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Front
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About Us 
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TRIBUTE
TO A MARTYR By The Journalist Gifted in oratory, glibness, practicality, level-headedness, fairness and compassion, Nana Baffour had defied and survived insurmountable odds in the 60s, including detention for 7 years with hard labor, by Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and the Conventional People’s Party (C.P.P.); a period in which most of Nana Baffour’s contemporaries lost their lives the most notable being that of Dr. J. B. Danquah, an academic and prolific politician of the times. Nana Baffour Osei Akoto, 98 , passed on to his ‘village’ peaceully in his home at Asokwa in the wee hours of September 3, 2002. Blessed with a long, rich, full and healthy life, he had been hospitalized at Okomfo Anokye Hospital in Kumasi three weeks before his demise. The chronicling of the history of Ghana and particularly that of the modern Ashanti culture would never be complete without some of the achievements of Nana Baffour. His name over the years had become synonymous with good and wise judgment after judging more than 2 million traditional and private cases. His reverence and disposition in the community resulted in the naming of a section of a neighborhood in Kumasi after him. The respect and dominion he commanded in the country resulted in the formation of the National Liberation Movement (N.L.M.), in the 1950s. The N.L.M. later became the United Party (U.P.), and subsequently the Progress Party (P.P.), a vibrant and foresighted political party that produced many stalwarts in the era including Dr. K. A. Busia and Mr. Akuffo Addo, who in the 70s became the Prime Minister and President of Ghana respectively. The chief linguist to three successive Ashanti Kings (Asantehene) namely Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II (1931-1969), Otumfuo Opoku Ware II (1970-1999), and Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II, the current Asantehene, Nana Baffour’s death no doubt has left a vacuum in Ghana and ultimately in Asante history that definitely can never be filled. A linguist “occupies a significant position in the Asante Traditional Administrative and Political Systems. He is the mouthpiece of the Asantehene and speaks on his behalf, represents him in matters of importance, advises him either privately or publicly on the native laws and customs. He plays a vital role in the organization of State Functions.”
His role as a patriarch is second-to-none as he fathered, nurtured and educated 36 children, among them a judge, a doctor, a nurse, accountants, an entrepreneur, a novelist, a journalist and publisher, agriculturists, and a variety of other professionals. In addition to these numerous domestic responsibilities, the largesse Nana Baffour had helped raise or sponsored many of his nephews, nieces, and grandchildren as well as people that had no blood relations but needed assistance. Born into a royal family in 1904, Nana Baffour was the son of Opanin Owusu Sekyere, the paternal grandson of Nana Osei Bonsu Panin, the Asantehene who reigned between 1800 and 1824. His mother Obaa Panin Akosua Appiah was the Queen mother of Hemang-Asante. As a youth, Nana Baffour traveled with his father, a businessman who dealt in arms, guns, gunpowder and led in many of his commerce excursions. Back in those days, Kumasi was but a swampy forest. Most of the communities that exist today were not established. There were no roads but footpaths. In order to locomote through the woodland and the bayou that made up the city, one had to pave way with a cutlass. At age 12, the precocious Baffour would take the helm of his father’s business all the while learning the traditional customs of the Asantes. At age 17, he snagged his first job as an apprenticed mechanic under the tutelage of Mr. T. O. Cooper, a German native who worked for F. & A. Swanzy Transport. As an accomplished mechanic in 1924, he worked for Cadbury and Fry Company where he became the chief mechanic and traveled across the country. Nana Baffour afterwards worked for A. Shachid Transport, a Syrian motor firm until 1935 when he was enstooled as Asantehene’s linguist and the occupant of the Butuakwa Stool. The occupier of this important stool serves as the liaison between the Asantehene and the Paramount Chiefs of Juaben State, Kokofu, Nkoranza, Agona, Akim Abuakwa, New Juaben, Adonten and Yendi. It