Features
A misalliance with the devil
The fool says in his heart, “There is no God”. The Holy Bible (Psalm 53:1)
The greatest gift I ever received was the Bible, given to me by Mr Anyetei Sowah of BIBLE HOUSE on April 4, 1991. It saved my life. He was my mate in sixth form, and while some of us were easy-going, perpetually looking for adventure in town, he was a bit different and we all respected and admired him for his Godly ways, his mild manners, his wise counsel.
When I became a journalist, he paid me a visit and asked me to attend one of his plays which was staged at the Arts Centre. He performed in this magnificent drama and I recall the role of one character, Reverend Sozo Macumbe. As a reward for being present, Anyetei presented me with a gift – The Holy Bible. It was more than One Million Dollars.
Earlier, I had always wanted to possess one but found it extremely difficult to purchase although it was very cheap, about the equivalent of two bottles lager beer. I could buy several lagers for myself and friends and yet couldn’t bring myself to spending on a Bible.
When Anyetei brought me the wonderful gift, I confessed almost on my knees that if he hadn’t presented me with the Bible, I couldn’t have bought one for myself no matter how hard I tried. I then blamed the devil for my inability to spend on a Bible rather than on beer. Of course, everybody blames the devil, so why not Kwame Alomele.
The Bible I got made me quite religious and as I read through and prayed, I was able to veer from dangerous paths of temptation and self-destruction. It was also an opportunity for me to reminisce my born-again days of old when I drew very close to Christ until Satan tore me away and re-baptised me fully into sin.
I really did not know what happened to me at the time. I was strongly in the faith but suddenly Satan came round and presented the whole world to me in exchange for my soul. On the whole, it was not a bad deal and I accepted Satan’s offer. Man mon enjoy life, abi!
When Anyetei’s Bible came, I told myself, “Kwame, you’ll fall a thousand times and take the mandatory count like a battered boxer. But you won’t remain sprawled, in the name of Jesus! You’ll crawl, you’ll stagger but eventually rise above beer bottles and continue from where you left off. Halleluyah!”
Yeah, you’ve got to give God his due. If you are a Christian, be strong in the faith and don’t be a mere church-goer; if a Moslem, don’t fail to pray and read the Koran daily; if you’re a Buddhist, chant ‘Myoho renge kyo nam’ till your jaw breaks; and if you’re a follower of Krishna, chant ‘Hare Krishna Hare’ till you collapse. And if you want to follow the devil too, please go ahead and wind up in hell. And in hell, you’ll find yourself in the form of ‘human khebab, precisely ‘human suya’. Hare.
In any case, research has shown that religious persons rarely become neurotic or psychotic. A person who is in a grave financial distress but is religious would hardly commit suicide.
Aside all the divine benefits, there is a psychological consolation that with God all things are possible. This is not only psychological, but real.
Those who are religious and get gilted by their boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands or wives just laugh it off. They never get broken-hearted to the point of mental derangement.
After lamenting a day or two over the loss of her lover, a gilted girl who is truly religious would declare that “Jesus is now my boyfriend”. She would never go mourning for days, weeks, months and end up at the Psychiatric Hospital. No, not when Jesus has taken over the show.
Of late, I’ve come a bit closer to Jesus not because I’ve been gilted by a ‘babe’ or in financial distress; far from these. I have realised that a youngman must organise his life and your life can hardly be organised if you are not religious. Jesus is like a pillar of your life, just as Buddha or Krishna might be.
The Lord says, “When the earth and all its people quake, it is I who hold its pillars firm”. (Psalm 75:3).
If you come to learn that people like mystic writer LOBSANG RAMPA have turned over a new page in life doubled-up. He was an occultist and one of his and is now a born-again Christian, then it is time man famous books which is now very infamous is ‘THE THIRD EYE’. I have read it three times over.
Before Mr Rampa came into the Christian fold, he apologised to the world for having deceived people with his writings and led them away from the path of righteousness.
I fellowship at the E. P. CHURCH OF GHANA at Tema. It is regarded as a renegade wing of the E.P.CHURCH. When they broke away, I was furious with them and called them good-for-nothing devil-inspired idiots.
