Thursday,
December 5, 2013
Ask those who spontaneously
hailed Jerry Rawlings when he shot his way into the limelight only to turn
against him, and they will give you reasons that you won’t believe. Some even
worked with him only to turn round to denounce him. Ask ex-President Kufuor and
he should leave you slack-jawed. There are many others who will quickly point
gossipping fingers at him and leave themselves out of whatever inadequacies
might have characterized the Rawlings’ movement.
Can we say that the other leaders
were lonely in office or thereafter? May be; may be not, depending on how one
conceives “loneliness”.
General J.A. Ankrah enjoyed his
status as Chairman of the NLC, even if he had been disparaged by Nkrumah (in
his Dark
Days in Ghana as not a soldier to be proud of because the only action
he ever saw as a soldier was during the Congo Crisis; and as Nkrumah put it, he
saw that action as a quarter-master. If you know who a quarter-master in the
military establishment is, you should laugh your heart out at this
characterization of Ankrah).
I hear that when Lieutenants
Arthur, Yeboah, and Osei Poku initiated their abortive coup of 17th
April 1967, Gen. Ankrah dived into the Atlantic Ocean behind the seat of
government (the Osu Castle) and swam to safety. In that bid, he was alone,
probably lonely!! But he returned to sit on the throne when calm was restored.
It didn’t last, though, because Nzeribe was waiting to cause havoc.
Afrifa accused him of taking bribe
from Nzeribe and dislodged him. If he knew that his action was a death-trap, he
would have thought twice. That death-trap snapped in June 1979 to send him into
the life beyond when he least expected it. Of course, he had warned Acheampong
in a letter to deal ruthlessly with Rawlings; otherwise, he would one day line
all of them up and shoot to death. What a prophecy fulfilled!!
Let me reiterate the point. Afrifa
had shot into the limelight as Ankrah’s replacement and masterminded the
destruction of everything Nkrumah to put Busia and the Progress Party in power.
Was Afrifa lonely all that while? Only he could tell; but where is he? Gone
away with the bullet that snuffed his life out when Rawlings and his AFRC went
the “Ethiopian Way” with the initiation of the June 4 Uprising.
Bring in Dr. Hilla Limann. Was he
lonely? Probably, at the death of his mentor (Imoro Egala), which might explain
why the in-fighting in his government paved the way for his being undermined
and power taken away from him by Rawlings. Left to himself at his Teshie-Nungua residence, only his family could be his
solace. Not even his being the chief of Gwolu could make any difference until
he died virtually unsung. That might be one lonely President of sorts!
Don’t even talk about the others
in the shadow—the Vice Presidents or the only titular President (Edward
Akufo-Addo). They were “nobodies” in the workings of Ghanaian politics and died
unsung. Kow Nkensen Arkaah even had the unpleasant experience of being
pummelled by Rawlings on December 28, 1995, for politically double-crossing and
was even nearly incapacitated in a motor accident when he left office. He died
in Virginia, the United States, and was cremated there. Nothing to do with
Ghana anymore. Could that be the height of loneliness?
The late President Mills wasn’t
lonely as a public figure outside government circles. The vibrant university
environment provided all he needed to function as a lecturer in law (taxation).
Well, when he rose to become the Vice President, he cut his steps cautiously,
always haunted by the circumstances under which he shot to that prominence (via
the “Swedru Declaration” by Rawlings that virtually tore the NDC apart).
When fate put him in office as
the President of Ghana, he became the bull’s eye for all the political archers
under the command of his former benefactor, Jerry John Rawlings. Maligned,
calumniated, disparaged, and virtually torn into ribbons of sorrow, he needed
extreme measures to live his life.
Indeed, there is no gainsaying
the fact that if any Ghanaian leader could ever be said to feel lonely, none
other qualifies than Atta Mills. He was at the receiving end from his own
government, political party, and political opponents. Only the hand of
Providence could “redeem” him—and he left this mundane life in inexplicable
circumstances to shame his detractors.
Forget about the show of sympathy
for him after the fact. He trusted no one but his God and that God took him
away even before more damage could be done to him by the human being as
Election 2012 approached. Yes, talking about loneliness, one can say that Atta
Mills was lonely even in the midst of people with whom he worked. Atta Mills
was loneliness personified in Ghanaian politics.
Could he be the architect of his
own doom, though, by going against the grain? Apparently, he set himself apart
from his predecessors and those self-acquisitive elements in his own circles,
denying himself what they had hugged and wallowed in with impunity. Thus, he
became the object of their scorn. No more for him to suffer from. May he rest
in perfect peace.
I shall return…
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E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
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