The tragedy for Nana Fremaa Busia, is that not only is she a beauty with incredibly sharp brains – she also carries a very famous political name. It makes her a magnet for the outwardly-respectable and philandering-types who litter the upper echelons of our national life. They are invariably men who happen to be powerful individuals in very influential positions. In the civilized parts of the world, such men, whose favourite hobby is the sexual harassment of female subordinates, are an endangered species – as their activities are frowned on by society at large. Indeed, they often end up in jail for the unwelcome attention they pay women. It is instructive that one of the Ghanaian economy’s most lucrative sectors, the women’s lobby industry (peopled mainly by the power-hungry and well-educated middle-class ladies, for whom women’s advocacy is a useful stepping-stone that adds to their already-impressive CV’s), did not lift a finger on her behalf, when the “powerful baboons” of yesteryear, who were sexually harassing her, were running riot during the decadent Kufuor-era.
Their deafening silence was largely due to the fact that those self-same “powerful baboons” were the very ones they were relying on to get them onto the boards of public institutions – the juicy perk-filled golden sinecures so beloved of our educated urban elite. A typical example is the loquacious New Patriotic Party unofficial spokesperson, Ms. Ursula Owusu, who suddenly found her voice the moment we had regime-change, and was vociferous in speaking out on behalf of a fellow woman she felt was being victimized, when Mrs. Robinson, the Acting Inspector General of Police, was passed over for the present incumbent, when a substantive one was appointed and confirmed by the Mills administration. One hopes that now that she is a champion of females who are being unfairly treated by officialdom, she will also speak out on Nana Fremaa Busia’s behalf – and insist that the Mills administration, many of whose members made the unfair treatment of Mr. Hodari Okine, a cause-celebre, does the decent thing: and resolves this unfortunate matter quickly and fairly (something which the philanderers and hypocrites who used to rule us before the present regime assumed power in January 2009, failed so woefully to do!).
The Mills administration must ensure that the Ghanaian nation-state pays Nana Fremaa Busia all that she is entitled to get, for all the years she was never paid by her employers – and resettle her if they are unwilling to work with her. The idea that a regime led by a decent and principled gentleman will continue to hound her and allow the cruelties of those disreputable men who brought her to Ghana, appointed her to a position in our secret services, and then turned against her (and did everything to stop her from doing her work), to stand, is intolerable. Is it not the case that the powerful rogues turned against her, when they realized that she was an honest and principled woman, who was not prepared to close her eyes to their corrupt and criminal ways – and resorted to a regular regime of bullying and intimidation that would have broken many a strong-willed man, let alone delicate, sensitive, and gentle souls like the Nana Fremaa Busias of our world? To cap their wicked and abominable actions, those callous men then labeled her a lunatic – taking a super-cunning cue, and a leaf, from the book-of-wickedness that the erstwhile Soviet Union’s cruelest dictators, such as Joseph Stalin, used to thump through: for ideas on how to torture irritating citizens without actual physical contact with their torturers.
President Mills himself must take up the case of Nana Fremaa Busia, as he is not the philandering-type. That is the only way of ensuring that she does not become a victim of yet another bunch of your typical male Ghanaian philandering-type-in-powerful-positions, desirous of taking advantage of her, and using intimidation and blackmail to achieve their goal. I have absolutely no doubt that that will happen if the president himself does not take an active interest in her case: and acts to ensure that what Ghana owes her in unpaid salaries and allowances (in addition to any ex-gratia payments due her!), are paid to her as soon as it is practicable to do so. After all, what primary schoolchild in Ghana does not know that “National Security” is awash with unaccounted-for-money that regime after regime in our country has spent on all kinds of things that never benefited our nation, in any shape or form, one jot? Why then should some money from that financial equivalent of a black-hole not be used to restore the honour of our nation, for once: instead of it ending up paying for a life of Riley for the security apparatchiks who answer to on one and think are a law unto themselves – in our democracy, dear reader?
It is precisely because President Mills is one of the most honest and decent leaders Ghana has ever had, thus far, that he must take immediate steps to ensure that Nana Fremaa Busia does not become his regime’s Hodari Okine. Above all, he must not forget how brave she was in standing up to the disreputable men in high places, of yesteryear. She must not be victimized yet again by the self-same nation-state she was so loyal to – especially as at a time (in a country full of moral cowards!) when no one dared speak out against the dog-eat-dog selfishness culture that underpinned the Kufuor regime, she was brave enough to stand up to those into whose dishonest hands our country had fallen: challenging them publicly and exposing their perfidy to Ghanaians.
Why should a young woman, principled enough to refuse the blandishments of powerful men, during Kufuor & Co’s golden age of business (which incidentally, mainly benefited only the Hypocrite-in-Chief himself; the members of his family clan; and the sundry high-flying regime-cronies, who made easy money from influence-peddling and the rampant insider-dealing of that period, dear reader!), who even turned down the gift of Juapong Textiles factory, and a share in zillions of dollars, not be given what is due her for her honest attempt to protect Ghanaian democracy: particularly when during that period most Ghanaians heard and saw no evil: as Mother Ghana was brutally gang-raped by those who followed in the footsteps of the lustful political leaders that preceded them in office (and who gave the Julia Cottons zillions of taxpayers’ money, and collected bribes from the Scancems, and the Mabey & Johnsons, as well)? One certainly hopes that President Mills will open his eyes widely (as we say in local parlance!) – and not let Nana Fremaa Busia become the Hodari Okine of his administration. A word to the wise…
Tel: (powered by Tigo – the one mobile phone network in Ghana that actually works!): + 233 (0) 27 745 3109 & the not-so-hot and clueless Vodaphone wireless smartphone: + 233 (0) 21 976238.
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