*By Akadu Ntiriwa Mensema, Ph. D.

“Former President Rawlings has thrown his weight behind the actions of the NDC
youth who torched the party’s office and destroyed property in the wake of
ruling on Yaa-Naa’s murder last Tuesday. According to Mr Rawlings, the anger at
the ruling NDC was long overdue, adding that the action of the aggrieved youth
would have been worse, had they not restrained themselves. He therefore
commended them for controlling their anger. ‘I am here to praise them for the
control that they exhibited; that they took it out on the party structures, the
government’s party structures, that is very much justified. I believe an
opportunity is on the horizon for us to do justice,’ he opined” (Ghanaweb, April
3, 2011).

The Andanis, Abudus
The Abudus, Andanis
Great Lions of Dagbon
Landlords of the savanna
The sentries of boldness
Wake up from your stupor
JJ has copiously thanked you
JJ has congratulated you
For embodying violence
For destroying property
For breaking normative laws
For being happily anarchic
And you are joy-riding
On his cartoonish evidence
On JJ’s national follies
Like shea-butter in the sun
Melting into nothingness

JJ is championing violence
His magnetic divisiveness
His cacophonic narcissism
Our brothers, sisters
Our Northern siblings
Time to take the narrative
Narrative of peace-building
Take the narrative from JJ
Rawlings’ narrative of fire
Rawlings is stoking the fire
Fire-ing the ashes of peace
Fire-ing you to violence

Oh! Prez Fante Atta Mills
Sits on JJ’s malignant rage
Sits on JJ’s visceral disrespect
JJ’s blame-casting violence
The NDC’s damaged Prez
Demonized by the Obonsam
The Obonsam FIREman
He who uses FIRE for love
Love on a Valentine’s Day
Konadu danced FIRE dance
Love in savanna-ed Tamale
Andanis dance fire dance
JJ Rawlings is burning all
Before the pristine season
Before the new seasons
JJ has sown plants of anomy
In the Northern watersheds
Savage seasons of anomy
Harvested by selfish elites
On some fools’ errand
Harvesting JJ’s lunacy

JJ the man of EVIDENCE
But he who has no evidence
For demonizing Liman
For pummeling Arkaah
For criminalizing Kufour
For calling Mills MESS-iah
The Konongo Kaya
Atta the Mortuary Man
Atta the Fante Bastard
Atta the child of a rabid dog
Atta the Fante snail

The Andanis, Abudus
The Abudus, Andani
Wake up from your stupor
Tell JJ to give his evidence
Evidence on his rampage
His murderous rampage
The killing of the judges
Of Yeyeboy
Of B. B. Bismarck
Of the Judges
Fires of violence
Fires of corruption
Fires of brutalization
Fires of “tribalism”

The Andanis, Abudus
The Abudus, Andani
Wake up from your stupor
You are one people
Same traditions, culture
For how long, how long
Must you be exploited
By JJ Rawlings
By the NDC, NPP
By your own elites

The gods have sanctioned it
The gods have asked Rawlings
To call for long overdue justice
When a murderer call for justice
The gods answer and hail him
Hail JJ Rawlings for justice
He is out to get justice for all
Not only for the Andanis
But also for the all others
And the gods will accept it

*Akadu N. 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