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Bawumia: Reflection of love
Many a time we boast to people that we love our neighbours but when we find ourselves in situations that expect us to prove this love beyond reasonable doubts, we are often found wanting, an indication that what many people boast of and describe as love does not come anywhere near true love but rather love that is fake.
Fake love abounds everywhere in this world and in every part of all the 16 regions in the country. This is very unfortunate but that is what is often found in this world.
True love can always be known when we carefully examine people‘s attitude and general behaviour in society. There are some people who pretend to love others even though this may not be true.
THE UNDERPRIVILEGED
In a situation where we come across the underprivileged who have suffered from diseases and have been rendered wretched through humiliation of suffering, such people, some of them, are found to be so disfigured that they appear unattractive to many people in society.
Such people can hardly attract love from members in their own community or from their own fellow citizens. It is for this reason that we need to be careful about those who profess to have love for such people when in fact they do not have any love in their heart for them.
The truth of the matter is that many underprivileged people in society are often ignored because of their miserable situation. Many people will not like to come close to them but may profess to love them just to impress society. Such outward show of love is fake, filthy or not genuine.
LOVE FOR LEPERS
How many people in Ghana today or many parts of this world can openly express love to lepers who dwell in the Weija Leprosarium in Accra?
The inmates in the leprosarium have been cured by the grace of God, but in spite of this, many people in society find it very difficult to associate with them. The lepers from Weija have been cured but their condition is such that they look very miserable and approaching them, therefore, is difficult for many people. It is, therefore, not surprising that these lepers are left to their fate without any warm interaction from those who claim to be lovers of God.
One person in this country who has proved to be the loving type for the cured lepers at Weija is H.E. Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia, Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, who has visited these underprivileged many times. His Excellency goes there to embrace, interact and share ideas with the inmates.
SHOW OF HUMILITY
Dr. Bawumia’s presence and interaction with them goes to show him as a humble man who does not place himself above the underprivileged in society but sees himself as the same with other persons who find themselves in such unfortunate situations.
Less than a fortnight ago, Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia celebrated his 59th birthday. To celebrate this birthday, he went to the Weija Leprosarium to bring inmates of the leprosarium to his Cantonments residence to celebrate the day with them. This goes to portray him as a man who does not regard himself as any special person from those who do not find themselves in a privileged position as him.
Many a time, our churches and mosques as well as other religious faiths teach us to love one another and to see ourselves as being the same as that person whose conditions are poor, miserable or unattractive. The man, Mahamadu Bawumia, has proven to be a true lover of God and his actions in society are far from pretence.
SELFLESS CHARACTER
Apart from the love he shows regularly to the inmates of the Weija Leprosarium, he is again known to share what he has with the poor in society, who find themselves in various parts of the country. He is known from time to time to be often sharing what he has with many orphanages in this country.
Dr. Bawumia’s family, including his wife and children, also ought to be commended for supporting their man to share what he has with the poor and needy as well as the underprivileged in society. It is in light of this that we pray to the Almighty God to shower more blessings on him and protect and guide him to enable him move from one level of victory to the other.
Anyone who has an objective mind will agree that Dr. Bawumia’s humility, kindness and respect for his fellow man is something that is genuinely true and beyond human comprehension. The Lord will continue to bless him to overcome all his enemies and rivals including all those who pretend to love him but dislike him in their hearts. In fact, he is known to be respectful, humble and loving to every person. Wherever he goes in this country, he does not carry himself high but is often seen to be bowing as a sign of respect and recognition to chiefs and all other people who come in contact with him. It is part of him, his behaviour and general attitude in life such that it flows naturally from him. He is not a pretender who does these things for votes.
UNIQUE PERSONALITY
All Ghanaians must, therefore, take note of his positive, unique and humble personality that he possesses to serve the people of this country. Many pretenders, both in government and opposition, may present themselves as good and influence people to accept them.
In all this, however, we need to open our eyes and siphon out the sheep from the goats. In this context, the sheep are the humble respectful entities that can truly serve our interests, not the goats who may be proud, pompous, victimising and destructive when given the chance to perform any function in this country.
