Opinions of Tuesday, 28 February 2012

Columnist: Adjetey, Cornelius Okan

24th & 28th February , A Month Of True Reflection

Fellow Ghanaians, today marks the 64th Anniversary of the shooting of my Grandfather Sergeant Cornelius Fredrick Adjetey and his colleagues Cpl Attipoe and Private Odartey Lamptey.

Whilst Politicians use this day as a day to show how good they are with their history lessons, to me, the month of February is a month of reflection, a month of sadness, pain and grief, but also dissatisfaction with the state of affairs of the country. My grandfather and his colleagues sacrificed for the cause of emancipation, development and national progress. Their dream remains un-met. The 24th and 28th of February are days that brings tears and sadness to me especially knowing that ,those who overthrew Kwame Nkrumah on the 24th and those who shot my grandfather on the 28th to a large extent are still benefiting from their devilish acts and succeeding in entrenching exploitation of our people today .

The long standing effects of the overthrow of Ghana’s progressive agenda led by Nkrumah can be seen today in widespread disillusion and disenchantment not just among progressives but among the general population, with many totally disengaged from our politics.

Our politics today has been reduced to nothing but money and unnecessary topics for debates. The urgent issues that affect the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian are rarely discussed. Today, the sense of patriotism and love for country is lost whiles the citizens of this country vote for injustice, greed, exploitation and idleness among many.

I will like to thank past governments for honouring my Grandfather - Sergeant Adjetey and his collegues, Cpl Attipoe, Private Odartey Lamptey and Dr Nkrumah, however, to me, honouring them with events means nothing if the very things they stood, fought and died for , remain as major challenges yet to be overcome. Their sacrifice would have been in vain and will mean nothing if economic emancipation, social justice, eradication of poverty, better health and education, major development remains an illusion.

My grandfather believed in what Nkrumah believed in thus Social Justice, Self determination and Pan Africanism and wished his young son at the time (Stephen Okan- Adjetey) could be trained to go and assist in the liberation struggle in South Africa in the days of apartheid. He hated injustice and believed in Ghana and Africa.

Ghana MUST be free to free Africa! African unity will be impossible to achieve without Ghana and the Nkrumahist family, we must reflect on the great gains that Ghana and all other African nations stand to benefit from African Integration which is easier to achieve in an IT world today.

Today in Ghana ,once you have the money ,you are free to take the country for a ride politically, some register new political parties to serve their own selfish agendas and to some of us, politics go beyond games or a game of monopoly, it is a serious matter, it has been blood and lives sacrificed. Our families had to go through so much pain and difficulty because our fathers and grandfathers decided to serve as sacrificial lambs for the nation.

I take this opportunity to call on all progressives and Nkrumaists to revisit their conscience and think about those who have suffered for this nation, the blood that was sacrificed, the lives that were lost. It will take NKRUMAHISTS, the fear and direction of God to liberate Ghana. Nkrumahists MUST regroup in a united spirit to save Ghana. It is only they who can liberate this country and NO OTHER.

We cannot build an Nkrumahist family under probity and accountability, Nkrumahism is bigger than that. Nkrumahism encompasses probity and accountability and spells this out as one of its many important but yet very basic principles. Nkrumahist should know that, Nkrumahist cannot rule this nation as prescribed by its leader if they are divided. Ghana cannot afford this-it is way too expensive for us all. Activities of an Nkruimahist under another umbrella rather than the true family (CPP) will be frustrated and the evidence are clear before us.

After the Ban of the Nkrumahist family name (CPP), in recent times, the name has been reclaimed and the structures are being built. All Nkrumahists should take advantage of this structure, be proud of it, wash themselves off the pettiness, the differences, the ‘I give up spirit’ to help rebuild the structures and then use it as a political machinery to liberate Ghana. Where good does nothing evil triumphs and we cannot sit and do nothing. Ghana needs a group of likeminded people with a certain background trained and schooled on core fundamental principles of selflessness, patriotism, collective sense of direction to move this country forward-this certainly cannot be the newly formed political families we see these days. This can be done by ensuring that all those who take up positions within a united Nkrumahist family, be it ministerial, within the family, parliamentary etc, qualify to do so with a certification to show that they have undergone the ideological training and understand the core principles of governance (service to the People) .WE MUST BREAK THE CLASS SYSTEM- We must industrialize Ghana, create the space for full employment, good housing, equal opportunity for education. Prices of goods MUST NOT exceed wages; house rental MUST BE within the means of all groups as said by Nkrumah many years ago.

When we do this and ensure that we have built a system that checks corruption and the money for the people is used for the people, and the lives of ordinary Ghanaians are improved, then we can be sure that we have indeed honoured our heroes and their deaths and sacrifices were not in vain.

Thank you

Cornelius Okan Adjetey (Grandson Of sergeant Adjetey) 0247754331