Fathers and sons are always forgiving each other. They go on from forgiveness to forgiveness. – Anonymous
NON-PLUSSED we were when we heard Safo Kantanka Akofena’s answers to questions by Bola Ray – in an interview. We use the traditional definition of “non-plussed”, synonymous with “perplexed,” “bewildered,” “stunned,” “disconcerted,” or simply “taken aback.”
In the said interview (where Akofena had indicated his love for cars and watches), Bolay Ray asked:
Q: “How many cars do you have?”
A: “I can’t tell the number.”
Q: “You have many watches, how much is the most expensive one?”
A: “I bought it for £ one hundred and fifty thousand (pounds)”. Shiee, uncountable number of cars; a wrist watch at a whopping price of £150,000! What! Incredible!
So, this is the “beloved” son in whom the great Apostle Kwadwo Safo was so pleased he wanted to bequeath his wealth and position to?
Meanwhile, some of the mmoborowa congregants may be counting their pesewas from their hovels and getting their hovels flooded, all their possessions carried away.
In the will Kantanka’s maids were to be given 50% of much of his property to be shared equally “in appreciation of the domestic services rendered to me over my lifetime.” So, the maids take home 50% of the earnings of the following: Kantanka Automobile, Great Imperial Transport Services Limited, Kantanka Quarry Limited, KSK Organic Farms Limited, Modern Kosa Company Limited, Great Kosa Herbal Clinic Limited, Kantanka Media Limited, Kantanka Security Services Limited, Kantanka Herbal Pharmaceutical and Research Centre Limited.
So be it. Read 1 Kings 1:1–2 where King David, being old and needing warmth, the servants sought for the King a young virgin; “and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.” But the king knew Abishag not, but in modern times, King David may have willed a fortune to her.
As for the details in the Will, let it be known that it was the wish of the Apostle to distribute his “self-acquired” property the way he chose. It does not lie in anybody’s mouth to criticise him for doing what he chose was best for him. He could have chosen to bequeath his property to his dog, cat, child, adopted orphan, or whoever, except to add that whoever is aggrieved can go to court, file a caveat and rely on PNDCL 111 of 1985 to challenge the Will.
The parallel we read from the Bible is found in 2 Samuel 15–18, where Absalom, one of David’s sons, rebelled against David, and actually went to war with him and Joab killed Absalom, despite King David’s warning: “Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.”
When King David heard about the killing of Absalom, he said: “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom…” Joab was peeved, and he said: “Thou lovest thine enemies, and hatest thy friends. I perceive that if Absalom had lived, and we had all died this day, then it had pleased thee well… That day’s victory was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that the king was grieved for his son.” A typical example of filial bond and filial love!
Then, we are tempted to go back to Apostle Safo Kantanka’s backyard, despite ourselves. We ask: Does all the property belong to Apostle Kwadwo Safo Kantanka and was it all self-acquired? What about the position of Kristo Asafo Church? So, leadership will move from Apostle’s son, to his son’s son… and so on, till when? No role by Apostle’s female children? Do they not have a place in the affairs of the church?
Again, we can draw a parallel from the Bible. Jacob (also called Israel) had thirteen (13) children. Only one, Dinah, was female, but she hardly gets mentioned, with the stress on the twelve (12) sons of Jacob getting the focus, “the Twelve Tribes of Israel” Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin (Some stories allege that there were other female children of Jacob).
Genesis 37:34–35: “And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him.”
The mention of “daughters” affirms the belief that Jacob did not have only one daughter, but many.
But, you know, feminist action (or affirmative action) was not popular in Biblical times. Our societies used to be patriarchal. Allan Johnson in his study in masculinity writes of patriarchy: “Patriarchy encourages men to seek security, status, and other rewards through control; to fear other men’s ability to control and harm them; and to identify being in control as both their best defence against loss and humiliation and the surest route to what they need and desire.”
Ghana has passed the Ghana Affirmative Action (Gender Equality) Act 2024 and in it one sees the encouragement of the law “to promote women’s participation in all areas of society, including politics, economy, education, and social life, while simultaneously addressing gender inequality.”
Article 17(1) of Ghana’s Constitution (1992) affirms this: “All persons shall be equal before the law. (2) A person shall not be discriminated against on grounds of gender, race, color, ethnic origin, religion, creed or social or economic status.”
We would have loved to see Kwadwo Safo Akofena surrounded by Bibles, hymn-books, various religious pamphlets, suggestive of religiosity, but instead we see watches and cars, and wines and other drinkables. What religious weight will such a person carry? We stand to be corrected, but are we going to see an expansion of the Kristo Asafo Church? We do not want to predict that “Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.”
But we are afraid that given the present trend of affairs, the task of reconciliation will be a hard one. What are the congregants going to learn from such a young and handsome leader with a penchant for worldly things? Can his advice hold? How does he explain the rift between him and his other siblings? Has Akofena thought about building a lasting legacy – say in forty years’ time?
However, we will pray for a fitting burial and funeral of the late Apostle on 30th July, 2026.
May Apostle Dr. Kwadwo Safo Kantanka’s noble soul rest in perfect peace, and may the earth at Gomoa Mpota in the Central Region lie softly on him. Amen.
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