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The Prophet part 1
Remove your shoes! The fetish priest barked as the two men entered the shrine. They complied.
You are welcome to the presence of Nana Kofi Broni, the mighty one who scatters his enemies and turns them into dust, the powerful one who walks with six legs and reaches his destination way ahead of everyone. What can I do for you, my children?
Er, Okomfo, this is my friend Papa Antobam. He has a problem, and I assured him that you can….. ‘But the fetish priest cut him short.
If it is he who has the problem, then let him speak for himself.
Antobam cleared his throat. Er, Okomfo, I will not make a long speech. I want to start a church, and I want to be able to do wonders, so that more people will join my church. Of course, the bottom line is money! I want the kind of spiritual power that will make people pay money for my services, without complaining. That is why I have come. Yaw Ansah tells me you can help me.
The fetish priest stared at Antobam for what seemed like ages. Finally, he spoke.
‘You want asore aduro?’
‘Precisely’, Okomfo, Antobam replied.
`Okay. Nana will do it for you. It is not hard for him at all. But there are a few requirements that you have to meet. I need to perform some rites which will enable Nana to bring the wealth you are asking for, from the spiritual world so that you can lay your hands on it, whenever you need it`.
`That is what I am looking for, Okomfo`.
‘Well then. You are clearly focused on what you want, and how you want to achieve it. Nana Broni is ever willing to help you. There are two sets of rituals to be performed. One of them can be done today, and the other can be done whenever you are able to put together the necessary items.
‘Nana’, Antobam said, ‘I came prepared, so if you don’t mind, please convert the items into cash. I think I can find enough money to pay. I would very much like to perform all the necessary rites here, today’.
‘Okay, an amount of two thousand cedis will settle it all. If you pay that, we will go ahead and perform the rituals shortly’.
Antobam rose, drew out an envelope from his trouser pocket and counted out some notes.
‘Here you are, Nana. Two thousand. I’m ready’.
‘Okay’, the fetish priest said as he picked up the money. He placed it gently in a big calabash, whispering some unintelligible words as he did so. Then he went outside, prepared a fire and put a huge pot on it. Within some fifteen minutes the water was boiling. He poured several concoctions in it, reciting some incantations as he did so.
‘Now’, he declared, ‘we are ready! Come forward. Papa went close to the big pot.
‘Step on that stone and get into the pot’. Papa Antobam hesitated, wondering whether it was wise to step into a pot of boiling water with his eyes wide open.
‘I say, get inside the pot!’ the man shouted. ‘Gingerly, Antobam stepped inside, but realised to his great surprise that instead of being very hot, the water felt cool. The fetish priest grabbed his head with his two hands and pushed him down for about a minute. Although he had closed his eyes and was inside for only a minute, he ‘saw’ quite a number of big, strange creatures in the water. They all came to him, pushing large crates containing money. The fetish priest pulled his head out just when he started gasping for air.
‘Did you see money? Lots of money’? The fetish priest asked.
‘Yes! I saw some big animals, and they brought big crates of money to me.’
‘Congratulations!’ Now go and start your church, and do your stuff. But remember, you must once a year to give thanks to the great Nana Kofi Broni for giving you the power to make money. But wait, you need to take this’. He brought out a gallon container, poured some of the contents of the huge pot into it, and gave it to him.
‘A few hours before your first service, pour this at the venue. From then, Nana Kofi Broni’s messengers will follow you wherever you go. You will see wonders.’
‘Thank you’, Antobam replied. ‘I will certainly be back.’ They shook hands, and the two friends left the shrine.
‘I told you I knew the man who could help you,’ Yaw Ansah said as they walked to the lorry station to join a vehicle for the twenty minute journey back to Koforidua.
‘I believe you now, Yaw, and I am really grateful. I assure you that I will not forget you when money starts rolling in’.
‘I will hold you to that promise. But I’m sure you will ‘do something’ for now, won’t you?’
‘Well’, Antobam said, let’s see what I can do now. He brought out the white envelope and took out a fifty cedi note. ‘You can have this for now, Yaw. As you know already, life has been very tough. In order to prepare for this trip I sold my TV and I gave out my rented room in Koforidua. I made three thousand cedis, from which I have already given out two thousand at the shrine. I have already spent two hundred cedis on our transport and food. Here is GH¢50 for you. I have to be careful with money until I start getting some money from the church business. I am going to collect my things from Koforidua and move into the family house at Kukurantumi until things start looking up. I will give out GH¢100 to my mother, and try to survive on what is left’.
‘I’m sure you will start making money the moment you start making yourself known. You must start immediately’.
‘I will do exactly that. I will find a place to start at Tafo this week, then I will open branches all over the Eastern Region, and move to Accra and Kumasi. In a few months I will be on all the big radio and TV stations’.
‘That’s the spirit, my brother. Others have made it, so why can’t you?’
‘You have a good point’. Very soon I will be among the big preachers in Ghana’.
A few days later, Antobam rented a loud hailer for GH¢10 and went round the lorry station and the town centre. ‘Do you need a quick, long-term solution to your marriage, financial and health problems? Do you want to travel abroad and get a good paying job? The day of your solution is here! Come to the open space behind the Zion school park, and see wonders. Solutions! Solutions! Solutions! 6’oclock sharp, every morning. We are waiting for you! Miracles! Miracles! Come and take yours!
The following morning, Antobam got to the venue just after four. He had selected that venue because apart from being out of town, there were no churches to compete with him. He erected a small platform to serve as pulpit, and sprinkled the water from the shrine all over the place, as the fetish priest had directed. Soon after that, he heard shrill sounds like voices. He looked around him and saw nothing, but the voices were certainly there. He felt some initial fear, but remembered that having paid for the services of Nana Kofi Broni’s angels, any spirits that had come there would work on his behalf. The voices, he told himself, confirmed that he was on his way to becoming a very rich, powerful man.
By six o’clock quite a number of people, mostly women, had gathered there.
‘My brothers and sisters’ you are all welcome. I assure you that today, you will see the end of your problems. I do not talk too much. I do as I say. Let’s allow some fifteen minutes for other brothers and sisters to arrive, then the service will begin. For now, let us start singing some praises to God. Can anyone lead us in some praises? A young woman did, and the service got underway. The numbers increased as the singing went on.
Antobam raised his hand for the singing to stop, and addressed the gathering.
‘My brothers and sisters, my name is Prophet Papa Antobam. I have come as your servant to bring you solutions to your problems. I have been praying for a long time, asking God when He would release me to go and serve my people. Finally, your prayers have been answered. I have brought quick, lasting solutions to any problem you will face. The Almighty God has heard your cry, and today, I assure you that you will see real solutions. One thing I ask of you, is that when you see the solutions, do not forget to come and give thanks for what God has done for you.
If it is he who has the problem, then let him speak for himself
By Ekow de Heer
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
