Features
KIA: Tear down this name! (Part 2)
The first part of this article discussed how Ghana’s founding father, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, showed unprecedented leadership and urgency in his attempt to industrialise the country to fast-track its development.
Within a very short time, he completed a number of gigantic and strategic projects, including the Tema township and industrial area, Akosombo Hydro-Electric Dam, as well as the Ghana Atomic Energy Programme at Kwabenya, Accra.But the focus of last week’s article was on the Kotoka International Airport and its name. It is a misnomer. Let me explain.
It was Nkrumah who, in 1958, restructured a former British military base into an international airport as part of a master development plan employed to make Ghana a beacon for the rest of Africa. The facility was named the Accra International Airport. However, under very unjustifiable circumstances, the name was changed to Kotoka International Airport. And this is how.
Nkrumah’s stature was rising fast worldwide, but his alliance with communist China and the Soviet Union, as well as his vociferous and relentless anti-imperialist tirades against the Western powers, infuriated them so badly that they wanted to get rid of him, dead, or alive.
And so, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), America’s intelligence agency and the M16, their British counterparts, engineered a military cum police coup, led by Lt. Col Emmanuel Kwasi Kotoka, and ousted Nkrumah from office while he was away to North Vietnam on a peace mission.
In fact, the very day Nkrumah left, that is, February 21, 1966,Kotoka and his gang met and selected Lt. General J.A. Arthur, who had been forcefully retired by Nkrumah, as head of the junta, thus, the head of state. They successfully staged their coup on February 24, 1966; banned the CPP, Nkrumah’s party, and established a military cum police government called the National Liberation Council, (NLC).
The role of the US, and their Western allies, especially, Great Britain, has since been revealed in declassified documents. Some of the documents suggest that the US and the UK even discussed a plan “to induce a chain reaction eventually leading to Nkrumah’s downfall.”
In fact, Nkrumah was suspicious of the US and, on February 26, 1964, two years before the coup, wrote about his apprehensions to U.S. President Lyndon Johnson criticising “two conflicting (US) establishments” operating in Ghana.
Explaining his point, he wrote further: “There is the United States Embassy as a diplomatic institution doing formal diplomatic business with us; there is also the C.I.A. organisation which functions presumably within or outside this recognised body. This latter organisation, that is, the C.I.A., seems to devote all its attention to fomenting ill-will, misunderstanding and even clandestine and subversive activities among our people, to the impairment of the good relations which exist between our two Governments.”
And how true his observation proved to be! With the CIA’s help, the NLC did seize power. Kotoka delivered its maiden national broadcast, saying: “Fellow citizens of Ghana, I have come to inform you that the military, in cooperation with the Ghana Police, have taken over the Government of Ghana today. The myth surrounding Nkrumah has been broken. Parliament has been dissolved, and Kwame Nkrumah has been dismissed from office. All ministers are also dismissed from office. The CPP is disbanded with effect from now. It will be illegal for any person to belong to it.”
Urged on by their Western sponsors, the NLC immediately began a systematic programme to discredit Nkrumah, and everything he stood for. And they did that with unconscionable and ferocious glee!
In no time, the IMF whose prescriptions Nkrumah vehemently opposed as anti-African, came to Ghana to establish what they called “a very close collaboration” with the new government. But it turned out to be total control of the economy and austerity measures. With the novices in government unskilled in the affairs of state, things took a turn for the worse.
The CPP’s industrialisation drive was replaced with a mad rush for Ghana’s natural resources led by foreign companies and their Ghanaian cronies, including members of the military elite. Many state-run infrastructural projects, geared towards Nkrumah’s plan of competing globally, were abandoned just because they were carried out with a “communist” flavour.
Silos built for buffer stock were left in ruins. Viable projects like the State Farms were privatised or cancelled, causing newly purchased equipment to be discarded in fields to rust. A fleet of fishing vessels acquired for the State Fishing Corporation to boost Ghana’s fishing industry, was grounded and left weather-beaten.
The operators comprising 350 Soviet crew members and technicians, were all repatriated, effectively bringing the fishing industry to a screeching halt. Massive importation of fish, coupled with increase in food prices, ensued.
Just two-and-a-half years after the coup, the IMF supervised the dismissal of over 66,000 workers, constituting almost 10 per cent of the total wage-labour force, 36 per cent of these in the Accra area alone. Employment in the private commercial sector also fell by almost 50 per cent.”
Strikes became widespread and the military junta responded the way they knew best – in brute fashion – making incitement to general strike a crime punishable by 25+ years in prison, or by death.
Nkrumah introduced the dreaded Preventive Detention Act (PDA) under which people perceived to be anti-government, were incarcerated without trial. But Kotoka and his clique were no different. They reneged on their promise to “liberate” Ghanaians from oppression, and instead, enacted a similar draconian decree called the “Prohibition of Rumour Decree” in October 1966 only eight months in office.
The decree authorised 28 days of detention and up to three years in prison for journalists who might “cause alarm and despondency,” “disturb the public peace,” or “cause disaffection against the N.L.C,” ambiguous edicts whose interpretation the junta arrogated to itself. Under these provisions, four editors from three leading newspapers were fired for criticising the NLC.
