would be the headache of the Finance Minister. She did however explain, that they had decided to get rid of the coat of arms to signify their total independence and freedom from the shackles (my words) of State. But I was a bit taken aback by her choice of words. I came to only one conclusion. The woman was angry! And everybody beware!

You see, my brother, Charlotte Osei is not an Afari-Gyan, the wily old University lecturer who had seen and heard it all before and did not care one hoot what anybody said about him, so long as he was allowed to do his job. He smiled his way through several years of criticisms and insults and despite a few bumbling errors is believed by most reasonable people to have contributed immensely to the growth of our democracy. We have moved from an elderly, male, University lecturer to a young, female lawyer and without in anyway attempting to be sexist, or ageists, my brother, don’t be fooled, there is a difference here. Anybody who is married knows, that whatever the feminists say, one cannot offend a woman and simply get on with it. Women generally do not forgive that easily. And the younger they are, the more trouble you have on your hands. But is Charlotte Osei capable of managing such a sensitive national institution?

In trying to find an answer to that, I cast my mind back to my days in the university; the girls always sat in the front rows, scribbled notes as if their very lives depended on it and generally prepared for examinations more thoroughly and far more in advance than the guys, who often sat at the back pretending everything was under control. When things got tough though, the boys could sometimes have the confidence to bluff their way through, while the ladies would often break down and cry if confronted with anything they had not thoroughly prepared for. So I have always believed that as much as women could do far better jobs in most posts than men, it’s often a lack of confidence and of course, the usual familial pressures sometimes, that holds some of them back. Not so for “no nonsense” Mrs Charlotte Osei.

I’m not surprised that she is already planning far ahead by instituting five year development plans. Of course the 2016 election is coming, but apparently the whole plan for the election has been discussed and agreed at IPAC meetings and all the political parties have copies of the plan. She is thinking ahead while others choose to allow themselves to be consumed by the 2016 election because, for some reason which I cannot fathom, it is “a make or break” election.

This woman is full of confidence, sometimes even bordering on arrogance. She is not a politician and is not interested in saying the right things at the right time. She wants to be allowed to do her job and her aim is to make our electoral commission a world class one. And a world class electoral commission is not one where the electoral commissioner becomes a hero when elections go well and needs a military escort when there are problems. Just go to London or New York and ask the average man in the street who the electoral commissioner is? They will think you are crazy for asking such a question. Nobody knows. They just get on with their work.

Charlotte Osei does need to prove her integrity to anybody in Ghana, least of all members of our political parties, most of who are simply in politics for what they can make for themselves at the expense of Ghanaians. She has studied hard all her life and built a reputation through hard work. It would take more than silly hollering to shake a confident character, such as she is.

So, we saw it, we loved it, we chose it, may not be the harmless, unfortunate choice of the wrong words by somebody who, after all, is not a politician, as I had initially thought. It was actually, a warning! A warning to all, and especially the NPP, to back off and allow her to do her job. She is a lawyer and she perfectly understands her rights as set out in the constitution and no amount of shouting, yelling, threats or insults can move her. They will see it, love it and chose it.

Could that be any clearer?

Papa Appiah
www.ghanansemsem.blogspot.com

Election 2016-We Can't Reward Failure

Election 2016- We Can't Reward Failure

One rabbit joke of a presidency is enough for the long-suffering Ghanaian. We no longer have the energy to laugh. President John Mahama lists among the reasons for his abject failure, the eight month election petition, that kept the nation in suspense. One would have thought, that those eight months would have been an opportunity for him to have demonstrated to Ghanaians what he could do, just in case a new election was ordered by the Supreme Court. I do remember, that months after the petition was done and the results certified, our president was still going round the country, visiting churches and mosques, in a never-ending "thank you" tour. That was when I knew we were in trouble.



Good presidents hit the ground running and make an impact instantly. General Buhari has shown the way to do it. President Magufuli of Tanzania is only a month in his post, and yet the world is talking about him. We have a president who thinks "the mark of a competent leader is the ability to keep people together", including of course, shady characters reshuffled to positions at the presidency when they should probably be in jail. And when the going gets tough, we have a president who continually attempts to extricate himself from the web with a joke or two - a homely, clowning, yes-sir-bossing kind of president. Ghana can no longer afford that. "The day of the geechi is gone".(Apologies -A Soldier's Story).



