THIS I PUT TO YOU

Ghana, our priced possession

Shall we not keep her as a scarcely priced treasure?

Must we let her go, like fish off the hook?

Or bird out of hand

This, I put to you.

Must we stop her from etching her greatness?

From being the eagle of the continent

Whose strength, others seek

This forbearing nation

This, I put to you.

Today and tomorrow, challenge your conscience

Must we shed blood in honour of our freedom fighters,

Must we destroy that which our hands built,

Must we negate the course our forbears trod,

Must we tear down historic monuments and symbols,

Of Unity, which we stand for

Are we clones of beasts?

Or pigs who rejoice in mud?

Must you hate a fellow for power

And shed his blood to pacify your greed

Shame on you, heartless brother

Who ripped off your once kindred heart into pieces

For pieces of silver, to exchange.

This, I put to you.

Brother and sister

Diplomat,

Lawyer,

Farmer,

Consultant,

Youth, aged, old,

Black brother.

Let us preserve our costly ideals

Let every worker sweat and enjoy

Let Ghana remain the golucosi, the haven of cocoa

Let every child keep hopes of singing ‘twinkle twinkle little star’

Let the unemployed nurse his hopes of a job

And the blind won’t take his life for God’s sake

Remember, guns don’t kill, men do

Knifes don’t kill, men do

This, I put to you

You seek the reins of power, albeit manipulatively

Should it be so? NO

Let us remain for the rains that will pour and water our fields

Is that no evidence of freedom, and independence?

Or do we need to be freed again to be truly free?

If we really needed to be free, then, were we ever free?

I rest my pen and paper

May I find it again where I placed it?

After the elections, hoping there is no war

For then shall I write the next chapter

‘Ghana’ will be the first word to be written.

This, I put to you.

Copyright (C) 2012