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Stop disturbing the peaceful rest of late former President Prof. John Fiifi Atta Mills!
Various dictionaries including the Oxford English Dictionary, describe colossus as a statue that is much bigger than the life size. It also means a person or thing of enormous size, importance or ability.
For example, the Russian Empire was the colossus of European politics. Simply put, an extremely important and influential politician is an example of colossus. Something likened to a huge statue, as in size or importance, there is no certain limitation to his strength and like most heroes, it is augmented by his willpower.
DILAPIDATED GRAVESIDE OF PROF. ATTA MILLS
To me, Koku Anyidoho, a former member of the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), a close confidant and press secretary of the late former President of the Republic of Ghana, deserves that accolade of colossus because of attributes such as mighty, indomitable, domineering, influential, herculean, ruthless, ruling among others.
He exhibited these qualities recently in a controversy involving him, the family of the late President John Fiifi Atta Mills and the opposition NDC, over the dilapidated condition of the burial grounds and the tomb of the former President and its rehabilitation by the state-sponsored project.
Koku’s involvement in this project which was initiated by his non-governmental organisation known as Atta Mills Institute (AMI) which received state sponsorship to face-lift the final resting place of the late professor to commemorate his 10th anniversary of his death, generated heated and nasty exchanges between him and the Atta Mills’ family led by the junior brother of the late president, Samuel Atta Mills, who is the Member of Parliament for Komenda –Edina- Eguafo- Abrem Constituency in the Central Region.
The NDC party of which the former late president was a staunch member and leader of the party, later joined the fracas against Koku, backed by the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
SHAMEFUL SPECTACLE RECORDED
The accusations, insults, acrimonies, name calling and negative activities that transpired prior to the observance of the 10th anniversary of late former president and statesman, noted for his peaceful demeanor, which earned him the accolade, Asomdwehene were so distasteful, shameful and difficult to comprehend.
The family of Atta Mills led by his brother, Samuel Atta-Mills was furious that the government had allowed the Atta Mills Institute to tamper with the grave of the late former President.
According to him the current arrangement was against their custom saying, “It is not proper to allow the Non governmental Organisation (NGO) to make changes to the grave without recourse to the family. Apparently, a group calling itself Atta Mills Institute that the family does not recognise and Coastal Development Authority (CDA) have gone to break this grave of President Evans Atta Mills. Why would you go and touch somebody’s grave without informing the family? Who has the body now? This is the question I want to ask Ghanaians.”
ALLEGED DESECRATION OF ATTA MILLS’ GRAVE
The furious brother of the former late President asked the government to immediately stop the conduct of Koku Anyidoho because he was desecrating the resting place of his brother. Hear him “This is an insult to the family, this is an insult to we the Akans, this is an insult to the nation.
The government allows an NGO and Coastal Development Authority to run Asomdwe Park. Why don’t we send another NGO to go and run Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum? The government has to provide the body of President John Atta Mills. We want to find out where the body is? Who in this government is authorising this nonsense?
REFUTAL OF ALLEGATION BY KOKU ANYIDOHO
But in a sharp rebuttal to the response of the accusations, former aide to John Atta Mills and founder of the AMI, denied claims of tampering the grave of the late President. According to him, he would not dignify the insults meted out to him, insisting that his action was solely to preserve the memory of the late former President. “Nobody has tampered with anything?
What is being done is the reconstruction of the Asomdwe Park. President Mills died as President of the Republic of Ghana. Where has Sammy Atta Mills been all these years? Does he now remember that the late President was his brother? What has he done to keep the memory of his brother alive? I respect the family so much, but I will not dignify Sammy Atta Mills, “ says Koku.
NDC CRITICISES THE BUST OF PROF MILLS
The NDC minority in Parliament in a tribute expressed displeasure over the omission of the name of the late President Atta- Mills on the plaque placed beneath his bust at the Asomdwe Park.
The bust was unveiled on Sunday, July 24, 2022, by President Akufo-Addo to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the passing of the late President. A news conference held recently by the Minority, called for immediate steps to be taken to correct the anomaly.
The Minority leader who spoke on behalf of the group described the omission as unfortunate, saying the name on the plaque on the bust was to inform visitors to the park whose bust has been erected instead of the name of President Akufo-Addo and the founder of the Atta-Mills Institute, Koku Anyidoho, as those who unveiled the plaque.
“We are demanding from President Akufo-Addo and his associates such as Koku Anyidoho to do what is right and appropriate and to remind them that the office of the former President is an institutional office and it goes beyond the persona John Evans Atta-Mills,” he said.
MILLS’ FAMILY THREATENS COURT ACTION AGAINST KOKU
At the time when everybody thought the controversy was over despite the double and separate observances of wreath laying by the government and the main opposition NDC, the Senior brother of late former President and Ebusuapanyin of the family, Dr. Cadman Mills has resurrected the case, accusing Koku Anyidoho of using the Atta Mills Institute to “sow divisions and insult elders” saying that “that was not what Fiifi (Atta Mills) stood for.”