Little things tell a big story. I still remember our president rushing to ceremoniously open one section of the Bui dam when the whole dam was not going to be completed for a few months yet and a proper opening ceremony was scheduled when President Kuffour, the man who actually initiated the project, was going to be present. I still remember our president posing in front of CNN as if on holiday, to have his picture taken. I promise you, he did look then like a president who was going to pay millions of dollars for guinea fowls which would fly to Burkina Faso. And one who was going to oversee a reafforestation programme where not a single tree survived, despite the injection of millions of dollars. He did not disappoint.



As I write, Woyome has not paid a single penny of the 52 million dollars created, looted and shared with accomplices in the government. And if President Rawlings is to be believed, these accomplices are parading the corridors of power, having worked themselves into positions in the NDC, to enjoy the protection the umbrella provides for corrupt officials. The National Health Insurance Scheme is crumbling, the potentially middle-income country Kuffour left is back to the IMF. Agriculture is struggling.



Beware of any promises President Mahama gives, especially when he strikes his chest while giving it. It is a sign, I have learnt, that it's just another joke. Actually, I think sod-cutting ceremonies should be banned in Ghana. The president, if he is not busy, can make an appearance when the project is completely done. There are too many sods cut, and nothing done or projects abandoned. By the way, what happened to Hope City? I never thought I'd ever say this, but Bawumiah has been right all along, we have one incompetent dude as president of Kwame Nkrumah's Ghana.



So come 2016, we have a choice between a proven incompetent president and Nana Akuffo Addo. Believe me, Nana is one of the worse politicians I know. He is old, he is short, he lacks charisma and has the tendency to put his foot in by saying the wrong things at the wrong time. But whether he will be a good president or not, we do not know. One may need to be a good politician to win an election, but not necessarily to run a country. As a floating voter therefore, rather than rewarding incompetence, I'll vote for Nana Addo and boot out the buffoon - one less joker for the country to be ashamed of.



Papa Appiah

Aponkye (Goat) Justice

Aponkye (Goat) Justice

Someday, in the near future, Ghana will wake up from her deep slumber and realize, the reason we are where we are as a country; the reason we have moved from a high flying potentially middle-income nation to a HIPC country once again; the reason we have no electricity and our National Health Insurance Scheme is collapsing, is not because a judge took aponkye and yam to set a thief free, as sad as that may be.

Someday we will realize, that corrupt officials everywhere in the country are rejoicing, because the judges' story takes the heat away from people engaged in systematic large-scale corruption involving millions of dollars; that Woyome is a free man, and those who colluded in the fraud that robbed a poor country of 52 million dollars, were never brought to justice.

Someday we will remember once again, GYEEDA, SADA, and the several botched projects littered round the country for which ministers have already taken their 10%. We will remember once again, someday, all the other huge judgement debts, millions of dollars gone down the drain, because officials have deliberately colluded with contractors to steal from the public purse.

So I'm not impressed. I'm not impressed that it's fallen on Mr Anas to publicly humiliate judges for taking aponkye. Where was the Chief Justice? Did she know what was going on under her watch? If she did not know, should she have known? Did she not have any suspicion or inkling at all? So why is she still at post? Why has she not taken responsibility for what has happened and resigned? Until such time that bosses are made to take the blunt for the misdemeanor of their subjects, and continue to believe that "a man should not be made to sweat after someone else has eaten his hot pepper" we have no chance in hell of eliminating corruption.

So a judge takes a goat to set a murderer free! Big deal!! We are being murdered in our hundreds everyday by corrupt officials through whose incompetence and corruption there are no drugs in the hospitals to treat our sick. We are being murdered in our hundreds by the policeman who takes bribes to allow drunken drivers in poorly maintained cars to drive on our streets. Yes, we are being murdered, by the city council official who oversees the building of substandard high rise buildings which then go on to collapse, killing innocent Ghanaians. We are even being murdered by the radio presenter who sells medicines on radio that treat everything from premature ejaculation to cancer. We are a dying people. And the soul of the poor Ghanaian weeps in his weary sleep.

There is no good corruption and bad corruption. But a judge holds immense power, even to condemn his fellow man to death. A corrupt judge is a danger to all of us. Soon Ghanaians may opt for taking the law into their own hands rather than going before judges who seek the highest bidder. Violence in our streets would be the result. Foreign investors might think twice about spending money in a country where they cannot rely on the judiciary for justice should things go wrong. The position of the judge is so important, that it behoves on people in authority to put checks and balances in place to ensure that we do not only depend on the goodwill and strength of character of individual judges to attain justice, that there are rigorous guidelines for sentencing, and that allegations are against judges are delt with the utmost seriousness. And that is why the Chief Justice and even the president who appoints people into positions based merely on their political affiliations should bow their head in shame.

