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What is worth celebrating about Atta
Mills’ death?
By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor
Friday, July 12, 2013
The Funeral Planning Committee has lined up a series of events
to celebrate the first anniversary of the most tragic event ever
to have hit Ghana—the death of a sitting president in the person
of Professor John Evans Atta Mills. That event occurred at 2
p.m. on Tuesday, July 24, 2012, at the 37 Military Hospital in
Accra.
The country stood still in grief, even long after he had been
buried on Friday, August 10, 2012, in an area near the former
seat of government at the Castle, Accra. That place now goes by
the name “Asomdwee Park”—a fitting memorial for the interred
former President who had endeared himself to many as an
“Asomdweehene” because of what stood and fought for.
The clash of antagonistic political interests notwithstanding,
we have remained intact as one people. Despite petty partisan
political differences and anti-social activities in many parts
of the country, Ghanaians have withstood the pressure to sustain
their democracy. All too soon, one year has elapsed and his
death is to be celebrated.
As part of the preparations for the occasion, the Funeral
Planning Committee is asking that corporate bodies and
individuals wishing to make contributions and donations towards
the event must follow certain procedures. Trust Ghanaians and
their elaborate plans for such events.
This will not be the first time that a past leader will be
remembered in official ceremonies celebrating his life and
works. But this particular one for President Mills brings to
mind many issues that I seek to raise.
The year-long centenary celebration of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, that
singularly illustrious son of Africa, took place in 2009. (He
was born on September 21, 1909). That for Dr. Kofi Abrefa Busia
has just been announced. The one-year celebration of Professor
Mills’ death is in-the-making. Certainly, the moment of funeral
celebrations is always dawning. Truly, Ghanaians love
celebrating their dead: “Abusua dᴐ funu”!
These celebrations represent more than a mere reverence for the
departed dignitaries. They underscore the Ghanaians’ penchant
for invoking the dead for inspiration or to concretize ties;
hence, the claim that ancestral worship is a Ghanaian cultural
norm. But celebrating the death of these past leaders doesn’t
come any close to what is strictly regarded as ancestral
worship.
They signify the fondness with which Ghanaians (at least those
who value the lives and works of the departed ones) remember
them. But the remembrance evokes more and raises disturbing
questions:
What about the lives and works of these departed dignitaries has
been upheld and developed to immortalize them? What have we
learnt from them to improve the situation long after their
death? Have we in any way done anything to prove that we are
willing to sustain the legacy that they bequeathed to us? Or
have we petulantly repudiated their works and rush to remember
them on occasions of this sort just for the conviviality
inherent in the celebration of the occasion? Or for political
leverage only?
The mere frolicking and drunken debauchery, not to mention the
licentiousness engendered by the meeting of sexually active
males and females spurred on by moral depravity, sexual laxity,
and over-abundant intoxicants and stimulants?
Ghanaian funeral celebrations have often provided the impetus
for “baiting” by men and women seeking carnal pleasure beyond
the wailing and gnashing of teeth that a funereal occasion
entails. That is why funerals have been commodified in some
parts of the country and aroused disapprobation among
traditional rulers for them to ban expensive funerals or to
impose strict regulations in a vain attempt to remove the
“commercial” element from the purely funereal event. It is as if
people cash in on such occasions and see funeral celebrations as
an opportunity for wanton exploitation.
It doesn’t really matter whose funeral is being celebrated; but
the situation becomes more glaring if it involves a well-to-do
or an important public figure. Just visit one of such funeral
grounds to see things for yourself—the mementoes being
commercialized, funeral cloths produced and sold for profit,
huge levies being imposed, and incessant calls being made for
donations to make the funeral celebration an unforgettable one!
At the end of it all, the celebrants won’t hide their feelings:
“Indeed, the funeral of so-so-and-so was really great!” They
would keep saying so long after the dust has settled and wish
for more.
I saw the funeral celebration of such important national leaders
as Dr. Nkrumah, Dr. Busia, and Professor Mills and can tell the
difference between what was done for them and the others,
namely, Edward Akufo-Addo, Dr. Hilla Limann, and Dr. Joe
de-Graft Johnson.
For some, there was no formal official funeral celebration at
their death. Defeated by the Fates, Gen. I.K. Acheampong, Gen.
F.W.K. Akuffo, and Ekow Nkensen Arkaah (former Vice President)
were seen off with little or no official ceremony to dignify
them as former founts of authority. Don’t ask me why.
Going through the list can reveal to us many intriguing issues
to know why in death, such dignitaries couldn’t remain on the
national horizon. By human designs, some ended up losing
everything “dignifying” about them and were quickly consigned to
the dustbin of history from where they would be occasionally
“exhumed” for political jingoism and other gimmicks verging on
ethnic politics.
Their good deeds would be easily brushed aside, their having
been buried with their bones or sidestepped in the mad rush for
frailties and foibles with which to condemn them as nation
wreckers (depending on which political persuasion informs one’s
assessment).
