Ahantaman Prepares To Receive Head Of Slain King

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Created on Friday, 31 July 2009 00:00

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Ahantaman Prepares To Receive Head Of Slain King

Busua(w/r), July 30, GNA - The Ahanta Traditional council in the Western Region has began feverish preparations to receive the head of the late King Otumfo Badu Bonsu II, which had been in the Netherlands for the past 171 years.

Members of the council held an emergency meeting on Wednesday at Busua, the traditional capital, to deliberate on an elaborate programme for the ceremony that would be national in character. A special planning committee comprising eminent chiefs, the regional coordinating council and the regional house of chiefs would be formed to plan the funeral and other rites and to prepare a final resting place for the late Ahanta King.

Otumfuo Badu Bonsoe XV, present occupant of the Ahanta Stool, commended both the present government and the erstwhile New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration for pursuing the people's demand for the return of the head of their King whom they described as a "hero of his time", so they could accord it a dignified burial.

He however expressed reservation about arrangements initiated for the transfer of the head, which he claimed the traditional council had not been adequately involved in.

Recounting the incident that led to the capture and killing of King Badu Bonsoe II in 1838, the Ahantahene said it was as a result of a bitter struggle to assert the freedom and dignity of his people. He said the invading Dutch force that was assisted by a contingent from Nigeria looted gold and gold ornaments including the King's sword and war dress that was plaited with gold parchments.

He said the traditional council, through the government and other relevant institutions, would press for the return of those items and compensation in the form of schools, roads and other social projects for the people.

Otumfuo Badu Bonsoe said the council would formally inform President John Atta Mills of the arrival of the head of their slain King, and about their preparations towards a befitting burial ceremony. He called on the chiefs and people of the area to support the programme to make it a success.

Nana Etsin Kofi II, chief of Aboade and leader of a delegation that represented the traditional council at a ceremony to transfer the head to the Ghana government at The Hague, Netherlands, on July 23, 2009, briefed the meeting on the ceremony.

He said he had to accept to be a signatory to the declaration of transfer documents after a second thought, since he was specifically instructed to identify the head and to report back to the council before any transfer could be done.

The declaration of transfer which was also signed by the Dutch Foreign Minister and the Head of the Ghana Mission in The Hague, was read at the meeting.

Source:GNA

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Akwamus Brief History

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Created on Saturday, 25 April 2009 00:00

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Akwamu Brief History

By Baafuor Ossei-Akoto

The Akwamus like most Akans also migrated from Adanse to settle at the Twifo-Heman forest at the later part of the 16th century. This group of Akans belonged to the Aduana family and are blood brothers of Asumennya, Dormaa and Kumawu.

According to oral tradition it was as a result of succession dispute that compelled Otomfuo (brass-smith) Asare to desert the family to form a new state or city called Asaremankesee- Asares big state. The modern city of Asaamankese was originally founded and occupied by the Akwamus.

Akwamus expansion started between 1629 1710 and this took them to places like the whole Akuapem area including Kyerepon and Larteh, Akyem, Denkyera, Ga-Adangbe, the Ladoku states of Agona, Winneba, Afram plains, Southern Togoland and finally Whydah in present Benin.

The powerful king Nana Ansa Sasraku l annexed the Guans and took over the traditional areas of the Kyerepons and ruled over them until Asonaba Nana Ofori Kuma and his followers after a succession dispute in their effort to form their own State engaged them in a fierce war after which the Akwamus were driven away from the mountains.

These Asona family members and their followers then were given a piece of land from the original settlers the Guans, Kyerepons, to form the Akuapem state. However, most of the present Akuapems still have their roots at Akwamufie especially those bearing the names Addo and Akoto or from the Aduana family.

Nana Ansa Sasraku also played an important role in the life of the King Osei Tutu of Asante. He protected him from the Denkyiras and when he was called to take over the Kwaaman stool Nana Ansa Sasraku provided him with 300 Asafomen from Akwamu to guide him to Kwaaman.

