KB Asante: Voice From Afar column

I came across an article on Paa Grant the other day and I asked myself "do we still have patriots?" Paa Grant heavily financed the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) which spearheaded the Independence Movement after the war in the forties.

He did not finance the movement to become its leader or a leading member as is the current practice. He supported the Independence Movement because he was a patriot who believed in national self determination.

Paa Grant (George Alfred Grant) was a successful timber merchant who believed that the African genius in enterprise would flourish if unfettered by colonial aims and purposes. 

We have rightly recognised the Big Six of the UGCC and the time has come to recognise the contribution of Paa Grant. Research may reveal other patriots we should emulate.

Recognition of the great patriots may lead to an appreciation of the role of the forgotten many whose national fervour helped to achieve national progress. The market women of Accra, the effective foot soldiers, and the workers at location in Sekondi/Takoradi deserve special mention.

We do certainly have patriots in our midst today. We should encourage them to surface. It is not necessary to obtain political office to serve the nation. In fact, the road to political office has been tainted by personal ambition. Many contribute to the party so that they may obtain office in the organisation and become ministers or high-profile office bearers in the event of party victory.

Incidentally, this practice raises the question of funding the various political parties. Some of us believe that the state should assist the funding of political parties to weaken the power of the major financiers. Others do not agree with us. The way out is to discuss and seek an acceptable way to deal with the problem and not to adopt a desiccated professorial stance. The present practice is not healthy, and makes it difficult for patriots like Paa Grant to surface.

Patriotism can be encouraged to flourish by appropriate textbooks and other reading materials for our children and students. It is not sufficient to name institutions after Sarbah and the like. We should know what they did. The youth should know about the patriotic fervour of these men and women of old.

Our young ones at school should know about the nationalism of Yaa Asantewaa, Nana Sir Ofori Atta, King Tackie Tawiah, and Ephraim Amu, to mention only a few. We should not try to find leaders only among the political elite.  We should encourage the true patriots among us to help raise the political horizon. We can do this by not giving attention to only what the politicians bid us to think about. 

Right now Knowledge is vast and accessible. In Ghana, we need not wait for a Freedom of Information law to know all that is going on. We can force authority to reveal information by expressing what we know.

We would do well to use social media to disseminate news and discuss ways of dealing with our economic and social problems. We can meet in groups or in "demonstrations" on specific issues and force authority to listen and to act. Patriots passionately concerned about the nation can find important, useful and effective roles in this area.