KenaKrom was a small fishing village, which lacked any vibrant form of modern entertainment, the old folks were left to telling stories to their grandchildren at sunset to keep them entertained. The young adults gathered in the town square to listen to the men play drums while the females danced. The highlight of the people’s year was when they celebrated their festival. They watched as the chief priest performed various strange acts while the best drummers played to urge him on. After the festival he chose the most handsome looking young boy in the village to be taught by him and train him as a future priest. This year, rather surprisingly the gods had chosen who the villagers agreed was the most unintelligent child.
Kenakrom’s richest family was the Nyarko-Ansah family. The Nyarko-Ansah family was not only the richest but the largest, and more than half of the people of this small village traced their lineage to this family’s ancestry. The village kingmakers came from that family, and it was the only family which could choose the Chief. The most enviable title in all of KenaKrom was the title of Abusuapanyin(head of family). It had originally been made up of two families; the Nyarko and the Ansah families, but history told them that these two families had merged together in order to defeat a common enemy years past. They had lived peacefully with the position of head of family rotating between the two groups. They usually, as was done customarily, Elected or appointed the head of family, or one person was usually accepted by popular acclamation, but barring that, the oldest male or female member was simply chosen as head. It had always been a rather straight forward process. Until now.
Opanyin Kofi Nyarko insisted he was next in line to be family head after the old one, Kofi Ansah, had passed away. His claim was that not only was he the oldest member of the family as it stood now, but had already been performing the functions of the head of family, believing that nobody would dare challenge his authority. He didn’t understand why his succession as head of family should even be in contention when he was clearly also the richest man in the family. He had been summoned yesterday by the Okyeame, the reason being that some members of the family had brought a petition to the chief, pushing for his removal as they did not recognise his headship. He would have ignored this summons, but he was here to find out who dared to challenge the position he wanted. He sat pompously, flunked by all four of his wives who stood proudly behind him, save Eno Ekua who being the eldest wife,had being given a chair to sit on.
‘Silence everyone, silence!’ Okyeame Ntow thundered, ‘everyone be seated’.
It seemed as if the whole community had gathered in front of the chiefs palace, and the excitement of the town’s people was evident. It was not going to be easy getting the people to quiet down, but Okyeame(the Chief’s linguist) was in no hurry to get the meeting started. He loved being the centre of attention. The chief was seated in a large chair at the centre of the crowd, with two chairs placed on either side of him. Meetings that involved the chief were usually held inside his palace, but this was a different kind of meeting, and it was obvious the palace would not be able to contain a gathering of what seemed to be the whole community
‘Opanyin Kofi, my Okyeame assures me that you have been made aware of the reason for this meeting. We would hear what your contender has to say, and then give you a chance for a rebuttal. After that, I and my elders would make a decision as to who is to be the head of family of this great family from which we all relate to one way or the other. Okay?’
Opanyin Kofi nodded, his eyes moving slowly around the faces gathered.
Most of the people had gathered because Opanyin Kofi had bullied them into submitting to him over the years, lording his riches over them. He had married four wives and sired twelve children, and had made it known more than once that not only was he the most wealthiest but he was the most potent as well.
‘Let the people who brought the petition step forward and present their case’ The Okyeame bellowed.
Barima Kwame Ansah stepped forward and almost stumbled at the sharp look of scorn Opanyin Kofi shot in his direction.Opanyin was sure to come demanding payment of the loan he had taken from him right after they left this meeting.
‘Ermm Nana,please let it be known to Opanyin Kofi that I hold no grudge against him. It’s just that in KenaKrom,our custom demands that no man should be made a head if he has no children.And just a week before we were to settle on Opanyin’s election, someone came to us with information that,er..ermm..the children of Opanyin Kofi are not his real...,’Opanyin Kofi’s first wife was on her feet before he could end his statement;
‘God will punish you Barima Kwame!’Eno Ekua shouted, lunging at Barima Kwame.
‘sit down,Eno,don’t you dare speak when you have not been called to do so in Nana’s presence.’Eno was stopped by Nana’s bodyguards.
At this moment, the villagers could simply not be calmed. They started whispering amongst themselves, wondering why anyone would come up with a charge they believed was simply incredulous. How could anyone even gather the courage to touch any of Opanyin Kofi’s wives?
‘Continue’,Okyeame signalled at Barima when the people had quieted down a little.
‘As tradition demands, when we have a candidate, we go and present him to the village priest, for his final approval and blessing. The gods rejected Opanyin Kofi’s candidacy and gave the reason as him not having any children..’
At that,Opanyin Kofi shot up, tied his cloth around his waist, and turned to his wives who looked as if they were wishing the grounds would swallow them. There was silence, as every woman waited to see how the other would react. The men shook their heads in disbelief. They wouldn’t even wish such a thing on their enemies.
