Charles Dugan’s rebuttals, 23, 26 June, 2023, would not merit the attention of anyone under normal circumstances.
And I must say that, but for his calculated fib about me to achieve his objective, I would not have wasted time to respond to his insult-laden write-ups. I assure the editor of this paper that, this is the last time I will comment on Dugan’s effusions.
Dugan wrote: ‘First, with his clouded mind and mentality, Bright blindly wanted to suggest that I am an Asante and implying that anyone who criticises Ewes are Asantes.’ Oh!I would have asked Dugan to quote the sentence(s) in which I made a reference to his tribe or Asante.
But as he said that I wanted to ‘suggest,’ it is clear that that was his wayward deduction from my rejoinder, and not a statement, because nowhere did I mention his tribe.
For those who may not have read Dugan’s highly offensive article that I was compelled to rejoinder, please,get a copy of the 15th June, 2023, edition of this paper and make your own analyses.
A former minister, whom I shared the publication with, as he visited me, kept shaking the head from the middle of the article in total disagreement with him, and made a remark that I restrain myself from sharing.
Dugan said he is partly Ewe, and despite his comments being abusive, he should be seen as objective.
He must have long lost touch with his Ewe root for writing ‘Torgbuioo’ instead of ‘Torgbuiwo,’ and must be reminded that, those whom the Anlo folklore, ‘Torkoratorlia;’(the 5th Landing Beach), referred to as having been severely punished for certain offences,were indigenes, not aliens.
As such, his Ewe ancestry is immaterial in these conversations. Was he saying that because he’s an Ewe, if he went wrong, I should look the other way?
Did he not understand why I referred to the people of Nogokpo as ‘in-laws’ of bishop Agyinasare, against whom he stirred the honest nest?
If tribes were relevant, chiefs and people of some communities would not have ostracised some natives over certain perceived comments and acts.
Not long ago, the FM station of an indigene was shut down by the paramount chief of the area, because the station was being ‘unprofessional.’
Relationship should not matter in condemning a crime. And that is why your statement of having ‘Ewe blood’ is a red herring fallacy.
Dugan wrote: ‘’Togbuioo cannot deny knowledge of the fact that some Akan towns in this country are degraded as citadel of witchcraft and others as sika duro are engaged in. Ewes look down upon people from this ethnic group or most importantly, such towns which to them, must be avoided at all cost.
To this day, such towns have been labeled for all that is evil and wrong, yet to this day, no traditional leader from these towns has cautioned people from making such statements.’
Here, I offered Dugan free tutoring that, he should have said: ‘some Ewes,’ because such a claim is unscientific, as it amounts to what is referred to in some quarters as ‘loose talk,’ or a sweeping generalisation, when he could not provide a research finding with all the characteristics.
And in his face-saving long-winded thesis, which he evidently did with much reluctance, judging from the plethora of contradictions, he wrote: ‘between what the bishop said and what Bright knows that is said about the Nzema people, which he is too coward to admit that it is also said among Ewes, and that Nzema is a witchcraft citadel, which is more an attack on the indigenes?’
So, Dugan admits that both descriptions constitute an attack, but is saying that we should rather be concerned about the degree of the attack. This is the evidence of the loose talk I am worried about.
If some people, for whatever reasons, become unguarded in their comments about a particular tribe, I should not, and would not dwell on that hearsay to say the entire tribe is guilty of this or that; because the views of a fewpeople cannot be said to represent those of a whole tribe.
That is poisonous framing.It would have been nice if the fearless Dugan had named the accuser and the podium on which the good people of Nzema were sadly labeled as such. But such a statement without verifiable evidence, lacks the commonsense; the name of your column.
‘By the way, in March, this year, it was reported that Ghana was an illicit drug trafficking hub. What is your reaction? Are you in illegal drugs deals?” Dugan asked. This is how he wanted me to juxtaposehis stereotyping of all Ewes and the description of Nogokpo Township as headquarters of demons in the Volta Regionby bishop Agyinasare against this description of Ghana. Do you need any further evidence that your article was not fit for anyone’s attention?
How could you draw this correlation? Ah ba! Dugan, a proponent of hate speech, will always try to find a space in a landmine and beckon his ‘adversaries.’
He tried to get me on his side to trumpet his tribal euphony, when he attempted to draw me into the Ashanti-Ewe dichotomy, which the Otumfuor and Awomefia have commendably tried to stitch recently with positive results.
As someone with enormous know-hows from ten (10) UN peacekeeping operations, besides ECOMOG in Liberia, I know the ravages of wars and would be the last on this earth to clap for anyone poking this kind of fire.
Dugan found bishop Agyinasare’s unfortunate comment as a conduit to gleefully talk about the 1970’s political activities, Jerry Johns Rawlings and his purported vitriol on an Ashanti chief, Kofi Awooner’s book, etc, without any relevance whatsoever to the issue.
And he went bananas: ‘Coming on the issue at stake where a certain retired warrant officer of the Ghana Armed Forces, Bright Segbefia…’ Have you seen why I said he tries to host others in landmines of tribalism?
How did it become essential to rope in the Ghana Armed Forces? Could he not have mentioned my name without linking it to the military? What did he seek to achieve by that?At a point, I was wondering if he was delivering an extempore speech at a political rally where there is no room for a rebuttal.
Dugan’s claim that his article was just suggesting to the Nogokpo chiefs and elders to allow what Bishop Agyinsare said to pass so that life can go on, is far from the truth. This comment certainly was an afterthought. That is why it is important for anyone reading this for the first time to get the copy of the paper and read it.
‘Togbuioo, please just chill and refrain from daring Christ in this matter’ he cautioned. And see these: ‘Togbuioo, do you consider the repercussions that would follow when traditional worshipers clash with Christians in this country?
Calling on your gods will not help matters but rather put Ewes in a bad light. ‘Togbuioo,’ Dugan proceeded, ‘why is it that once a statement is made against Ewes, it is a reason to go to war?
Tell me, how conciliatory are these? How could you look down on someone’s faith when the 1992 Constitution talks about religious tolerance? Do you need to condemn another religion in order to profess yours? Only some African pastors do so, and it is unhealthy for coexistence.
Dugan still justified the comment of bishop Agyinasare. Face Book scavenger as he is, I believe he may have seen and heard the extensive discussions and condemnations of the comment and I am not going to spend time on it. Someone described it as a security matter.
But if Dugan still thinks that the only way they can be seen as worshiping their creator is to be launching onslaught on other people’s belief system, then it is up to them, because the Bible has cautioned Christians against pronouncing judgments.
When I asked him to be mindful of the directive of Mathew 22: 21 that, everyone must be allowed to worship in line with their beliefs, he dissented. Any wonder we have a multitude of Christian denominations?
‘Do not judge,’ Mathew 7:1cautions us, ‘or you too will be judged.’ My apology for the mix-up of Duncan and Dugan; inadvertent it was, as I typed that rejoinder from my mobile phone.
By EX WOI Bright Segbefia, PR Practitioner
Editor’s Note: Views expressed in this rejoinder do not represent that of The Chronicle. Also this is the last rejoinder the paper will publish regarding the article being referenced.
