The leadership qualities of J.J. Rawlings and the winning strategy of the NDC Party in the rural areas and Volta
Region have been discussed extensively on the cyber forum by some NDC apologists and opponents of NDC
Party. What has been missing in all these discussions is the "oburoni" factor. Forum contributors have
conveniently avoided tackling this issue because it is considered as a taboo for Ghanaian "intellectuals" to
bring out this phenomenon in the open for discussion. The reason for bringing it out is my belief that we cannot
continue to hide our heads in the sand if we wish to find real solutions to real problems in Ghana. The ability to
state and act upon our cultural or societal shortfalls will enable us to find meaningful solutions to them. It is
just like what the psychologists call intervention for alcoholics.
The Ghanaian admiration and respect for the "oburoni" (Whiteman) are well known in our society and I believe
we are ashamed to expose it in a forum like this one.
The phenomenon of admiration and respect for "oboruni" in Ghana was true in colonial Gold Coast and it has
been true in post independence Ghana. It is the reason Ghanaian children sing "oburoni kye me penny"
whenever they see a white skin person. It is the reason why anything good in our society is referred to as
"oburoni adee" (eg. oburoni orange, oburoni banana, oburoni sponge etc.). It is the reason why most Ghanaian
women prefer to date or marry "oburoni"men. It is the reason why most Ghanaian men prefer to date "oburoni"
women. It is the sad reason why most Ghanaian women have tried so hard to bleach their skin to approach the
"oburoni" color because they believe that Ghanaian men prefer light skin Ghanaian women. It is the reason
why Lebanese, Indians, Syrians, Chinese, Malaysians, Koreans, Pakistanis, Nepalese, all command more
respect in our local trading businesses than the average dark skin Ghanaian. It was the reason why in the
olden days our fathers used to say that when you were going to church and you happened to run into an
"oburoni" you must go back home because you have seen God. In the colonial days and even in post
independence Ghana, you still hear people refer to high officials of the community as having achieved "oburoni"
status. It is the reason why most Ghanaian trained professionals and academicians prefer to work for
international or multinational companies controlled by "oburonis."
I recognize that most Ghanaians are offended by these statements and would not like to hear them on this
forum. Unfortunately they are true, and the truth will set us free. There is a perfectly good reason for this
phenomenon that does not make it look as bad as we think. I will deal with the reason at the end of this
treatise.
The great Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, the PanAfricanist was caught up in this phenomenon. He created
the myth that he did not date dark skin African women and he dated only the white mermaid "mamewater"
since he had supernatural powers to become invincible. His supernatural powers demanded that he did not
date dark skin Ghanaian women; and for a long time nobody believed that he had a Ghanaian girlfriend. He
carried this myth to the logical conclusion and asked his best friend President Gamel Nasser of Egypt to find
him an "oburoni" wife in the person of Fathia Nkrumah. Ghanaians were so mesmerized by the newly crowned
"oburoni" first lady that only the best in our culture was reserved for Madam Fathia. On the political level,
Osagyefo did not respect nor admire any of his dark skin Ghanaian colleagues in the CPP movement. I
strongly believe that he did not trust any of them and that was why even until his death, his closest advisors
were Europeans "oburonis."
Mr. Joe Appiah was admired and respected in our society because he was married to a white lady who was
related to the British Royal family. I believe Mr. Appiah was considered as a good lawyer during his time and
allowed to practice law in Ghana although it was alleged that he never had formal education in law. I submit
that if Mr. Appiah were not married to a white lady, most Ghanaians would not have given him that admiration
and respect and certainly nobody would have permitted him to represent them in a court of law.
If Dr. Busia were married to a white lady and not to a Ghanaian, I bet my last dollar that Col. Acheampong
would not have agreed to his overthrown in 1972.
