OF LOYALTY, SECURITY, HONOR AND RESPECT
BY SAMUEL ADJEI SARFO, J.D.
The so-called Ewe-Akan feud is not worth the attention of any serious mind insofar as it is merely instigated by known drug addicts, school drop-outs, mountebanks and raconteurs: all uncouth, renegade and lumpen idiots whose linguistic incompetence and intellectual discernment are only outweighed by their olfactory halitosis and bug-infested faculties. However, when the toxic sewage of subliminal ethnocentrism affects the more enlightened writers of the web, there is cause for concern and the need for a response.
Let me begin with general principles here. In the first place, patent and latent prejudice against tribes exist in Ghana. The former is not difficult to define, because it is a plain psychological disease apparent on the face of the conduct of inferior humans who must display their so-called inherent superiority and blue bloodedness because they have nothing substantive to prove by way of intellectual or material achievements. Thus they latch on to the mythical claim of superiority by consanguinity as a subterfuge for the failures incurred in life. The latter is the more dangerous breed, often parading their enlightenment and liberal acceptance of all tribes and races in co-equal terms. These people may not even know that they are bigots because they will accept in some abstract terms the equality of all men and go to the extent of negotiating some mentally purgative conduct in furtherance of their belief in the equality of humanity. Yet when they come face-to-face with challenges that test their abstract beliefs, they are found wanting. For example, when it comes to giving their children in marriage to other tribes or coming forward to assert the quality of others’ cultures; writing about injustice against other tribes, asserting their unique qualities, putting them at par with all humanity,,,,,,,the purveyors of equality are found in deficit. We could cite instances of the loud silences of this category as an impeachment of their subliminal bigotry. We can ask questions about why some people degrade the achievements of others and only highlight those stereotypical notions and parade them as sacred truth. If our track record tends to reveal a loud silence over ethnic abuse but strident protestations of ethnic exaltation, then we are subliminal bigots, plain and simple.
There are certain inalienable rights of all ethnic groups in Ghana despite the fact that we are one country. Of these, the most important is the right of tribes to protect their cohesion and unity, to act in defense of themselves and to promote themselves in the context of the larger national mores and ethos. Every tribe has the same equality in this right. It is therefore strange that the unity of the Ewes in this regard is viewed with suspicion by many on this site. These critics assert a certain entitlement to break the Ewe bond of brotherhood through obnoxious statements, plain lies and unfounded claims. Instead of seeing this bond as a necessary reaction to the unjust suspicion and downright threats against the Ewe people suffered throughout history, critics go bunkers with insults, threats and calumniation against Ewes. Who doesn’t have the right under such circumstances to recede into an impenetrable wall of loyalty for the sheer purpose of self-preservation? Thus, Ewe loyalty may not after all be any different from that of other intelligent peoples ( example the Jews) who form close bonds with each other to preserve their own survival against the oppressive threats of the majority.
But it does not take insults to penetrate Ewe group loyalty or any ethnic loyalty for that matter. It simply takes respect, trust, love and fraternity. And for lessons as to how this could be done, I point to the recent Techiman Congress of the National Democratic Congress. Prior to the Congress and for decades, people with little understanding of the Ewe psyche had cast the Ewes as lobotomized idiots who will follow Rawlings to the guillotine. To these people, Rawlings was equated to Ewes. However when after the Congress and despite Rawlings’ extreme support for his wife and admonitions to the delegates, Nana Konadu scored an unprecedented 3.1% in a two-horse race, few people were generous enough to acknowledge the perspicacity of the Ewe delegates in rejecting Rawlings who was alleged to personify the tribe. In fact many here will resort to rationalizations in order to sweep under the carpet this rejection of one who was wrongly equated to the tribe. But the fact remains intact that when it came time to reject one of their own, the Ewes accepted another who will honor, respect and love them.
What happened? It is imperative that to the typical Ewe, the issue is never whether the contest is between an Ewe faction and a non-Ewe one. The Ewe throws his lot with people under whom he will feel safe and secure, and not necessarily one of their own. Thus, those who seek the Ewe loyalty must demonstrate respect, love and honor for the Ewe people and not pretend that the best way out is to launch a battery of insults against their core unity and cohesion.
I myself was a beneficiary of what some people derogatorily refer to as Ewe “nyebroism” although I am an Asante from Koforidua-Effiduase. In 1993, when I was running for election as Hall President of Casford at the University of Cape Coast, few people gave me a dog’s chance. I had in the previous year cut into pieces a water hose which senior students used to drench the rooms of those freshmen who refused to submit to a severe form of hazing called ponding. I was afterwards declared a mad man and a deviant and practically ostracized. But the Ewe students knew me well and rallied on my behalf, pointing out to others that I was the right person for the job. I was surprised at their insight when they wrote articles about my hatred of bigotry. In the end, I won the election mostly on the vote of the Ewe majority against a more charismatic member of their own. Looking back on the whole incident, I understood that the only way to earn an Ewe loyalty, like any human loyalty, is to respect, honor and treat the Ewes with the love they have rightfully earned in the context of our national history and culture.
Like all ethnic groups, an Ewe has the right to bond with his fellow Ewe. And like all other groups, the Ewes have the right to project the quality of their culture, to establish the metaphors of their existence, the emblems of their ethos, the relics of their religion and the heirloom of their uniqueness. Nobody should begrudge members of any group their right to extol their virtues or to assert their bloodline. Nobody should ask questions about the genealogical validity of an ethnic ancestral line. That is taboo against the sanctity of the tribal myth. If there is a metaphor asserted for its intrinsic value or for the purpose of the collective confidence; or an emblem created or a certain relic revered or heirloom constructed, they must be respected and not questioned or challenged insofar as they do not intrude upon other’s right to replicate same. Our offense should be against those who purvey wicked lies against others; those who want to treat others as aliens, those who cut their teeth of stereotypical insults against a great people or remain silent in the face of an affront against our own siblings. We must speak against purveyors of insults, those who dream up lies and newfangled fiction to feed the crucible of fratricidal hatred; not those who seek to rehabilitate that which has been harmed by persistent and pernicious attacks….
Samuel Adjei Sarfo, Juris Doctor, lives in Austin Texas. You can email him at [email protected].