While majority were suffering, the military, as well as the police, were exempted from taxation; given cash bonuses of undisclosed value, and entitled to various public amenities, such as free rent, electricity, and conservancy services. All these were part of a package for participating in the interruption of Ghana’s fledgling democracy deceptively labelled “liberation.”
The coup plotters promoted themselves to higher ranks such that eventually, all had become some sort of General. Afrifa became a general before he hit age 35. Between 1966 and 1969, military spending doubled.
This is the legacy of Kotoka, yet, his name is so conspicuously emblazoned across the façade of the airport But how come, when he contributed nothing to the airport? Worse still, when he lost all honour by betraying Ghana to foreign spies which is high treason?
It so happened that on April 17, 1967, he was killed in an abortive counter-coup, and his comrades-in-arms thought it fit to honour him by naming the airport after him. That is where the evil lies.
Have we ever paused to consider, that Nkrumah bequeathed to us a name and fame that continue to attract people from the diaspora to the country? And have we thought about how misplaced it is for Ghana’s premier airport to greet these visitors with the name of a traitor who betrayed the country they love to visit for Nkrumah’s sake? This is sickening.
Was Nkrumah an angel? No! Was he autocratic? Yes, we may say so. He even declared himself President-for-life. But he was a benevolent despot. His intention was to quash unnecessary opposition and create the space to pursue a rapid transformation of the country to enable it to stand toe-to-toe with the developed world.
Singapore’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, Nkrumah’s contemporary, was an autocrat who ruled for 31 years. But he proved how autocracy could be beneficial. At the end of his rule in 1990, he had transformed Singapore into the most developed country in South-East Asia, rivalled only by Hong Kong. Though autocratic, Lee was revered as a statesman because he used autocracy for the good of his people.
Mahathir Mohammed who ruled Malaysia with an iron fist for 24 years in two phases of 22 years and two years, is another example of an autocrat who transformed his country into a modern industrialised economy that produces its own automobiles fuelled by oil palm that it imported from Ghana.
But as the Bible declares, “a prophet is not acceptable in his own country.” Nkrumah was over 50 years ahead of his time, and we did not understand him. Soon after he left, the national cry became:“Me yere dada eeei, san b3ware me, foforo a cbaa y3 no, ade3 a ccy3 no maninngyeho koraa,” meaning, “My ex-wife, please come back and marry me because I am not pleased at all with the way the new one treats me.”That mournful tone has persisted until now.
The military are paid to defend us against external aggression, not to betray their nation. Kotoka reneged on his oath of allegiance. He did not defend Ghana, He betrayed us. So, KIA: Tear down this name!
Contact:teepeejubilee@yahoo.co.uk
By Tony Prempeh
Features
The Cop, press and lost fingers
The job of a policeman, whether he is short or tall, is not a cheap one. He is supposed to keep the peace, protect society and monitor the activities of local magicians and money doublers who are specialists in making civil servants lose their pay within seconds.
By far the most difficult job of the policeman is when he is expected to arrest a murderer who is not only armed but also has a record of appearing and disappearing at will. Even if the tough cop is in the company of other policemen all armed to the teeth, his stomach will turn to water when the criminal suddenly appears.
He is terrified not because the criminal is a better marksman, but because nobody dies twice. The problem also is that a criminal might be prepared to die in a bid to shoot his way to freedom. But is the police-man prepared to risk death in the course of duty when he has a family to rear.
If he had just acquired a new girlfriend with whom he is enjoying life, should he not run away with his tail between his legs and tell his boss that the criminal is uncatchable?
Before some policemen go on patrol duties, they actually pray solemnly. “God send me into the wilderness and bring me back safely with my nose intact because I’m worth more than a common rat. I also do not want to die like a stray dog. If a bullet is targeted at my forehead, Holy Spirit please let it go over the bar, because six children is not a small palaver. If I die, who will look after them? Lord keep me safe day by day. Amen!”
The Sikaman policeman’s job is a risky one because he is not properly equipped with even a trained dog to help track down criminals easily. So he has to use his own nose judiciously in sniffing out suspects while making sure a bullet doesn’t catch him square on the jaw.
My friend Sir Kofi Owuo, a.k.a. Death-By-Poverty was telling me journalists are in an even riskier profession. Apparently, he had been reading about the palaver of journalists in places like Algeria and Columbia. Algeria, even women journalists are not spared assassin’s bullet. You’d see them lying in front of their homes with their heads full of bullet holes.
In Columbia, no journalist is safe. When a journalist is leaving home, he has to tell his wife. “Darling, when I don’t come back by 7 p.m. check the mortuary
The drug trade in Columbia has made journalism a profession not worth practising. If you write on cocaine and the harm it is inflicting on society, you’ll certainly receive a phone call.
