Author: Bernard Quayson (Mr Gelisem)
MPOHOR DISTRICT COUNCIL BASED
NB: This council is limited to this district (Mpohor District) only. For this reason, it has been coded only to be appropriately understood by the natives.
The privilege of getting your attention is of great value, and for that matter, God will never forget to grace every reader of this manuscript, the most important thing on earth, which is understanding. With reference to theology, He made it clear that; “with all thy getting, we should get an understanding.” (Proverbs 4:7)
Don’t play with Life; it’s not a Game
I always say life is not a game. This is why we don’t play with our life.
Life is designed to be governed by laws. So basically, everything works by principles– I mean, everything submits to law. So the success of everything depends on the law that binds it.
Legal evidence according to theological historical records is; that God of all things could have given the Israelites everything they needed to become powerful (successful), but He knew, it could only be achieved through laws; so He gave them laws.
Our success, therefore, depends on our knowledge of laws. Because laws are not created to accommodate a vice; they’re created to stop them, or to define them; whether they are wrong or right, good or bad, healthy or destructive etc. So, a law brings definition. That is why “ignorance of the law” is the cause of people being perished– and they say; “it has no excuse”.
Decisions and Consequences
Secondly, consequences are more important than decisions. In our case, the decision to demonstrate was considered more important to the extent that, the consequences of failing to comply with the law (authority) were overlooked.
People normally say; “if you make a decision, you’ve got to live with it”- that is not true.
You don’t live with the decision because that happens in one moment – but you live with the consequences. Don’t ever make a decision more important than the consequence; because decisions give birth to consequences.
Now, no one is accepting responsibility for the consequences of the demonstration, meanwhile, a decision was made. That is irresponsible and illegal.
The fact is, we can never be against decisions. Decisions are inevitable,
but we should deplete every possible means to make sure we amass all the information, not only about the decisions but the consequences. Because, once consequences are known, decisions are easy.
Whatever the case, it was never wrong to fight for the state of the road in this very season (rainy). Anyone with the community at heart would have protested on the same course.
Because the fixing of this deplorable road that links Apowa-Mpohor-Adum Banso by this government is long overdue since its inception and sod cut by President Nana Akufo Addo.
It is also not understood if the contractor (Jusmoh) who is supposed to work on the road is not back on site; can’t the other private stakeholders (specifically; Amandi, BOPP, Norpalm etc.) patch the road until Jusmoh resumes?
Below is a picture of the road blocked by the activities of the Amandi Company (a prevalent user of the road). It was taken a day before the demonstration(4th July 2022), in the Awonakrom neighbourhood.
I support that the road must be fixed. Even if not fully done by Jusmoh, at least the private stakeholders should be patching the road till the contractor is back, and not be obstructed by their activities rather. They are even obligated to give back to the community – so patching the road that they also use is a decent negotiation that they will never be given, anywhere.
I had no dilemma with my people demonstrating; it was logical. But there are other ways we could have also used to reach the same result, rather than using violence to obtain what is rightfully ours. Our right as citizens is to be properly aligned with the authority; in order to receive from the authority (don’t forget we can also have a peaceful demonstration). Whichever we choose doesn’t make us right, but the consequence.
I am not in any way arguing that we cannot have a demonstration without a permit, but my argument is for the fact that, permitted demonstrations by law even have limits (time, routes etc).
one demonstration and we’ve got 11 people arrested, several beaten and lost a pregnant soul because she was deprived of using the road that was blocked by the activities of the demonstration.
Let me use this medium to console the family of the deceased; may her soul rest in precise peace.
I am entirely disappointed in all who were involved in this demonstration; specifically, the opinion leaders who happen to be part of the demonstrators.
The man who made the announcement for the demonstration has to admit that, it was wrong to publicly announce a demonstration without education and legal backing. I believe that was the reason for failing to control the demonstrators. Because you can not control a man if he does not know the consequences of his actions.
There were other opinion leaders who could have also helped the man to calm the demonstrators when the authorities needed them to stop. But out of whatever interest, they sided with the demonstrators and ignored the response of the authorities.
What makes it funny is that they also couldn’t withstand the military force and took to their heels. I didn’t know people could run like that – lol, integrity lost.
Though the state of the road is unspeakable, it still wouldn’t be fixed magically; all we needed was a response from the right authorities.
Whether with a permit or no permit, the decision to demonstrate was reasonable. But the decision to make people demonstrate unlawfully (Violence), without educating them on the consequences of their actions, is unacceptable. At least the Tobacco company has done well in educating its customers on the consequences of smoking. They have written on the box that “smoking can kill you”, so the decision to smoke doesn’t make them an offender. This is the benchmark for leading any organisation.
Before persuading anybody into our decision, it’s our responsibility to make sure we give every information, not only about the decision but the consequences.
“Consequences” are the reason for education. Because that is what we live with. Whoever you are today, is the consequence of the decisions you made. That is why it’s important not to decide with people, but with your conscience. Because people may leave you but “Conscience” never leaves us. Those are the memories we will enjoy for the rest of our life. So, the question is; what memory would you love to enjoy for the rest of your life? knowing that the road you blocked led to the death of an innocent pregnant woman who wanted to use the road to the hospital for delivery.
You have all failed as demonstrators. What happened proves that nothing can be done in this community as a team. It’s the same “old divisional tactics” of people trying to use others for political glory.
No one offers help genuinely; we do it either to promote a party or to build a political career, forgetting the reputation we have for our fourth generation.
The gathered evidence shows that 80% of the people arrested on the demonstration day (5th June 2022) were not part of the demonstrators; some were even arrested in their rooms (over 100metres off the demonstration area).
After being remanded, they are to appear in court again on August 15, 2022, and no one seems to care… I told you; the same old greedy divided-interest leadership.
DCE and the MP for the district believe that NDC members in the community are behind the act, with the intention of sabotaging their administration – so no assistance will be provided to free these arrested innocent natives of the district.
Traditional leaders also indict the people (demonstrators) for disrespecting the decisions of the authorities when they were informed to halt. They have also refused to help.
The people (demonstrators) are denouncing the traditional leaders for organizing such an illegal demonstration without any awareness.
Now, everyone seems to decline from the consequence. Meanwhile, if the political leaders together with the traditional chiefs had contracted these stakeholders ( Amandi, BOPP, etc.) to patch the road, I believe there wouldn’t have been a demonstration, even in the first place. To me, they have no reason to turn their back on this case.
This is my recommendation;
It was a good fight, even though it ended in a loss. The consequences are what we should bear now. Whether you are involved or not, it was a good struggle for the district, despite whatever interest.
Our failure to effectively act as leaders is the cause of this demonstration. And instead of turning a blind eye, I suggest we use our influence to free these innocent natives who were arrested. Because, in the end, it will all come back to us (the leader).
You know Adam never picked fruit, but when all was done, God went directly to him.
The citizens are watching and learning. You may call upon them one day and get disappointed.
May God help us all.
