Don Richie looked older at 45 years and battling alcoholism (left) than at 50 and overcoming it

When Richard Nii Adjei Otch­wemah decided to celebrate his completion of secondary school with alcoholic drinks, little did he know it was going to be the begin­ning of a long battle with alcoholism for almost 30 years of his life.

‘The Don’ or ‘Don Richie,’ as he was called, because he was always the boss and leader of most activities among his friends, recalled that after their final exam, he and some of his friends decided to do something ad­venturous to celebrate completion of that level of education.

“Right at the gate of the school, someone was selling palm wine and so we had a good taste of it,” Mr Otchwemah, who is now an Addiction Coun­sellor disclosed this in an interview with The Spectator on the side­lines of an occasion to celebrate persons who had recovered from substance abuse at the House of St. Francis Alcohol and Drug Addiction Treatment and Reha­bilitation Centre in Ashaiman.

He said while wait­ing for his results, he was taken out regularly by a friend to have a bottle or two of beer.

“Drinking alcohol was not a hab­it until after Sixth Form when I was posted to a remote village to do my National Service. It was without electricity and water. The food was also bad so the only thing providing us with joy was hard liquor (akpeteshie), which was providing the ‘appetite’ to enjoy the meal” he narrated.

“But at home, I could eat without the alcohol as appetite because the food was good.”

He said after his graduation from University, he got married and was still drinking, recalling how he took his wife to drink.

That continued after marriage as his crave for alcohol became persistent while his wife be­came concerned and started expressing her displeasure about it.

Mr Otchwemah stated that in the process, he lost his influence on his family and community which previous­ly considered him as a role model and very responsible person.

As if that was not enough, alcoholism affected him greatly when pursuing a Master’s pro­gramme. He struggled to study and pro­crastinated on things to do.

Conse­quently, he felt his life was mov­ing back­wards and begin to lose his friends, family and even his job because he sometimes missed some days at work due to drinking.

The Addiction Counsellor said he spent almost all his time at drink­ing bars and preferred to be with like-minded people in order not to be discriminated upon.

In the process, he sometimes found himself on the wrong side of the law due to excessive drinking and also sus­tained various degrees of injuries from falls or fights caused by his drinking habit.

The turning point for him was when some old friends who had shown him so much love and respect over the years spoke to him passionately about the developments in his life and the need for him to get help.

He noted that there was an earlier attempt by some family members to get him to seek help from a rehabil­itation centre but he returned home after a month and started drinking again.

According to him, that attempt did not work because he had gone there out of frustration due to the pressure from his friends and a desire to make them happy.

The 50-year old narrated that the approach by his friends did not sound manipulative and so in August 2019, he decided to seek professional help from the House of St. Francis.

“And to the glory of God, I am back to my old self. The last month of August was exactly five since I tasted alcohol. I communicate well and I am polite with people. I say sorry when I offend them and also communicate well if I have concerns about issues without resorting to alcohol. I have not taken alcohol for five years and the good news is that I am helping others to do same,” he said.

He says it was important for society to treat persons battling addiction of any form with love and respect.

“Such people must be treated with respect. If possible, such people should be referred to persons who they respect and have a lot of regard for, because the process is all about conviction.”

He says after recovery, those who helped them should not use the roles they played as an opportunity to ma­nipulate, blackmail or disrespect them otherwise they might relapse out of frustration.

The Addiction Counsellor appealed to the Ministry for Education and the Ghana Education Service (GES) to vigorously start a campaign to get students in the Junior and Senior High Schools to be educated on the dangers of alcohol.

He noted that the focus had over the years been on drugs and weed to the neglect of alcohol which is also destructive to its users.

For the youth, the best advice he could offer them was to abstain from alcohol because it has the potential to destroy them.

 From Dzifa Tetteh Tay, Ashaiman

Hon Dzifa Abla Gomashie, firstfemale Member of Parliament
for Ketu South Constituency

Hon. Dzifa Abla Gomashie is the Member of Parliament for the Ketu South constituency on the ticket of the National Democratic Congress. She is also a queen mother in the Aflao traditional area in the Volta Region with the name ‘Mama Dramado’ meaning, “Take care of me, Mama.”

She appears to be living up to the title of her royal name with success. She was the deputy minister of tour­ism in the era of the NDC from 2013 to 2017.

Hon. Dzifa Abla Go­mashie, who ran and won on the NDC ticket to represent the Ketu South seat in the 2020 elec­tions, is the first female Member of Parliament for Ketu South.

After winning the NDC parliamentary primaries last year, she is currently running for parliament for the same seat. Her victo­ry margin was substantial, with 1,545 votes, compared to the 913 and 26 votes received by the other candidates, Fogah Nukunu and Jimm Morti, respectively.

