For the peace and good of Cape Coast (II)

Latterly, judg­ments of our Supreme Court had run it into contro­versies—political, socio-economic and there are neither visible nor audi­ble neutrals. That the Court may not respond, or not, is discretion­ary. If the Courts did, it could sat­isfy. Generally, this is not the style of courts. It is rare as if to open a means to mellow the negatives for which currently seem to define the courts, post-judgments. But then, there are two most among stub­born memories: [i] the problem of the courts for trust allegedly, is somehow an inherited scenario from particularly after indepen­dence. It was temporally broken in the term of the NLC, ref the Chief Justice Ghana Bar associa­tion over the Solicitors license-fee which stunned the country. The Bar won the trial—upset later at appeal which coldly restated the vexed mistrust, seemingly lingering. It serves no pride that it’s become like a public partisan chronic hobby—pay-back, relative to alternating regime-changes.

All said, every Court deals with matters brought to its attention, particularly in evidence to adju­dicate. Occasionally through an apparent concurrence occurs for a degree of ‘’let’s accept’’ the verdict for peace par example, the Cape Coast paramountcy brought to resolution by the SC, 19 July 2023, sensing the language of shrug shoulders. That judgment and at­titude appear to generally endorse the present occupant in effect, after years protracted litigations from High to appeal courts. My wee bit of tentativeness derives aggregate thoughts about weari­ness, but not dismissing probable suing a review. [ii] in the interim, Cape Coast has changed and deteriorating where nobody can be pointed as in charge –state and traditional. A gem in that is that in Cape Coast authority had been held in the hands of traditional leadership. [It looks the same throughout the Central Region before and after independence].

But at Cape Coast the centre begun not to hold from 1944, suc­cession to Nana Mbra Ansa. The run down was expected to stop after 1948 when the Fourth abdi­cated. It didn’t, confirming an old saying that you cannot litigate into death or perpetuity. [I admit that there are some centuries-old at the Registries of courts across the country which have acquired the statuses of seeming ad infinitum. Majority are about chieftaincy, succession and lands, usually attached.] However, it is pertinent to explain the Cape Coast chief­taincy dispute to the present Kwesi Atta II. The actual beginnings were around 1944 after the death of Nana Mbrah Ansah following Nana Kwesi Atta I, after the very first chief Esirifi Kuma [Kodwo Egyir Panyin of Aboradze clan. The succession had shifted from paternal to maternal [Nsona/Ebiradze]. (‘’Oguaa Aban’’ by Rev G.R. Acquaah Longmans Green & Co. 1939). The stand-off erupted in the aftermath of Mbra Ansah. Heir apparent Kofi Kakraba had been kept in traditional custody for grooming. He was 13 and kept in for 13 years.

Subsequent to the two-three powerful chiefs whose job it was to have him privately educated, were deemed failed; and pressure built for a successor. The Head of the Kingmaker’s Ebiradze, Cooke ‘’Abodwe’’ decided to bypass Kofi Kakraba. The old man’s case reportedly, was that the world was developing and the Town needed to be led by such. Thus, Nana Mbra Annan [IV]. Cape Coast rejected-split until the Fourth ab­dicated 1948. The germane char­acter of the collective Cape Coast is its people will root steadfastly against injustice, once perceived with unanimity.

While Nana Mbra IV reigned, two conflicts erupted simulta­neously: [i] the fury of the next Tufuhene [Commander of the seven Asafo Companies—vol­untary defence forces (armed, if necessary, otherwise wielded mus­kets); that was the chiefs Coker and Moore rivalry; and some oral accounts date it earlier, rumbling before the Third had died; [ii] politics descended from intelligen­tsia versus the plebs early 40s and morphed into Veranda Boys and DOMO from 1949 after Nkrumah founded the CPP 12 June 1949 and head-quartered in Jackson’s Street. Nearly all the Big Chiefs were presumed Domo as the CPP gained grounds country-wide. Indeed, Paa Grant’s defence of the Chiefs in absentia in his inaugural address of his UGCC at Mankes­im 4 Aug, 1947 was partly a refer­ence to the crept-in-alienation of the chiefs and their absence at the UGCC inauguration in a broader perspective.

(The only background to appre­ciate Dr J.B.Daquah denunciation and support of the ostracism of chiefs whom he described as ‘’pitiable lackeys of a foreign government’’—Britain, would have been the rift with the Brits after he lost the bitter exchanges to scuttle the trial of including rel­atives in the Kyebi Palace Murder sensation. But he turned one of leading anti-Gold Coaster-inde­pendence-Western friends. Dr Danquah and colleagues at home had said the country was not ready yet for independence).

