Retract & apologise for your sakawa endorsement

Following his repost of a tribal comment against some Akyem people, former President Mahama has come under severe backlash.

Just yesterday, hundreds of Akyems went on a demonstration at Asamankese in the Eastern Region to register their displeasure over the comment, ‘Akyem Sakawa Boys.’

They are demanding a retraction and apology by former President Mahama, or face further actions from the Akyem people.

The mammoth demonstration gathered people from all the three Akyem traditional areas, namely, Akyem Abuakwa, Akyem Kotoku, and Akyem Bosome.

Clad in red and black, the demonstrators, led by some chiefs of all the traditional areas, held placards with inscriptions communicating their anger.

Among others, some placards read; “Let’s be decent in our politics,” “Mahama, be warned,” “No, no, no to bigotry,” “Stop abusing Akyems.”

After walking some kilometres, amidst singing and dancing, guided by police personnel, libation was poured to call on their ancestors to intervene to guide people on the right path not to disunite the nation.

However, the ancestors should deal with whoever would disobey wise counsel, with regards to oneness among all ethnic groups in the country.

It would be recalled that Mr Mahama shared a post a member of his party, who is the Member of Parliament for the Bolgatanga Constituency in the Upper East Region, Isaac Adongo.

Mr Adongo was commenting on the controversial Agyapa Minerals Royalties deal, in which he referred to some persons leading the arrangement as “Akyem Sakawa Boys.”

His comment did not gain prominence until the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) reposted it on his social media handle and said he agreed.

President Akufo-Addo has had cause to complain to the Catholic Bishops Conference, which had called on him to discuss the growing state of politics of insults.

In that meeting, the visibly-looking angry Akufo-Addo told the Catholic Bishops Conference to call out people who make tribal induced comments, especially the president or a leader of a political party.

Meanwhile, Mr Mahama appears unperturbed about the heat that has met his action.

He has rather argued that President Akufo-Addo had lost the right to complain about name-calling.

He rationalises that Akufo-Addo referred to late President Prof Mills as “Prof Do Little.”

Organised by the Concerned Citizens of Okyeman, the group addressed the media to end the demonstration in response to what it described as tribal bigotry post.

Spokesperson Archibald Ntiri-Acquah, commenting on Mr Mahama’s move to equalise, explained that President Akufo-Addo personalised his comment.

He acknowledged that those working on the Agyapa deal had names and belonged to a political party, so it had nothing to do with the Akyem tribe.

This issue seems to have reignited the earlier incidents between the NDC and the people of Akyem Abuakwa in particular. The party’s national officials had to go and beg the Okyenhene over that.

In a statement read to climax the demonstration, the Spokesperson noted that: “Customs prevent us from repeating the abominable comments by the Ashanti Regional Secretary of the NDC, Kwame Zu, against Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, the Okyenhene, and Okyeman. The impetuous and insulting comments by Tawia Boateng, the former Eastern Regional Chairman of the NDC, and the disdainful and irresponsible statement made earlier by Mr. Stan Dogbe against Akyems, must also be condemned.”

He continued that: “Mr. Mahama, who, as President, described Kyebi as the headquarters of galamsey, in stating his position on the Agyapa Royalties threw caution to the wind and repeated the ethnocentric description of Akyems as “Sakawa” people. Sakawa is used in local parlance to describe blood rituals, occultism, cyber fraud, greed and violence.”

“The NDC should stop seeking to win power by tearing apart the beautiful and harmonious multi-ethnic fabric of our nation,” he added.

To the demonstrators, as in their statement: “The true definition of Sakawa is when the President of a country allocates over 70% of the country’s bauxite resources, valued at $450 billion, to his younger brother, Ibrahim Mahama.

“The true meaning of Sakawa is when President John Mahama gave total control of our nation’s forestry and timber business to his brother, who, before, had no prior experience in the timber business. We saw how his brother and his team pillaged the forests of Akyem in those days, and our complaints led to naught.

“We, the Concerned Citizens of Akyem, call on the elders of the NDC to advise Mr. Mahama to apologise unconditionally to the entire citizens of the three Akyem States within 72 hours, and pledge not to make such derogatory statements in the future. Failure to comply will cause all Akyems to prevent Mr. Mahama and the NDC from campaigning in any of the three Akyem States,” the statement ended.

 

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