Ɔpemsoɔ, Mo Ne Ka! (Well Said, Otumfuo Nana Asantehene)

The meaning of ”ƆPEMSOƆ,” one of the traditional titles of Otumfuo the Asantehene (King of Asante), is “He who Persists” [in struggle].

And I was pleased to see that Otumfuo Osei Tutu The Second did not allow the fact that he has spoken against galamsey on many occasions in the past; that he was entertaining many highly-placed guests (including the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and his wife) that the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had earlier spoken and fondly reminded the Otumfuo that they were both from the illustrious Oyoko clan of Akanland; and the obvious fact that only pleasantries should normally be uttered at a happy celebration like the 25th anniversary of one's accession to a world-known, prestigious office like that of Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II did find it to mention "the most emotion-charged word in our country today—GALAMSEY!

Nana, mo ne kasa! (Well spoken sire!)

Nana, yɛmmfrɛ wo "Ɔhene" kwa! [Sire, we don't call you 'King' for nothing!]

I have only one thing to say to Otumfuo very respectfully: Nana, sɛbe o, tafrakyɛ, mprɛ aduasa: woakasa abrɛ! Ma woho mmere so! Di wo man anim GU GALAMSEY NA NNIPA NNYA NSU PA NNOM! [Sire, with apologies rendered thirty-fold, it must be said that you have done enough talking! Sire, now gird up your loins and lead your people to FINISH GALAMSEY, SO THAT THE PEOPLE MAY GET GOOD WATER TO DRINK!!]

Sire, I humbly invite your attention to the following scenario: the people in the towns and villages under you are exposed to the activities of highwaymen on a daily basis. When people go to their farms, they are ambushed, and their clothing, foodstuffs, and farm implements are stolen. They cannot send their children to neighbouring houses on essential errands, for they do not know who might abduct them on the way, take them into the bush and kill them, and sell their body parts to would-be self-enrichers who believe in magic.

Sire, the Government dutifully sends soldiers and policemen to patrol your towns and villages and try to end the deprivations that your people are suffering.

But your people keep complaining that the Government's efforts are not bearing the hoped-for results. The Government machinery is proving to be so wide and diffuse that it can be penetrated at will and corrupted in secret by those who stand to gain from the brigandage occurring in the countryside. Sire, do you fold your arms and say, “I have appointed sub-chiefs who are supposed to look after such things?"

Sire again, sɛbe o, tafrakyɛ, mprɛ aduasa: what would your illustrious ancestor, Otumfuo Osei Tutu The First, do in such a situation? What would another Asante Hero-King, Otumfuo Opoku Ware, do? What would the Hero-Queen Mother, Yaa Asantewaa do?

Nana, I beg to suggest that they would all say, “The answer lies in the people's own hands! They know how to hunt elephants. They know how to hunt leopards. Surely, the hunters among them can COMBINE with the Asafo and Kyirem groups and teach the people how to stalk and frighten off men who are mere hirelings who drive excavators into rivers in search of gold? Determined mass action can prevent bulldozers from reaching forest reserves and cocoa farms! So what are the people waiting for?

Nana, it is the sages of your ancestors, persons of enormous wisdom, who said, “Obi nnkyerɛ akodaa Nyame! [No one teaches a child what God (Or The Sky) is!]