Hail, Queen Ursula MMXVIII

It is true that the dream of every individual or celebrity is to outshine his or her contemporaries and eventually gain recognition from his/her people.

In our part of the world, it is a big deal, and for that matter most appreciative, when such celebrities, though already popular in their own spheres of endeavor, are bestowed with chieftaincy titles by their traditional authorities.

It therefore didn’t come as a surprise to many Ghanaians when on Saturday, September 29, 2008, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister for Communications and Member of Parliament (MP) for Ablekuma West Constituency, was enstooled as the Development Queen (Nkosuohemaa) of Akyem Asuom in the Kwaebibirem District of the Eastern Region.

She was enstooled by the Chiefs and people of the area when she attended the 75th Anniversary celebration of Nana Yaa Anamah II, the longest-serving queen mother of Akyem Abuakwa Traditional Area.

According to the chiefs, her virtues, educational and political backgrounds, as well as her achievements in life as a woman of substance, had influenced their decision to bestow the title of Nkosuohemaa on her, under the stool name Obaapanyin Abena Bema Oforiwaa Gyankobaa.

The colourful ceremony was attended by family, friends and some government officials as she was carried shoulder high amidst gunshots by some politicians.

Traditionally, Nkosuohemaa, though a non-inheritable position, is considered enviable and is bestowed on highly revered personalities who are development-oriented, selfless and committed to improving the living standards of the people.

As could be expected, the Minister expressed joy about the honour done her by the people and promised to meet their expectations in terms of developmental projects in the area.

However, one thing that political observers least expected from her, after the ceremony was that, back home in Accra, the MP was virtually going to ‘decorate’ the length and breadth of her constituency with huge billboard-sized productions of her pictures from her installation.

While we do not envy her on her latest position, we think re-announcing her new title by mounting huge photos of herself at nearly all strategic positions in the Ablekuma West Constituency is very unnecessary.

In the view of THE PUBLISHER, the generality of the people in the constituency, ninety-nine percent of who are not necessarily descendants of the Akyem Asuom Tradional Area, may not be interested in the fact that their MP had been ‘elevated’ to the position of a development queen in faraway Kwaebibirem District of the Eastern Region.

The constituency, which is currently saddled with high rent charges, poor sanitation, high unemployment, bad roads and high crime wave, certainly needs a better story from their legislator, than the fact that she is now a queen mother.

The paper is compelled to side with the hundreds of her constituents, particularly New Patriotic Party (NPP) members, who shudder in utter disquiet at the sights of those huge photos at the Dansoman and Exhibition Roundabouts and other places.

Her kitchen cabinet, if at all she has any at the party’s constituency office, must let her know that the gossips at the taxi ranks and chop bars in the constituency, as a result of those billboards, are not very pleasant.

Yes, the photos of her in the queenly regalia are beautiful, but they are of no economic/political significance at this time.

Rather than the streets of Dansoman, they can serve a better purpose in Her Majesty Queen Ursula’s living room.