As a people, we can’t bring ourselves to recognize the humanity
of those departed ones let alone to gear ourselves up to build
on their legacy. After all, it wasn’t everything that happened
under their rule that was bad.
Take Osagyefo Dr. Nkrumah, for instance. What have successive
governments done since his overthrow in 1966 to complete the
laudable projects that he initiated but couldn’t complete before
the dastardly CIA lackeys in the security services and main
United Party opposition orchestrated his overthrow?
Have successive governments not looked on insensitively for
those projects to either wither away or stand tall on the
landscape as white elephants? Or unconscionably divested
state-owned enterprises established by Nkrumah to themselves
(using frontmen) and cronies? The GIHOC entities, Nsawam
Cannery, and brick and tile factories, footwear industries, Kade
match factory, and many more?
The Tema Motorway (which has deteriorated over the years and the
land near it encroached upon by greedy politicians and their
cronies); the Tema silo project; and many others (Tarkwa gold
refinery, Aboso glass factory, Black Star Line, Ghana Airways,
Tema township project, Pwalugu tomato factory, and many more)
remind us of our leaders’ lousiness.
Even, the neglect of the mausoleum built to house this
illustrious son is in a state of disrepair. Don’t even talk
about his hometown, Nkroful, where he was originally buried
before being moved to Accra for political expediency only to be
treated with scorn and remembered only when someone in authority
needs to bask in his glory!!
Don’t talk about Dr. Busia because he is the least acknowledged,
even to the extent that his political opponents couldn’t stand
seeing his bust in a part of Sunyani, the Brong-Ahafo Regional
capital town. Of course, Dr. Busia means nothing to those who
are quick to write him off like a bad debt. Yet, his rural
development programme began putting national development on
course, which the Rawlings government upheld to a good extent.
How will his centenary celebration spur us on to action?
When we celebrate these leaders, what do we seek to achieve?
What does the celebration help us do anew to move out country
forward? What lessons have we learnt from their works and lives
to prove that they are worth celebrating?
Now, to the main issues regarding the funeral celebrations lined
up for Professor Mills. Whatever ideals he stood and fought for
are still fresh in our minds. Can we say that we are doing what
his life, works, and death have challenged us to do for our
country?
Of course, he sought peace and preached it, earning the accolade
“Asomdweehene” (even if his detractors won’t recognize him for
it). He thrived on self-denial, moderation, and service to
country and people. Beyond that, he functioned under the
umbrella of a “Better Ghana Agenda” (even if he couldn’t
accomplish as much as to satisfy his detractors). Then, he paid
his dues to Nature, which is why feverish preparations are being
made to celebrate his passing away.
This is where I pause for sober reflection. Did Professor Mills
leave the country united or divided? Could he have done so on
his own? What part did we play in that? Above all, has his death
taught us any lesson with which to intensify efforts for
national development?
Of course, as mortal beings, death to us is inevitable. That is
why we must not act as if we are immutable and immortal. When
death lays its icy hands on us, we will succumb to its
entreaties and pass on to the land of no return. But we must
endeavour to leave lasting prints on the sand of time.
We need to be reminded by the fate of those who have already
gone that way to do what will make our memories worth
celebrating by the living. More importantly, we need to realize
that we have a country to serve and must do so unconditionally.
Stealing the country’s wealth for the self is disgraceful.
As the government mobilizes resources to celebrate the one-year
anniversary of Professor Mills’ death, it must be reminded that
the challenges facing the country are still enormous and
daunting. Can the government say that it has done anything
concrete to add to what President Mills left behind? What is it?
Where is it?
Questions of this sort should influence anything that is to be
done on the occasion. Otherwise, celebrating the life, works,
and death of President Mills will have no value for the country
and its citizens. Let’s celebrate the departed ones but we must
resolve to go beyond the mere funereal element to do what will
make them worth remembering. Only hard work, discipline,
devotion, and the desire to be each other’s keeper will make
that difference.
Above all, working together to ensure national unity, stability,
peace, and tranquility should be our clarion call. Then, we can
continue to thump our chests that we are truly one nation, one
people, with one common destiny. Celebrating one’s death with
mere frolicking shouldn’t be the ultimate objective; it should
be the catalyst to spur us on to live above reproach in seeking
our country’s welfare. Therein lies the challenge.
Should these past leaders return to life today, will they be
proud of what we have done to the country they left behind? Will
they congratulate or rebuke us for not doing our duties to put
the country on an even keel? Will they be happy that Ghanaian
technocrats and skilled workers are leaving the country in
droves because the government of the day cannot create conducive
environments for them to remain home and contribute their quota
toward national development?
Will Nkrumah, for instance, be happy that Ghana has lost its
glory as the world’s number one cocoa producer? That there is no
consistent blueprint for national development? Or that
nation-building has been turned upside down into a fierce rat
race for looting the national coffers in the name of just
anything? By just any device cooked up in officialdom by which
the national coffers are raided in broad daylight? Disturbing
questions to ponder as we celebrate these funeral anniversaries.
Nothing less!!
I shall return…
• E-mail: mjbokor@yahoo.com
• Join me on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/mjkbokor
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