was also during the period that Nana Baffour’s loyalty and exemplary service to the Asante Nation prompted the then Asantehene, Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II to have Nana Baffour draw the “Mponponsuo Sword.” This act of recognition is a sanctified ceremony reserved for the Paramount Chiefs and the “Aberempongs” of the Asante Nation. During World War II in 1939, he enlisted in the Home Guard Service, a regimental unit that specially trained to combat possible German invasions in Africa and particularly the Gold Coast. He rose through the ranks and retired as a Captain after the war. In 1954, as a well-heeled cocoa farmer and an abounding businessman, Nana Baffour founded the N.L.M. Among some of the reasons for this organization cited were: I. The Colonial Government itself was decentralized and all the dependencies largely managed their own affairs under the supervision of the Chief Commissioners who were answerable to the Governor. II. Centralism breeds dictatorship and abuse of power. Every truly democratic system of Government is decentralized to enable the people to participate fully in the matters which affected their well-being and progress. III. A decentralized system of Government enhances equitable revenue sharing and the balanced development of all the regions of the country. IV. Asante was virtually autonomous under colonial rule and it was therefore unacceptable to the N.L.M. and the Asanteman Council to lose their autonomy in independent Ghana, particularly when the colony alone had a majority in the legislative council and would therefore impose its will on the whole country. In 1957, the N.L.M., the Northern People’s Party (N.P.P.), the Togoland Congress Party (T.C.P.), the Muslim Association Party (M.A.P.), the Ghana Congress Party (G.C.P.), the Aborigines Rights Protection Society and the Anlo Youth Organization combined to form the United Party (U.P.). This collaboration would oppose Dr. Nkrumah and the C.P.P. during the post-colonial elections, a challenge which the C.P.P. won. In November of 1959, the C.P.P. Government arrested Nana Baffour under the Preventive Detention Act Order (No. 5) and sent to James Fort Prisons in Accra. Thereafter, he was sent to Usher Fort in Kumasi and subsequently to Nsawam Prisons where he joined Dr. Danquah, Mr. William Ofori Attah, Mr. Koi Larbi, Mr. A. K. Apaloo, and Mr. S. G. Anto and a host of others, all political prisoners who had been incarcerated without neither explanations nor trials. The inhuman and ruthless treatments dished out to them at that facility resulted in numerous of his companions’ deaths. In 1965, Nana Baffour would be released from detention under the condition that he would not be allowed in Kumasi or the Ashanti region. He had to live in Tamale under a closely-watched eye until the 1966 coup-d’etat when the C.P.P. Government was toppled by Generals Emmanuel Kotoka and Akwasi Amankwah Afrifa. Nana Baffour’s triumphant return to Kumasi was marked by celebrations involving thousands of people lining up along the 200-mile route to see their champion free at last. A man of the people, a hero of the people. The city would be filled with festivities that would last for months. In 1969, a regrouped U. P. with all the resolute supporters including Dr. Busia, Mr. Addo, Prof. Adu Boahene (a future presidential candidate), Mr. R. R. Amponsah, Chief S. Dombo, Mr. Ofori Atta, Adama Amadu and Mr. Joe Appiah who later formed the United National Party (U.N.P.), among others renamed the faction Progress Party (P.P.), an institution that later won by a landslide during that year’s election. In 1971, Nana Baffour was appointed the director of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board. He toured with the delegation that traveled to Britain, West Germany and the U.S. to negotiate the price of cocoa with chocolate manufacturers and users of cocoa beans. In 1972, the P.P. government was toppled by yet another coup d-etat led by Col. I. K. Acheampong. The new government also dished out their share of tormentation for Nana Baffour. They froze his assets for three years, a period in which he was arrested, harassed and investigated several times. There were stakeouts at his residence. Security agents followed and watched all his movements every minute of the day. In one of the most hilarious moments of his life, Nana Baffour recalls asking permission to see Col. Acheampong to inquire why all the harassments and intimidations. Col. Acheampong during the