“Hello, Mr Journalist, your article yesterday was great. Congratulations! We never knew you were such brilliant writer, championing the cause of society. Again we say congrats! But you know something, by your article, you want to take the bread out of my and that of my family. You don’t want us to beak. We are aggrieved beyond measure”
“Oh, I was just… “You’d try to say something
“You don’t have to explain. The harm has already been done by your award-winning masterpiece. We have an appointment with you. You’ll hear from us.
Rest In Peace!” After such a phone call, you just have to pray to your soul, sing a hymn or two and get prepared fort appointment with death. For, death will surely come
I think pressmen in Sikaman would also have start informing their families appropriately before leaving for work now. “If I don’t come back early, I’m probably at the Ear, Nose and Throat Department of Korle- Bu checking a leakage in my left ear due to a gendarme slap from an AMA official. If you don’t see me there, track me down to the emergency ward. If you see a newly-made cripple, I’m the one”
What about referees? These days they are guarded during football matches so that the risk they bear in terms of lost teeth is minimal. Formerly, it used to be a job full of woes and tribulations.
You were expected to oversee a match in such way that would favour a particular team. If that is not done, you’ll get back home and your wife will not recognise you. She’ll mistake you for Frank Bruno who had just lost a bout. When she finally recognises you, she’ll fix some hot water to massage your poor face.
I hear that these days, apart from the protection referees receive, some are well-armed with Damfo Dzai, a kind of jack-knife that can carve a rowdy supporters face in several designs.
My Press Secretary and part-time bodyguard Devine Ankamah, was telling me if he happens to be a referee, he’d surely carry a Kalashnikov AK 47 rifle with him, complete with loaded magazine, before officiating matches. According to him, that is the only way to do the job without fear or favour. Anyone dares will lose his jaw.
Anyway, risky jobs require good remuneration. As Kwame Korkorti once said, risky jobs require risky salary. A policeman would require a good pay so that when a criminal targets his left ear it would be worth the ‘amputation’. Same for journalists and cameramen.
But go round private workplaces and factories and you’d see really risky occupations where workers are receiving salaries they can’t see with the naked eye.
In fact, in some private workplaces, environmental safety is completely absent. Workers breathe in fumes, poisonous gases and risk lung and respiratory problems. Their employers do nothing about protecting them against these hazards. Check out their payer.
In other places, workers have their fingers chopped off on the job, some losing as many as four fingers in stretch. The compensation they get can best be described as “wicked”. Their employers live big, chop big, ride big but are not willing to pay more than ¢120,000 for lost fingers.
Actually the more fingers you lose, the more money you get. So if you intend losing your fingers on the job, it is advisable to lose as many as possible so that you can get more cash. Those who have lost one finger have not benefited much and are encouraged to lose more next time around.
Sikaman Palava is undertaking to investigate some of these cases of very risky jobs in private setups and companies where workers are being exploited to unnecessarily but not offered protection against health hazards, and not properly compensated when they sustain injuries.
This article was first published on Saturday, September 28, 1996
Features
Position yourself for God’s blessings
Motivated by the impending 40-day fasting and needless to add prayer programme, preceding the Greater Works Conference scheduled for August in Accra, I would like to draw attention to how believers can receive blessings from God.
There is a scripture in Hebrews 11:5 that “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: and before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God”.
This clearly shows that in order to receive blessings from God, you must please God. How can one please God? You can only please God by obeying him and walking in line with God’s word. Just like how children who obey their parents, enjoy special treatment, so does God deal with his children who obey his word.
There are ways by which people receive blessings from God and holiness is an important criteria in the whole equation. Holiness is a process and not a one day event.
It is a mindset borne out of walking in obedience to God’s instructions i.e. his word. In order to have a mindset of living to please God, requires studying God’s word coupled with praying and fasting.
This helps us to develop trust in God by knowing his nature, what he likes and dislikes. This is what will enable us to live to please him and for our faith in him also to increase.
The Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 that “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”
Fasting is one of the required criteria for blessings to be released and it goes with prayer because fasting without prayer is just a physical exercise. Fasting enables a person’s inner man to be in tune with the spirit of God and also becomes spiritually empowered to hear from God and also obey God.
Fasting enables a person’s spirit to feed on God’s word in a much more focused manner as compared to studying God’s word in normal times. As a result our spirit gains the upper hand to dominate the body and the soul, so that we are more conscious of the presence of God in our lives which causes us willingly the desire to live to obey God.
Holiness which is a prerequisite for pleasing God, can only manifest in our lives if we are able to overcome the desires of the flesh and this only happens when the flesh is subject to the spirit.
Apostle Paul said that “But l keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should not be castaway”, according to 1 Corinthians 9:27.
In order to bring the body or flesh into subjection so that believers will be able to live to please God, we have to study, God’s word in a certain state of mind which fasting and prayer appropriately provides.
Our minds are the battle grounds for decisions that either please God or the Devil. In order to please God so his blessings can be released upon our lives, we must continuously engage our minds with thoughts that is in line with God’s word.
Philippians 4:8 says that “Finally Brethren whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things”. May God help us to live to please him by meditating on things that please the Lord, so we shall be blessed in all aspects of our lives. God bless.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