Mr. Kutu Acheampong at the height of his power, arranged to bring back "oburoni" Madam Fathia Nkrumah
from Egypt to Ghana to attract some legitimacy to his power. Those of you on this forum who were in Ghana at
that time will remember the rumors that went around this issue.
I dare say that if Dr. Limann were also married to a white woman J.J. Rawlings and his cohorts would not dare
to overthrow him from office in 1981.
The intangible power and the hold that J.J. Rawlings has over most of his followers in Ghana are rooted in this
"oburoni" factor. If Rawlings were to be a dark skin Ghanaian, he would probably not have gotten admission to
Achimota Secondary School or the Military Academy and to become an Air force pilot. If Rawlings were a dark
skin Kwasi Vi, Boakye-Djan and company would not have released him from jail and I submit that they might
have executed him during the 1979 uprising. I believe that if Rawlings were not light skin color nor his father a
Whiteman "oburoni" he would not have the total admiration and blind support from the people of Volta Region. I
submit that they would have engineered his downfall a long time ago. Also, the reason why the people in the
rural areas voted in larger numbers to NDC has nothing to do with NDC Party's policies. It has everything to do
with this "oburoni" factor. I am confident that if it were not for Rawlings as the leader of the party, NDC would
not win their blind support. The bad news for NDC supporters is this: If Prof. Atta-Mills is not light skin color,
then they should not take for granted the votes from the rural folks and the people of Volta Region in the next
elections because they would be in for a shock of their lives.
The truth is that Rawlings has used this phenomenon of Ghanaian admiration and respect for "oburoni" his skin
color to his advantage. That is the reason for his alleged arrogance, disrespect, and mistreatment of his
subordinates with impunity. He does not respect the dark skin Ghanaians who work with him. I bet he takes all
his advice from some white skin "oburoni" . Also, I believe that the reason why the Europeans continue to give
loans to Ghana despite the incompetent way the government under Rawlings has handled the affairs of the
country is the "oburoni" factor. I leave this for the intelligent ones among you to figure out.
I am not sure whether this phenomenon is because of the white skin color or the perceived superiority (which is
certainly not always true) of the stranger from abroad who happened to have a "white" skin color. I wonder
whether the admiration and respect would survive if the color of their skin were blue.
The reason for the average Ghanaian's admiration and respect for "oburoni" is simple and justified. The root
cause of this phenomenon is the sympathy that Ghanaians have for strangers to their communities and the
justified admiration and respect for this special stranger ("oburoni") who came from abroad and showed us the
better ways to improve our living conditions. Since we (Ghanaians) had not and still have not shown the
capacity to design indigenous techniques for improving our living conditions it was justified for our people to
admire and respect these strangers who came to us with all the amenities that made our living conditions
better.
This phenomenon has been carried to a stage where qualified dark skin Ghanaians who have white skin
subordinates here in "Oburonikurom" will not be accorded the admiration and respect reserved for the
"oburoni"in Ghana. It is a fact that most technical and professional Ghanaians command more respect in
"Oburonikurom" than in Ghana. If these Ghanaians went to Ghana and worked with "oburonis" no matter their
respective knowledge, experience and accomplishments, the average Ghanaian will respect and admire the
"oburoni."
Is this phenomenon real or a myth? If it is real as I believe, then what can we do to debunk this phenomenon?
My answer is simple: We need to come up with the proper form of government that would allow for the effective
utilization of our human and natural resources indigenously to improve the living conditions of our people. Our
governments should refrain from going around the world begging for handouts from "oburonis." We have the
potential to overcome this phenomenon. I can assure you that the potential to overcome is real. We have the
natural and human resources to accomplish this goal. What is lacking is the proper form of government to
encourage and harness this potential.
Let us have some intelligent discussions about this phenomenon. Please, do not bring any tribal sentiments to
these discussion because, I for one do not believe that tribalism exists in Ghana. Only the weak-minded
pseudo intellectual Ghanaians exploit the sentiment to maintain any form of respect and legitimacy within the
society
