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Kesewah Afua ‘wa paase’ (she has passed)
MY mother told me a very moving real life story that she experienced as a child which caused her to know that indeed, God is real. She narrated to me how she began her primary school education.
First of all, she told me that it was providence that made her end up in school because the one who comes after her in the family died after a short ailment.
As a result of her death, her father decided to send her to school as a replacement because he could only afford to send only one child to school at a time due to financial challenges. She told me that due to the fact that she was suddenly rushed into school she could not write and when the exams was conducted it was a disaster.
Classes like 1A, 1B and 1C was taught by a teacher called Mr Ofosuhene. The A refers to those who could read, B refers to those who come after in terms of academic ability and the C was referring to people like Kesewah Afua, my mother, who were at the bottom of the academic ladder. Those were the days when surname was mentioned before one’s first name so instead of Afua Kesewah, my mother was called Kesewah Afua.
Teacher Ofosuhene writes on the board and the pupils in class 1C are asked to copy same on their slate. After the allotted time for the exams, the teacher calls each pupil to bring his or her slate to him. He goes through it and cleans the slate and writes the mark he awards on the slate.
He then asks the pupil to go back and sit down. Afterwards, he calls in some of the class 1A pupils to mention the mark written on the slate when the name of each Class 1C pupil is called out. The teacher then records the mark on his sheet of paper and then arrange the positions in class based on the marks obtained by each pupil.
The results are then announced at the assembly of the entire primary school, class by class. Those who did well were applauded and those who failed were teased with a resounding voice ‘Wa faili’ i.e. she or he has failed. That was the unfortunate case of my mom. The teacher announced that the following pupils have failed and started mentioning their names.
Whenever each name is mentioned, a resounding ‘wa faili’ accompanies it. What made it worst for my mom was that not only did she fail, but was the last in the group of failures and therefore the last in the class.
She told me that she started weeping uncontrollably from the school to their house when the announcement of the results came to an end and the school vacated.
She further told me that she wept the whole day from the time the results were announced and she heard ‘wa faili’ to the extent that her father list appetite for her evening meal of fufu and soup, which was his favourite.
His father always consoled her and in the days following this incident started to help her to learn how to write and read by using a cutlass as a ruler and creating straight lines for her to practice writing. School reopened and she went to school. Another exams time finally came and another exams took place. The mark that Teacher Ofosuhene wrote on Kesewah Afua’s slate was nine.
Then comes the beginning of her trust in God. She told me that as she went to sit on her chair after the teacher had written the mark she obtained on her slate, she heard a clear instruction that, “Kesewah add zero to the mark on your slate.”
When the mark was mentioned to the teacher he was surprised so he asked the pupil who mentioned the mark to bring the slate for him to verify. To cut a long story short, when the results were announced, “Kesewah Afua w’adi first, w’a paase” i.e. Kesewah Afua is in first position, she has passed.
That was in 1948 and years later, she wondered why she did not put the zero before the nine since she had not mastered the numerals. Again how come she was able to write the zero exactly like the teacher writes such that he could not detect that it was not her who added the zero to the nine?
That is God for you.
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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