*By Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema, PhD

“[In a presidential broadcast, President John Mahama] said there is no reason why
the unity achieved in the period of mourning of the late President John Mills should
fade away… There is no reason why we cannot continue to stand united, and to move
forward as one. There is no reason why our differences have to divide us or turn us
into adversaries, especially not our political differences. When it comes to the
practice of peace and unity, we Ghanaians have always been exemplary. Whether we
support Hearts of Oak or Asante Kotoko, when it’s time for the Black Stars to play,
we are indivisible” (Ghanaweb August 15, 2012).

President John Mahama
Let your sunrise be a new history
Time to end all “Adze Pa wo Ofie”
To end all FORMS of “Adze Pa”
Time to end the slave Castle “tribalism”
Of one thousand “tribesmen” in one office
Time to end nepotism
Of your brother getting all contracts
Time to end cronyism
Of Kufour’s son buying a hotel
Time to end favoritism
Of Mills’ son having a state bungalow
Time to end all preferences
Time to use diversity as unity
Time to use accountability as unity
Unity without diversity is atypicality
Unity without probity is atypicality
Let unity ring
So let diversity ring
So let probity ring
The fuel of unity is diversity
The fuel of unity is probity
Time to end “Adze Pa wo Ofie”

President Mahama
We hail your address to the nation
That coursed through all
East & West
South & North
That woke us all
From past contradictions
Today is your dawn
On the eaves of homes
Peace is still
At the dawn of your Presidency
A new rainfall on the eaves
Of hope
Of inspiration
You drummed
Unity, unity
You solemnize, poise unity
Harkening to the Asomdweehene
Mills, the Chieftain of Peace
Mills’ seasons of contradictions
Of peace that brought violence
The mayhem of foot-soldiers
The dictatorial orthodoxy of BNI
The political baiting of appointees
The democratization of tribalism

President Mahama
Unity
Unity
And unity
Soothing sound of empowerment
Soothing sounds conscientization
Soothing sounds liberation
Sounds alone are noise
President Mahama
It must be UNITY
With DIVERSITY
With INCLUSIVITY
No more Adze Pa wo Fie
No democratization of tribalism
Dismantle “tribal” appointments
Let unity and diversity ring
In Bono
In Nzema
In Gomoa
In Agona
In Fante
In Ga-Adangbe
In Akuapem
In Akyem
In Dwaben
In Asante
In Bono
In the Volta
In the “North”
In Denkyira
In Agona
In Akwamu
In Kwahu
In every corner of Ghana
Let unity and diversity ring
With inclusivity
With accountability
With adoptability
With agreeability
With amicability

President Mahama
Time to end the Castle “tribalism”
The hegemony of the minority
Time to use diversity as a pathway
Unity without diversity is atypicality
So let unity ring
So let diversity ring
So let probity ring
The fuel of unity is diversity
Time to end all “Adze Pa wo Ofie”

*Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema, Ph. D., is a nationalist Denkyira beauty. She is a trained
oral historian cum sociologist and Professor in the USA. She lives in Pennsylvania
with her great mentor and teaches Africa-area studies at a college in Maryland. In
her pastime, she writes what critics have called “populist hyperbolic, satirical”
poetry. She can be reached at akadumensema@yahoo.com My poems and essays on Ghanaweb
and elsewhere must not be reproduced in full or in part for any academic or
scholarly work without my written permission.