Through her non-governmental organisation, Values for Life, she has been serving her people for years, helping women, children, and the youth in a variety of ways and teach­ing them social and entrepreneurial skills that they would not have learned in a traditional classroom.

She proclaimed openly, “I’ve been blessed with the love, respect and support I have from my constituents,” in an interview with The Spectator.

ACHIEVEMENTS

Speaking about her work as the MP for Ketu South, she mentioned that in the area of health, in 2020, 2021, and 2022, she sponsored free eye test­ing and screenings, performed free surgeries, and gave medication and prescription glasses to Aflao, Adina, Wudoaba, and Ativuta.

“I also constructed a clinic with a maternity ward at Anoenu in Aflao and helped the Ketu South Municipal Hos­pital expand its paediatric emergency unit,” she added.

Once more, she provided 46 stu­dents with GH¢1,000 each to help with their tuition fees throughout the 2020–2021 academic year.

In addition, she refurbished the An­sahrul Islamic Basic School, built and equipped an I.C.T. lab for the Skills Development Project, and provided 99 students with GH¢500 each in order to help with their school costs for the 2022–2023 academic year.

She did not only provide GH¢3,000 to assist the construction of a mech­anised borehole for some Senior High Schools, but she also extended pipe-borne water from the Ketu South Municipal Assembly to the Ketu South Education Directorate.

Regarding youth and sports, she gave GH¢1,500 to the Regional Football Association to help with the purchase of trophies.

Moreover, she first gave GH¢2,000 to the Municipal­ity’s 37th Na­tional Farm­ers Day celebration at Lotakor. She then provided laterite and 20 loads of sand to support the GH¢13,000 rehabilitation of Awa­korme Road.

The Ketu South MP has also made a significant appear­ance in the area of supporting people with disabilities. She gave GH¢3,000 to help fund the visually impaired children’s transition from Chicago-Denu’s Special School for the Blind to Mafi-Adidome’s Avekpedome Unit School for the Blind.

Additionally, she donated GH¢2,000 to purchase detergent and other educational items to aid in the Spe­cial Children unit of the Municipal Education Directorate’s teaching and learning initiatives.

Furthermore, she gave 10 sets of jerseys to the teams competing in the Sepenukorpe beach football tour­nament (Awakorme FC, Viepe FC, Abeliakorpe FC, Atorkukorpe FC, and Sepenukorpe FC). In matters of faith and customs, Hon. Dzifa Abla Gomashie backed churches, other places of worship, and cus­tomary lands within the constituency.

Her commitment for helping the underprivileged led her to insti­tute skills de­velopment and business pro­grammes that give instruction in 10 different modules, including sewing, hairdressing, ICT, shoemaking, plumbing, and soapmaking.

For social intervention, the MP of Ketu Spouth gave 200 pieces of street lights to the Ketu South Municipal Assembly, organ­ised Christmas and New Year parties for children from tidal wave commu­nities like Adina, Salakope, Agavedzi, and Blekusu, and donated relief items to victims of tidal waves in Amutinu, Salakope and Adina, with bags, food items, and bags of cement, among other things.

She also donated a variety of goods to the Providence Orphanage Home in Aflao-Semanukorpe among others!

Despite her experience as an ac­tor, producer, and screenwriter, she shared a few reasons for choosing to run for MP, saying, “I think I have full endorsement from my delegates and people so I can run an election.”

In order to realise her goal of raising her constituents’ level of life, she asks her supporters to assist her in electing the NDC to power.

She expressed the hope that the le­gally mandated institutions will meet the standards necessary for free, fair, and transparent elections. When asked what she would think if her wish­es were not fulfilled, she answered right away, “We will win convincingly through fair means.”

EDUCATION

Hon. Dzifa Gomashie graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Ghana’s School of Per­forming Arts in 2003, and she went on to get a Master of Philosophy from the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, from 2005 to 2008. She had previously studied Theatre Arts from 1994 to 1998 at the same university’s School of Performing Arts, where she received a Diploma in the field.

After completing her Ordinary Level in General Arts at St. Louis Secondary School in Kumasi in 1985, she went to Snapps College Ghana from 1992 to 1994. She obtained a Certificate of Education in General Arts at the Advanced Level there.

Hon. Dzifa Abla Gomashie is a widow with children. She feels that in order to sustain herself, her family, and oth­ers, she must work hard and do quality work since hard effort pays off.

Apart from her rigorous work sched­ule, she has always had a passion for dance since she ‘popped out of her mother’s womb.’

Although she claims that her elec­torate is quite large, she received 84,000 votes from voters when she ran for office the first time.

Regarding the question of whether the Affirmative Action Bill’s passage into law will give women hope, she responded that it is not a solution to every issue that affects women.

“We need to step up advocacy be­cause it’s a never-ending cycle,” she continued.

 By Georgina Quaittoo