When Nana Osei Tutu arrived, he gaved all the men to Kwaaman Asafohene and they became citizens of Asafo and that won the Kumase Asafohene the title Akwamuhene of Kumase. According to oral tradition, the whole structure of the Asante army that was started by Nana Osei Kofi Tutu l and helped the Asantes through many wars, was a replicate of the well organised Akwamu army.

Nana Osei Tutu was also assisted by the Anumfuo (later Adumfuo) who accompanied him from Akwamu, in execution cases. A large number of the Asantes of today originated from Akwamu especially, people from Asafo and Adum as well as sections of people from Bantama and Barekese.

After the death of Nana Ansa Sasraku, he was succeeded by two kings collectively, Nana Addo Panin and Nana Basua. It was during this time that the Akwamus took over the possession of the Danish Castle at Christianborg or Osu.

Because of the cordial relationship that existed between Akwamu and Asante, during the 19th century expansion of Asante, the Akwamu unlike most states after war, was never annexed by Asantes but rather the Akwamu Stool became the wife of the Asante Stool during the reign of Nana Odeneho Kwafo Akoto l. That is the reason why during the Golden Anniversary of Nana Kwafo Akoto ll Nana Opoku Ware ll crossed the Pra river to spend two days at Akwamufie.

At the peak of their power the Akwamus had embraced much of the Gold Coast and traditionally the Akwamuhene still has the jurisdiction of the Akosombo part of the Volta River. Sadly and unfortunately the Akwamus have however lost most of their lands to Akuapems, Akyems, Kwahus, Fantes and Krobos. I would like recall that the Kingdom of Akwamu was one of the most powerful among the Akans.

Rulers of Akwamu

Nana Addo - 1699

Nana Akwamu Panin - 1702


Nana Ansa Sasraku aka Ansa Kwao - 1726

Nana Obuaman Darko - 1730

Nana Darko - 1772

Nana Akoto - 1815

Nana Kwaafo Akoto - 1830

Nana Kwaafo Akoto ll - 1936

Nana Kwaantwi Barima ll

Odeneho Nana Kwaafo Akoto lll

- not very sure of when he ascended the throne

Nana Owusu Agyare ll - 1997

Nana Ansah Sasraku lV – 1999

Source: GHP

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ANLO-EWE

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Created on Saturday, 23 May 2009 00:00

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ANLO-EWE 

Location

The Anlo-Ewe people are today in the southeastern corner of the Republic of Ghana.

History

According to oral history, the Anlo-Ewe people settled at their present home around the later part of the 15th century (1474) after a dramatic escape from Notsie, an ancestral federated region currently within the borders of the modern state of Togo. The escape and subsequent resettlement are commemorated in an annual festival known as Hogbetsotso Za.

Earlier settlements were established along seamless stretches of white sandy beaches of the Atlantic ocean, from what is now the international border between Togo and Ghana and due west to the eastern shores of the Volta river. Names assigned to some of the settlements - Keta, which means "the head of the sand," Denu, which means "the beginning of palm trees" etc. - echoed the natural endowment and beauty of the landscape they were to call home.

The close proximity of the settlements to the sea, however, offered no safety from the frequent raids for slaves by European slave traders who would navigate their ships easily to the shores of the ocean for their human cargos. The memory of these raids and the loss of entire settlement populations have been deeply imprinted on the Anlo-Ewe consciousness through the holdings of oral tradition such as folklore, myths and songs. A mass migration northward and the establishment of lagoon island settlements begun as a necessary security against becoming a slave in some strange land.

The Keta lagoon became central to the early evolution of the Anlo-Ewe traditional state. Its shallow waters were not navigable by the large slave ships and provided a much needed buffer-zone between the settlers and the aggressive slave traders.

