Now, his inglorious recent-past leadership appears to have come back to condignly and poetically haunt the twice, nonconsecutively elected President John “I Have No Classmates in Ghana” Dramani Mahama. It has come in the all-too-predictable eruption of the age-old Bawku Inter-Tribal Chieftaincy Hostilities, whose prompt and definitive resolution the then-Candidate Mahama foregrounded as a topmost priority in the frenetic runup to the 2024 Presidential Election. As our sagacious elders of yore are known to have observed innumerable times, ad-nauseam, “It is easier said than done.”
Indeed, no sober and socially and politically responsible and observant Ghanaian of age, that is, a reasonably mature adult, could seriously take the Gonja Mafia Generalissimo at his word, for the simple reason that the Bole-Bamboi native, from the Akufo-Addo-created Savannah Region, could not even bring himself to humbly, wisely and maturely, let alone diplomatically, congratulate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for having masterfully resolved the even more complex, intricate and extremely difficult and historically convoluted Yendi or Dagbon Chieftaincy Crisis.
Instead, the infamous “Shit-Bombing” former Chairman Rawlings-appointed Communications Minister would thumb his nose at his immediate successor and predecessor by cynically insisting to Ya-Naa Mahama Abubakari, II, that it was, in fact, an “Inscrutable Divine Providence” who personally descended from the Heavens to Yendi to thoroughly and definitively resolve the Dagbon Chieftaincy Feud that had resulted in the needless and the senseless loss of tens and hundreds of human lives over several generations.
As we vividly recall, a livid Ya-Naa Mahama Abubakari, II, would summon the local press to his Gbewaa Palace and solemnly admonish Ghanaian journalists to henceforth refrain from using the name “Mahama,” which appears as part of his official regius name and title, in any of their writings and publications. As an elderly and a sagacious statesman and the second most influential and powerful traditional ruler in the country, after His Majesty, The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei-Tutu, II, Ya-Naa Mahama Abubakari, II, did not have to specify the reason why. It had been obvious for all to hear and see and to unreservedly condemn in no uncertain terms, as the old, cliched saying went.
If, indeed, the former Arch-Lieutenant of the “Mysteriously Vanished” President John Evans “Atta-Woyome” Mills really wants to be able to successfully resolve the Bawku and the Bolgatanga Inter-Tribal Barbarism, it goes without saying that Kwame Gonja knows precisely what to do, which is to simply get off his metaphorical high horse, pronto, render an unqualified public apology to the Giant-Dwarf of Akyem-Abomosu and Kyebi whose political shoes he has already proven himself to be woefully incapable of wearing comfortably, and then invite this Leprechaun with the “Midas Touch” to help him unravel the “Gordian Knot” that is the Bawku and the Bolgatanga Chieftaincy Conundrum.
Ordering personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces to provide escort services, gratis, to each and every vehicle – both commercial and non-commercial or private – plying the Bawku and the Bolgatanga conflict-wracked vicinity and roadways could not be a more preposterous proposition and one which reeks far more of a scandalous abuse of presidential powers than any sincere attempt at resolving this most globally embarrassing Ghanaian political sore-thumb (See “President Mahama Orders Armed Military Escort for Vehicles Operating in Bawku” Modernghana.com 6/14/25).
Maybe somebody more knowledgeable and level-headed needs to remind Yagbonwura Kwame Gonja that being statutorily recognized or designated as Commander-in-Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) does not absolutely in anyway, whatsoever, authorize Mr. Mahama to use Ghanaian taxpayer-sponsored and funded Armed Forces in whatever capricious manner he so desires. Our soldiers have the express and the specific duty and role of defending our beloved Sovereign Democratic Republic of Ghana against foreign or external aggression, and not to do internal police work. After all, what is the purpose for the existence of the Striking Force or the SWAT Team of the Ghana Police Service?
President Mahama had better sit up and think straight and map out a far more constructive and progressive agenda with the Inspector-General of Police and his Minister of the Interior. A reasonably well-equipped Striking Force, operating under the aegis of the Ghana Police Service ought to be able to adequately handle the sort and the level of primitive Inter-Tribal Warfare and senseless bloodletting that has become the staple political diet of the Upper-East and parts of the North-East regions. Each and every patriotic and socially responsible Ghanaian citizen must lend his/her support to the Mahama 2.0 government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), if the nation is to realize the full potential of its capacity for progress and development.
The problem here, though, is that it scandalously well appears as if all the false electioneering-camapign propaganda and ballot-snatching and the criminal vandalizing of state-owned and privately owned properties in the dubious name of victory, notwithstanding, Team Mahama is still woefully underprepared to effectively govern the country. If matters continue in the manner in which they are presently, short of another ballot-snatching shenanigan in the near future, it is highly unlikely for the proverbial Umbrella Party to retain residency at Jubilee House come January 7, 2029.
By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., PhD
Professor Emeritus, Department of English
SUNY-Nassau Community College
Garden City, New York
E-mail: [email protected]
