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Africans are our own enemies (final)
This concludes the series of articles under this headline inspired by the scripture: “A man’s enemies are those of his own household.”
With that scripture as the premise, juxtaposed against the treachery of Africans, we extrapolate that, indeed, we are our own enemies.
The sad case of Ghana’s founding father and first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was cited to validate that claim.
His top military and police officers colluded with the CIA and others to overthrow him and let him die in exile in Guinea. His only crime was that he was perceived to be a Marxist.
The second article dealt with a similar conspiracy of the compatriots of Congo’s freedom fighter and first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, a protégé of Nkrumah.
Congolese traitors, including Lumumba’s own personal aide, Mobutu, teamed up with the CIA and its allies like Belgium and France, chased him out of office and ultimately assassinated him in the most gruesome manner.
These enemies of progress conspired and got their stooge, Mobutu installed as President.
This final issue focuses on Captain Thomas Sankara, another proponent of Pan-Africanism and a champion of African personality, dignity, and excellence.
His obsession with negritude or blackness, and his desire to affirm the value of black or African culture, made him change his country’s name from Upper Volta to Burkina Faso which translates to: “The land of upright people.”
The enemy within, in fact, his own boyhood friend, confidant, and his second-in-command, Captain Blaise Campaore double-crossed him.
Ironically, it was Compaore who staged a coup on August 4, 1983, and installed Sankara, as President after President Jean-Baptiste Ouedraogo had repeatedly arrested and detained him over ideological differences and suspected disloyalty.
Sankara, then 33 years, had risen on the back of a nationwide popularity driven by his renowned military prowess, gait, and charismatic leadership, to become the Prime Minister.
In fact, Ouedraogo himself admitted that after the coup that brought him to power, Sankara was chosen as the President. But he ceded it to him, saying Ouedraogo, a major, was more senior in rank.
Sankara was unapologetically leftist and leveraged his position as Prime Minister, to travel and interact with famous Marxist freedom fighters around the world like Muammar Ghaddafi of Libya, SamoraMachel of Mozambique and Fidel Castro of Cuba.
Ouedraogo who considered himself a “liberal and true democrat” was not comfortable with Sankara’s ideology and sought unsuccessfully to rein him in before he was removed.
Just like Lumumba, Sankara was an ambitious nationalist who fought tirelessly to transform his poverty-stricken, drought-ravaged, landlocked country as fast as he could.
When he took over, Upper Volta, as his country was then called, was under serious threat. It was a tragic synthesis of all the suffering of mankind. The diagnosis was a bad one.
For instance, out of seven million inhabitants, more than six million were peasants; infant mortality was 180 per 1,000; while life expectancy was just 40 years.
The illiteracy rate was 98 per cent, if literacy is considered to mean being able to read, write and speak a language; only 16 per cent were receiving some schooling of some sort; one doctor for 50,000 inhabitants; and lastly, just over $100 per capita.
But, during his short rule, this orator of a soldier, through his inspirational can-do messages, mobilised his people and substantially reversed his country’s backwardness through a policy of self-reliance.
Sankara initiated programmes that vastly reduced infant mortality and increased literacy rates and school attendance through an immense campaign, for the education and training of children dubbed: “Let’s teach our children.”
He further empowered women in many ways more than any leaders in his era, including offering them governmental posts.
In the first year of his presidency alone, 10 million trees were planted to combat desertification which was threatening the very survival of his country.
He established local committees which were mobilised to embark on a vast house-building programme which resulted in 500 units in just three months.
The committees built health care centres, roads, and irrigation schemes to boost agriculture and enhance food production.
According to Ernest Harsch’s book, Thomas Sankara: An African Revolutionary, cereal production increased by 75 per cent during the first three years of his presidency, an astounding feat for a country where most people were subsistence farmers.
Sankara who resented the ostentatious lifestyle of the Europeanised political elite, meticulously practised his conviction that public servants were stewards of the people’s money.