‘I am giving these four women two minutes to tell me who the father of those twelve bastards are, before I bless them with the gift of meeting their ancestors.’
The whispers began loudly again amongst the people. All four women were weeping, their heads buried deep into their cloth
‘Opanyin sit down, Nana would handle this, you must not speak in his presence when you haven’t been called upon’ Okyeame said quietly, ‘Women, how dare you bring such disgrace to this land. You are most likely to be banished..’
‘It is your father that would be banished, are you the chief?’ Takyibea, the third and most disrespectful of the wives shot up
‘How dare you speak to me this way, you shameful woman!’ The linguist retorted
‘Ah Okyeame,you are calling her shameful? Because she had children outside her marriage? In effect you are calling me shameful eh? Are you not the one who told me to allow you to sleep with me and have children for OpanyinKofi because your sister who he had refused to marry told you he was impotent?
‘Eiiiii, Okyeame’ The villagers shouted. Okyeame slumped into his chair in defeat.
‘I’m even surprised he said banishment oo my sister’, said the second wife Akua Kuma rather loudly to Takyibea.How can a man be a judge in his own case?
‘I forbid you to speak woman!’ Everyone was surprised at the chief’s sudden outburst .Akua simply smirked and sat down.
‘Ei Nana, don’t tell me you also had a pass at my wives?’ Opanyin Kofi screamed at the chief
‘I have told you not to..’ Okyeame began but quickly sat down when Opanyin Kofi silenced him with ‘if you don’t shut up over there..’
The men started making plans to go and see the priest to confirm whether or not they were indeed the real fathers of their kids. Twelve children, and not even one true child, even though they disliked Opanyin Kofi this was just cruel.
Opanyin turned to his last wife... ‘You! Who is the father of your children?’
Just then there was the sound of loud chanting. The villagers turned to see the priest making his way to the grounds.
‘I greet you Nana. There has been a bit of confusion. My servant delivered a message to the wrong family. The Apedwa family from our neighbouring town is also electing their head and it was to that family that the report about their intended head of family was given as not having any children. The report was not meant for the Nyarko-Ansah family. My very new assistant still has quite a lot to learn’
‘Ah!’ Barima shouted, ‘Are you saying the gods did not see that Opanyin Nyarko was impotent?’
‘Of course not, you fool, check the fathers of his children, why would I ,as priest, want to bring such confusion in my village by revealing such a scandalous thing?’
‘Good, especially since you are the father of my three sons’ Ama Kraah shot at the priest
‘Nana you too!?’ The people screamed in unison
‘Ahbah,woman! but who forced you to even say this ? Barima asked, shaking his head in disbelief, at the things that could be revealed in a day.
Kenakrom’s richest family was the Nyarko-Ansah family. The Nyarko-Ansah family was not only the richest but the largest, and more than half of the people of this small village traced their lineage to this family’s ancestry. The village kingmakers came from that family, and it was the only family which could choose the Chief. The most enviable title in all of KenaKrom was the title of Abusuapanyin(head of family). It had originally been made up of two families; the Nyarko and the Ansah families, but history told them that these two families had merged together in order to defeat a common enemy years past. They had lived peacefully with the position of head of family rotating between the two groups. They usually, as was done customarily, Elected or appointed the head of family, or one person was usually accepted by popular acclamation, but barring that, the oldest male or female member was simply chosen as head. It had always been a rather straight forward process. Until now.
Opanyin Kofi Nyarko insisted he was next in line to be family head after the old one, Kofi Ansah, had passed away. His claim was that not only was he the oldest member of the family as it stood now, but had already been performing the functions of the head of family, believing that nobody would dare challenge his authority. He didn’t understand why his succession as head of family should even be in contention when he was clearly also the richest man in the family. He had been summoned yesterday by the Okyeame, the reason being that some members of the family had brought a petition to the chief, pushing for his removal as they did not recognise his headship. He would have ignored this summons, but he was here to find out who dared to challenge the position he wanted. He sat pompously, flunked by all four of his wives who stood proudly behind him, save Eno Ekua who being the eldest wife,had being given a chair to sit on.
‘Silence everyone, silence!’ Okyeame Ntow thundered, ‘everyone be seated’.
It seemed as if the whole community had gathered in front of the chiefs palace, and the excitement of the town’s people was evident. It was not going to be easy getting the people to quiet down, but Okyeame(the Chief’s linguist) was in no hurry to get the meeting started. He loved being the centre of attention. The chief was seated in a large chair at the centre of the crowd, with two chairs placed on either side of him. Meetings that involved the chief were usually held inside his palace, but this was a different kind of meeting, and it was obvious the palace would not be able to contain a gathering of what seemed to be the whole community
‘Opanyin Kofi, my Okyeame assures me that you have been made aware of the reason for this meeting. We would hear what your contender has to say, and then give you a chance for a rebuttal. After that, I and my elders would make a decision as to who is to be the head of family of this great family from which we all relate to one way or the other. Okay?’
