Features
Africans are their own enemies (Part 2)
“A man’s enemies are those of his own household,” so the Bible says inMicah 7:6. Last week, we validated this with the treachery of top Ghanaian military and police officers in conniving with the CIA to depose Ghana’s first president, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
This week, the case of the Congolese nationalist, Patrice Lumumba whose compatriots cruelly backstabbed him buttresses the point.
They unashamedly connived with their oppressors to chase Lumumba out of office and assassinate him barely three months after gaining independence for them, depriving Africa of a gem of a leader.
He was a journalist and a poet but above all he was a freedom fighter like Nkrumah, in fact one of Nkrumah’s protégés.
He emerged when his country, then known as Belgian Congo, had suffered decades of oppressive colonial rule foisted on them by King Leopold II of Belgium in 1885 at the onset of the scramble for Africa.
The king did not only commandeer the Congo as his private property, but also enslaved and brutalised the natives, killing millions.
Those who failed to meet their quota of rubber harvest had their hands amputated.
Unwilling to submit to the regime of injustice, oppression and exploitation, Lumumba formed a political pressure group in 1958 at the age of 33 to agitate for change.
Even though he was from a minority tribe and very young, his charisma and courage attracted many heavyweights from the bigger ethnic groups to his cause.
They launched the Congolese National Movement, (Mouvement National Congolais), MNC, the first really all-Congolese political party.
In contrast, his two principal rivals, Joseph Kasavubu and MoiseTshombe, hailed from large, powerful, ethnic groups with political parties that were regional in character.
But they controlled large swathes of land populous enough to threaten Lumumba and his party despite its national character.
The same year he formed his party, Lumumba whose fame was growing with lightning speed, was invited by Dr. Nkrumah to the All-African People’s Conference in Accra held a year after securing independence for Ghana against all odds.
After independence, Dr. Nkrumah declared that Ghana’s freedom was meaningless unless it was linked up with the total liberation of Africa.
The conference, was therefore, convened to galvanise the rest of Africa to liberate themselves from the shackles of colonialism.
Two years after the summit, following mounting pressure on Belgium, France and the United Kingdom, they consented, albeit grudgingly, to demands by the colonies for multi-party elections.
As many as 26 African countries including the Congo and most francophone colonies, gained independence.
The MNC won a sizeable majority mandating it to form a government, with Lumumba becoming the first Prime Minister at 35 years.
Kasavubu was elected ceremonial president implying that the radical, leftist Lumumba, was more powerful to the dislike of the Belgians and their Western allies, especially the US.
Like his mentor, his speeches were alarmingly fiery, sharply stinging, fearlessly uncompromising, brutally sincere, and unnervingly electrifying.
The best is the one he gave on June 30, 1960, the day the Congo was granted its independence.
That day, King Boudewijn, the last Belgian king over the Congo, added insult to injury when he said the Congolese had been granted independence because his country’s project to civilise them had been accomplished. What?
As if the Belgians had done the Congo any favour by returning their stolen freedom to them, Kasavubu docilely thanked them for independence.
But Lumumba could not stomach the nonsense and vehemently protested, exposing the savagery of the Belgians vis-à-vis their claims of civilisation.
He stressed that independence had resulted from a relentless fight and not from the magnanimity of the Belgians. Among other things, he said:
“Although, this independence of the Congo is being proclaimed today by agreement with Belgium, … no Congolese will ever forget that independence was won in struggle, a persevering and inspired struggle, carried on from day to day, a struggle, in which we were undaunted by privation or suffering and stinted neither strength nor blood.
“It was filled with tears, fire, and blood. We are deeply proud of our struggle because it was just and noble and indispensable in putting an end to the humiliating bondage forced upon us.
“That was our lot for the eighty years of colonial rule and our wounds are too fresh and much too painful to be forgotten.
“We have experienced forced labour in exchange for pay that did not allow us to satisfy our hunger, to clothe ourselves, to have decent lodgings or to bring up our children as dearly loved ones.
“Morning, noon, and night we were subjected to jeers, insults, and blows because we were Negroes. … Our lot was worse than death itself.
“Who will ever forget the shootings which killed so many of our brothers, or the cells into which were mercilessly thrown those who no longer wished to submit to the … oppression used by the colonialists as a tool of their domination?