Development of small scale marine commercial activities for sustenance began immediately. These activities included the construction of canoes for fishermen who navigated the lagoon for usable fishing sites and canoe landings. Hunters used the canoes to explore other islands and the inlands north of the lagoon for games, drinking water, farm lands and new settlement sites. Farmers shuttled by the canoes between the islands and the fertile inlands to cultivate crops. The canoe shuttle became an important tradition and a major means by which commodities and information flowed freely between the settlement

Culture: Dance-drumming is an integral part of this community life and an important necessity in the pursuit of the collective destiny, perhaps the essence of their shared experience. Everybody participates. Non participation amounts to self excommunication from society as a whole and carries with it severe consequences in a similar manner as non performance of some civic obligations in other cultures of the world.

The most severe penalty for non participation is to be denied a proper burial. Receiving a good burial is extremely important to the Anlo-Ewe. In contrast to other societies of the world that demonstrate the importance of having a good burial by buying funeral insurance from commercial funeral homes, the participation of the Anlo-Ewe in the collective and shared experiences of the community is the only insurance towards receiving the proper burial.

The degree of participation by each individual, however, varies and reflects a hierarchy of relative importance among the performers. This hierarchy has the elders at the top representing the chiefs and the leadership of the community. The male elders are called vumegawo and the female elders are called vudadawo. Their principal role is to provide a source of authority and advice insuring an orderly and systematic performance according to the shared traditions of the community and the entire traditional state.

The second level of the hierarchy is held by the composer (hesino), the master arts man, who is responsible for the creation of the distinct texture that forms the characteristic dance-drumming style. He is followed directly by the lead drummer (azaguno), another master arts man, who guides the entire ensemble in performing the various shared traditions of good dance-drumming.

The next level of the hierarchy includes: (a) Tonuglawo (ring-leaders), consisting of some more experienced participants with leadership potentials, who inspire and exhort the performers along the performance arena and provide them with examples that they emulate. (b) Haxiawo (supporting song leaders), who assist the composer in leading and directing the singing. (c) Kadawo, the whips of the musical community who enforce discipline and secure the attendance of the community members at every performance.

The fifth level of the hierarchy is occupied by the supporting drummers who assist the lead drummer in the performance of the various musical guidelines. The rest of the ensemble occupies the lowest level of the hierarchy. Their main roles are to sing, dance, and at times accompany themselves with rattles and hand claps.

**Information and image kindly provided by CK Ladzekpo

Credit Africaguide.com

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A Death of Nkrumahism?

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Created on Sunday, 19 April 2009 00:00

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A Death of Nkrumahism?

WHY CPP Is A Broken Home (I)

A Comparative Study of Ghana Without Nkrumah

ABSTRACT

Ghana; according to National Reconciliation Commission Final Report (Oct. 2004, Vol. 1 Chp. 3), is an artificial political entity comprising four distinct components woven together around the time of Independence. It comprises...

the following: (1) the Gold Coast Colony consisting of the coastal states, Akyem Abuakwa and Akwamu, which were under British colonial rule as a result of the Bond of 1844; (2) the Kingdom of Asante, that was annexed by the British at the end of the Yaa Asantewaa War in 1901; (3) the Northern Territories, which comprised kingdoms that came under British influence by reason of treaties of friendship executed between the British Government and the traditional rulers via the Northern Territories Ordinance of 1901; and (4) the Trans-Volta Togoland – a British Trust Territory originally, a part of the German colony that was lost to the Allies after the WW I and that was split up between Britain and France ((here, 1894 until 1914? )) and administered under a mandate of the League of Nations. These were the known forces to the Osagyefo, so what went wrong?

I. INTRODUCTION

Perhaps the kindest verdict on Nkrumah ((overthrow)) in the Western press, per Irving Markovitz (Ghana Without Nkrumah, Africa Report, April 1966), was that he tried too hard and was in too much of a hurry. "He was called a "clown" in the London Observer, and "Stalin-like" in the New York Herald Tribune', The New York Times made his 1961 proclamation of compulsory education appear to have been a totalitarian act." Yet, we agree with Markovitz that to interpret Nkrumah as a ruthless totalitarian leader- a kind of sub-Saharan Hitler is yes, to misunderstand both the sources and the loss of his power.