Cape Coast was the crucible of the new politics; after the Aborig­ines Rights Protection Society [ARPS] had been revamped into UGCC. That advent compound­ed the Troubles into a Trio–the paramountcy and the Tufuhene disagreements and nascent politics telescoped a tumult. And pursu­ant to the new politics, the elites together with chiefs with DOMO labels became one party and the CPP, the other. Cape Coast was cracked and persists today. That also divided into the elder genera­tion versus and youthful majority. Alongside the oldies and chiefs were the paucity of professionals who had names and wealth. It was rough to the extent that homes, families, churches and indeed, high schools of learning were branded. The results of that phenomenon whereby political parties are seen virtually taking over funerals in this country started there.

As far as the Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling is concerned irrespective of what may spin speculatively, the huge sigh among reliefs, is that the judgment shall herald four immediate develop­ments: [i] the hitherto embattled chief would assert himself person­ally and exercise incisive authority. Understandably, he couldn’t have done really much in his circum­stances. [ii] It replaces the person­al abuse for due honour, histori­cally Cape Coast’s. [iii] The SC’s decision must be a fillip towards refixing the Town—the environ­ment. Col George F. Bernasko’s legacy could be cleaner and not stagnant. And [iv], get develop­ments going—the male and female youth raring to participate. There is a big Fifth which is education and standards: Cape Coast re­mains this country’s incubator of learning and scholarship. These ring their bells loudest. It is a rep­utation that enforces higher levels of performance-based legitimacy, thrust on this Town of ‘beautiful nonsense and aboodzen krom’.

With regard to revivalism embedded in ‘’standards’’ and nuances, I hope the churches are not going to claim ‘’encore! give us back our missionary schools’’. The pivot of the church’s ar­guments has been moral and civic-discipline—Cape Coast’s special. It seems the Addisadel College’s recent, may have proba­bly dented that into abeyance. As sad as that, it looks amplifying the interpretation that the judgment is asking the Town collectively get up and doing with determination. They can, given less of ‘’them’’ and ‘’us’’. And consequently, the Town’s people are enjoined, would endeavour a relentless effort to participate more actively, address­ing the threat of indiscipline. I have learned that stirs a hornet’s nest. The younger generation blames the Elders. The difficulty is about identifying who has heft in their own right. The return salvo is bound in self-preservation. What went wrong?

The drag-down started in 1948/9 when it was felt the elderly and powerful chiefs had been rout­ed. The CPP did not or was possi­bly unaware of the consequences futurely. Politicking has become muddiest for power. in Cape Coast there were alterations in its political complexion. Singularly, Cape Coast had lurched initially to the Left and held the Town domi­nantly electorally until T.D. Brodie Mends and other CPP-founding educated young professionals 1970, defected to DOMO. That was one significant outcomes as repercussions from the CPP’s imposition of N.A. Welbeck rather than Kweku Ackon after Kwesi Plange—another succession prob­lem. It took its electoral toll on the CPP dominance. That crawled in the CPP ceding its grip in Cape Coast to DOMO which had since shared the seat alternating with the NDC. That previous hold made Cape Coast the swing city electorally and looks marginally so. Outside of the parliamentary seat’s see-saw, the inner message stresses from any point, the emphatic in­trinsic nature of the psyche of the people that sides doggedly with the cheated—stranger or indigene, and even sojourner.

With regard to the elderly’s response, the youth may be right saying the elderly, including the chiefs and the few social high­brows, had little sympathetic understanding of their caught in the middle of nowhere. I don’t tell it with a smile to look back the Town, its sterling contribution to the country, history et al. It leads to what is lacking from the knocks of years of quarrelling, primarily, the shocking absence of authority. But I believe it is not all void like I urged the First National Media Commission [a Paper asked Mar.1994] and had felt it repeat­able delivering in my final part of part of two, for GBC’s Annual Lectures, the 70th.29 July 2005 at the Ghana International Confer­ence Centre Accra:

’In the histories of great and small nations [noted in records] , only one small , yet, most signifi­cant element separates the greats from the crowd. This is that only a few see the challenges. It falls on the shoulders of that few to confront those challenges. And with commitment, they suc­ceed…’’

For the Youth-Elderly differ­ences, each side holds an opinion -edge over the other. The subtle­ties make it awkward to put them on parity. Truth is the Town is not totally bereft of that bravadoes. It takes leadership. And that derives from a doing something about it by Traditional Rulership, the people simply supportive because there is no ‘’or else’’ towards peace from feuding for good, badly needed in the heart of the cradle of this country’s history—socio-economic ; but appears to represent what impolite rhetorics have achieved to date. In and for Cape Coast, it is reversible.

A final sterner stuff about this very historic Town, is a misunder­stood of its emblem ‘’eye Oguaa den, nna Oguaa anye wo bi’’? It bears on the use of ‘’Reversible’’ above. It is not saying the people practise Mosaic law. It is rather that anything refined that you can do, they would emulate you so finest. The whole mover is lead­ership. I mean traditional. It is ‘’beautiful nonsense’’ because they are very culture-bound– merit and or talisman. I guess I can trust the deductions hanging. Cape Coast is not where it was yesterday and where it wants or rather ought to be today. But people are paying concerned attention now.

By Prof Nana Essilfie-Conduah.