“All that, my brothers, brought us untold suffering. But we, who were elected by the votes of your representatives … to guide our native land, we, who have suffered in body and soul from colonial oppression, we tell you that henceforth, all that is finished with.
“We shall show the world what the black man can do when working in liberty, and we shall make the Congo the pride of Africa.
“I ask you all to sink your tribal quarrels: they weaken us and may cause us to be despised abroad.
“I ask you all not to shrink from any sacrifice for the sake of ensuring the success of our grand undertaking.
Like Nkrumah, he concluded that his country’s independence was a decisive step towards the liberation of the whole of Africa.
To the West, that speech meant a declaration of war. His candour was too piercing and humiliating for Belgium and its allies, especially the US.
To their chagrin, a firebrand like Nkrumah, or even more radical freedom fighter had emerged, threatening their interests.
He must be eliminated, dead or alive. How? Look for the enemies within and use them.
They enlisted Kasavubu and Tshombe, as well as Joseph Desire Mobutu, a 31-year-old army officer whom Lumumba had made his personal assistant.
Lumumba’s call for unity to develop the Congo fell on deaf ears. For almost immediately after independence, some units of the army mutinied against their Belgian officers, demanding improved service conditions and an indigenous hierarchy.
Tshombe used the ensuing confusion as pretext to lead the mineral-rich Katanga province to secede. Another province, Kasai, also broke away, leaving the Congo fragmented and fragile.
Belgium sent in troops, ostensibly, to protect its nationals, but in reality, to reinforce the secessionist regimes of Katanga and Kasai where they landed.
In line with their “divide and rule” tactic, the West backed Kasavubu and Tshombe’s push for regional autonomy against Lumumba’s moves to unify the country.
The embattled Prime Minister, called for help from the US unaware that the Americans were after him. Even his appeal to the UN proved futile,
While Lumumba was trying his best to save the situation, Kasavubu declared him dismissed from office. He retaliated, saying he had removed Kasavubu.
With the UN forces and the Belgians backing the rebels, Lumumba appealed to the Soviet Union for support to help his troops to quell the revolt, a move that alarmed Belgium, and its allies.
In the confusion, Mobutu staged a coup, not to reinstate the Prime Minister but to assassinate him with the connivance of the US and Belgium.
While under house arrest by rebel soldiers of Katanga and Belgian forces, Lumumba escaped, intending to flee to an area controlled by his forces.
But the Belgians and troops loyal to Mobutu, with the help of the CIA, hunted for him and murdered him and two of his aides in cold blood for no crime.
Mobutu ordered a mafia-style execution, looking on callously as they were shot, and their bodies hacked to pieces before being dissolved in acid.
That was on January 17, 1960, barely seven months after Lumumba gained independence for his country.
A Belgian officer who supervised the killings, took one of Lumumba’s teeth as a trophy to his country.
In June this year, after more than six decades, Belgium returned the tooth for burial after apologising for the atrocity meted out to Lumumba.
Mobutu became one of the worst despots in world history. He ruled for 32 years, killed a countless number of his compatriots like King Leopold did, and impoverished millions while he stashed away the country’s wealth in numerous personal foreign accounts.
As long as he remained a puppet of the West and did their bidding, they looked on unconcerned while the Congolese people languished in abject misery.
His country has never since found its feet.
By Tony Prempeh
Contact:
teepeejubilee@yahoo.com
Conflict at work is more common than you might think. According to 2022 research by The Myers-Briggs Company, more than a third of the workforce reports dealing with conflict often, very often, or all the time in the workplace.
Addressing a dispute might feel tense or awkward, but resolving the conflict is typically well worth it in the long run. Whether you are trying to mediate conflict between colleagues or are directly involved. Last week we looked at three and this week is the remaining four steps you can take to manage workplace conflict.
4. Find common ground
The best way to handle workplace conflict is to start with what you can agree on. Find common ground between the people engaging in conflict. If you are directly involved in the conflict, slow down and focus on results instead of who’s right.
If you are the mediator for conflict resolution between coworkers, observe the discussion and help point out the common ground others may not see.
5. Collectively brainstorm solutions
When deciding how to handle workplace conflict, it can be tempting to problem-solve on your own. Sometimes, it feels easier to work independently rather than collaboratively. However, if you want to achieve a lasting resolution, you will need to motivate your team to get involved.
