Congratulations, K. B. Asante esq. on your achieving 90
I became close to K B Asante Esquire after the military coup d'etat that overthrew the Progress Party government on January 13, 1972. It was led by Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, then the Commander of the 1st Infantry Brigade.The coup was timed to coincide with the absence of Dr Kofi Abrefa Busia. He had left Ghana for the United Kingdom for medical treatment on January 10,1972.
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The military government gained popular support by preaching self- reliance and repudiating debts. The abrogation of Ghana's external debts meant that senior officials in the public and civil service had to have in place a reliable import programme on which we could rely in order not to fail the public. It is true that Ghana at the time had as much as six months of our imports requirement in the country.
Apex Committee
But because we could not expect the creditor countries to give us credit for our imports, we had to match what we imported with the cash that we had. And so we set up an Apex Committee consisting of myself, Dr Amon Nikoi, KB Asante Esq. and Dr Joe Abbey. We worked so closely together that for three years, Ghana could afford to defy our creditors. By the time Ghana settled with the creditors, K B and I were calling each other "Afropean." Through the use of computer programmes, we were able to keep the balance of payments deficits and surpluses within a narrow range. In consequence, prices in Ghana, though high, remained relatively stable.
I had another opportunity to work with K B. Before leaving Ghana in August 1976 to take up my new position as President of the African Development Bank (AfDB),I did everything possible to complete the funding for Ghana's second hydroelectric dam project, i.e. the Kpong Dam. With the help of the Chief Executive of the Volta River Authority, the late Dr Nii Quartey, K. Kalitsi Esq. VRA Director of Finance and K. B. Asante, Ghana's Ambassador to Belgium, I criss-crossed several countries between January and July 1976 to get exceptional financial assistance from the European Commission, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Arab Bank for the Development of Africa in Sudan (BADEA) to raise US $240 million to fund the project.
I almost broke down in tears when Dr Gardiner, the Commissioner for Economic Planning, asked his colleagues at a Cabinet meeting to place on record the gratitude of the country to a worthy son, Dr Fordwor for a good work done. He particularly emphasised that the arrangement for the financing for Akosombo Dam had been organised by Mr Dobson, an expatriate, it was, therefore, with a feeling of satisfaction that Dr Gardiner could now boast that this time the work had been done by one of Ghana's own sons. My congratulatory letter was sent to me in Abidjan from the office of Mrs Chenery Hesse, then Principal Secretary, Ministry of Economic Planning.
Famous man
On the occasion of Afropean's 90th birthday, I will like to write u short note in praise of a famous man. It is hard enough to write a portrait of a living person; but it is even more difficult to write the portrait of a senior friend who, after having already scored 90 in life, appears to be enjoying the bonus years over and above the Biblical "three score and 10" in active
I have been encouraged to undertake this assignment because I believe that writing the portrait of a living person is a more useful and meaningful exercise than writing a tribute in memory of a deceased friend. At the very least, a portrait of a person alive has the advantage that it may encourage the person concerned to do more and improve his achievements. A funeral tribute, extolling the noble qualities of a deceased friend, has no chance of having such an effect. It is like shutting the stable door after the horses have bolted.
Of course, no portrait can bring out all the qualities of the subject. Like a photograph, what a portrait reveals depends on the position from which light is focused on the subject. The viewpoint from which I am writing this portrait is the extent to which the subject has managed to be a Johnnie Walker, still going strong.
That leads me to Psalm 90:10, which reads:
"Seventy years are given us' And some may even live to eighty. But even the best of these years are often emptiness and pain, Soon they disappear, and we are gone."
K B is not gone yet. I attribute this to his straight forwardness, his Christian convictions, principled character, honesty and integrity, patriotism, qualities of a good husband, fatherliness, spirit of compassion, self respect and love of God. May the same God add many more of these. But I wish to conventrate on his straight forwardness for special praise. “Straight are the ways of K. B: the just walk in them; but the sinners stumble.” (A paraphrase from Hosea 14:10).
He could never be an example of those trained professionals who, for some odd reason, would decide to use their specialized knowledge and expertise not to promote the legitimate purpose for which they were trained , but rather to undermine the basic ideals of their profession or trade. Experience would suggest that such people would be more dangerous to their opponents and victims, for they would be able to cause damage more effectively and with mush less risk of being found out.
A doctor trained to save life could if he chose to destroy life, do so with greater ease and less fear of being detected; and an accountant could more easily 'cook lite books' than one who was uninitiated in the handling of accounts and figures.
Similarly, a lawyer who abandoned the noble calling of serving the law and preventing injustice could be particularly adept at subverting the rule of law, at perverting the cause of injustice and at persecuting the innocent.
The same skills and knowledge which he was expected to utilise to expose tyranny and help the victims of oppression would, if put to the wrong one, make him more able to assist I nine prosecution, mask denials of justice and disguise the misuse of power and abuse of the legal process.
The very name person, who was expected to nerve the law, could because of the special expertise he had and the unique position he occupied be a danger to the law If he chose to prostitute his learning and take the tide of the oppressor against the oppressed.
Too much denigration
K B has always been of the view that there has m been too much denigration of our leaders in politics and other spheres of life since independence and its time it stopped to engender confidence and hope in the young. So as we rightly condemn those who have this country unnecessary suffering and poverty, we need to pray for many more of the K B Asantes, if our country is to develop. We thank the Lord that he has given K. B. the four score years plus to share with us.
KB, you have hit 90 and yet unlike some of your friends below 90, you do not find it difficult to cope. As for your friends mentioned above, the houses they live in (their bodies) arc sadly dilapidated. The houses totter on their foundations. The walls are badly shattered and the roof is worn. The buildings tremble with every wind, and the occupants must move out before long. But the opposite it what K B faces. Everything about the house he lives in (his bod/) appears to be prim and proper.
The house is not yet dilapidated nor ss the foundation weak. The walls are still relatively strong and the roof is not worn. He left my house the evening of March 25, when he visited me, with a spring in his step. I can only wish him more years to his elbow. "Ad Multos Annos, Gloria Tibi Annos, Vivat, Vivat, Vivat".