Opinions of Sunday, 29 May 2005
Columnist: Amankwah, Nana Kofi
2005-05-29The Late Krobo Edusei And Rawlings are ......
...Tribalistic.
Krobo Edusei was a controversial minister without a portfolio in the Convention People?s Party (CPP) and also a senior member of the Peoples National party. (PNP)
During the 1979 Political campaign between the People?s National Party (PNP) and the Popular Front Party (PFP), the People?s National Party were holding their political rallies at Ho the Volta Region. Krobo Edusie made an inflammatory comment about his political opponent Victor Owusu that the? Ewe?s are ?inwards? This false statement made by Krobo Edusei has created biter animosity between the ?Ewe?s? and the ?Ashantes? who are genetic brothers and sisters. History will justify that the Ashantes and Ewes; many of them came from one tribe. In the Volta Region there are people nown as Anwona Kotoko who are descendants from Kumasi Kuntansi. There were no ethnic dilemmas between the Ashantes and Ewes until Kroboedusei made these commits against Victor Owusu without proving any evidence on a tape recorder that suggested the voice was Victor Owusu?s voice.
When Krobo Edusie made false allegations, the PNP educational elites like Okotwe Bekwei, Dr Hilla Lihmman, De Graft Johnson, Alhaji Imoro gala were all standing by and could not stop Krobo Edusei from making such statements, because of their party?s interest in winning the election. They allowed Krobo Edusei who only has a junior high school education, to makeup these lies that has brought great confusion to the country.
Politicians who are desperate to get elected will do anything or say anything that they feel can influence the media and get them elected. They don?t care about the consequences that will happen afterward. The Peoples National Party was losing the election at that time consequently,Krobo Edusei made his false remarks when Gwedama others and threw their support behind the Popular Front Party, and their Presidential candidate, Victor Owusu.
Krobo Edusei took the podium and verbally attacked Victor Owusu. ? My brothers and sisters, I known Victor Owusu very well, he is my brother, but he is also a very wicked man. When he was Attorney General he imprisoned his own brother. He has a story-building house at Kumasi, which is empty. He won?t allow anybody to live in his house while people are living homelessly on the street. Victor Owusu said that you people are ?inwards? which was the only word Krobo Edusei learned in the Ewe language and he repeated it twenty times during his speech. Even, if Victor Owusu went on to say what Krobo Edusie said the actions of Krobo Edusei are more than what Brutus did to Julius Caesar?.
Politicians can fabricate stories to damage a person?s credentials and incite ethnic groups. These topics have created a social difference problem between the Ashanti?s and Ewes. We are now paying this price for PNP People Political interest. As the Bible says in Lamentations 5. 7 ?Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we born their iniquities.? So my brothers and sisters, on both sides lets put this behind us and live as our ancestors lived before. We shouldn?t allow these stupid comments from Krobo Edusie to destroy our offspring and us. Our fathers were living and working together in our various cocoa plantations. Let us continue to build a good bridge for the future. There are many Ghanaians who have been victimized by these dubious politicians. In fact, my family and I have been victimized by the same old Convention People?s Party (CPP) who are pathological liars. During the 1960s, one of their party members by the name Juantoah, who clamed to be the citizen of Mamponteng, went and lied about my mother who was Queen mother of Mamponteng, and her uncle was the chief. This Juatua went to President Kwame Nkrumah and lied that they were members of the United Party (UP) who was causing social problems in Mamponteng while my grand father was CPP Chairman in Mamponteng at that time. Kwame Nkrumah did not investigate anything he just ordered his soldiers and police to go and remove my mother and her uncle from the throne in broad daylight. This Juantoah who is a ?carpet Bagger? does not even come from Mamponteng and was able to use his political power to put his uncle as a chief and his sister as the queen mother. Like many of you, I have been victimized by these false allegations. So, I am urging my brothers and sisters from the Ashanti and Volta Region to once again allow us all to put the past behind us and work together in good faith to build better a future for Ghana. Stay tuned for John Jerry Rawling?s tribalistic behavior in Ghana.
Nana Kofi Amankwah (New York). Views expressed by the author(s) do not necessarily reflect those of GhanaHomePage.