II. BACKGROUND

To have the broader picture, we need the insight- we must look beyond the "news". The events leading to the Gold Coast becoming the Independent State of Ghana on 6th March, 1957, according to the GNRC, have had a great impact on the course of our country’s history- human rights, political and ideological tensions, as well as economic and social problems, that had either been ignored or poorly addressed in the Gold Coast, continued to impinge on and define, the character of the independent state of Ghana.

At independence, Nkrumah said something like this: "Once upon a time, Marcus Garvey looked around the world if he could see a government of ‘Black People’. He did not find one. So he said he was going to create one but he did not succeed….Today, the words of Garvey, the words of Aggrey, and the words of Caesly Hayford… have come to a reality…" The Osagyefo, who proclaimed that there is "A New African" in the world ready to fight his own battles so as to demonstrate the capabilities of the "Blackman", also told the cheering Gold Coaster that at long last, the battle has ended and your beloved Country is free forever. He reminded the Ghanaian that she is no longer a "slave" and that her country’s freedom would be hollow, unless it is linked up to total liberation of African.

For the benefit of thousands of those Gold Coasters who could not understand him in English Language, Nkrumah asked permission to abridge his independence declaration speech into Fante Language, rather than Nzema, where he thanked the Nanamom, the distinguished guests, an indeed all segments in the New Ghanaian society, appealing to every conscience- for change of attitude and hard work. In the opinion of the "New African", this could be the only way for a prosperous Ghana which will in turn revered our spirit ancestors that their quest, toils and struggles to be freed, had not been in vain.

The political roots of Kwame Nkrumah and the support he had from various ethnic groups in forming his own Convention Peoples Party on 12th June 1949, and his overthrow in 1966, are well documented by historians and biographers, so we labour not our readers.

But if the NRC final report were to be seen as accurate on its facts, then it could be said that at independence, there was indeed one strong party– the CPP – and several others of varying strengths, all of whom were in a relationship of antagonism against CPP rule.

So, the period thereafter heralded what the report reveals as the nurturing of bad blood between the leaders of the two parties. Attacks in the Evening News on the leaders of the UGCC, especially on Dr. Danquah, as well as a whispering campaign of bribe-taking and allegations of other dubious activities made against the leadership of the UGCC, did a lot to embitter their relationships. But with energetic and good organizers such as Komla Agbeli Gbedemah and Kojo Botsio, who Nkrumah converted for the formation of the new political party, CPP grew from strength to strength. Praises go to these cadres for their individual abilities and high organizational skills- CPP under Nkrumah was said to be virtually a youth movement at its inception. Thus with its slogan "Self-Government Now", rooted in the youth, it had the energy and strategy to match the UGCC, foot-for-foot.

Yes, we are not here to trace Nkrumah’s political roots but to dispel the lurking temptation of academic dishonesty or bias, it worth noting also that UGCC- the first known political party in Ghana- formed at Saltpond in August 1947 under the chairmanship and financial sponsorship of Paa George Grant and had as its slogan "Self-Government within the shortest possible time", per the NRC report, also attracted a huge following among the chiefs, farmers, educated persons such as the Man Kwame Nkrumah as well as WWII veterans- who had fought in other lands for freedom on behalf of their masters but had, as NRC put it, neither been given training in civil life with appropriate income-earning skills nor any financial package to ease their transition into civil life.

These, coupled with the rapid urbanisation and expansion of social amenities and infrastructure in the urban areas, it is submitted, produced a class of politically-conscious young men and women who began to appreciate the anti-colonial posture of the intelligentsia. Nkrumah’s organizational abilities linked up with his political youth groups that he bred- the Committee on Youth Organisation (CYO) and the established Evening News paper became his trump cards and indeed the beginning and perhaps, the end of his political dream as conflict over strategy soon developed between him and other leaders of the UGCC on the question of promoting himself and his personal agenda at the expense of the party that employed him, for the final onslaught on colonial(ism) rule?