And all of us Ghanaians, have to bow our head in shame. Anyone who has ever offered a bribe in Ghana, however small must bow their heads in shame. For, as Shannon Alder said;

“I am tired of people saying that poor character is the only reason people do wrong things. Actually, circumstances cause people to act a certain way. It's from those circumstances that a person's attitude is affected followed by weakening of character. Not the reverse......"

We have a Bureau of National Investigations, Economic Crime Unit, CHRAG etc. It is our duty to empower these institutions, expand them if necessary and pay them well, to work effectively in ending corruption. And our leaders must lead by example. We do not need to have Kwaku Baako's vigilante masked men on our corridors seeking aponkye justice!! Ghana deserves better.


Papa Appiah

Byhisglory2014@yahoo.co.uk

GFA Go Wild. Equipment Manager Called "Ball Boy"

The GFA are really angry paaaa! Oh my brother, they are so angry that the last time I passed by one of them, there was hot air coming from his nostrils, ears and mouth, not to mention that other taboo orifice. How dare Mr Dzimifa? How dare him call our highly qualified, international kit manager "a ball boy?"



"It is apparent that the description of the kit manager as a 'ball boy' is calculated to bring disaffection for the person in charge of the position even though his role is key for the highly-tuned professionals to perform at the top-level."



And they are actually going to court, the GFA, not to deny the fact that the man was paid a cool hundred thousand dollars for carrying balls and jerseys around, but to express how angry they are, that a man in such a "technically demanding" position, needed to complement our "highly-tuned professionals" is being ridiculed as a mere "ball boy".



Yet, it seems that it is only in Ghana that our players are so "highly-tuned" that we need a 100,000 dollar equally highly -tuned hand to carry their balls around. This is the BBCs reaction;



"Consider a world in which the England kit man is paid as big an appearance fee as Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart or Raheem Sterling.


Tough to imagine? Not so if you worked for Ghana's Football Association at the 2014 World Cup where their "equipment officer" earned $100,000 (£64,000), according to a government report."



No, the BBC got it wrong. What they do not know, is that our players are highly- tuned!! Aha! There-in lies the difference.



And how does one become a "ball boy" for the Ghana Fooball Association? Where was the job advertised? When were the interviews held? How many people were interviewed? What was the job requirement and specification? What qualification did one have to have to apply? I promise you, if I had seen that advert, I would have left my job as a gynaecologist in the UK to apply.



And come to think of it, why should a team manager, video analyst, psychologist, and even a doctor earn the same appearance fees as the footballers who people pay to go and see? It only happens in Ghana where people have become so clever and efficient in the swindling of public funds into their own pockets. I wonder what percentage of the cash actually went into Hamidu's pocket?



And they have the audacity to lecture us about "highly-tuned!". Indeed!



Papa Appiah
Www.ghanansemsem.blogspot.com
Byhisglory2014@yahoo.co.uk

Little Differences

Little Differences - NPP and NDC, Ghana and Nigeria

There are little differences between NPP and NDC officials, according to Mr Kennedy Agyapong, a guy I have been listening to a fair bit lately. I don't know whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, listening to Kennedy Agyapong. The guy is quite engaging. Did you know, that apart from Walter Bloomberg, Kennedy Agyapong claims to be richer than every American parliamentarian? Did you know, that all his children are educated in America and his eldest is studying to be a neurosurgeon? His annual bill for school fees is in excess of two hundred thousand dollars?

You cannot help but be impressed by his intelligence, though he makes a deliberate attempt to conceal it in political discussions preferring, perhaps as a political tactic, to sound like a street mob. He is so forthwright and honest in his views, except when you attempt to enquire about the source of his wealth, when he becomes all defensive. He attacks his detraractors for linking him to the drugs trade and questions where they were when he was washing plates in Germany and driving cabs in the USA. Ebei, Mr Agyapong, we are talking of a multi-million dollar wealth here and all you can tell us about its source, is driving cabs?

Anyway, as I was saying, Kennedy Agyapong believes there is one significant between NDC and NPP officials. An NPP official takes his margins and delivers the goods. While an NDC official takes his share and does not get the job done. So basically, they all take their margins, as he calls it. This is a guy who was in government and was involved in negotiations for the award of contracts for the Bui dam. He must know what he is talking about.