According to him, the family was considering legal action over the operation of the Atta Mills Institute, founded by Koku Anyidoho, adding that Koku was using the name of the late President to run his institute without authorisation from them.
Dr. Cadman Mills who spoke at a public lecture recently to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of President Mills, said the family had decided that it would contact its solicitors to make sure that they explore all avenues to stop Atta Mills Institute from operating.
Indeed, in the realms of eternity, the dead must rest peacefully and nothing should disturb that person who had passed on to glory from having a serene and eternal rest, even in his or her grave.
The Holy Bible says in the Book of Mathew that, those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death. Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Outside of burial ceremonies and gravestones, rest in peace has come to be used in obituaries and online to signify respect and well wishes for the beloved person who has died.
PROF. MILLS DESERVES PEACEFUL REST
This clearly reminds us that even in death, there is the need for a serene atmosphere for our beloved ones who have passed on to eternity to rest peacefully. However, in the case of our former late President John Evans Fiifi Atta Mills, that had not been the case at all. Ten years after his demise, his soul continues to turn in his grave without enjoying that peaceful rest, because it is being disturbed continually by his family, party faithful, close associates among other aggrieved persons in the society.
It was time the feuding parties at the centre of controversy, bury their individual differences, stop these petty bickering and rally together to accord that greatest statesman, that due and unnegotiated respect he deserved, even while at his final resting place at the Asomdwe Park, so that his soul can enjoy that peaceful and lasting rest.
Losing a sitting President is not something a nation can brood over. Let us accord this great man all the courtesies he deserved at his final resting place, because he once upon a time, sacrificed his life, time and everything for the betterment of our dear nation. Fare thee well Asomdwehene, a man of peace! Sleep well, man of many parts!
BY CHARLES NEEQUAYE
Writer’s email: ataani2000@yahoo.com
Contact: 0277753946/0248933366
I have often been saddened by the condition of Sikaman musicians. Of course, some are not musicians. They are jokers who think anybody who can sing a hymn is a musician. And why wouldn’t they think so when people think that every man wearing a rasta hair is a reggae musician?
Well, these days, almost everybody is dreaming of becoming a musician, even some ministers and parliamentarians. And it is never too late for them to begin learning the solfas and composing songs like “If You Do Good You Do For Yourself,” after all, life begins at 60 these days. If you die three years later, that’s your luck.
For the jobless, becoming a musical star is an everyday dream. They think when you are a music maker, you automatically break alliance with poverty. They are often mistaken.
I know people who claim they are musicians but are always fasting not because they are devout moslems or are on a hunger strike, but because even one square meal a day is a perpetual wahala. And the only drink they can afford is the poor man’s holy whisky which has a thousand names including ‘Nyame Bekyere’.
Even most of the popular musicians we see in town claiming they are foreign-based stars are more of hustlers than musicians. When they tell you they are going on tour abroad, it is a careful way of saying they are going overseas to scrub the whiteman’s toilet or pick tomato or apples to save their neck from musical poverty.
When they are back to Sikaman, they appear quite flamboyant with chains hanging all over them. They change the few dollars they have scraped, spread it around and promptly get broke. Then they can organise another ‘tour’. In between tours, they struggle to release an album and that levels them up a bit on the financial balance.
It all points to the fact that the life of the average musician isn’t quite organised. He has no calendar, no programme and no concentration on the job. He has to wash plates, become a waiter, janitor and toilet scrubber while finding time to make music. No musician succeeds in life that way.
One musician I’ll always respect, who thinks deeper than the ordinary Sikaman musicians is Carlos Sakyi. He is not like the Kokoase guitar musicians who see the world just in terms of bitters, a willing girlfriend, constant supply of kokonte and jot.
Carlos, often loved for his percussive overtones in gospel music, and once a gospel-rock star, has studied the life of Sikaman musicians and has evolved a blue-print for a great improvement in their lives work, finances and comfort.
In short, he has simulated a Motown-style environment for musicians and his formula is working with accuracy with the five musicians he has started with. The blue-print is what has brought MEGASTAR into being. It was launched on September 15, 1995 at the National Theatre.
When it got launched, many probably thought Carlos was “too know or was dreaming more than he should and won’t think about himself. Anyhow, the MEGASTAR is now an institution musicians can look up to, a big phenomenon with lots of promise for struggling musicians.
Music business in the developed world is not the way we regard it cheaply here. A musician is never distracted by how his finances go; his contracts are entered, his engagements made, his interviews arranged, his personal security guaranteed.
Music is his business and that is where his mind is and his attention focuses. Other aspects of his life are programmed for him by his managers. They hire who has to light his cigarettes, massage him, drive his car and the one who will say “Good Luck” when he sneezes.
A bodyguard whose face is exactly like that of the devil is hired to scare off muggers, psychopaths and criminals in general. Sometimes his girls are organised for him.
So the only thing the musician does apart from sleeping and snoring is to concentrate on making music, and true to it, no one can succeed in any venture when he is distracted.
