Let’s respect the Ghana Flag

I have a guest writer today. He is 75-year-old Samuel Kwasi Danso, a retired nurse and soldier, who had the opportunity to travel outside our shores on United Nations Peacekeeping missions to some of the world’s troubled areas, when he was in active service.

Samuel Danso is very passionate about the Ghana Flag of red, gold and green with the black star in the middle and wished fellow Ghanaians would show more respect for our national flag as it used to be in the past, in the years immediately after independence in 1957.

In his travels, he saw how people elsewhere accorded the greatest respect to their national flags.

But who is Samuel Kwasi Danso? He is one of the very loyal readers of this column. According to him, he has been reading my articles since I started writing the column some six years ago.

More importantly, however, he is a former school mate of mine, and a contemporary at West Africa Secondary School (WASS) when the school was located at Accra Newtown.

In fact, it was when I decided to ask him a few questions, when putting this piece together, that he told me when he came to form one in October 1962. I was in form three and later became his house captain at Padmore House the following year. I couldn’t remember, honestly.

Life

Mr Danso was born at Anum Apapam near Suhum in the Eastern Region. According to him, his parents went to settle there from Anum, Akwamu in the Asuogyamang District, also in the Eastern Region.

He enrolled at the local Presbyterian Primary School at Anum Apapam in 1954, completing in 1960. Danso then moved to Accra in 1960 and entered the Accra Municipal Council Middle School at Abavana Junction, from where he gained admission to WASS in 1962.

After obtaining his “O” Level in 1967, having read science, Danso enrolled in the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital Laboratory Training School between 1967 and 1969, when he joined the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) for basic military training for non-commissioned officers.

After the training, he was transferred to the 37 Military Hospital, where he did a certificate in Basic Four Nursing.

In April 1971, he did an orientation course at the Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital, the Royal Army Medical College, at Milbank, London, England.

In 1978, Agya Danso, as he came to be addressed later, was selected for the Short Officer Course for commissioned officers at the Military Academy and

Training School (MATS), but the programme was truncated following the palace coup, which brought General Fred W.K. Akuffo and the SMC II to power and the subsequent disturbances that followed, which led to the military takeover by the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) on June 4, led by Ft Lt J.J. Rawlings.

Agya Danso went back to his duties at the 37 Military Hospital, where he was named as the Best Worker for the year 1983, remaining the head of the hematology department till he retired in 1999.

Service

During the period of his service at the 37 Military Hospital he was selected on four occasions for military international operations of the United Nations.

He was a member of the UNIFIL GHANBAT 21 in Lebanon from March 1984 to September 1984 and again UNIFIL GHANBAT 36 — Lebanon from August 1992 to February 1993.

Agya Danso was also selected as a member of UNIFIL GHANBAT 42 — Lebanon from June 1996 to December 1996 and finally ECOMOG GHANABAT 14 in Liberia from March 1997 to December 1998.

After retirement from public service in 1999, he joined Adenta Clinic, as a laboratory technologist, during which time he had the opportunity to do a special microbiology course at Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (NMIMR) in Legon in 2006 and worked there till 2013 when he finally bowed out, aged 68.

Views

Now find below Agya Danso’s views on the Ghana National Flag:
Please allow me a small space in your esteemed national newspaper to comment on the use of our National Flag.

The Ministry of the Interior some time ago, allowed all citizens to fly, wear and utilise the Ghana Flag in such a manner as to portray our loyalty for the country before, during and after the 50 years and beyond of our foundation as a nation.

What has been observed of late is that some unpatriotic Ghanaians now use the flag as dusters, rags, handkerchiefs, napkins, etc, etc.

On the other hand, private vehicle owners, landlords, as well as trotro or commercial drivers, have stopped flying the Ghana Flag on their properties.

Some Ghanaians display their party’s flags and paraphernalia in their cars always and refuse even to buy our flag to honour Ghana and to expand the economy.

When an army of a country goes to war and its flag is captured by the enemy, the consequences are: shame, quasi slavery, embarrassment and so on and so forth. An appeal, therefore, goes to all and sundry to respect our flag for it is the embodiment of our statehood.

God said in Isaiah 56:2 that: “I will bless anyone who respects the Sabbath (in this case, the Ghana Flag) and refuses to do wrong, such as, engaging in corruption etc.”

We, the old folks above 65 years, gave due respect to the Union Jack, the United Kingdom Flag, before shifting our loyalty or allegiance to the Ghana Flag after independence in 1957.

During that era, we used to stand at attention, when the National Anthem was being played, as our flag was being hoisted, but what do we see today?

Let the old folks, teachers, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), educate the youth and the disloyal citizens of this country to respect and serve the flag because one cannot use his or her rich kente cloth as mentioned above, for he or she who does not love his or her country’s flag can love nothing else except himself or herself, which also does not augur well in anyone’s country’s development.

If you are a genuine and loyal Ghanaian, use your flag and character to win all people everywhere under the Ghanaian laws. If you are born on a Wednesday, initially you are called Kwaku Odaaku, but your real name in the school register is the family one, therefore, let us name the Ghana Flag in the family way.

There can be 10 or 15 Kwaku Odaakus in a class, but their family names identify them. I suggest that the name of our Ghana Flag be christened ‘Ghana Muntie’ or any Ghanaian language appropriately and for Parliament to debate on it.

Writer’s E-mail: elzakmediaconsult@yahoo.com/Tel. 0275 193140.