True humility as we see in Vice President Mahamadu Bawumia comes from his inner spirit as a creation of God and it is this spirit of humility and love that is expressed to care for the cured lepers at Weija, going for them, and taking them back from time to time to the glory of God. He keeps saying that these lepers have been cured, so people should interact with them and show love to them at all times and on all occasions.
COMMENDATION
Dr. Mahamadu Bawumia is a devout Moslem who does not only respect Islam but also shows love and respect to people practising other religions including Christianity. Any time he’s invited by any church for a programme, he goes without hesitation to fraternise with his brothers and sisters in the church. It, therefore, came as no surprise when the king of Dagbon recently commended him and praised him for his wonderful way of life towards socioeconomic development.
Again, not long ago, the chiefs and people of Wa and surrounding areas in the Upper West Region also conferred on him a chieftaincy title, recognising his unique role as a wonderful citizen of Ghana. In all other parts of the country, people have seen his worth as a loving, respectful, humble and also someone who is always prepared to serve his country, Ghana.
UNFAIR ATTACK
Many people in opposition keep attacking him unfairly but had it not been him and his role in government, things would have been worse in the country, so let no one come and deceive us with atrocious lies.
God has blessed him so he will climb higher and higher as he is doing now to help this country to overcome its economic situation and be pushed into a higher level of socioeconomic development.
Email address/whatsApp number of author:
Pradmat201@gmail.com (0553318911)
By Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako
One of the issues we have been grappling with as a nation is corruption, and it has had such a devastating effect on our national development. I have been convinced that until morality becomes the foundation upon which our governance system is built, we can never go forward as a nation.
Our traditional practices, which have shaped our cultural beliefs, have always espoused values that have kept us along the straight and the narrow and have preserved our societies since ancient times.
These are values that frown on negative habits like stealing, cheating, greediness, selfishness, etc. Our grandparents have told us stories of societies where stealing was regarded as so shameful that offenders, when caught, have on a number of instances committed suicide.
In fact, my mother told me of a story where a man who was living in the same village as her mother (my grandmother), after having been caught stealing a neighbour’s cockerel, out of shame committed suicide on a mango tree. Those were the days that shameful acts were an abomination.
Tegare worship, a traditional spiritual worship during which the spirit possesses the Tegare Priest and begins to reveal secrets, was one of the means by which the society upheld African values in the days of my grandmother and the early childhood days of my mother.
Those were the days when the fear of being killed by Tegare prevented people from engaging in anti-social vices. These days, people sleeping with other people’s wives are not uncommon.
These wrongful behaviour was not countenanced at all by Tegare. One was likely going to lose his life on days that Tegare operates, and so unhealthy habits like coveting your neighbour’s wife was a taboo.
Stealing of other people’s farm produce, for instance, could mean certain death or incapacitation of the whole or part of the body in the full glare of everybody. People realised that there were consequences for wrongdoing, and this went a long way to motivate the society to adhere to right values.
Imagine a President being sworn into office and whoever administers the oath says, “Please say this after me: I, Mr. …., do solemnly swear by God, the spirits of my ancestors and the spirits ruling in Ghana, that should I engage in corrupt acts, may I and my family become crippled, may madness become entrenched in my family, may incurable sicknesses and diseases be my portion and that of my family, both immediate and extended.”
Can you imagine a situation where a few weeks afterwards the President goes to engage in corrupt acts and we hear of his sudden demise or incapacitation and confessing that he engaged in corrupt acts before passing or before the incapacitation—and the effect it will have on his successor? I believe we have to critically examine this option to curb corruption.
My grandmother gave me an eyewitness account of one such encounter where a woman died instantly after the Tegare Priest had revealed a wrong attitude she had displayed during the performance on one of the days scheduled for Tegare spirit manifestation.
According to her story, the Priest, after he had been possessed by the spirit, declared that for what the woman had done, he would not forgive her and that he would kill. Instantly, according to my grandmother, the lady fell down suddenly and she died—just like what happened to Ananias and his wife Sapphira in Acts Chapter 5.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
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BY ROBERT EKOW GRIMMOND-THOMPSON