Opanyin Kofi nodded, his eyes moving slowly around the faces gathered.
Most of the people had gathered because Opanyin Kofi had bullied them into submitting to him over the years, lording his riches over them. He had married four wives and sired twelve children, and had made it known more than once that not only was he the most wealthiest but he was the most potent as well.
‘Let the people who brought the petition step forward and present their case’ The Okyeame bellowed.
Barima Kwame Ansah stepped forward and almost stumbled at the sharp look of scorn Opanyin Kofi shot in his direction.Opanyin was sure to come demanding payment of the loan he had taken from him right after they left this meeting.
‘Ermm Nana,please let it be known to Opanyin Kofi that I hold no grudge against him. It’s just that in KenaKrom,our custom demands that no man should be made a head if he has no children.And just a week before we were to settle on Opanyin’s election, someone came to us with information that,er..ermm..the children of Opanyin Kofi are not his real...,’Opanyin Kofi’s first wife was on her feet before he could end his statement;
‘God will punish you Barima Kwame!’Eno Ekua shouted, lunging at Barima Kwame.
‘sit down,Eno,don’t you dare speak when you have not been called to do so in Nana’s presence.’Eno was stopped by Nana’s bodyguards.
At this moment, the villagers could simply not be calmed. They started whispering amongst themselves, wondering why anyone would come up with a charge they believed was simply incredulous. How could anyone even gather the courage to touch any of Opanyin Kofi’s wives?
‘Continue’,Okyeame signalled at Barima when the people had quieted down a little.
‘As tradition demands, when we have a candidate, we go and present him to the village priest, for his final approval and blessing. The gods rejected Opanyin Kofi’s candidacy and gave the reason as him not having any children..’
At that,Opanyin Kofi shot up, tied his cloth around his waist, and turned to his wives who looked as if they were wishing the grounds would swallow them. There was silence, as every woman waited to see how the other would react. The men shook their heads in disbelief. They wouldn’t even wish such a thing on their enemies.
‘I am giving these four women two minutes to tell me who the father of those twelve bastards are, before I bless them with the gift of meeting their ancestors.’
The whispers began loudly again amongst the people. All four women were weeping, their heads buried deep into their cloth
‘Opanyin sit down, Nana would handle this, you must not speak in his presence when you haven’t been called upon’ Okyeame said quietly, ‘Women, how dare you bring such disgrace to this land. You are most likely to be banished..’
‘It is your father that would be banished, are you the chief?’ Takyibea, the third and most disrespectful of the wives shot up
‘How dare you speak to me this way, you shameful woman!’ The linguist retorted
‘Ah Okyeame,you are calling her shameful? Because she had children outside her marriage? In effect you are calling me shameful eh? Are you not the one who told me to allow you to sleep with me and have children for OpanyinKofi because your sister who he had refused to marry told you he was impotent?
‘Eiiiii, Okyeame’ The villagers shouted. Okyeame slumped into his chair in defeat.
‘I’m even surprised he said banishment oo my sister’, said the second wife Akua Kuma rather loudly to Takyibea.How can a man be a judge in his own case?
‘I forbid you to speak woman!’ Everyone was surprised at the chief’s sudden outburst .Akua simply smirked and sat down.
‘Ei Nana, don’t tell me you also had a pass at my wives?’ Opanyin Kofi screamed at the chief
‘I have told you not to..’ Okyeame began but quickly sat down when Opanyin Kofi silenced him with ‘if you don’t shut up over there..’
The men started making plans to go and see the priest to confirm whether or not they were indeed the real fathers of their kids. Twelve children, and not even one true child, even though they disliked Opanyin Kofi this was just cruel.
Opanyin turned to his last wife... ‘You! Who is the father of your children?’
Just then there was the sound of loud chanting. The villagers turned to see the priest making his way to the grounds.
‘I greet you Nana. There has been a bit of confusion. My servant delivered a message to the wrong family. The Apedwa family from our neighbouring town is also electing their head and it was to that family that the report about their intended head of family was given as not having any children. The report was not meant for the Nyarko-Ansah family. My very new assistant still has quite a lot to learn’
‘Ah!’ Barima shouted, ‘Are you saying the gods did not see that Opanyin Nyarko was impotent?’
‘Of course not, you fool, check the fathers of his children, why would I ,as priest, want to bring such confusion in my village by revealing such a scandalous thing?’
‘Good, especially since you are the father of my three sons’ Ama Kraah shot at the priest
‘Nana you too!?’ The people screamed in unison
‘Ahbah,woman! but who forced you to even say this ? Barima asked, shaking his head in disbelief, at the things that could be revealed in a day.
Great story. Well done.
ReplyDeleteThanks Samuel,i appreciate
DeleteNice one.....real drama.....
ReplyDeletehaha, Interesting.
ReplyDelete