In January 1950, the CPP had organized an action of civil disobedience, termed "Positive Action", consisting of boycotts, strikes and sit-downs, in order to compel the colonial government to grant immediate self-government. Although planned as a non-violent action, NRC reports that CPP eventually turned violent and so its leadership was arrested and imprisoned. Nkrumah for example, was in prison when CPP woo the decisive majority of seats in the 1951 elections held under the 1951 Constitution (Coussey Constitution). And being the leader of the party that had won majority seats in the elections, he was released from prison to head the government as the "Leader of Government Business". At this point, we might have been fairer in tracing the true political roots of Nkrumahism.

III. WHO THEN IS AN NKRUMAHIST?

For some, Nkrumahism is a crusade to eliminate or purge all forms of imperialism and neo-colonialism. To others, it is the concept by which those who felt politically maligned by the so-called "ASANTE AND THE AKYEM MATEMEHO" and all its alleged economic hegemony and ramifications set themselves free. Then is a front against critics of the CPP-led Government which strove to eliminate chieftaincy which had endured for decades and continue to thwart the emergence of classless society that the Osagyefo promised some decades ago? We hear the murmur as the debate unfolds but what seems clear and perhaps ascertainable, is that the Pan-African Campaigner never promised any of those.

So in our minds there are two products in Nkrumahism- the Nkrumahists who enjoy the fruits of capitalism and all its associated socio-economic and political innovation but disdain its related ideological hardships and economic biases- unfairness and imbalances in the distribution of global wealth and justice- we may call them the "anti-imperialists, internationalists or say, devout Pan-Africanists. Then are those who attempt to profess that all that Nkrumahism means or stood for- are that "Independence Now" and the "arms-twisting matemeho of Independence in shortest possible time" of yesteryears. Indeed there could be a "third force" that enjoys the trappings of both- they’re all fallible.

As Markovitz writes, unlike in many other African countries, including those which experienced military takeovers because they were unstable or important elements in their respective nations were neither represented in them nor decisively suppressed, and where politics, as he put it, was the monopoly of an elite coalition of middle-class intellectuals and a traditional hierarchy that excluded the peasants, skilled labourers and businessmen, in Nkrumah’s Ghana, every major social group, in the words of Markovitz, had at the time the mutiny, reached an understanding with the CPP and for that matter have passed successfully through its squabbles over coup in our in Our Homeland Ghana.

The keywords here are that every major social group, reached an understanding with the CPP regime, have passed successfully through its squabbles over coup. Today, the Convention Peoples Party, we are tempted to argue, has lost its triumphal direction ever since it was kicked out in February 1966 and for the second time in December 1981, where Peoples National Party (PNP), under the leadership of Dr Hilla Limann, was booted out in a coup. Since we are yet to witness a country with three dominant political parties rotating power, there is little doubt whether National Democracy Congress, as it appears might have usurped its political place- in terms of electoral strategy and ideology, if any.

There are many issues raised by Markovitz’s but two things stand tall- the technocrats of CPP-led regime from the nucleus of civil servants that it inherited from pre-independence days. First their numbers: "the Government acquired thousands of employees as it Africanized the administrative structure, extended its services from the large cities to millions of people in the bush, and undertook sweeping programs of welfare and economic development, instead of confining itself (as did the colonial administration) to the household tasks of maintaining peace, order, and a system of justice…"

The most frequently asked question is: So what went wrong for the stiff opposition that he encountered in a country which according to Markovitz, was neither a terrorized nor a poverty-stricken? It is suggested that he wielded enormous power which, he exercised in excess and as a consequence, gambled with his personal comfort and safety. Yet it was not only the threats of Matemeho but also the seriousness of the cult of Nkrumahism at the Ideological Institute at Winneba. Thus he surrounded himself with people who paid lip-services for their pleasures and hardly cautioned him on some fragile political moves.