Which reminds me of a story I heard some years ago. There was a Ghanaian and an Indian in Oxford university in the forties. They both finished and went back home to help in various political struggles, becoming important ministers in their countries. The Indian invited his Ghanaian friend to visit. The Ghanaian went over and was amazed at the opulence displayed by his friend.

"How did you do it?" The Ghanaian asked

"Come, my friend" the Indian said, taking his friend to the window.

"You see that motorway over there? Ten percent!" The Indian said

"Oh okaaaay!" The Ghanaian nodded.

Two years later, the Ghanaian invited the Indian to Ghana. The Indian was shocked his friend had become much richer than he was.

" How did you do it?" The Indian asked

"Come my friend" the Ghanaian said, taking his friend to the window. " You see that motorway over there?"

The Indian craned his neck. There were a few scattered equipment but no motorway.

"Hundred percent" said the Ghanaian.

There are little differences between Ghanaians and Nigerians. In the words of a British old lady I met who was proud to tell me she spent part of her youth in both Ghana and Nigeria as a daughter of a colonial civil servant, Ghanaians are more "peaceful". Difficult to understand what she really meant by that, and she could not explain it either but I've resorted to calling my Nigerian friends, " Our noisy neighbors". Of course there are exceptions, but on the whole, as a Ghanaian working in the diaspora, I would rather have a Nigerian boss than a Ghanaian. The Nigerian will treat you like his own brother, if you show him respect.

There are other differences too. Nigerians celebrate the birth of a child and love to celebrate their birthdays with big parties. Once a man dies, they make much less fuss. Ghanaians enjoy their funerals. People wait for their relatives to die and then try to turn the funeral into business ventures and make profit. Family disputes begin at funerals as people engage in vicious manoevres to appropriate as much wealth to themselves as they can. You are judged in society by how much fuss you can make when your parents die.

And I believe Nigerians are doers, and Ghanaians talkers. Just listen to Akuffo Addo.

He was asked - Buhari's decision to declare his assets publicly ahead of the election reinforced his anti-corruption credentials. Would Akufo-Addo be willing to do the same?

"Personally, I would. I can't speak for the views of my col- leagues, but I think it is a debate that we're going to have long before the election. We should not be grandstanding.

"Let the parliament have a look at this to decide the is- sues of disclosure and confidentiality so that it isn't just an example that's set by one or two people but an obligation that covers all office holders," he explains.

Quite inspiring, I thought. Big English! But what does it really mean? Your guess is as good as mine.

Papa Appiah

Byhisglory2014@yahoo.co.uk

Let Me Die In A Flood

Let Me Die In A Flood!!

I would rather die in a flood. At least the president will be there. Minority leaders and former presidents may visit my family. Even foreign presidents would come in to pledge support for my grieving family.The president may give a speech, in a sad voice of course, in remembrance of me. There may be three days of national mourning and flags may fly at half-mast . Years after I'm gone, my story may remain on the lips of my countrymen, and if my death inspired the building of but one single gutter, it would not have been in vain. My family may even benefit from 60 million GHC promised by the government, if it materializes.


Since the recent flood incident in Accra, houses are being hurriedly demolished; houses built from years of sweat and toil and for which permits may have been provided by some corrupt official somewhere. Some petrol stations that people are depending on to feed their children and pay their school fees are being demolished. There have been no tears for those affected. Whatever has to be will be. Anything must be done to ensure that the president does not get another opportunity to give a sad speech.


By the end of the year, however, over 1600 Ghanaians would have died from road accidents, just going about their normal duties.(National Road Safety Commission) 60% of these accidents would be the result of overspeeding by negligent drivers. These deaths will occur with no cameras in sight. So of course, there will be no presidential visits. There will be no sad presidential speeches, no three days of mourning and no flags will fly at half-mast. Their bodies will be picked up and thrown like rubbish unto the back of lorries and deposited in the nearest hospital.


Mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers may undertake the lonely trip to take their dead and bring them back home. The incident will never be investigated. There will be no payment of compensation. The person responsible for the accident may never have taken a driving test in his life and who cares. Some people receive their driver's license even before they learn to drive.


Nobody goes to jail for causing an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol or even for driving while legally unqualified to do so. It's all in the hands of God. Like everything else in Ghana - the economy, education, corruption, we needed somebody to put their neck on the block and do something radical to effect changes that many would not be happy with. We cannot rely on our president to do that. There are just too many votes at stake.


