By Doreen Darko & Angela Ofosu Boateng
Prof. Kwesi Yankah, Minister of State in-charge of Tertiary Education, has received numerous commendations for his contribution to the political history of the nation.
The commendation came during the launch of his Book: Ogyakrom: The Missing Pages of June 4th .
Dr. Mensah Otabil, General Overseer of the International Central Gospel Church, applauded Prof. Yankah for his boldness in writing on the happenings in the nation during the late 1970s at a young age of 27.
He lauded the bravery, brilliance and thoughtfulness with which he voiced out what everyone else feared to say at the time, through his satiric articles published in The Catholic Standard under the pseudo name ‘Abonsam Fireman’.
The 310-page Book, published by the Standard Newspapers and Magazines (SNAM) Ltd., which is a compilation of articles published from January 1979 to March 1980, was launched at the Christ the King Parish Hall in Accra recently.
The launching was attended by many Ministers of State, Academics and other Public Officials.
Also present was Most Rev. Charles Gabriel Palmer-Buckle, Metropolitan Archbishop of Accra and Very Rev. Fr. Lazarus Anondee, the Secretary General of the National Catholic Secretariat; Sir Samuel K. Asubonteng, SNAM Board Chairman and other Board members.
Dr. Otabil, who launched the Book, noted that even though the newspaper reports on June 4 are missing, the Author had provided a replacement in the form of a Book, which captures significant moments of Ghana’s history to ensure that future generations do not repeat the excesses of those times. He urged the Ghanaian youth to emulate him by putting their ideas into writing.
Speaking at the same function, Dr. Bonnah Koomson, a former Editor of The Catholic Standard, said the Book is a heritage and an aid memoire, which vividly reminds us of all that was ugly in our political past, and preserves what otherwise would have been lost.
“Every chapter of the 55-episode book was about issues we all knew about, agonized about but were incapable or unwilling to talk openly about. Who ought “to bell the cat,” when the going was so tough in Ghana’s culture of silence?” he wondered,
Dr. Koomson said the sub-title of the Book: “…The Missing Pages of June 4th” is partly to restore a part of our, otherwise lost, immediate political history, which is to “…let… anonymous writings of 1979 speak for themselves unedited…that the Truth should be told …and that some missing pages (of Ghana’s history) be told…” .
Reviewing the Book, Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee, President of Salt and Light Ministries, described the Writer as a Satirist with a unique sense of humour, who presents stories with historical accuracy.
She said the Author also offers political meaning to a period in Ghana’s history, in an engaging manner, while maintaining a relevance that offers lessons to help in current national growth and development.
Dr. Aryee said The Missing Pages of June 4th presents a conscious reminder to guide the up and coming and also to help preserve the progress the nation has so far achieved, adding that it captures an important era of Ghana’s political history with phenomenal linguistic genius.
She noted that Prof. Yankah’s writing seemed like an ever relevant admonition for leaders, especially in Ghana, never to take for granted the need for the ‘bow and arrow men’ to be constantly engaged and kept concentrated in their core business.
Mr. Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Chairman of the Ghana Cocoa Board, who chaired the function, said Prof. Yankah has contributed his quota to the rebirth and institutionalisation of democracy in the country at the peril of his life.
He said the Author cum Minister has impacted the younger generation not only through his writings and media activism, but also as a Formator in the University.
Touching on what motivated him to compile his writings, Prof. Yankah said it was to throw more light on Ghana 1979 and events thereafter.
He noted that in 2003 when Ghana’s reconciliation hearing began during President John Agyekum Kufuor rule, he realised that there were several missing gaps on the “June 4 Revolution”, and hoped that the compilation would be a more evident testimony of the event.
Prof. Yankah said the missing gaps were even more glaring in the 1990s when on June 4, 1991, during the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) era, he sought to do a special issue on the “Revolution” in the Uhuru Magazine, of which he was the Editor.
He said after searching in the state-owned newspapers for publications on the 1979 June events, he found no archival records in any of the national libraries where documentations on the nation’s history are kept.
“I wondered whether the missing documentation was a mere coincidence or a deliberate act to delete some happenings in Ghana’s political history”, he said.
Prof. Yankah noted that The Missing Pages of June 4th was, therefore, an attempt to document events that took place at the time for the current and future generations.