This is how the Michael Jacksons, Lionel Richies, Dolly Patons and Whitney Houstons have made it with dollars packed and over-flowing. They aren’t any better than Sikaman musicians. The only difference is that they know how to organise their lives.
I managed to corner Carlos Sakyi and asked him to tell me how MEGASTAR was doing. He is the Managing Director of Megastar Limited, a music company that has a board of directors and a chairman. Carlos Sakyi shares the proprietorship with a partner. Carlos himself was one great musician who played for a band that beat Eddy Grant on the charts.
“Megastar is in fact a concept born out of the idea that the future security of the Ghanaian musician which has always been in jeopardy can now be guaranteed. Artistes spend too much of their time doing things on their own, chasing money and not concentrating on music. So their full potential is never realised. Some are in fact producing at quarter-rate. That is why they aren’t making much headway,” he told me.
“Megastar is now giving them the chance of the lives. We handle the interviews of Megastar artiste, their press releases, costume, engagements and everything they hitherto used to do themselves. We get them exposed on M-Net and we have contacted BB to get on their programmes. We handle their finances pay them salaries and bonuses, so they only have to concentrate on music
“Most importantly,” he continued, “we do not make all the decisions. Management always meet with the musicians to take the decisions that affect them.”
But who are the Megastar musicians? One is the great Amakye Dede, a star from birth delivered onto the earth with music on his lips; he is the man who feeds hungry ears with musical salad and harmonic sausages. He is the recipient of many national awards.
Next is Naana Frimpong, a latter-day Carlos-groomed songbird with the voice of an angel. She sings to kill. Her beauty has charmed her audience and they stare and stare at her.
The sensational and fantalising Tagoe Sisters are the next. The twin music machine is one that has produced the cream, arguably the very best, of gospel music all these years. I hear they are inseparable; not even their better-halves can keep them apart. Are they Siamese? They dance, and when on stage, they move the crowd.
Then comes Reverend Yawson who is a known songwriter. He is imbued with the Holy Spirit, speaks in tongues and of course sings in tongues. He is God’s representative on the group.
What about my good friend and super-heavyweight, Jewel Ackah? He is a star figure. His appearance is awe-inspiring, his voice golden. A great delight to be-hold when at his best in stage-craftsmanship, he has beaten his contemporaries to it both on land and on sea.
They are the pioneers of the Motown idea. They are all releasing new albums this year. Let’s see how it all goes.
In recent years, the term “female rage” has gained significant traction, symbolising a collective shift in how women’s emotions are perceived and addressed.
This phenomenon is not merely a fleeting trend but a profound movement rooted in centuries of systemic injustices, personal betrayals, and societal expectations.
As women increasingly reclaim their anger, it is imperative to understand the multifaceted nature of female rage, its causes, and its implications for individuals and society at large.
The historical context of female anger
Historically, women’s emotions have been subject to dismissal, ridicule, and pathologisation. The term “hysteria,” originating from the Greek word for uterus, was used to describe women’s emotional states as irrational and uncontrollable.
This legacy of silencing and shaming has contributed to a culture where women’s anger is often suppressed or stigmatised.
However, with the rise of feminist movements, women are challenging these narratives, asserting their right to express anger and demand change.
The anatomy of female rage
Female rage is not a monolith; it is a complex and multifaceted emotion driven by various factors, including:
1. Societal expectations: The pressure to conform to traditional roles of passivity, politeness, and emotional labour.
2. Gender inequality and pay gaps: Frustration stemming from systemic discrimination in the workplace and beyond.
3. Sexual harassment and abuse: Trauma and anger resulting from pervasive violence and objectification.
4. Emotional labour and burnout: The unsustainable burden of managing emotions and responsibilities in personal and professional spheres.
5. Hormonal fluctuations: The impact of hormonal changes on emotional states, often overlooked or dismissed.
The power of anger: Reclaiming female rage
Far from being a destructive force, female rage can be a catalyst for change. When acknowledged and channelled constructively, anger can drive advocacy, policy reform, and resistance against inequality.
The #MeToo movement, women’s marches, and increased representation in politics are testaments to the power of collective female anger.
Addressing the Stigma: Towards a more inclusive dialogue
To fully harness the potential of female rage, society must address the stigma surrounding women’s anger. This involves:
1. Validation and recognition: Acknowledging women’s emotions as legitimate and worthy of attention.
2. Creating safe spaces: Providing platforms for women to express anger without fear of backlash.
3. Education and awareness: Challenging stereotypes and promoting understanding of women’s experiences.
4. Support systems: Offering resources and support for women dealing with trauma and systemic injustices.
Conclusion
The age of female rage is a moment of profound transformation, where women’s anger is no longer silenced but celebrated as a force for justice.
By understanding the roots of female rage and addressing the societal structures that fuel it, we can move towards a more equitable and compassionate world.
The journey is complex, but the destination-a society where women’s emotions are respected and their voices are heard is worth the struggle.
References:
[1] Chemudupati, P. (2022). _The Rage of Women: A Historical Perspective_.
[2] Traister, R. (2018). _Good and Mad:
By Robert Ekow Grimond-Thompson