And so it was with joy that I learnt the DVLA had taken the initiative to introduce stringent measures to ensure that our driving culture changes once and for all. Among other directives, drivers ought to have attended a driving school prior to being issued a license or having their license renewed. The drivers rebelled, blocked streets in Accra and elsewhere, and shouted loudly enough in microphones to have the measures suspended.


And people expected to know better, leaders in our communities jumped on the bandwagon and childish populism, by defending the drivers and lambasting the DVLA. I heard a vice chairman of the CPP complain on Newsfile, that there are no driving schools in a town like Bawku. What about the investment opportunities and the jobs to be created if the laws came into force, as people rushed to establish schools all over the country?


I heard Kwesi Pratt complain about the arrogance of the DVLA and the need to start off with education and advocating the establishment of extra classes for drivers who may have been driving for years, and who depend on driving to look after their families. But then again, what about people losing their houses and their petrol stations to help stop the perennial floods in Accra? Don't they have families to look after, children to feed? Why can't drivers pay for extra classes themselves to help them comply with the new regulations?


1600 people are going to die on the road this year alone, and we sit in radio stations to spew rubbish about somebody losing their job because they can't improve themselves? If drivers are incapable of raising themselves to the new challenge, they could try fasting for forty days and forty nights and turning to Evangelism. Very lucrative, Evangelism. They could also try popping out their eyes and begging for arms in our streets. In the extreme, we could provide them with free ropes at taxpayer's expense and turn the other way.


Anything is better than allowing 1600 people to die from the ignorance and negligence of poorly trained drivers on our roads.


Papa Appiah
Byhisglory2014@yahoo.co.uk

Democracy or Sheer Silliness

I am a catholic. I attended a catholic secondary school in Ghana. Roughly eighty per cent of the students in the school were catholic. On Sundays, we would all attend church service in the school’s Assembly Hall, the catholic student population having outgrown our small purpose-built church. But we found other uses for the church on Sundays. Our protestant student population would gather there to pray, often inviting protestant preachers from town to worship with them.



But the Sunday church service was often, also an opportunity for the headmaster to speak to the whole school. So, you would often see the Protestants walking calmly across the school campus to join us for the last few minutes of our service. We used to make fun of them. For these students often formed the core of the “Christian Fellowship”, the good boys in school, who minded their own business and concentrated on their books. You could see from their demeanour as they undertook that solemn walk across the school campus that they had only God and books on their minds. We found that boring. But it was all childish humour with no harm intended.



Our best athlete at the time was called Ahmed Sumaila. Ahmed Sumaila and a few other Muslims were under no circumstance coerced to come and pray with us. They met somewhere to say their prayers, and again came to join us for the last few minutes for the headmaster’s speech. Once a while, I have forgotten how often, they would undertake a supervised trip on a Friday afternoon to attend the mosque in town. Thus were the principles of religious tolerance imbued in all of us. Our only concern was how fast Ahmed Sumaila was going to run at Interco, and not what God he worshipped.



I owe a debt of gratitude to my teachers, the priests and Bishops who taught me, long before Pope Francis’ attempt to promote a liberal, welcoming church, to judge a man not by the God he happens to worship, but by the content of his character. These were the same people who taught me respect for authority and for the rules that govern society. That is why I am so appalled that the Catholic Bishop’s Conference, shortly after the president’s State of the Nation address, in which he condemned religious intolerance and called on school head teachers to abide by the spirit of the constitution, came out blazingly, to encourage the head teachers to challenge the president’s authority.


How simple-minded can we be? And in fact, who told the bishops they have any authority to dictate what happens in “catholic” schools anymore? These schools, the last I checked, are financed by the government with the taxes of Catholics, Muslims and everyone else. Government pays the salaries of the teachers and provides the books, infrastructure and everything else. No one has the authority to impose an admission policy based on religion or to force students to engage in any religious activity they do not believe in. And you would think our bishops would know better. Following their cue, others have jumped on the bandwagon. A nurse has been sent away from work for wearing a Muslim headgear. Where is it going to end? Are catholic sisters who work in schools and hospitals going to be stopped from wearing their headgears?



There seems to be a growing trend in Ghana where people increasingly find it difficult to thread the thin line between democracy and freedom of speech on one hand and sheer indiscipline and frankly, silliness on the other. When the president speaks, we can all express contrary opinions, and even suggest better ways of dealing with the problem. What we cannot do is to give an order in direct contradiction to what he has said. That is indiscipline.



