Reminiscences of ‘Easter-land?’
Among others, Ghana spearheaded a UN General Assembly Resolution on March 25, 2026, which declared the C16th-C19th Trans-Atlantic slave trade “the gravest crime against humanity!” One hundred and fifty-two countries voted for, with 52 (mainly EU countries) abstentions and three against (USA, Israel and Argentina).
Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, USA, at the eleventh-hour, two days before the event, cancelled a planned conferment of an Honorary Doctorate degree on President Mahama on March 26, 2026.
Otto Addo was sacked as the Black Stars coach, and the Apostolic Church banned the “You may kiss your bride” fashion, in which some unwilling couples are virtually forced to kiss during wedding rituals. Also, while former President of Ghana, Akufo-Addo, turned 82, Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu turned a rather youthful 74.
However, it was a WhatsApp message I received on “Good Friday” morning that tilted the scales in favour of my article this week!
VIA DOLAROSA
On “Good Friday,” April 3, 2026, a poem I received from a colleague writer, and also a poet, Colonel Augustine Ansu (Rtd), took me back half a century ago to 1975-1976 when I served as a young lieutenant in UN Peacekeeping in the Sinai Desert, Egypt.
He titled it “The passion of path – A Shakespearean stations-of-the-cross.”
Space will not allow me to reproduce the fourteen “Stations of the Cross” Jesus went through, as poetically articulated by my colleague. My reply was:
“Reminds me of my first visit to Jerusalem in 1975 from UNEF 2, Sinai Desert, Egypt, when we went through the route of VIA DOLAROSA (the way of sorrow)!”
Colonel Ansu’s poem provided the spark for this article, “Reminiscences of Easter-land?”, details of which were long buried in my subconscious.
UNEF 2
From 1975-1976, I had my first experience of UN Peacekeeping when I served with the United Nations Emergency Force 2 (UNEF 2) in the Sinai Desert, Egypt.
This was after the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur War of October 1973. The Force-Commander for UNEF was Maj-Gen Ensio Silasvio from Finland. The Deputy-Force-Commander was Brig-Gen Emmanuel Erskine from Ghana.
In the course of our nine-month tour of duty in the desert, Brig-Gen. Erskine was promoted Maj-Gen., and reassigned to be the Force-Commander/Chief Military Observer of the Jerusalem-based United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO).
One of the early things Gen. Erskine did was to invite a small group of Ghanaian peacekeepers to visit him in Israel.
I was one of them.
From the Garden of Gethsemane, one of the places we were taken through in Jerusalem was the route of the 14 Stations-of-the-Cross Jesus walked from his sentence by Pontius Pilate to his crucifixion, called VIA DOLAROSA (Way of Sorrow/Way of Suffering).
This was a popular location for tourists/pilgrims from all over the world.
What surprised us Ghanaians was that rather than the solemnity we expected to be associated with the holy place as we had been taught about in school from our infancy, commerce appeared to take centre-stage.
“Holy” preceded every item on sale.
So, there was holy water, holy oil, holy sand, holy bags, etc.
At Jericho, a tour guide showed a later group some sycamore trees.
Pointing at one of the trees, he told them that was the tree Zacchaeus climbed so he could see Jesus.
A surprised officer who was taken aback by the claim asked, “Do you mean this tree is about two thousand years old?”
The tour guide quickly asked him to close his eyes and pray to atone for the sin of his question.
The response drew giggles from the group, which knew better.
A senior colleague who later undertook that trip told us of his experience with his mother, when on his return home from the Sinai, he told her he had been to Jerusalem!
The shocked old lady screamed, “Tsooooh, Koku!” Is there something wrong with your head?
How can you tell me you have been to Jerusalem when it is in Heaven, and not here on earth?”
The old lady’s thinking, though probably less prevalent over time, still exists today among some elderly Ghanaians.
Discussion
Interestingly, in spite of the emotional attachment to Jerusalem by many Ghanaians, Israel joined the US and Argentina to vote against the UN Resolution for reparations to Africa from the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.
In his Graphic online article on Good Friday, April 3, 2026, titled “The Lincoln Snub and Bigger Matters Arising,” Professor Kwesi Yankah (Kwatriot) stated:
“Like most Ghanaians, I am worried by mixed signals from our Lincoln friends, who now decide to put Ghana under a negative spotlight after more than 70 years of co-operation……...!
What does it mean for Lincoln University to cancel at the 11th hour a ceremony scheduled to confer an honorary doctorate on Ghana’s current president, John Mahama?
Was it a snub, indictment, or insult?
Could this humiliation have been visited on any president from a Western country?”
In any case, do we need external validation as a priority for a good job done?
What is more important is validation by Ghanaians when our myriad problems are solved… galamsey/environmental degradation, cyanide/arsenic/lead-polluted food and water, annual floods, reliance on imports for everything, including tomatoes from Burkina Faso!
Why do we still import rice and sugar when we can produce them locally and reduce our unemployment problem?
On Good Friday, a road-traffic-accident at Tahiru-Akuraa near Kintampo claimed nine lives, with 27 injured.
As I listened to radio/TV reports on the accident being attributed to speeding drivers swerving to avoid old potholes/manholes, I felt sad as a Ghanaian.
Officials called on the Ghana Highways Authority to fix the potholes!
Leadership is about solving problems, not explaining why problems have not been solved.
Let us solve our problems, and validate ourselves and not wait for external validation!
To my colleague, Col. Augustine Ansu (Rtd), thank you for triggering reminiscences, taking me 50 years back to the home of the 14 “Stations-of-the-Cross!” Happy Easter!
Leadership, lead by example/integrity/humility! Fellow Ghanaians, wake up!
The writer is a former CEO, African Peace Support Trainers Association, Nairobi, Kenya; Council Chairman, Family Health University, Teshie, Accra.
E-mail:
