Features
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
Features
The West African Samba dance
I was in sixth form! Precisely, I was in lower sixth, bubbling with enthusiasm for life. Incidentally, I wasn’t particularly a good dancer but liked watching others dance. When my pal Billy (Butter) did the ‘old man boogie,’ dance, he did so with passion, with contortions and distortions of the human frame. He often needed artificial respiration after a good dance.
Old man Boogie was the dance form adopted at the time. The more you danced like a bony and fragile old man, the more you got applauded. It was fashionable at the time to go to disco with a walking stick to simulate an 80-year-old boogeyman.
On the disco dance floor, everyone was crumbling over and if you didn’t know what was in vogue at the time, you’d be tempted to order an ambulance to cart the entire gang of dancers to the nearest hospital to check their sugar levels. No doubt, you were likely to mistake for old diabetics lapsing into coma on the dance floor.
The Old man Boogie did not last very long. Soon it was replaced with ‘dog’. The dancer was expected to have the men mentality of a dog, and that included baring teeth and ‘pissing’ with one leg raised. When you saw Korkorti on the floor, you thought he was directing traffic with his left leg.
FRENZY
The ‘dog’ gave way to ‘cat’, a frightening choreographic innovation that put the ladies to flight. If dog produced vampires, cat engendered tigers on stage, complete with claws to show for it. The ladies were not brave enough to encounter large human cats in a frenzy, boogeying to funk. They simply fled!
Finally ‘horse’ arrived on the dance floor and you could see Ghanaians galloping with care-less abandon. What saved the situation was the advent of break-dance which shortly superseded the era of freestyling captured in the musical movie “The Music Machine’, starring Gerry Sundquist and Pati Boulaye, a Nigerian performer.
Break-dance brought home an exciting dance variety with equally exciting medical problems. Youngsters began spinning on their heads and broke their necks. They were put in collar and never tried it again.
All the above mentioned dance forms were amply exhibited last Saturday when the Black Stars went on a demolition exercise in Cape Verde.
The 4-0 hammering reflected the level of determination of the Stars to get to Germany in 2006 to showcase samba made in Sikaman.
Soon after the victory, ECG went on ‘strike.’ The nation was plunged into darkness. I heard someone say the power off was deliberate to tone down the celebration, lest people drunk themselves to death. I wondered whether anyone needed electric power to drink himself to death. The lights came on at last.
I quickly drove through parts of Tema. Celebrations were not mass, but pockets of celebrants amply typified the general mood.
CARNIVAL
A group of about eight youngsters apparently charged beyond measure, with akpeteshie running through their veins and arteries, organised a mini-carnival from Site 14 and took to the streets. “God bless our home-land Ghana… they sang the Black Stars cheer song, while hopping like delighted kangaroos. Others were dancing like cats, others like horses.
The beer bars in Tema overflowed with booze. Huge loudspeakers were mounted at Emefa Bar, Site 14, to begin a night of music, booze and chops. Khebab stands smoked freely as sausages and suya were dished out hot, charcoal-grilled.
My wife had gone to Lome, Togo for the weekend with the kids. And what she saw marvelled her. The Togolese national team hitherto known for its disastrous performances suddenly came alive and surprised their own selves. In the final qualifying game, they came back twice to beat Congo in a spectacular display of skills and artistry.
The rain was pouring in sheets in Lome but the celebrants hit the streets in carnival fashion. My little daughter joined them in the rain. When I heard it, I was angry. Why allow the little girl to join in the fanfare?
My wife explained that the situation was so spontaneous that everybody was overwhelmed. Every kid was on the street dancing in the carnival, so why not my little girl? Nobody could stop her. It would have been a sin to stop her. The young and the old were dancing. Old men and women with walking sticks limped to the streets and lock to boogie, the Togolese style.
For me, the exciting aspect of it all is that West African football has come of age. If Nigeria had qualified it would have been a West African affair. Even without Nigeria, it is. Ghana, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire are going to play in Germany in 2006. It is a new beginning for West Africa.
PRESTIGE
Egypt, Senegal, Zaire, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Morocco have participated in the World Cup but did not shine. Other nations must slug it out there, because it is time an African country won the prestigious World Cup.
If African countries have won in the Olympics and the Junior World Cup tournaments, there should be no reason why they cannot make a mark in the seniors. They only have to shed the inferiority complex bothering some of the teams. Africa must shine!
Now, some Nigerians are saying Ghana, Togo and Cote d’Ivoire will be the whip-ping boys at the World Cup. I’ll advise those Nigerians to cry their own cry.
This article was first published on Saturday, October 15, 2005
Features
Legacy is important in life
The Bible which is usually referred to as the good book, says that good name is better than riches according to Proverbs 22:1. Our generation has turned this sound, Godly advice upside down and has put the love for riches first before good name.
Instead of making the right choices, we are all in a mad rush for money, fame and selfish ambitions. Morality is far from our minds and comes nowhere near the top of our list of priorities.
The first thing most people think of, when given a position as a leader, especially in government, is to look for opportunities to make money. It is a worrying trend in our society that should not be encouraged at all. Gradually our society is placing value on riches than integrity.
Time tested values that have characterised activities of churches are even being compromised to the extent that, leadership roles in churches, are being given to people, based on wealth. No wonder, scandals are manifesting in various churches.
Every person has the freedom of choice. You can decide to choose good or choose evil; it is in your power so to choose. However, what we should all realise is that, choices have consequences.
Decision making is all about choices. If you make the right choice as a leader, your name could be forever etched in gold and your descendants, shall forever benefit from your good choices.
Lee Kuan Yew, said that he had the option of being selfish and making himself and his family rich or to seek the welfare of the nation but he chose the latter because that was the right thing to do.
Today, his name has been etched in gold in Singapore forever. His descendants are revered simply because of what their father and grandfather and great grandfather, did for the nation of Singapore. He left a legacy, a legacy of selflessness, a legacy of patriotism, a legacy of honesty and integrity and finally a legacy of leadership.
I listened to a story about Peduase Lodge. Apparently, it was a gift to Dr Kwame Nkrumah out of love and appreciation by an Akuapim woman, for him to build his private residence. Dr Nkrumah not being selfish but full of patriotism, decided to use it as official residence like Camp David in the US.
He is widely acknowledged also as incorruptible and this has endeared him to the hearts of many Ghanaians although there were some governance issues like the PDA, which somehow dented his otherwise excellent legacy.
Whenever his name is mentioned, his legacy is remembered and wonderful things are said about him. Such legacies, buy favour for his descendants, which in the case of Dr Nkrumah, led to people voting for his daughter to be elected as Member of Parliament for the 5th Parliament under the 4th Republic.
Recently, the passing of a prominent chief in the Asante Region, was announced. This chief has been acknowledged as one of the chiefs in the country, who have banned Galamsey in their area of jurisdiction.
Given the national outcry against illegal mining as a result of the devastating consequences to our environment and related health problems, this fantastic legacy, will go a long way to create favour for his children wherever they find themselves in this country.
Compared this to the son of a notorious armed robber seeking favour for say admission to an SHS. I guarantee you, the moment you mention your name and confirm that you are the son of Ataa…, the legacy of your father will immediately start working against you.
NB: ‘CHANGE KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT TO KOFI BAAKO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
By Laud Kissi-Mensah