We are becoming a society where little school children left by parents in the care of teachers they trust, are let out unto the streets to join in demonstrations against the government and hurl insults at the president. This could never happen in the countries whose democratic structures we are trying to copy. That head teacher would be out of work, not by a presidential order, but by a School Board decision influenced by angry parents. But in Ghana everything goes, in the name of democracy



We are becoming used in our country to the silliness of journalists who think freedom of speech means an ability to insult authority. We are becoming used to the silliness of intemperate language on our airwaves by people paid by opposing political parties to attack each other. We have even observed the silliness of Ghanaians converging in front of foreign cameras to call their president a thief. But when our revered catholic bishops begin to join the rot, then its time to re-examine ourselves.


Papa Appiah

www.ghanansemsem.blogspot.com

African Woman (from Suicide Note Album)

Suicide Note (The Book) - Chapter One

Chapter One

Kofi Mensah loved Bibiani. And so did his father and his grandfather before him. They said Bibiani belonged to no one. Bibiani was nobody’s hometown. People had travelled from all over the country to Bibiani when gold had been discovered several years before. And Egya Amisah, Kofi’s grandfather, and at the time a young ambitious carpenter, and his wife Araba, had set off from Elmina along the coast of Ghana and travelled inland across rivers and over tortuous terrains to share in the new economic opportunities that had sprung up suddenly in Bibiani.

Egya Amisah had been born in Elmina to Opanyin Kwasi Nyarko, a renowned fisherman, and was the youngest of six sons and two daughters. They lived in a little house that overlooked the sea, whose angry rumbles, was often enough to keep one awake all night. Across the road from their home was the Elmina Castle, built by the Portuguese, and which still bore relics of the slave trade that was ever so efficiently organised there for centuries, and from where the cries of ancestral slaves still echoed, lending an eerie ambience to the environment.

All of Egya Amisah’s brothers had gone into the family business, fishing. At dawn one day, wailing and crying from her parents’ room had waked the then seven-year-old Egya. Thinking it was one of the occasional incidents of domestic violence he sometimes had the misfortune of witnessing, Egya had stole quietly being the curtains to his parents room to watch his mother being consoled by neighbours while Opanyin Nyarko sat in a corner, his head in his hands.

“Oh my children, oh my God, why do I deserve this? What have I done to deserve this?” Auntie Adomah was crying, tears streaming down her face.

“It’s all in the hands of the gods, Auntie” Paapa Antobam, the family head and also a retired fisherman, was saying. “I went to sea for well over four decades before I retired and never once experienced such storm as was said to have been encountered at sea last night.”

Auntie Adomah continues to sob uncontrollably

“Who are we, mere mortals, to challenge the works of the gods?” Paapa Antobam continued “And as heartbroken as we may be, we need not lose sight of the fact that the gods have been for us, more often than they have been against us.”

Opanyin Nyarko also starts to sob

“This is difficult, Nyarko, but, as our elders say, only a man’s chest is broad enough to bear the impact of a gunshot. So take heart, be brave, and remember, you will never stand alone in these difficult times.” Paapa Antobam concluded.

And that was how Egya Amisah got to know of the death of his two elder brothers who had been swept away when their fishing boat had capsized in a huge storm at sea. Their home was to be thrown into mourning for weeks on end, as people from all walks of life in Elmina came over to express their condolences.

Early the next morning, Paapa Antobam had arrived to fetch the whole family. He came along with a boy who carried a sheep and another who carried two bottles of Schnapps and a white chicken. They had walked through the town, intermittently being stopped by friends and relatives to express their condolences, as they made their way to the shrine of the fetish priest of the god Benya. After such an ordeal, it was important, that the rest of the family was spiritually fortified against the forces of evil that had briefly, but ever so disastrously, triumphed over them.

They trod with trepidation along the narrow path in the little forest that led to the shrine. The birds sang on the trees, a solemn comforting song of love that once again brought tears into the eyes of everybody. Soon, away in the distance, the sound of drumbeat became faintly audible and the little hut that was the shrine became visible. As they approached the shrine, they were met by a lady draped in white and held on either side by two bare-chested men who appeared to be struggling very hard to stop her breaking free and running off. In between her frantic attempts to break free, she appeared to be in a stupor and whispered inaudibly to herself. She made one last desperate and rather frightening attempt to run directly towards the intruders, and having been once again overcome by the now visibly sweating men, she seemed to withdraw quietly, back into the shrine.

“The god Benya welcomes you” One of the men casually invited them in.

