An active player in the anticipated show-down was iconic Madam Akua Donkor, whose presence at the forum had earlier drawn giggles and whispers across the nation. Had Akua Donkor lost her way?  Was this not a national forum where the medium of expression, English, would intimidate her and compel her early exit?

No. Akua Donkor, a farmer with modest formal education had not lost her way.  She is the flagbearer and founder of the Ghana Freedom Party which has been cleared to be on the presidential ballot this December. The only female flagbearer, her counterparts on the ballot will include Mahamudu Bawumia, John Mahama, Alan Kyerematen, etc. She has been a household name for over ten years. In 2012, she was disqualified by the Electoral Commission entering the presidential race for not meeting relevant pre-requisites that had nothing to do with level of education. Her party was again disqualified in 2016. In 2020, however, Madam Donkor appeared on the presidential ballot with 11 others, and placed 11th out of 12 aspirants. That year, she obtained 5,574 votes being 0.04% of the total votes cast; and was the first to concede defeat when  results were declared. In the forthcoming presidential election, Akua Donkor will be No. 3 on the presidential ballot. In a television appearance days before the recent meeting, she had turned upside down a card on which her identity numeral (No. 3) was written; but that was not her fault, for ‘to err is human.’ 

At Tuesday’s well-attended IPAC meeting with the EC, her zero proficiency in English did not silence the 72-year-old lady. Dressed in white traditional wear, she sat with calm confidence and keenly followed discussions on ‘illegal’ voter transfers, a ‘bloated’ register and other irregularities suspected as part of a grand conspiracy to favor the ruling party. After several failed attempts to catch the moderator’s eye, Akua Donkor eventually had her turn, grabbed the microphone and in a shrill voice rattled her entire submission in fluent Twi. Without mincing words, the flagbearer over two minutes slammed the opposition NDC for chasing a problem they had created themselves, and received applause around the table. But her speech soon tapered off and yielded to an impatient moderator behind her, who appeared uncomfortable with the ‘vernacular’ intrusion.

Hear below, excerpts of Akua Donkor’s viewpoint at the forum originally spoken in Twi: 

‘Since Jean Mensah assumed the seat as Commissioner, the NDC has not stopped harassing her. They even took her to court but ended up disgracing themselves. She is a special person, and I congratulate her. But why the constant harassment?’

‘During the limited voter registration, the Commission advised parties to send representatives to all registration centers to make sure only qualified voters registered. I myself sent my party representatives. The Electoral Commission even provided a notebook where you could challenge suspicious names, those below 18, or non-Ghanaians. A pen was available for the purpose. But NDC, why subject Jean Mensah to such harassment? She is a special woman sent by God. I pray God will protect her… And did you say over 50 or so names in the register are deceased people? You are liars! Produce your evidence! Why tell such blatant lies without evidence? During the voter registration at Kukuom, you people pulled a gun.  In Cape Coast and Kasoa you chased the NPP and slashed people with cutlasses.’

‘Is this country your property? Where are you people taking Ghana? Give us a peace of mind to vote. The forthcoming election will be clean and transparent; there are no issues…,’ she fumed as the entire forum looked on, including a foreign reporter behind her. 

Akua Donkor indeed represents a huge category of ‘non-literate’ Ghanaians who are constantly intimidated and terrorized by a small percentage of English speaking elite who mistake English as a sign of wisdom, and the African language as a mark of inferiority. 

It is not surprising that the media report on Akua Donkor’s speech, attracted considerable verbal abuse. Find below a sample of insults on the social media, on the non-literate Akua Donkor: 

‘Useless…Villager…Illiterate…Cassava thief; her brain has gone insane; she drinks galamsey water; ugly witch…menopause trance… foolish woman… Agbelema cassava…’ and other unprintable insults. 

The Akua Donkor Twi intervention recalls three women with limited formal education who were members of Ghana’s Consultative Assembly that drafted our current Constitution in 1991/92. I did a study of their floor contribution to  proceedings. Madam Abena Atea (alias Gloria Prempeh) representing the market women of Ashanti, Eastern and Brong Ahafo regions, who contributed to consultative assembly debates in Twi; Ms. Elizabeth Owusu and Mrs. Grace Oku representing Accra Market Women who spoke Ga. These actively contributed to discussions on various topics including the presidency,  presidential terms, coups d’etat, representation on the National Security Council, etc. The parliamentary venue at the time benefitted from translation facilities which have since been rudely demolished. 

Times have changed, and Ghanaians now refer to indigenous efforts of Akua Donkor in unprintable words only because she has limited formal education; aims at a high public office, and dares to speak at a formal forum in her mother tongue.

But compare Akua Donkor to a man of honor at the forum: a medical doctor, former minister for communication, and former presidential spokesman whose ‘big English’ last Tuesday left me looking desperately for a dictionary. Here is part of his intervention: 

‘Fixing the leakage is missing, and this is at the heart of our altruistic demand for a forensic audit…This is why we are saying we need to adopt a dichotomous approach…’  Those are excerpts from Dr Omane Boamah’s submission.

After all this ‘dichotomous’ approach and ‘altruistic demands,’ what if on 7th January, 2025 the entire controversy is put to rest, and Ghana swears in as the sixth president of the 4th Republic, ‘Her Excellency President Akua Donkor?’

A loud applause!

kyankah@ashesi.edu.gh