Okyehene Gets Seventy-Two Lizards of Galamsey

*By Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema, Ph. D.



“The Okyehene, Osagyefo Amoatia Ofori Panyin II has broken his silence over

allegations linking him to galamsey operations in his area. A member of the Asona

royal family of Kyebi, Odehye Nana Adjei Boateng who claimed the Okyehene backed the

illegal mining he publicly denounced has a fine hanging around his neck. The Okyeman

Council had imposed a fine of 72 sheep and 36 crates of schnapps on Odehye Kwame

Boateng… But the Okyehene has only been having a laugh at the development.

‘Recently in the news, you’ve heard my name all over the place that the Okyehene is

involved in galamsey, and I laugh...I think if I want to do mining, anybody can’t

stop me…why will I go and hide to steal my own property?’” (Ghanaweb Dec 1, 2011)



Our eternal chiefs/Kings

The Nanas of oppression

Hostages of the past

Swaggering on myths

Seductive past narratives

Of evocative declarations

Of power-driven trips

Of psychic allies of the gods

The deadwoods of culture

Pompous troubadours

Of erstwhile, static culture

Of power-drunk decisions

Of sterile birthrights

Of anathema to progress



Ah! Odehye Boateng said it

Ah! Asona Prince of Kyebi

Has said it all and for all

Galamsey is a bane

Galamsey is destroying all

Destroying farmlands

Destroying riverbeds

Destroying watersheds

Destroying burial sites

Destroying forests

Yet Okyehene is silent



Ah! Seventy-two lizards

Adorned in galamsey

Galamsey’s colors of gold

Fit for the Okyehene

For tolerating galamsey

Galamsey is a bane to all

A bane to Great Okyeman

Yes, Okyehene ISN’T involved

Okyehene’s hand is not in it

His royal hand is not in it

But Okyehene is the culprit

Okyehene is the royal cause

The cause of galamsey

Okyehene must not sit by

Sit by &laugh at galamsey

Okyehene must not sit by

His silence is galamsey

His passivity is galamsey

His laughter is galamsey

His inaction is galamsey

His apathy is galamsey

His lethargy is galamsey

His docility is galamsey



Let us all pay the fines

Pay on behalf of Boateng

Yes, for Odehye Boateng

Poise the fines like petals

Ah! Seventy-two lizards

Dancing in the Akyem forest

Ah! Thirty-six crates of water

Fetched from the Birim River

Poisonous Birim Schnapps

Let us pay the fines

To the Great Okyehene

Pay it on behalf of all

To the besieged Birim

To the badgered forest

To the battered farmlands

To the beleaguered burial sites



The Okyehene laughs

Nana likes to laugh

Laughs at galamsey

Laughs with Galamseys

His potion of solution

Solution to galamsey

Solution to illegal mining

Okyehene is laughing

Laughing at it all

At the Birim River

Besieged Birim

Badgered forest

Battered farmlands

Beleaguered burial sites



The Okyehene

Mighty Okyehene

Custodian of the Birim

Drinks from the Birim

But Okyehene is laughing

Our eternal chiefs/Kings

The Nanas of oppression

Hostages of the past

Swaggering on myths

Seductive past narratives

Of evocative declarations

Of power-driven trips

Of psychic allies of the gods

The deadwoods of culture

Pompous troubadours

Of erstwhile, static culture

Of power-drunk decisions

Of sterile birthrights

Of anathema to progress



*Akadu N. Mensema, Ph. D., is a nationalist Denkyira beauty. She is a trained oral

historian cum sociologist and Professor in the USA. She lives in Pennsylvania with

her great mentor and teaches Africa-area studies at a college in Maryland. In her

pastime, she writes what critics have called “populist hyperbolic, satirical”

poetry. She can be reached at [email protected]