His unpretentious frugal lifestyle, modesty, and integrity attested to that. The only assets he owned were known to all: a car, a refrigerator, a few bicycles, and several guitars.
He described as unacceptable, the reluctance of Africa’s elite minority to relinquish certain exclusive privileges to allow the masses enjoy a certain modicum of comfort.
Sankara saw that as a drain on the economy and introduced some austerity measures to curb it. Among them, he abolished the use of limousines, expensive sedans and long motorcades for himself and other top government officials.
He opted for the unimposing black Peugeot 205 while he lived on a salary he pegged at the equivalent of about $462 per month.
Determined to deal with corruption, Sankara established public tribunals that tried hundreds of government officials and civil servants for the misuse or theft of public funds.
In the heat of the moment, some lost their jobs and many of the country’s elite who were affected, harboured bitter grievances against his radical reforms.
Sankara rejected foreign models of development as a ploy by the West to perpetually enslave Africa and make it permanently dependent and subservient.
“There will be no salvation for our peoples unless we turn our backs completely on all the models that all the charlatans of that type have tried to sell us for 20 years,” he said as he outlined his development paradigm.
He challenged Africa’s technocrats to lead the crusade to open economic doors for the masses of the continent by looking within for workable local solutions whose success would compel the international community to adopt them.
At the 39th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York City, on October 4, 1984.Sankara was in his element, damning the consequences as he gave a soul-stirring address punctuated by the raw, biting truth, which left the West with a lingering sense of guilt.
Criticising the oppressive tactics of the Western countries to their faces, he said: “They have trampled on the truth of the just. They have betrayed the word of Christ. They have turned His cross into a club, and after putting on His robe they have tom our bodies and souls to shreds.
“They have obscured His message, making it a Western one, whereas we saw it as a message of universal liberation. Now our eyes have been opened to the class struggle and there will be no more blows dealt against us.”
Notwithstanding the substantial improvement in the lives of the people, opposition began mounting gradually against the beloved Sankara as the austerity measures bit harder.
The older political elite, moderate in their philosophy and puppets of their colonial master, France, opposed Sankara’s socialist policies, though they were progressive.
Destitute of all relevance in the body politic, they sought some redemption as they hid behind the scenes and sponsored students and other disgruntled elements to distribute pamphlets criticisingSankara.
But Sankara was unflinching in his belief that his paradigm shift would achieve ultimate success. As if speaking by premonition, he said during a public address in Ouagadougou: “Che Guevara was cut down by bullets, imperialist bullets. You cannot kill ideas,” he added. A week later, he was dead.
His vice, Compaore who was never a revolutionary, made some clandestine moves sowing discord among members of the ruling junta and winning people of his ilk, the pretenders, to his side while he bided his time to strike.
He chose October 15, 1987, while Sankara was holding a cabinet meeting. He should have been there as the number-two man, but he stayed behind and sent soldiers loyal to him to spray Sankara with a hail of bullets without any reason. Sankara was just 37 years.
He denied involvement but by nightfall, the traitor had installed himself president, remaining so for 27 years before a popular uprising compelled him to flee to exile in La Cote d’Ivoire after undoing all the good work of the charismatic and courageous Sankara.
It has been almost 35 years since his death but on hindsight, his people now regret their mistake in betraying a man whose inspired leadership they might never get again, a man who sacrificed himself in selfless service to his people for their good.
For decades, the West has used one pattern – find an enemy within, divide, and rule, and keep Africa perpetually under.
Africa wise up!
By Tony Prempeh
I have often been saddened by the condition of Sikaman musicians. Of course, some are not musicians. They are jokers who think anybody who can sing a hymn is a musician. And why wouldn’t they think so when people think that every man wearing a rasta hair is a reggae musician?
Well, these days, almost everybody is dreaming of becoming a musician, even some ministers and parliamentarians. And it is never too late for them to begin learning the solfas and composing songs like “If You Do Good You Do For Yourself,” after all, life begins at 60 these days. If you die three years later, that’s your luck.