Today, that is where I meet Jesus for a chat. And that is where my younger brother Edward Alomele, a latter-day convert, does business with Christ.
In fact, when churches split, it is only an opportunity for the word to spread further. So the two churches are now far apart and doing the work of God to spread the good news further and further. They need not be antagonistic to each other after all. Isn’t it?
And it came to pass that last Sunday when I walked into the synagogue I espied Diana Akiwumi sitting on the dais. Not sure if it was her, I looked out for her husband; they are almost always together.
And lo and behold, there was the Reverend Samuel Akiwumi perching beside his superstar wife. They were our guests. Today be today, I said.
As expected, Lady Diana led the praise and worship. It was an inspiring ecclesiastical blitz as the lady songbird with a musical call took the congregation through an explosive spiritual extravaganza. I was completely overwhelmed with joy and if it hadn’t been for my weight I would have executed the monkey-dance Kwame Korkorti taught me years ago.
When it came to delivering the word, it was no other than Evangelist Samuel Akiwumi. I never knew he was such a vibrant preacher man. He delivered the sermon with total conviction and power and the congregation nodded and nodded with satisfaction. Basing his sermon on Chronicles 2 Chapter 20, he urged us to rely exclusively on God in times of trouble.
After the service I cornered the Europe-bound duo and asked them about the AKIWUMI GOSPEL MINISTRIES.
This article was first published on Saturday, July 22, 1995
Join our WhatsApp Channel now!
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
As he had promised Aperkeh, the elderly man and his wife and three daughters stopped by Aperkeh’s parents’ house. Mr Amando and his family were preparing to settle in for the night.
“Brother Ben and family”, Mr Joshua Amando said warmly, “although I know you are here on a matter that can hardly be described as joyous, it is still good to see you. You are welcome. Please sit down while I bring you water”.
“Yes, we will take water, even though we are hardly thirsty, because this is our home”.
“Okay, Ben”, he started after they had drank, “Let me go straight to the point. My daughter Priscilla has told me about the goings on between her brother Aperkeh and our daughter Stella.
Before informing me, Priscilla had expressed concern to Aperkeh about some habits he is adopting, especially the late nights and the drinking. She tells me that one Saturday morning, she was there when Stella complained about his drinking and some girls who had come to the house to look for him, and he assaulted her.
I called him and complained, but all he could say was that I don’t know what caused him to react that way, so I could not judge him. Now he does not answer my calls.
I have sent Priscilla to his house to call him, but he has refused to come. Unfortunately, Ben, my son is a much different person than the young boy who completed university and started work at the bank. I am really embarrassed about his treatment of Stella”.
“Joshua, let me assure you that even though what is happening is very unfortunate, it will not affect our relationship.
We have been friends since childhood, and I thought that with their parents’ blessing, the relationship between Aperkeh and Stella would grow to become a blessing to all of us. But there appears to be a real challenge now.
Stella thinks that Aperkeh wants her out of his house, and indeed Aperkeh himself told me that, about an hour ago.
So I’m taking my daughter home. I suggest that you do what you can to straighten him out, but if it does not work out, let’s accept the situation and continue to be one family.
I am sure that being the well behaved girl that she is, Stella will meet a young man who will cherish her. Fortunately, this problem is happening early in the day, so they can sort things out if possible, or move on with their lives if they are unable to stay together”.
“I’m really grateful for that, Ben. I will do my best in the next few days to reason with him, because apart from the relationship with Stella, Aperkeh is risking his job and career with this lifestyle.
A good job and salary offers an opportunity to gather momentum in life, not to destroy yourself”.
“Okay Brother Joshua. We will say goodnight. I hope to hear positive news from you”.
As he descended in the lift from the fourth to the ground floor, Aperkeh wondered who would be waiting at the reception to see him at nine on Monday morning. He had spent good time with both of his new girls during the weekend, so it had to be someone else. He got out of the lift and pulled a face when he saw Priscilla.
“Priscilla”, he said as he sat down by her, “what do you want here? You know Monday morning is a busy time at the bank. I am a very busy person, so say what you want, I have work to do”.
“You are very funny, Aperkeh. You are telling me, your sister, that you have work to do, so I should hurry up? Okay, Dad says I should advise you to come home tonight, because he wants to discuss the issue of Stella with you. He sent me to you twice, and you did not come.
He has tried to call you quite a number of times, but you have refused to answer his calls. He says that if you do not come tonight, you will be very surprised at what he will do. He says you will not like it at all, so better come.
“What is all this? Why won’t you people leave me alone? Stella is very disrespectful. I told her that if she wanted to continue to live in my house, she must obey me. It is that simple.
She chose to continue ordering me about, controlling me in my own house, so I told her that if she could not live under my conditions she should leave. And she left. In fact, her own father came and took her away. So what again?’’
“How did she disobey or control you? Was she complaining about your continuous drinking and late nights? And did you slap her on several occasions because of that? Did you tell her that if she could not live under your conditions she should leave? You actually said that to her father? You have forgotten that before she came to live with you, our two parents met and agreed, and gave it their blessing?’
“Why don’t you leave, Priscilla? I don’t have to listen to all that”. “Okay, I will go. Your father who gave birth to you and educated you to university level sends me to you, and you ask me to leave? I wish you would defy him, and refuse to come home as he’s telling you, because he is planning to give you the discipline you badly need. Let me tell you. Stella is such a beautiful and decent girl, and I assure you that someone will grab her before you say Jack. You are only 30 years old, and you have already become a drunkard”.
As he walked towards the lift, Aperkeh decided on what to do. He would go home, and calmly listen to what his father had to say. The old man was very unpredictable, and he wouldn’t dare ignore him. So he would take all the insults and threats, but as for Stella she was history. According to Priscilla, Stella was beautiful and all that, but she had not seen the two curvaceous princesses who were all over him, ready to do anything he asked. And these were not barely literate waakye girls, but university graduates from wealthy homes, really classy girls. With stuff like that, who needs a waakye girl? He smiled as he took his seat.
A few minutes to five, Aperkeh was packing up to leave for home to meet his dad when his phone rang. It was Priscilla.
“Aperkeh, Dad says you don’t need to bother to come. Stella’s dad says she came to him early this morning to plead that she would rather stay at home than return to your house. She thinks you are already decided to be rid of her, and she does not want to risk being assaulted again. So it’s done. You can go ahead and enjoy the nice life you have started”.
Before he could tell her to go to hell, Priscilla hanged up the line. He was partially stung that his dad had virtually cut him off. The last thing anyone would want was to fall out of relationship with his own family, which had always supported him.
But the truth was he was no longer interested in Stella. What was wrong with going by one’s feelings? He could only hope that one day, his parents and sister would try to reason with him.
By Ekow de Heer
Join our WhatsApp Channel now!
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
We are often the first to arrive and the last to leave. While crowds scatter, cameramen and photographers move closer. In moments of crisis, fires, elections, protests, demolitions and disasters, cameramen stand at the centre of these events, documenting reality as it unfolds.
Yet in Ghana and many parts of the world, cameramen and photographers remain among the most vulnerable professionals in journalism. Despite their central and crucial role in news production, they are frequently assaulted, poorly protected and largely under-recognised within the media industry.
In today’s media environment, visuals define impact. Images and video clips have ignited national conversations, expose wrongdoing and shape public opinion within seconds. In all the media landscape, majority of storytelling value is visual, produced by some cameramen and photographers working in high-pressure and often volatile environments.
This visibility, however, comes at a cost. Cameramen are usually positioned closest to unfolding events, making them the most exposed when tensions rise.
A recent example is the assault on Samuel Addo, a journalist with Class Media Group, who was attacked by personnel of the Ghana National Fire Service while filming an altercation between firefighters and traders at the Kasoa New Market. He was injured while performing a routine professional duty recording events of public interest.
Incidents such as this have become increasingly prevalent. Records by the Media Foundation for West Africa, Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and other media monitoring bodies show that journalists are regularly assaulted while on duty, with cameramen often the primary victims. These attacks occur during political rallies, security operations, demolitions, protests and disaster coverage.
In many cases, cameras are damaged or confiscated, journalists are physically assaulted or detained, and intimidation follows.
Yet a significant number of reported cases are never fully investigated or prosecuted. This lack of accountability has contributed to a pattern where attacks against visual journalists are treated as routine rather than exceptional.
The situation in Ghana reflects a broader global trend. Across the world, cameramen and photographers have been injured or killed while covering wars, elections, civil unrest and human rights violations.
In 2016, I was assaulted by military personnel while covering an altercation between civilians and the military at Aboabo, a suburb of Tamale. Like many similar cases, the incident was never pursued. It was treated as routine and eventually forgotten.
That experience reflects a wider reality faced by many cameramen: attacks are frequent, investigations are rare and consequences minimal.
From conflict zones in Gaza, Syria, Ukraine and Iraq, to violent regions in Mexico and Haiti, visual journalists are often targeted because their work provides evidence. Cameras capture what words alone cannot, making those who operate them particularly vulnerable.
Globally, hundreds of journalists have lost their lives over the decades while on assignment; many of them visual reporters.
Despite the risks involved, cameramen and photographers are often among the lowest-paid employees in media organisations. Risk allowances are uncommon, insurance coverage is inconsistent and access to trauma support is limited.
Recognition within the profession also remains uneven, at major industry events such as the Ghana Journalists Association Awards, most honours are reserved for reporters, while cameramen whose visuals underpin many award-winning stories are rarely acknowledged beyond a single photojournalism category.
As long as cameramen and photographers continue to work without adequate protection, training, insurance and institutional backing, the risks will remain. Without meaningful accountability, assaults on visual journalists are likely to continue.
Cameramen and photographers are not peripheral to journalism. They are central to it. Their work informs the public, preserves records of national events and supports democratic accountability.
Ensuring their safety is not only a professional obligation; it is essential to protecting the integrity of journalism itself.
Beyond physical attacks, cameramen and news photographers operate within weak legal and institutional protection frameworks. While Ghana’s Constitution guarantees press freedom, enforcement mechanisms specific to journalist safety remain limited.
Assaults against visual journalists are often treated as isolated disturbances rather than attacks on press freedom, reducing their seriousness in the eyes of investigators and prosecutors.
Another critical gap lies in operational preparedness. Cameramen are frequently deployed to high-risk assignments without basic safety briefings, protective gear or clear protocols. In many newsrooms, decisions are driven by urgency and competition, leaving little room for structured risk assessment before deployment to volatile scenes.
Responsibility also lies with media organisations themselves, where many cameramen operate without adequate insurance, written safety policies or post-incident support. When assaults occur, affected journalists are often left to pursue justice on their own, reinforcing the perception that injury is simply ‘part of the job.’
Security agencies remain a key part of the problem. Cameramen are routinely mistaken for agitators, accused of provocation, or ordered to stop filming without lawful justification. The absence of consistent training for security personnel on media rights and engagement protocols continues to fuel confrontations that escalate unnecessarily.
Economic vulnerability further compounds the risk. Some cameramen invest heavily in personal equipment like cameras, lenses, batteries and protective gear often purchased on credit. When equipment is damaged or seized during assignments, compensation is rare, pushing many visual journalists into long-term financial strain.
Digital threats have also emerged as a growing concern. Visual journalists increasingly face online harassment, threats after publishing sensitive images or videos. These digital attacks often translate into physical risk, yet remain largely unaddressed by employers or law enforcement agencies.
The cumulative effect of physical danger, low pay, poor recognition and weak protection has consequences for journalism itself. Talented cameramen leave the profession, younger practitioners become risk-averse, and news coverage grows thinner. When visual journalists are silenced or discouraged, the public loses access to independent, credible documentation of events.
Protecting cameramen and photographers is, therefore, not a favour. It is a democratic necessity. Without safe conditions for visual reporting, accountability weakens, misinformation thrives and public trust erodes. Journalism cannot function fully if those who capture its most powerful evidence remain exposed and expendable.
By Geoffrey Buta
Join our WhatsApp Channel now!
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