Perhaps the two failed assassination bids on Nkrumah’s life that called for robust personal and national security realignment, arguably, disfigured and maimed Nkrumah’s natural self-orientation and humour as natives of his Nzema ethnic group such Boye Moseses and a Fordjors took control of the State Security Service, continue to haunt many. The alleged reliance on foreign security details for the Man Nkrumah who held so much for the "black race" and continent, and not long ago, had been brought out from jail by popular homemade opinion through boycotts and civil disobedience, worth noting.

So in our generation today, the self-pious Nkrumahists, it appears, are those who could dive into the hearts and minds of those who bear names such as Kotoka, Afrifa, Harley, Deku, Adamafios, Dankwa, Akufo, Obestesbi, Ako-Adjei, Addo and the Busias and label them as probable agents of CIA or Matemeho agitators, as there is no way that they could champion the causes of Nkrumahism? Recently they argued and indeed made a case that their own Paa Kwesi Nduom and Opeisika Agudey, could not be true Nkrumahists because they own their own business or indeed meddle in the private sector. The effects of their unsubstantiated suspicions and frustrations, are perhaps, so glaring that one needs not to consider the numerous fronts, layers, contours, sects, peripheries and yes, segments that confront the struggling Nkrumahists family of today.

At the time of going to press, the CPP which had maintained its leadership in the politics of the country, winning majority votes in both the 1954 and 1956 political struggle which according to Markowitz, pushed its opponents into disarray, to use the historical term, has a lone seat in our 230-member Legislative Assembly. Perhaps the barest minimum ever to be achieved since 1960 and 1979 if the late Dr Limann were also to be recognized as faithful servant of Nkrumahism One could hear the whispers that he was not, but rather an UP interloper. So while they seek collective condemnation of the 1966 coup, they sail with a single-engine ship of 31 December 1981, justifying it as noble?

Having said all that, one may be puzzling whether the "Nkrumahist families" of today, suffer not the characteristics of a "broken home"- characterized by divorce /and or death. Thus, their inability to overcome this emotional syndrome of the 1966 coup and the natural Death of Nkrumah that bring little or no vote to CPP, it could be argued, might have given different interpretations. No one disputes Nkrumah’s inter-continental leadership greatness and foresight: co-founder of Pan-Africanism, architect of the Organization of African Unity now the African Union (AU), and locally, the outstanding human and infrastructural developments across Ghana, are perhaps, his trademarks and foot-prints. Yet it is mystifying whether Osagyefo did not die intestate or without a Will.

Politically argued, Nkrumah had many faces and appears difficult if not complex to be understood by simplistic minds of ours who subscribe to his unrivalled ideas and vision.

On global political economy and international relations- he was "A Non-Aligned", prepared to trade with both the Chinese and the Americans. At home, Nkrumah declared himself as "A New Black Pan-African", ready to fight his own battles- "a black messiah" who never got married to a "black woma?n", one may submit. Yet we concede with Markovitz that once upon a time the Man Nkrumah stood almost alone in arguing in what has now become a global aspiration that "the progress of Ghana and perhaps, the African continent, could only be measured by the number of children in school, the quality of their education, the availability of water and electricity and true, the control of sickness."

IV. CONCLUSION

In conclusion therefore and, as it shall be shown in our next edition: CPP At Crossroads, it worth saying that Nkrumahism- complex an ideology as it appears, still holds some relevance and ought not to be mistaken with "ethnic contest" or like" a child of a broken home", struggling for crumbs and acceptance in her new abode. The ability of New CPP, to cart a vicious political path of 21st century, will go a long way of tracing and yes, overreach the true treasures of the Man, who held so much for Ghana and the World.

 

JusticeGhana.com

 

 

 

 

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