Ghana Life: Summoned to Accra
In the brief era of popular revolution, following Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings’ second seizure of power on December 31, 1981, it became standard practice for people to be summoned to Accra by radio. The call that went out early one morning in July 1982 caused some urgent concern on the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) campus in Kumasi. All the deans of faculties and directors of research institutes were to travel to Accra the next day to meet with the revolutionary leader. Coming at a time when all intellectuals, professionals and managers had been designated ‘enemies of the people’, and when it was not even certain that fuel would be found for transport to Accra, the people involved viewed the call with some apprehension.
This was a time when most vehicles would spend hours in long lines at gas stations only to be rewarded when fuel arrived with a gallon allowance. A return trip to Accra would take about ten gallons, and everyone expected it to be a return trip. Most of the university’s vehicles were immobilized, and the deans doubted they would be able to answer the call and were afraid if they didn’t. The Technology Consulting Center (TCC), however, kept its own large stock of diesel fuel in its campus workshop and the director offered a lift to all colleagues who weren’t too proud to ride in the back of a Land Rover. Rover. The offer was oversubscribed, and to make room for one more passenger, the director elected to take over driving. The next morning, after a four-hour drive, the KNUST group arrived at the National Conference Center in Accra on time.
The Kumasi scholars were greeted on arrival by their peers from the University of Ghana and the University of Cape Coast, as well as heads of various Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) institutions; so it was a relatively large assembly that awaited the leader of the revolution. They were in a long wait.
After some time, the meeting grew restless and an officer asked for patience; the leader was very busy but he would be there shortly. Asked why they had been summoned on such short notice, the official said it was to discuss scientific and industrial development policy under the revolution. The meeting decided to take advantage of the waiting time to prepare a statement of policy recommendations. The deliberations were interrupted when it was announced that the leader was about to arrive and that everyone should go out to meet him when he arrived.
The National Conference Center is situated away from the main road and surrounded by extensive gardens. After yet another delay, the welcome party began as a helicopter landed on the lawn in front of them and a group of men in military uniform ran quickly from the plane toward the main building. It was then that one of the new arrivals was recognized as the young flight lieutenant. The manner of his arrival suggested that the rumors of backlashes and assassination attempts were more than rumours.
Everyone returned to the room and Rawlings stood at the podium. A long and confused speech followed, interrupted several times by the crackle of a military handheld radio, prompting the speaker to crouch behind the podium for an urgent conversation with his distant interlocutor. With a mind that was clearly on other things, the leader harangued his captive audience with a nearly incomprehensible speech in which he frequently changed the subject in mid-sentence.
After a late lunch in which the teachers tried to explain to each other what the central message of the monologue had been, the military team left exactly the reverse of their arrival. Although he had wasted a long day and there was still a four-hour drive back to Kumasi, a general sense of relief washed over the Kumasi group. Even in revolutionary times, life must go on, and the enemies of the revolution were left free to return to their normal duties.