Subj: SIMPLE LIES & COMPLEX TRUTHS - Democracy, Hypocrisy, Baidoo & Co.
Date: 01/07/98
To: EBaidoo@aol.com

CC: Okyeame@africaonline.com, africa_think_tank@databack.com, africa@africaonline.com.gh, ade@equinoxc.demon.co.uk, Gilbert_Addy@europe.notes.pw.com, akwawukume@usa.net, gnaddy@cyberia.net.lb, Kboateng@dfi.wa.gov,

Kofi Baidoo ( PH.D , OOV, ABC ?)

I have lately  been quietly enjoying the company of my grandchildren .Your recent post which I have just read has jolted me into the realisation that there is still a lot of work for me to do before I finally depart this life.

I do not know whatever it is that you obtained your PHD in but, before I go on to deal with your pitifully ignorant and tribalistic posting , I would urge you to pause for a moment to read  the following from Cicero ( 106-43 BC).

In case you have never heard of him, Cicero was a greatly admired and influential Roman orator, statesman and philosopher. His extremely active political life made him many enemies, and his surviving speeches preserve for us something of the wit, vigour and tireless energy of the harsh but sensible words( in Latin) with which he assailed his foes.

"Tam antem eras excors, ut tota in oratione tua tecum ipse pugnares, non modo non cohaerentia inter se diceres, sed maxime disiuncta atque contraria, ut non tanta mecum quanta tibi tecum esset contentio "


Cicero, Phillipicae II



A free translation into English for your benefit and for those interested is as follows :

"You were such a moron throughout your speech that you were at war with yourself, firing out statements which were not just inconsistent, but which were utterly devoid of any coherence or logic, to the point where your adversary in battle stopped being me and became yourself "


Cicero, Phillipicae II



All I can say and will say is that after reading your contribution below, you really are part of the problem of increasing ethnicisation of politics in Ghana. I don't know whether it's really worth arguing with you since your views appear to be strongly held but I honestly think that the poverty of your reasoning and argumentation speaks volumes about the bankruptcy of our education system or at least the education which you have had.

A minor dose of deconstructionism applied to your perverse treatise on majority rule, democracy and Ewe domination clearly exposes you as a subscriber to the ethnic absolutism of the Akan majority myth which I thought had now been laid to rest. It is nothing more than a castle of nonsense built on air.

Obviously with your apparent belief in such nonsense as Africans being the original Jews , you and your ilk would believe anything. That is of relatively little concern to me.

My concern is that people like you with their grandiose if not fraudulent use of academic titles and the modern technology of the net will seek to infect gullible young minds with the dangerous virus of bigotry founded on ignorance, insecurity and political frustration. that is why I have decided to deal with you just as I have had the occasion to with others like you on the net.

What makes you think Ewes think they are "in control" in Ghana ? Can you provide any proof that Ewes are overrepresented in the corridors of political and economic power in Ghana ?

If an Ewe is in any position of prominence, does it necessarily have to be the result of ethnic political patronage rather than merit ?

Since you are obviously hung up over majorities and minorities in Ghana , perhaps you'd be kind enough to tell us : who are the majority in Ghana ?

What , in your book, constitutes democratic majority rule  ?

I find your reference to the plebiscite and "Tranvolta Togoland" ( TVT)- in the style of the feebleminded "Professor" Steve Garbrah - disturbing . In my experience this is usually the prelude to some tribalist outpourings and you, Kofi Baidoo , PHD , ABC, did not disappoint.

Ewes are as much part of Ghana as any other group - yours and mine included - and this sort of divisive and disgraceful  tribalism simply has to stop if we are to move forward as a nation. Both the nation of Ghana and the Ghanaian national identity are twentieth century creations - "concoctions" might actually be a more appropriate word.

Is Rawlings the first and only "undemocratic" leader Ghana has had in its history ? At least he won two multi-party elections .
Were Nzimas "in control " during the period of Nkrumah's rule ? 
What about Ashantis and the period of Acheampong's rule ?
Were Ewes the only people who voted for Rawlings and the NDC ?

I do not know which part of the country you are from and which ethnic group you belong to but I hope you are rational and knowledgeable enough to realise that your ethnic group cannot be any more "Ghanaian" than the Ewes . Your pathetic choice of language below betrays a deep sense of prejudice and ignorance.

To quote from your piece ( your capitals) :

"REMEMBER, IN DEMOCRACY THE MAJORITY RULES. IN
THE  POPULATION OF GHANA THE EWES ARE IN THE MINORITY.

Of course Kofi Baidoo , Ph.D,  is entirely at liberty to apply such a questionable approach to the population statistics of Ghana; a man has a right to mislead himself afterall, but he must be particularly obtuse to attempt to mislead the cerebral on the basis of some concocted theory.

The rest of us can clearly see the infinite subjectivity, hence unacceptability, of any conclusion reached on that basis.
Your statement about an ethnic majority in Ghana's population is an obvious lie; in fact, this is old hat on Okyeame. It is the simple lie I referred to; the truth is far more complex.

Ghana's population has never had a simple ethnic majority. Challenging this simple truth is like joining the Flat Earth Society to question the proven geometrical shape of the globe. Like Sisyphus, you and your fellow travellers have been carrying this burdensome little load of yours frustratingly up the hill of truth for too long without triumphing.

I contend neither for the Ewe nor the Asante; Ghana is bigger than those two groups. The Ewe have been attacked and are now practically everybody's whipping boy on tribalism.   Kofi Awoonor's book, The Ghana Revolution is virtually treated as a document agreed upon by all Ewes.

If the Ewe are tribalistic and pursue the course alleged then that is despicable and should be condemned in the strongest terms. But regarding the writing of Awoonor as expressing the opinion of every Ewe is misguided. Tribalism cannot in the long run benefit the Ewe. However long Ewe tribalism lasts an Ewe cannot rule Ghana forever; for there are ebbs and flows in all powers, and the back-lash would entail a diminution of Ewe role in Ghana for the foreseeable future.

Like the Asante, the Ewe are predominantly a rural people. Like other Ghanaians, the problems of either group are manifold; but both are apt to interpret any underdevelopment they may see in their rural environment as evidence of government neglect or discrimination, leading to insularity and a seige mentality. Yet there are other rural peoples in Ghana against whom one never hears charges of ethnic discrimination.

You are probably better off keeping your lips firmly buttoned (superglued, if you care), Kofi Baidoo, Ph.D.

I am personally a disinterested observer of developments in Ghana - a dangerous and iron-hearted free thinker, if you like. I fear neither the wrath of governments nor the displeasure of any particular tribal lobby; those are for the faint-hearted.

We must encourage reasoned debate up front, before the fierce whirlwind blows and the Augean stables are cleansed of charlatans and self-seekers as well as the detritus of corruption and pollution; not prove to be expert post-mortem analysts when the bitter hand-wringing starts and our words have no use.

You are,  unquestionably,  an exceedingly poor advertisement of Ghanaian intellect and our country's education system.

In this the evening of my life, I however still have faith in Ghana as a place where sanity , civility , the truth and the spirit of our common Ghanaian and African humanity will prevail over the arrogant , ignorant, inflammatory and divisive rantings of the likes of Kofi Baidoo, Ph.D, ABC

God help you

Long live Ghana !

NUMO NOTSE AMARTEY