I am an avid reader. I read anything I can lay my hands on. But above all, I love biographies and their auto forms. History as a subject was not my strong point in school but I developed a keen interest in historical narratives when I went to train as a teacher. Apart from textbooks, it was in the early sixties that I first read a book titled, “Beyond Pardon” by Bertha M. Clay. I was so enchanted by the nar­rative, which kick started the desire for reading in me. And I have never looked back.

I have kept asking myself why people write, why people read and why people do not read or write. The answers, I believe, can be a volume by itself. My focus today is on our politi­cians, captains of industry and public office holders.

In the United States, for example, it has become a self-imposition for public office holders to write their memoires once they leave office. These memoires become a source of knowledge for up and coming students in leadership, a source of reference for all and they also tell the true stories of the char­acters that have run affairs of their people.

I have read Bill Clinton’s autobi­ography, that of his wife, Hillary, and Magdalene Albright who was once a Secretary of State. I have read Barack Obama’s books before he became Presi­dent of the US.

I have read Nelson Mandela. Lee Kwan Yu and many others I cannot readily recall. They all had great sto­ries to tell.

General Colin Powell, who died just a few days ago, has books to his name after leaving office as the first Black to serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and also as the first Black Secretary of State of the United States.

I have also read books by some African leaders. Leopold Senghor of Senegal, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia

 and Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya readily come to mind. These were men who won independence for their respective countries.

Only last week, Mr. Enoch Teye Mensah, a member of the Council of State, launched Volume One of a book he has authored. On June 14 this year, my classmate and good brother, Ken Dzirasa, who was a Deputy Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, also launched his memoires.

These are very good signs that our history as a people has a chance of not getting lost. At the launch, the current Speaker of Parliament, the Rt. Hon­ourable Alban Sumana Bagbin, who did the honours, stated the importance of public figures to write their memoires for posterity to be their judge. Mr. Speaker pledged to complete his own before this year ends.

It is difficult to understand why public office holders in our parts have not cultivated the habit of writing. Only a few have bothered to do so. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah comes readily to mind. He wrote very extensively while he was even President of this country. I recollect President John Mahama’s “My First Coup d’état.”

Dr. Obed Asamoah has authored a book after he left office. Mr. Sylvester Mensah, who had been a Member of Parliament, also has a publication to his name. Professor Kwamina Ahwoi has one that generated a storm before the death of President Rawlings.

I have spoken to a few people who tell me writing would bring no financial benefits to them because Ghanaians and, for that matter, Africans have not cultivated the habit of reading.

This might be largely true, but if every writer wants economic returns I wonder if knowledge can be shared at all. There is a saying that if you want to hide anything from the black man, put it inside a book; he will never find it. It is about time we disabused our minds of this.

I recollect asking my elder brother, the late Squadron Leader Abraham Armstrong Segbefia, who was enlisted in the Air Force the same day as Jerry Rawlings to consider writing his mem­oires as one of the people involved in the June Four and 31st December eras. He promised he would, but before he could finish the second chapter, he died.

When I went to announce his death to Rawlings in November of 2007, I impressed upon him to give it a thought as well. He appeared nonplussed, though a few years later he called to inform me he was considering writing. I reminded him he was not growing younger.

Another couple of years later, Pres­ident Rawlings invited me for a chat and told me he wanted the launch of what he was writing to coincide with his 70th birthday.

The last time I met with him before his sudden passing, he said he needed to review a chapter or two to clear the air on some of the things Professor Ahwoi had alleged in his book.

I am unaware if Rawlings did that before his passing. If he had that pro­ject, I will humbly appeal to his family to have whatever the man had done published. Whatever it is will be a best seller.

The man I consider to have the rich­est recollection of historical facts and whose memoires will be the greatest source of reference for politicians and students of governance in this country is Captain Kojo Tsikata.

I don’t easily recollect the last time I met and spoke with him, but I have impressed upon Dr. Obed Asamoah and Captain Joel Kwami Sowu to convince Kojo Tsikata to write his memoires. Dr. Asamoah told me he had on many occa­sions asked Capt. Tsikata to write, but Tsikata has made up his mind that he would not put one letter of the alpha­bet down to his name.

People who know Captain Kojo Tsika­ta well are not surprised by his stand on writing a memoire. First, they say whatever he writes will be very explo­sive and, secondly, he is too private a person to want to write anything down.

It is sad for this country. Many prom­inent Ghanaians have died without leaving any written legacy for gener­ations to appreciate what they lived and stood for. Oral historical narratives are fraught with inconsistencies and embellishments that leave so much to be desired.

I doff my hat to those who have tak­en the bold step of putting down their own narratives for us to chew on. The question now is what the rest intend to do or are doing. Not only those in the lime light. Captains of industry, retired military officers, medical officers, engineers, journalists and a host of others have their stories to tell. How did they fare in their fields of profes­sional endeavour? What challenges did they face in their line of duty? We want to be enlightened on these. The coming generation will learn to skirt these challenges.

Let us not die with our store of knowledge and experiences. It is to humanity that this must be done. Do it for your children. Do it for the future of this country. Do it for mankind as a whole. Let us not run away from sharing our knowledge. Do something before you die!

By Dr. Akofa K. Segbefia