For the jobless, becoming a musical star is an everyday dream. They think when you are a music maker, you automatically break alliance with poverty. They are often mistaken.
I know people who claim they are musicians but are always fasting not because they are devout moslems or are on a hunger strike, but because even one square meal a day is a perpetual wahala. And the only drink they can afford is the poor man’s holy whisky which has a thousand names including ‘Nyame Bekyere’.
Even most of the popular musicians we see in town claiming they are foreign-based stars are more of hustlers than musicians. When they tell you they are going on tour abroad, it is a careful way of saying they are going overseas to scrub the whiteman’s toilet or pick tomato or apples to save their neck from musical poverty.
When they are back to Sikaman, they appear quite flamboyant with chains hanging all over them. They change the few dollars they have scraped, spread it around and promptly get broke. Then they can organise another ‘tour’. In between tours, they struggle to release an album and that levels them up a bit on the financial balance.
It all points to the fact that the life of the average musician isn’t quite organised. He has no calendar, no programme and no concentration on the job. He has to wash plates, become a waiter, janitor and toilet scrubber while finding time to make music. No musician succeeds in life that way.
One musician I’ll always respect, who thinks deeper than the ordinary Sikaman musicians is Carlos Sakyi. He is not like the Kokoase guitar musicians who see the world just in terms of bitters, a willing girlfriend, constant supply of kokonte and jot.
Carlos, often loved for his percussive overtones in gospel music, and once a gospel-rock star, has studied the life of Sikaman musicians and has evolved a blue-print for a great improvement in their lives work, finances and comfort.
In short, he has simulated a Motown-style environment for musicians and his formula is working with accuracy with the five musicians he has started with. The blue-print is what has brought MEGASTAR into being. It was launched on September 15, 1995 at the National Theatre.
When it got launched, many probably thought Carlos was “too know or was dreaming more than he should and won’t think about himself. Anyhow, the MEGASTAR is now an institution musicians can look up to, a big phenomenon with lots of promise for struggling musicians.
Music business in the developed world is not the way we regard it cheaply here. A musician is never distracted by how his finances go; his contracts are entered, his engagements made, his interviews arranged, his personal security guaranteed.
Music is his business and that is where his mind is and his attention focuses. Other aspects of his life are programmed for him by his managers. They hire who has to light his cigarettes, massage him, drive his car and the one who will say “Good Luck” when he sneezes.
A bodyguard whose face is exactly like that of the devil is hired to scare off muggers, psychopaths and criminals in general. Sometimes his girls are organised for him.
So the only thing the musician does apart from sleeping and snoring is to concentrate on making music, and true to it, no one can succeed in any venture when he is distracted.
This is how the Michael Jacksons, Lionel Richies, Dolly Patons and Whitney Houstons have made it with dollars packed and over-flowing. They aren’t any better than Sikaman musicians. The only difference is that they know how to organise their lives.
I managed to corner Carlos Sakyi and asked him to tell me how MEGASTAR was doing. He is the Managing Director of Megastar Limited, a music company that has a board of directors and a chairman. Carlos Sakyi shares the proprietorship with a partner. Carlos himself was one great musician who played for a band that beat Eddy Grant on the charts.
“Megastar is in fact a concept born out of the idea that the future security of the Ghanaian musician which has always been in jeopardy can now be guaranteed. Artistes spend too much of their time doing things on their own, chasing money and not concentrating on music. So their full potential is never realised. Some are in fact producing at quarter-rate. That is why they aren’t making much headway,” he told me.
“Megastar is now giving them the chance of the lives. We handle the interviews of Megastar artiste, their press releases, costume, engagements and everything they hitherto used to do themselves. We get them exposed on M-Net and we have contacted BB to get on their programmes. We handle their finances pay them salaries and bonuses, so they only have to concentrate on music
“Most importantly,” he continued, “we do not make all the decisions. Management always meet with the musicians to take the decisions that affect them.”
