The Ga-Dangme Art Of War Revisited
Ga-Dangme people of Ghana are the natives of Ada, Agortsime, Manya Klo, Yilo Klo, Shai, Osudoku, Prampram Ningo, Kpone, Tema, Nungua, Teshie, La, Osu, Ngleshie Alata and Gamashie. This ethnic group of sixteen solid Traditional Areas with 16 Paramount Chiefs and Queen Mothers is too powerful to be disintegrated and trampled on.
Indeed, our forerunners have paid a very heavy price to migrate from their original home to settle here in Ghana. They fought endless battles, crossed huge and wide rivers, lakes and oceans, they climbed terrible mountains, wrestled with dangerous animals, pulled down fortified walls, dismantled kingdoms and blasphemed dreaded shines. They survived living in the Accra plains, the coast of the Gulf of Guinea, the banks and the estuary of the volta river, and on top of the chain mountains because of the supremacy of our God and our indomitable fighting spirit.
Today, however, the enemy of the Ga-Dangme people has evolved completely, and therefore, our art of war needs serious revision too. Our enemies are no longer fighting us with weapons and ammunition. Rather, they are using ideologies, systems, and strategies which include economic power, political power, intellectual power, and religious power to whittle and take away our hard-earned heritage. The Ga-Dangme Tahuloi must therefore understand this fundamental shift in our warfare. The Ga-Dangme Tahuloi must understand that the nature of our new enemy does call for warriors but a “Committee of Wisemen” to generate cogent ideas to outsmart our adversaries. The new strategy to be developed by the Committee of Wisemen shall stand on seven solid pillars, which include:
- A composite strategic development plan for the entire Ga-Dangme area: This is the plan that all the Members of Parliament, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chiefs Executive, Traditional Rulers, political parties, religious bodies, NGOs, and civil society organizations operating in the Ga-Dangme areas shall follow ardently without the slightest deviation. All development plans, programmes, activities, and political party manifestoes shall be derived from this Ga-Dangme Area Development Plan
- Establishment of a powerful Ga-Dangme Media House: we the people of Ga-Dangme are yet to let our presence be felt adequately in the traditional media and social media space. We need a cutting edge media house to lead this noble course. Obonu FM, Obonu TV, Radio Ada, and Latenu FM are not enough to serve our people. Instead of pushing other media houses on Ga-Dangme land which indeed are private businesses to produce and broadcast programmes in the Ga-Dangme dialect, we should rather set up and manage our own.
- Resourceful Movie and Music Production House: again, we need a vibrant, innovative, and resourceful movie and music production firm with the capacity to shape and push Ga-Dangme films, music, artists, actors, and actresses to the global stage.
- Education and Training: we need to do the extraordinary in order to stand out. We need to tactically develop the professional and technical competencies of our people. We need to build a Ga-Dangme State University that will focus entirely on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
- Continuous Coaching in Ga-Dangme Leadership and Governance Skills: according to John C. Maxwell, everything rises and falls with leadership. Currently, there is a staggering leadership gap leading to shameful leadership and governance crisis in almost every part of the Ga-Dangme land. We need to develop transformational leaders for Ga-Dangme land, Ghana, West Africa, Africa, and the world. We need to also build strategic alliances with our neighbours and train professional lobbyists for the Ga-Dangme States.
- Ga-Dangme Chamber of Commerce and Industry: we need to lift up our entrepreneurship and wealth creation game. We need to train our people continuously in entrepreneurship and wealth creation and also pay particular attention to the allocation of spaces to Ga-Dangme men and women at the various market centers located across the length and breadth of Ga-Dangme land including Asesewa, Klo-Agogo, Nkrukan, Agomanya, Somanya, Dodowa, Ada, Ningo, Tema, Ashaiman, Nungua, Madina, Nima, Mallata, Kaneshie, Domi, Odorna, Agbogbloshie, Mallam junction, Lapaz, Abekah, Osu, La, Nungua, the fishing harbour, Kasoa, Salaga Kantamanto, and Makola.
- Ga-Dangme Youth and Sports Development: Ga-Dangme youth are the leaders in waiting. We need to pay maximum attention to building the capacities of our youth to be able to compete effectively in any field with their contemporaries anywhere in the world. In the area of sports, we must pay maximum attention to and invest massively in football, boxing, lawns tennis, and athletics
Let’s close our ranks and work with a united front because an effective power that is not consolidated is easily dissipated!
About the Author
Francis Opai Tetteh is an Agribusiness Development and Management Specialist, Local Government and Rural Development Consultant, and youth empowerment and progress advocate.
He is currently pursuing an MPhil programme in Migration Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon, with a special interest in “the effects of Migration on Agriculture and Food Security.”
He lives and works in Accra, Ghana as a motivational speaker and the Managing Director for Siwombi Industries.
minegotiation@gmail.com / +233 55 301 844