When Papa Mintah was born into the world of today, some 70 years ago he was faced with a number of problems, which made it difficult for him to achieve his aim in life, thereby making him lose hope as a person who is determined to succeed, no matter what.

His children are in their 40s, since he did not give birth to them early, even though he married at an early age of 25. His first wife could not give birth until she met her untimely death in a motor accident from Kasoa market where she had gone to buy a few things for the house. The death of Naa Akorkor made Papa Mintah very sad and disorganised, vowing to himself not to marry again, because of his special love for his late wife.

However, pressure was put on him by family members who thought that he was still a young man to take on a new wife, because of temptations in the world. To avoid needless and irresponsible amorous relationships with some of the women around, his brothers and sisters as well as some cousins and friends counselled him to change his mind and take on a wife, since he was very responsible, hardworking and respected by residents in and around the community.

Positive results

This pressure yielded positive results, so at the age of 30, Papa Mintah took on a new wife, known as Abena Serwaa, a juicy young lady who was very beautiful in the eyes of many men. She grew to be a good wife and was liked very much by Papa Mintah’s families. Papa Mintah himself also proved to be a darling husband, and he was prepared to do all he could to make his darling wife happy.

In the evenings, Papa Mintah will have some sweet words for his new wife, Abena Serwaa, stating that, “I love you dearly, Abena, and I have not regretted changing my decision on marriage to settle down with you as my wife”. Abena would also look at him and say, “I am all for you at any time, that is, day and night”. This went on for days, weeks, months and years until God blessed them with three children, two boys and a girl. The eldest son, Kwaku Nimoh, decided to marry at the age of 35, but could not do so, because the person he wanted to marry left him, making it difficult for him to understand the difficulties encountered in his personal life. He had to wait till age 41 before meeting another lady, but just as he was preparing to marry, this lady also lost her life in a motor accident.

Bitter experience

This bitter experience dampened the hopes of Kwaku Nimoh who, like his father, also decided not to marry at all. He had to wait till he was 43 before being fortunate enough to meet another lady in the nearby town. The two of them agreed to marry, but they were also faced with some obstacles.

It was becoming very difficult to understand all these happenings, because Papa Mintah’s families, after praying and praying for their lives, seem to be encountering obstacles in their lives. Remembering his own personal experience before marriage, Papa Mintah advised his son, Kwaku Nimoh, not to lose hope, but know that life is not always easy, especially getting the right person to marry.

For Papa Mintah and his children, life has not been pleasant with them, especially in the area of marriage, even though, business wise, they have been successful.

Good and successful business

In the area of farming, for example, they have had large farms, and shops. They were also engaged in retailing activities. Even though, they were from the Akuapem area their success in business made their neighbours think that they were Kwahu people, since people from Kwahu area are noted for good and successful business.

“Eii, you Kwahu people are good at business oo”. Some of the neighbours would say to them. One of them, Kwaku Giushie, would say that “Eii, I wish I were you, but each time he says this Kwaku Nimoh would reply: “Never say that, because we also have our own problems”. And, indeed, they were faced with their own problems, when it comes to marriage. Apart from marriage, they were also faced with problems relating to safety and insecurity in their personal lives. It is for these reasons that no one is supposed to compare his/herself to another person. As it is often said in Akan, “Mi nya wo ay, έyέ mu suo”, meaning, “You should never wish to be like someone since all people have their peculiar problems in life”.

Achieving a purpose in life

These problems were encountered by Papa Mintah’s families, each time they were on the verge of achieving a purpose in life. This situation is similar to a group of people in political parties and even government. In the case of NPP government, for example, having ruled so well and impacted the economy with many economic programmes and policies, a number of issues, though false and misleading, have been emerging to disturb the good works being done, and, if the President and the government do not stay focused, they would be derailed from their good intentions.

Examples of the disturbing issues are the outbreak of fire in market places believed to be related to the work of some political elements in the country as well as senseless attacks on government officials by some opposition members, and also the resignation of the Special Prosecutor as well as matters arising from it. These are events that are well known to all Ghanaians, so the government should remain focused, since these are dangerous days prior to the conduct of the upcoming elections.

There used to be a teacher who always advised his students that, “last days are dangerous”. By this, he meant that any time you get closer to achieving a purpose in life such as going through elections, especially when the electorates are likely to vote for you, or when as a student you are assiduously preparing for exams that you are bent on passing, you need to be extremely careful and feverishly pray for success, since the enemy can use spiritual tentacles and other physical tricks to thwart your good efforts.

Political players

We all need to learn from this and know that as political players and responsible government “the last days will always be dangerous”. Within this context, the ruling government and the majority of Ghanaians ought to note that these are interesting happenings, especially taking place just before the upcoming elections.

I hope Mr President and his team of officials are listening attentively and picking lessons from this. Please never panic, because truth will always prevail in these difficult times, since interesting happenings will always take place in these “latter days”.

Dr. Kofi Amponsah-Bediako