But who are the Megastar musicians? One is the great Amakye Dede, a star from birth delivered onto the earth with music on his lips; he is the man who feeds hungry ears with musical salad and harmonic sausages. He is the recipient of many national awards.
Next is Naana Frimpong, a latter-day Carlos-groomed songbird with the voice of an angel. She sings to kill. Her beauty has charmed her audience and they stare and stare at her.
The sensational and fantalising Tagoe Sisters are the next. The twin music machine is one that has produced the cream, arguably the very best, of gospel music all these years. I hear they are inseparable; not even their better-halves can keep them apart. Are they Siamese? They dance, and when on stage, they move the crowd.
Then comes Reverend Yawson who is a known songwriter. He is imbued with the Holy Spirit, speaks in tongues and of course sings in tongues. He is God’s representative on the group.
What about my good friend and super-heavyweight, Jewel Ackah? He is a star figure. His appearance is awe-inspiring, his voice golden. A great delight to be-hold when at his best in stage-craftsmanship, he has beaten his contemporaries to it both on land and on sea.
They are the pioneers of the Motown idea. They are all releasing new albums this year. Let’s see how it all goes.
In recent years, the term “female rage” has gained significant traction, symbolising a collective shift in how women’s emotions are perceived and addressed.
This phenomenon is not merely a fleeting trend but a profound movement rooted in centuries of systemic injustices, personal betrayals, and societal expectations.
As women increasingly reclaim their anger, it is imperative to understand the multifaceted nature of female rage, its causes, and its implications for individuals and society at large.
The historical context of female anger
Historically, women’s emotions have been subject to dismissal, ridicule, and pathologisation. The term “hysteria,” originating from the Greek word for uterus, was used to describe women’s emotional states as irrational and uncontrollable.
This legacy of silencing and shaming has contributed to a culture where women’s anger is often suppressed or stigmatised.
However, with the rise of feminist movements, women are challenging these narratives, asserting their right to express anger and demand change.
The anatomy of female rage
Female rage is not a monolith; it is a complex and multifaceted emotion driven by various factors, including:
1. Societal expectations: The pressure to conform to traditional roles of passivity, politeness, and emotional labour.
2. Gender inequality and pay gaps: Frustration stemming from systemic discrimination in the workplace and beyond.
3. Sexual harassment and abuse: Trauma and anger resulting from pervasive violence and objectification.
4. Emotional labour and burnout: The unsustainable burden of managing emotions and responsibilities in personal and professional spheres.
5. Hormonal fluctuations: The impact of hormonal changes on emotional states, often overlooked or dismissed.
The power of anger: Reclaiming female rage
Far from being a destructive force, female rage can be a catalyst for change. When acknowledged and channelled constructively, anger can drive advocacy, policy reform, and resistance against inequality.
The #MeToo movement, women’s marches, and increased representation in politics are testaments to the power of collective female anger.
Addressing the Stigma: Towards a more inclusive dialogue
To fully harness the potential of female rage, society must address the stigma surrounding women’s anger. This involves:
1. Validation and recognition: Acknowledging women’s emotions as legitimate and worthy of attention.
2. Creating safe spaces: Providing platforms for women to express anger without fear of backlash.
3. Education and awareness: Challenging stereotypes and promoting understanding of women’s experiences.
4. Support systems: Offering resources and support for women dealing with trauma and systemic injustices.
Conclusion
The age of female rage is a moment of profound transformation, where women’s anger is no longer silenced but celebrated as a force for justice.
By understanding the roots of female rage and addressing the societal structures that fuel it, we can move towards a more equitable and compassionate world.
The journey is complex, but the destination-a society where women’s emotions are respected and their voices are heard is worth the struggle.
References:
[1] Chemudupati, P. (2022). _The Rage of Women: A Historical Perspective_.
[2] Traister, R. (2018). _Good and Mad:
By Robert Ekow Grimond-Thompson
