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    Kwegyir Aggrey of Africa His Life and Achievements
    Kwegyir Aggrey of Africa His Life and Achievements
    Kwegyir Aggrey of Africa His Life and Achievements
    Ebook74 pages1 hour

    Kwegyir Aggrey of Africa His Life and Achievements

    By Woeli Dekutsey

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    About this ebook

    Not much is known about this remarkable African, who blazed
    the trail for such human rights advocates as Dr Martin Luther King (USA) and Nelson Mandela (South Africa). One of his biographers, Edwin Smith once wrote of Dr Kwegyir Aggrey, “The man is a saint, but damn his color.” In this book, specially targeted at the youth, the story of this great Areican is told candidly and objectively.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWoeli Dekutsey
    Release dateJan 27, 2019
    ISBN9780463375501
    Kwegyir Aggrey of Africa His Life and Achievements

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    • 5/5
      This is a precise and concise book. Tells much more about Kwegyir Aggrey. I would love to read other books by same author- Woeli Dekutsey.

    Book preview

    Kwegyir Aggrey of Africa His Life and Achievements - Woeli Dekutsey

    Kwegyir

    Aggrey

    of Africa

    His Life and Achievements

    Woeli Dekutsey

    CHAPTER 1

    His Childhood

    He was his mother’s fourth child out of eight children. Anomabu, where he was born, is a coastal town on the way to Cape Coast in Ghana (formerly known as the Gold Coast). The people were mostly fishermen and craftsmen. J. E. K. Aggrey was born on 18 October 1875 to Okyeame Kodwo Aggrey (his father) and Abena Annuah (his mother). His parents were of the royal family: his father was an Anomabu royal while the mother was a princess of Ajumako. His full name was James Emman Kodwo Aggrey. James was his Christian name (when he was baptized); Emman is a Fantsi word, which means great city or town (or nation builder); Kodwo was his day name because he was born on Monday (in Ghana, day names are important); Kwegyir is a combination of Kwawu and Egyiri, the name of one of his forebears or ancestors; while Aggrey was the family name or surname.

    On the eighth day, as custom demanded, the infant Aggrey was outdoored. This was a ceremony, which every child had to undergo to be welcomed as a human being into the world of the living. The child was paraded before family members. The infant was cradled in the arm and a drop of rum (a strong alcoholic drink) was put on the lips of the child. Thereafter, a drop of water was also put on the child’s lips. The significance was to make the child taste the difference between falsehood and truth. (The strong drink, rum, stood for falsehood, while the water stood for truth.) Thus from an early age, the child was taught to uphold the truth always, and avoid dishonesty or the telling of lies.

    Later, on 24 June 1883, when the young Aggrey was almost eight years old, he was baptized in the Wesleyan Church in Cape Coast. He was given the Christian name, James. In those days, having a Christian name along with the African one indicated that one was a Christian (as is the practice even today).

    His father, Okyeame Kodwo Aggrey was a well-respected member of the community. The title, Okyeame showed that he was the chief’s spokesman or linguist. In those days (sometimes even now), the chief of the town or community never spoke directly to his people. The custom was that he should speak through a linguist. This man was called the Okyeame, the chief’s mouthpiece, so to speak. It was not everybody who could be an Okyeame. The man, who served as the spokesman,

    was always carefully chosen. He must be a gifted and eloquent speaker. He must be quick-witted and very well versed in proverbs and customary law. Even if the chief made a mistake in his speech, it became the Okyeame’s duty to repair the damage. This the Okyeame would do by rewording the chief’s speech and smoothing the rough edges in order to make it acceptable to the people. (Therefore, Okyeames are very important people in the Ghanaian traditional society, even today.)

    Okyeame Kodwo Aggrey excelled in this duty. He was not only a great speaker or orator. He was also one who could think fast on his feet. He was noted for his sharp memory and ability to analyze and draw appropriate conclusions.

    One day, Okyeame Kodwo Aggrey’s abilities were severely put to the test. The British Governor in the Colony, Governor Cruikshank tried to settle a dispute but failed miserably. He finally sought the help of Okyeame Kodwo Aggrey who patiently heard statements from the feuding sides. After several days of hearing testimonies, it fell on Okyeame Kodwo Aggrey to sift through the troublesome half-truths and blatant lies in order to arrive at the truth and make a final judgement. Meanwhile tempers were running high and the fighting parties were threatening to spill blood if they were not happy with the verdict. That was when Okyeame Kodwo Aggrey rose

    to his mark as Okyeame

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