Brainstorm possible solutions together, and solicit input from everyone involved on the pros and cons of each option until you settle on a solution that feels comfortable to everyone. This will help all team members feel a sense of ownership that can help prevent future conflicts.
6. Create an action plan
Once you have created an open dialogue around workplace conflicts, it is time to resolve them. Just like any other work goal, this requires creating a concrete plan and following through.
Create an action plan and then act on it. It does not matter what the plan is, as long as you commit to it and resolve the conflict as a result.
7. Reflect on what you learned
All conflicts offer an opportunity to grow and become a better communicator. Identify what went well and what did not.
Work with your whole team to gather learnings from the conflict so you can avoid similar situations in the future.
Today, I continue with my narration of personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland, with a focus on Mr Joseph Osei Amoah.
Mr Amoah is one of the senior members of the Ghanaian community in Finland and a top member of the Ghana Union Finland, an association of the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.
He is an active and a well-respected person in the Ghanaian community in Finland. Mr Osei Amoah moved to Finland in the mid-1990s, and he has lived in Helsinki all this time.
Accomplishments and honours
It is important to recount accomplishments as part of the success stories of the personalities of Ghanaian descent in Finland in order to highlight their exploits both within the Ghanaian migrant community and in the wider Finnish society.
Mr Amoah holds a Master’s degree in Demography from the University of Helsinki. At the time he came to Finland in 1994, he had majored in Economics at the Bachelor’s level at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Sometimes affectionately called “Chairman” in the Ghanaian migrant community, Mr Osei is a former Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) branch in Finland, assuming office around 2015, a few months after the branch was formed, until 2019 when he did not run again for the elections. He helped to bring vibrancy into the NPP Finland branch.
Religious life
Mr Amoah is a prominent member of the Global Methodist Church in Finland. In spite of his busy working life and other responsibilities, he remains a committed member of the Global Methodist Church in Finland.
He plays a key leadership role in the church, which is attended by many Ghanaian migrants and other African migrants, Finns, and those of other nationalities.
His position in Asanteman Finland
Mr Osei Amoah is an outstanding member of the Asanteman Finland, where he is the Gyasehene, a prominent position as a sub-chief in the Asante (and Akan) royal hierarchy, in the functioning of the traditional authority systemgenerally in Ghana.
The Asanteman Finland is an association formed purposely with the aim of supporting each other as well as to ensure unity among its members and others outside of the group.
One of its top priorities of Asanteman Finland is to display the Asante culture in Finland. Mr Osei Amoah finds this as very important since by upholding the traditional culture and heritage, the association enables its members and especially the young ones to get the chance to learn and appreciate Asante and Ghanaian cultural values. They do this through rites such as marriage, the naming ceremony, and death and funeral rites, which makes the people to learn more of their provenance and not forget their origins.
“My point is that, by displaying the traditional heritage it helps people to learn more about their provenance. For, I think it will be embarrassing to go home and see that even the young ones have much knowledge about how to perform certain rites whilst those of us in the diaspora may be deficient in understanding those practices”, he argued. It is also very important for the young ones who are born in Finland to learn what the culture of their original society is, he continued.
The Finnish educational system
Mr Osei has a lot to say about the Finnish educational system, which he sees as very good. “When we came to Finland, education was free. There were library books and manuscripts readily available in the library, and one could print or make as many photocopies as possible for your studies. There was more flexibility. One could read books and write exams on them for the necessary grades in order to complete your studies”. In his opinion, Ghana could learn much from the Finnish system, which is one of the best in the world.
He said the only initial challenge he found in Finland was how to master the Finnish language, without which it was difficult to get a job befitting one’s status after the studies. But things have changed today and there are many English courses so it is easy to study and get a job that matches your studies, especially in the area of ICT, he said.
His role in the Ghanaian community
Mr Osei Amoah has been very active in the Ghanaian community, as I have indicated earlier. He is still very active in the Ghana Union Finland, and has played a leadership in many functions organised by the Union, as a non-governmental organisation for the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland.
Mr Amoah has been a counsellor and mentor who has guided many young Ghanaian migrants on their career paths and has also been part in settling various kinds of conflicts between opposing parties or persons. In conclusion, I would say Mr Osei Amoah has succeeded in embossing his name in the golden pages of visionary Ghanaians in both Sweden and Finland.
With Dr Perpetual Crentsil