inquisition explained that there had been a coup attempt by one of Nana Baffour’s sons by the name of Kofi Owusu Sekyere. Kofi Sekyere at that time was not in the country. Col. Acheampong asked Nana Baffour the whereabouts of Kofi Sekyere and that whether he was aware as a father that his son had attempted a coup to overthrow the current regime. Nana Baffour shot back and asked Col. Acheampong whether he as a son informed his father when he planned the coup that overthrew Dr. Busia and the P.P. government. Amazed and overwhelmed, the head of state asked Nana Baffour to go in peace. That would end his dilemma with the then government and ultimately his interest in active party politics. His meritorious services to the Asante Nation and Manhyia Palace however shifted to another level. In 1979, Nana Baffour accompanied Otumfuo Opoku Ware II to Upper Volta, now Burkina Faso on a visit to the Paramount Chief Moshies Mog Naba at Ouagadougou. In 1984, at the age of 80, he was a member of the Asantehene’s entourage that traveled to London to open an Asante Art Exhibition. That same year, he traveled to New York to arrange for an exhibition called “Asante, Kingdom of Gold” at the American Museum of National History. The convention lasted for five months with startling success. In 1987, Nana Baffour was honored for his long service, loyalty and selfless devotion to the Asante Nation. He had served Asanteman (Asante Nation) for more than 50 years. During that ceremony, Otumfuo Opoku Ware II quipped, “Baffour Osei Akoto is a veritable shining example of one who is truly a patriot.” During the late 1990s, Nana Baffour was nominated as an Assemblyman to serve on the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly. He still would participate in the daily activities and deliberations of almost all the cases that would be handled by the Asantehene and the Paramount Chiefs of Ashanti at Manhyia Palace. His critical and objective reasoning seldom ever would be challenged. Litigants in national, private as well as public sectors would flood his house daily to seek advice, counseling and guidance, a practice that had gone on for more than 60 years. His house over the years also had been a perennial haven for heavy-hitting visitors such as Heads of States, Ministers, Asantehenes, Traditional Chiefs and many others. The President of Ghana Mr. J. A. Kufuor and the U. N. Secretary General Kofi Annan had made numerous appearances before and after they assumed their major status as leaders. A staunch Catholic who seldom missed Sunday worship at the Cathedral in Kumasi, Nana Baffour had believed in God throughout his life. He praised God for delivering him out of the many pernicious situations while giving him the tenacity and patience to prosper through all the hardships he faced. An avid fan of Kumasi Asante Kotoko, the soccer club that twice had won the African Championship, Nana Baffour was a staple at the Sports Stadium whenever his favorite team played. The most amazing accomplishment however of all Nana Baffour’s achievements is the fact that he never had any formal education; he was self-taught, full of vim and never at a loss for words. He had and has influenced generations of people, while cultivating the minds of many with his quick thinking, witty and sometimes sarcastic remarks. Listening to him narrate a story or explain politics or traditional customs put one on a mental gymnastic course. As a father, he was a family man who loved all 36 (of whom five have gone on to the world beyond) of his children. He had married five wives by virtue of Asante customs and the Butuakwa Stool. His children, ranging from the oldest 77 years to the youngest 30 years, all have great experiences about the man they called ‘Old Man’. On behalf of all his wistful children including SPECTRUM staff members Serwah Akoto Coker and The Journalist, we have no regrets other than say that he truly was a wonderful guest who had passed on knowledge and wisdom to everyone he touched. Ghana and particularly Asanteman will truly miss the archetypical hero who had somehow beaten the odds at every turn of his long life. Nana Damirifa Due! Damirifa Due Nana Baffour! Due ne Amanehunu! |
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CHICAGO :- Adjectives
seek companions when it comes to describing the life and times of Nana
Baffour Osei Akoto. He stands side-by-side in the history books with some
of the most prominent and influential people that the Gold Coast now Ghana
has ever produced. 