As they bowed to enter the hut the chief priest, Attah, came to meet them. Egya Kwasi Attah was a tall bearded man who wore a skirt made of reed and wrist and ankle bands of seashells. There were white chalk rings all over his body. He carried a horse’s tail in one hand that he swung every now and again over his head to command the drummers. He took the items the entourage had brought along and by way of a hearty welcome, tore off the head of the chicken with his bare hands and let the blood drip on the god. The sound of drums filled the room again as the lady in white went into what looked like convulsive fits and whispered into the ear of the Egya Attah, who then interpreted to the rest of them.

“Your son Kojo Antobam…” he started. Kojo Antobam, incidentally named after Opanyin Antobam who had come with them today, was the elder of the two deceased brothers of Egya Amisah.

There was another drumbeat, a convulsive fit and little whispers into the ears of the chief priest, who continued with his interpretation.

“Your son Kojo Antobam wronged the gods.”

There were audible murmurs and looks of consternation all around.

There was an even louder drumbeat, another convulsive fit, and a whisper into the ear of Egya Attah.

“You looked on as your son had an affair with the wife of a priest of the shrine. Your family has been duly punished for the sins of your son”

Auntie Adomah was now sobbing uncontrollably as she held Egya Amisah and his brother Kwaku Ntsie tightly as if to make sure that these two remaining sons would not be taken from her. Egya Amisah shed tears as well, only in sympathy with his mum but really oblivious of what it was all about.

There was once again the whirl of the horse’s tail, the loud drumbeat, the convulsive fits, and the whisper into Egya Attah’s ear.

“This is not the end, your two sons will also be taken…”

Auntie Adomah collapsed in a heap on the earthen floor in front of Egya Attah, a broken woman pleading for the lives of her children.

“…Unless,” Egya Attah continued “you provide the following items for rituals to be performed”

There was another cycle of the rather overdramatic interludes.

“Twelve pairs of tiger nails, twelve fresh crocodile liver, and the blood of a virgin girl! The god has spoken”

Auntie Adomah cried even more loudly while Opanyin Adomah and Opanyin Nyarko walked up to the chief priest and engaged him in a tete a tete that went on for a few good minutes. Finally, Egya Attah announced, that a decision had been made to accept the equivalent of the needed items in gold dust, and the god was happy with that arrangement. He then picked up a sharp knife and quite expertly slashed the throat of the sheep as an assistant collected the blood in a bowl. Egya Attah let go of the carcass of the sheep, collected the bowl of blood, spat into it and mixed it with a black potion. He proceeded to wash the feet of the two boys with the concoction and having thus completed his rituals, assured all and sundry, that the curse had been banished from the family.

It had been a strange funeral. For the brothers had been swept away at sea and their bodies, never found. But the family did its best to honour the brothers as best they could. There was the usual array of “professional” criers who shouted at the top of their voice and uttered invocations and curses against the enemies of the family but never shared a tear. There were lots to eat and drink, and once drunk, lots of drumming and singing to dance to. But it was relief when it was all over and the family could finally be rid of the “sympathisers” whose true motives nobody was quite sure about. After all, it was now common knowledge, that the family had been punished for the misdeeds of a son.

“Good riddance” Opanyin Nyarko was saying to his wife “They are all gossips. They just come in to see what kind of meat you have in the soup so they can go and ridicule us. They are all witches and wizards.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“I wish people would simply mind their own business” Opanyin Nyarko continued. “Who really loves us and wishes us well? None of them”

“Well, what can they do?” Auntie Adomah said, “Damned if they do, and damned if they don’t. They are not responsible for our son’s misdemeanours.”

They sat in silence for a while.

“Come to think of it,” Auntie Adomah continued, “things could have been different”

Auntie Adomah continued to cry

“Things could have been different. You could have done much more about this issue...

“What do you mean by that?” Opanyin Nyarko blurted out, a tad impatiently.

“I did warn you…”

“There she goes again. Please don’t start!” Opanyin Nyarko barked. “Don’t start. I’m not in the mood for that. You warned me based on what? Rumours! What you heard at the market. I spoke to my boy and he denied it. What could I do? Follow him all around everyday? Please! This is hardly time for a blame game. I am a bit too old for that.”

Having said that, he walked away to his room and slept off his bitterness. But the frustration, anger and disappointment never left him. He had been at the point of retiring and his sons had taken over and were so brilliantly managing the business. Now he felt empty. He spent the rest of his days drowned in alcohol. Not long after the death of his sons, Opanyin Nyarko died peacefully in his sleep. The family was inconsolable but worse was to follow.

