Feature: A Black Wednesday

Otumfu Osei Tutu II, Asantehene, Asanteman, Nananom damirifa due.  Due – due ne amanehunu, Y?n nyinaa y?n Nana, Asantehemaa Nana Amma Konadu Yiadom III k? akuraa, Nana da yie.

Shocking! Tragic! Horrible! Devastating! Catastrophic! Disastrous! Harrowing! Heart-breaking! Cataclysmic! Hamlet would reply: “Words; words, words” to Polonius’s is query – “What do you read; my Lord?”

Eight illustrious sons of Ghana: dead – result of a Z – 9 military helicopter crash; in a forest near Sikaman in Adansi; close to Obuasi (the heart land of gold).  Dr. Omane-Boamah, Minister of Defence, the only offspring of his mother’s; Dr. Murtala Mohammed passionate for his job as the Minister for the Environment; Dr. Samuel Sarpong, respectful and respectable NDC Vice-President (once Mayor of Kumasi and once Ashanti Regional Minister); Alhaji Muniru Mohammed, Acting Deputy National Security Coordinator; Samuel Aboagye, former Parliamentary candidate (Obuasi East); Squadron Leader Peter Anala; Flying Officer Manaen Twum Ampadu; Sergeant Ernest Addo – all perished, burnt to ashes and their bodies could not even be retrieved for a dignified burial with well-ironed military outfit; salutes all over.

No lullabies from father to Anala’s 2-month old baby; no flower to celebrate Addo’s one (1) month old nuptial vow.  Tears-filled Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah briefly announced this “national tragedy” and said all flags should be flown at half-mast.

The Ghana Armed Forces confirmed the tragic news, per Captain Veronica Adzo Arhin, the Acting Director-General of Public Relations of the Ghana Navy.

Various delegations led by the President, John Dramani Mahama and Vice-President Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang visited the homes of the victims to express sympathy and console the families.

Nana Akufo-Addo, ex-President expressed shock and sadness and prayed: “May they find peaceful rest in the bosom of the Almighty until the Last Day of the Resurrection, when we shall all meet again”.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia describing the accident as “heart- wrenching” stated:  “The fallen men paid the ultimate price in the service of our motherland, leaving a shocked nation in pain”.  Ing. Kwabena Agyei Agyapong who could not accept the horrible news, stated: “We have lost courageous men, public servants and soldiers who dedicated their lives to the country’s peace and stability” The Minority Leader, Afenyo-Markin, on behalf of the Minority, called for honouring the legacies of the deceased through national unity and commitment to service.

We get enamoured with Richard Dabla’s “Epitaph”: “Omane Boamah: He bore two stethoscopes-one for the heart of a patient; the other for the pulse of a nation … Murtala Mohammed: To him, the forest was not just trees – it was a living being with veins of gold and lungs of chlorophyll.  He waged a quiet war against galamsey … Dr. Samuel Sarpong:  In corridors of governance and cities of trade, he was both compass and candle … Let this not be tragedy.  Let this be prophecy … Blewu … Blewu …Slowly they return”.

We recall the conference in South Africa (Johannesburg) on security in 2008: meeting with Dr. Samuel Sarpong splitting “bottles” in Sandton Hotel; sharing jokes while visiting Soweto, Nelson Mandela’s home. Where is our God …” James Hackman Tachie-Menson, the first black African captain of a ship would sing.

And with all the gory pictures of the crash, some people claiming to be NPP supporters would arrange a zoom meeting and celebrate the deaths of these heroes, wishing the dead should have included Sammy Gyamfi!  Are these Ghanaians, Africans, human beings?  Humanity where is our culture?  Throwing ethics to the dogs?

The Government has arranged for thorough investigations.  How “thorough”, you will ask; so do we wait till after the investigation before we comment?  Can’t we talk about re-assessing the status of all military equipment, including the Presidential jet and all aircraft; A discussant prays for great “circumspection” when it comes to the discussion of the security set up, so we would not ask: why did the Military personnel, Police, NADMO supervise the placing of the remnants of the victims in cocoa sacks (not cadaver or body bags) and also supervise the carriage of the “cocoa sacks” by “ordinary” farmers of the area (where was dignity accorded to these gallant men on official assignment, and a security man was more interested in filming the carriage of the remains – oh, what! Desecration before being placed in bulky coffins draped in Ghana colours.

And Prophet Roja (a prophet who wouldn’t do what Nathan did by going to King David to reveal all that God had said about David, the temple not built by David but his son, Solomon: 2 Samuel 7: 1-14).  Prophets, so called prophets targeting politicians and the rich in society. Doomsday prophets: prophets of doom: when do they pray; how do they pray?

Such men as these will be supported by fine gentlemen as Captain Smart and Charles Owusu.  Why not?  The Speaker Alban Bagbin glorifies their utterances and spells: “We should listen to them (the prophets).  It’s not all of them who are looking for money.  Don’t take what they say for granted.  If they say act, you act.  I listen to all myself … that’s their area.  I can’t say somebody who is not in parliament will do parliamentary work more than I.

And so I don’t know about the spiritual world more than those who have taken it up as a career …”  What are all these prophecies of negative events, disasters, despair, despondency, chaos, ruin – alarmists!  Don’t be surprised at the influx of prophets prophesying more and more doom:  Prophet Fire-Ogya would prophecy the death of one President of Ghana – this is where Oheneba Boama comes in to say if before the end of this year a President (current or ex suffers a headache, the person to ask about it is Prophet Fire-Ogya!  And Wontumi TV’s Akyemkwaa Kofi Asare would commit blasphemv and the management would distance itself from it.

Of course, the Chronicle, Daily Graphic and other newspapers are right in saying the “Disaster scenes (are) not tourist sites”.  An accident scene, like a crime scene would “normally” be cordoned off.  The burnt helicopter parts would be vital as pieces of evidence; even objects as small as a wrist watch could help in investigations.

The townsfolk may like to take some home for souvenirs – of historical significance.  Akwasi Afrifa thinks a European seeing such a calamity would ask:  “What caused this?”  A Ghanaian seeing it would ask: “Who caused it?”  It is all ethics and professionalism thrown to the wind.

The victims were going to Obuasi to attend the “Responsible Co-operative Mining and Skills Development Programme – related to “mining” and the result!

Enough is enough is an idiom expressing the situation when something tolerated for too long must cease.  So, when people say “enough is enough” the Ghanaian tolerance is exhausted; some would say the tolerance has reached an apogee.  We can’t tolerate “galamsey” any longer.  Let’s heed the call and call the “galamsey” doers “environmental criminals” or terrorists.   Look for those behind it – and punish all alike as “environmental criminals” or terrorists.  If Major Mahama’s death could

not prick us, this calamity should let us sit up:

President Mahama, be hard! L. I. 2462 (Mining in Forest Reserves) need not stay in our books: crush environmental calamity – state of emergency.

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