Twene what Jonas???

 

In the early 90s, my aunt bi fell very sick and was admitted into a prayer camp in a certain village close to Mankessim. They said her sickness was spiritual so they kept her and others in the camp for prayers. The priest came around every morning and evening to pray for them. Sometimes he’ll sprinkle water on them and scream, “We banish you, you evil spirits.”

My aunt lived in the prayer camp for months. Because of that, I also moved to live in the village, with a relative so we could visit my aunt often. It was a very small village. Everyone knew someone. Someone can meet you on the street, look at your nose and tell you, “Are you not the son of Agya Antobam? This your nose, your great grandfather had it. It was the reason he got killed in the great asofoatse war. He breathed too loudly, drawing the attention of the enemies to himself.”

There was this drunkard in the village. Nobody respected him so nobody listened to him. Sometimes, he would be so drunk that he would forget his own name. I wondered what would make a man take solace in the bottle the way this man did. They told me his story.

Kings come from blood lineage so are gong-gong beaters. When it got to his turn to be the gong-gong beater of the village, they used blood politics to deny him his birthright. It’s the sadness of that incident that drove him to the bottle. He drunk every day but he never accepted that he was drunk. Kids would run after him and tease him but he told them, “I’m not drunk ooo. What I can see now, even if you climb the highest mountain, you can’t see it.”

I was there for several months but I never saw him sober. One day, he stood at the gate of the public toilet and said, “The way this thing looks if we don’t take care, one day it would fall down and kill someone in this village. Nobody listened. A few months later, the building collapsed, killing four people.

He said, “You won’t listen to me. See your end.”

Another day, he called some group of guys who were hunting with fire. He said, “You’re playing with fire and someday you’ll get all of us burnt.” They moved along as if that man didn’t exist. They continued hunting down rats with flames. One day, many acres of orange farm got burnt down. He said, “You won’t listen to me, when it burns, we all live inside.”

He became a walking prophesy but no one listened to him. In history, no drunkard had ever been heard and he wasn’t going to be the exception.

He got frustrated.

One market day, he stood at the entrance shouting insults on the chiefs and elders of the town. Even the chief priest of the town was not spared. He called them fools. He called them deaf. He called the chief a blind warrior. Blindness is the worse insult one can give to a chief. It’s not only physical, but it’s also spiritual and it’s an abomination but this my drunkard friend didn’t spare anyone that day.

He was at the gate throwing verbal punches when the palace guards came to bundle him up and carried him away. Everybody followed, shouting and screaming and wondering what would happen to him.

The beauty of traditional democracy is that no matter who you are and the offense you’ve committed when you get to the palace, they’ll give you a chance to explain your actions. He was asked, “What evil spirit descended on you today for you to have the guts to call Odikro blind?” He said, “I knew it.” I knew it would get to this point.”

They screamed at him, “Odikro is listening, you better talk or face the music.”

He said, “Before that public toilet broke down and killed four people, I warned the village but nobody listened. Before we lost those farms to fire, I saw it and warned them but no one listened. I said it long ago before it happened. Many people standing here heard my voice but did nothing about it so why am I here today? I’m here today because I insulted the Odikro. If insults will get the Odikro to hear my voice, then Odikro get ready. But before you do anything to me, let me say this, the bridge downtown is breaking down. The way I see it, it wouldn’t be long before it collapses. Do something about it before the worse happens. Now my hands are up, do to me as you please.”

au sage suffit🙌🏿