Cousin Joe Boy, Egya Amisah’s cousin and Opanyin Nyarko’s nephew, was by custom, entitled to all his uncle’s inheritance. He would then be responsible for looking after his uncle’s family. A day after the death of his uncle, Cousin Joe Boy had arrived in the house, not to express his condolence or to mourn with the family, but to boot them out of the house so he could come and live there with his family as, well, custom demanded. He had arrived very early in the morning with some hoodlums who helped pack all the belongings of the woman and her children while ensuring, that not as single item belonging to Opanyin Nyarko or purchased with his money was taken. Egya Amisah never forgot the fierce, bloodshot, angry and threatening eyes of his usually very jovial cousin.

And for the rest of his childhood, Egya Attah had to live in a single room lent to them in the big family house with his mother and three siblings. Auntie Adomah had used pieces of cloth as a partition to separate her bed from the rest of the room to give her some privacy, while the four children slept on mats spread around the rest of the room. And yet, they would walk daily past the house built through the sweat of their parents, inhabited by people who had simply won the lottery of death.

Stop Singing! There is A Bird in the Sky! - The "Suicide Note" Experience

On the 22nd of December, Papa Appiah’s Africoblues album, Suicide Note, was released in all major on-line download sites including CD Baby, Amazon and ITunes. Finally, Papa could sit down and rest after years of struggling to get this album out. In his desire not to take any short cuts, he employed the very best musicians Ghana could boast of and a few top class international musicians to play on this album. The list goes on forever; Grammy Award-winning trumpeter Terry Townson, Kwame Yeboah, Kari Bannerman, Nana Tsiboe, to mention but a few.

But it had not all been smooth sailing. Papa had had to battle against serious financial constraints to finally get this project completed. And when all the instrumental was done, he sought counsel from well-respected Ghanaian musical sources as to the way forward. You see, Papa had done all the recording in a plush little studio in Leicester called the Deadline Studio, whose owner, Adam Ellis, was a genius Sound Engineer. For the final vocals and mixing, however, he thought he had to go a notch up.



Following, rather blindly, the advise from the musical source, which he after all respected, he made the two and a half hour journey to London, to meet the gentleman who had been so strongly recommended to save the project. And he was a wonderful personality; very courteous and polite. But the first question Papa asked him was whether he had done any stuff for the musician who recommended him.



“No” he said, quite truthfully “but I’ve mixed for some people, and some have actually been released”



Oh Christ! The guy was honest, but Papa did not know whether to laugh or to cry. Worse was to follow, for they finally arrived at his “studio”. You see, he had met the gentleman in an area of the Canary Wharf near the river Thames, with a number of top class studios. Papa was soon to realize that the big studios had actually placed some “ship containers” in a spare plot of land, which they lent out to people to do some business by the side. And it was in one of these containers Papa was going to do his singing and mixing. He had been led from his posh little studio in Leicester to come and sing in a “ship container”. And still, he decided to give this individual a chance, based on the source of his recommendation.



It was going to get even more interesting. There was virtually no soundproofing at all. To counteract that, the gentleman had secured a microphone that blocked noise from the side.



First instruction: You have to keep your head still. No left and right movement. And keep your head the same distance from the mic at all times.



So basically, Papa had to stand like a statue all throughout his singing. Fair enough. He did his best to abide by the rules but tapped his right foot to the rhythm as he sang.



Second instruction: No no no Papa! Don’t tap your foot. The sound registers in the mic.



Unfortunately for the gentleman, the “studio” was in an air flight path. So every now and again, there would be another instruction.



Third instruction: I’ve got to stop you Papa. Let the plane pass first.



Fourth instruction: This bird. Goodness me. Sorry Papa, you’ve got to start from the top.



But what finally served as the straw that broke the camel’s back was when he edited a bum note with some monodyne software, something Adam regularly did without making a fuss, and seemed so pleased with himself, that he turned to a rather bemused Papa and gave him the high five.



‘This is no witchcraft, Papa” he said, laughing.



Papa had no choice but to boot out a rather pleasant gentleman and pack his bags back to Leicester and to Adam Ellis’ little studio. But the question he is grappling with is why anybody with any knowledge of music, would lead him to a guy like that.



Lesson number One: Papa, never trust anyone in the music business!



www.ghanansemsem.blogspot.com

PLEASE GET YOUR COPIES OF PAPA APPIAH'S SUICIDE NOTE (AN AFRICOBLUES ALBUM)FROM CDBABY