In 1969, an African-Caribbean rock band was founded in London, UK and it rocked the world throughout the seventies. The band, which was the Criss-Cross Rhythm that Exploded with Happiness became known as Osibisa.I believe it still has one of its instrumental music played as a signature tune on a BBC show.
Popular hits which still move and shake people to this day include, Music for the Gong-Gong; Woyaya, Y Sharp, Sunshine Day, Coffee Song, Dance the Body Music, Kokokroo, Welcome Home, Celebration andOsa Osa O.
The African jazz was modified by Osibisa and the world all over enjoyed, sang and danced to the beat of the rhythms played by this Afro-Caribbean group of seasoned musicians.
Before Osibisa entered the scene, in most youth parties in this countrythe music played were mostly, if not only R & Bs, soul, funk, disco and those foreign stuff. A DJ may crash the party if he used more than ten per cent of play time to play local highlife songs.
Then, entered Osibisa and gradually by the mid-eighties, local songs overtook the foreign ones at parties and dance theatres. With its criss-cross rhythms that exploded with happiness, the youth started patronising the local brand of music with lyrics mostly in our local languages, and gave recognition to local artistes.
Today, while music by the Brothers Johnson, Commodores, Cool and the Gang, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Anita Ward, Millie Jackson, Isaac Hayes, Barry Whiteand others only blared at Old School functions, the local musicians, likeShatta Wale, Mzbel, Wendy Shay, Kinaata and many others have taken over the music dancehall landscape.
Today, not much is heard of Western artistes in this our world. We only know about Ghanaian artistes including some from other Black African nations.
During the eighties, while many enjoyed the Osibisa beat, some Ghanaians thought it was a group of noisemakers.
The iconic symbol of Osibisa is the Flying Elephant. On our political scene, another Elephant has popped out and looks like blazing the trail of Osibisa.
This Elephant, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, which formed what is called the Movement for Change (MFC) has chosen to use the symbol of an important flying insect, the Monarch Butterfly.
Is this to camouflage its real strength, which could be the strength of an Elephant, for fact that Alan Kyerematen, was one of the founders of the Elephant clan in Ghana politics, the New Patriotic Party?
So, in Ghana today, we have another Flying Elephant, but this time in the political arena, with some similarities to the Osibisa Flying Elephant.
Osibisa broke away from the traditional dancehall music of Jazz, R&B, Soul, Funk etc and recreated African-Caribbean rockjazz music, which swept people off their feet. The main targeted group were the youths.
The Movement for Change, broke away from the traditional political system and created a movement which is making the youths to feel they belong.
Osibisa blew the minds of people with its melodic sounds which were laden with messages and deep thinking.
The Movement for Change is awaking the youths from slumber and giving them hope for the future. This is not the first time, the youths in this country had been inspired, politically.
In the late 40’s, the UGCC was the leading political party in the Gold Coast. Unfortunately, the youths and commoners then, were snubbed by the political elite. Kwame Nkrumah of the UGCC, linked up with them and made them feel they also belonged.
When Nkrumah left the UGCC, he was welcomed by the youth and commoners and he formed the CPP. Suddenly, this party become the most powerful and largest political party and went on to form the first government of the newly independent nation, called Ghana.
Today, most of the youth and commoners are used in their political parties to the benefit of the elite class, and after that, theyare left unattended until they are needed again. Who will talk for the youth?
Even though the rate of unemployment in Ghana at the moment is lower than it was in the previous NDC administration, the youths are seriously in need of jobs. One would complete national service and be immediately laid off and asked to apply after a year. And that year could end up in decades.
In some cases, some parents and youthswho sacrificed for thepolitical party would go to party members appointed into offices, to seek for jobs for their wards or themselves, but they got turned down.
Then it came to pass, that a top government appointee came out to declare that Jubilee House had directed that no party member was to be employed into public office. The party they fought and struggled for to bring it to power had turned its back at them.
With this state of confusion going on, the opposition NDC had its voice cast across the land and has started making strong promises, to lure Ghanaians, especially the youth and the commoners to its side.
Notwithstanding the failed promises NDC made in the past, the party is relying heavily on the fact that, Ghanaians have short memories, and is going on pushing its luck to win majority of Ghanaians to its side, come December 2024.
Then the Movement of Change was formed and with it came the message the youths and commoners wanted to hear. The founder, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, centred on job and job creation, stating that hundreds of thousands of youths who represent the future of the nation, enter the job market with little or no hope of finding a job.
Most of them are looking at the public sector, meanwhile this sector is over-bloated. And with about 85% of all prison inmates aged in the youth bracket, 12-35 years, gives a scary picture of a gloomy situation rising up in the horizon. The jobless youth will do anything at all, whether good or bad, to survive.
In some developed economies, like South Korea, before a youth gets out of tertiary school, he or she knows what private sector they will go into. They will either go into established private businesses and industries or partner with colleagues to form their own private company.
The Great Transformational Plan (GTP), Alan sold to the nation when he announced his intention to resign from government, was to be the main blue print of how to create jobs in this country.
For example, taking the advantage of Ghana being an agrarian economy, where there are many opportunities in food production, from the production stage, through harvesting, packaging, storage, transportation to wholesalers and retailers and finally to the consumers, with modern techniques and services, the youth can find jobs and create wealth here.Like his 1D1F, his government will just have to be catalyst in this sector, to create opportunity for the youthsto own businesses.
Also, small scale industries could be established in the localities, for primary processing of food products. Here, the youths would be content to stay in their locality and get engaged in secure and well-paid jobs, instead of flocking to the urban areas and doing menial jobs.
The primary processed food products would be conveyed to large scale industries in the cities and big town, where, here again, the youths will be employed.
Fortunately, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen had done all these before. He set up Constituency Business Ventures (CBV) within the NPP,which created jobs for party members in the constituencies. He also brought about the 1D1F, from which hundreds of industries have sprung up, from the pharmaceuticals, fruit juiceand canned foods factories among others.
Unfortunately, the NDC are trumpeting that the NPP government has not built any factory, so there is no 1D1F project to show. But, of course, in the 1D1F policy, government is not to put up any factory.
The policy states that companies within the project are not state enterprises, but private companies supported by the Government. And also, these could be new companies or existing companies that meet the 1D1F criteria.
However, just as Osibisa, which even though, among Ghanaians, it was the most popular group, there were some people who wrote it off, also the Movement for Change to some, especially in the middle class, is not a group that can get even 300,000 of valid votes to be cast in December, 2024.
Some of these, mostly from the NPP, do not accept that Alan should quit the party. Most of them do not believe in Dr. Bawumia and are insisting that Alan should have stayed and when Bawumia loses, it will be an eye opener for the NPP who will have no choice than to elect Alan as flagbearer for Elections 2028.
The question here is, why do such people remain in the NPP and yet have lost hope in the flag bearer? If NDC is not to be the alternative, then the next president must come from the UP Tradition and on the tickets are Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen and Dr. Bawumia. These middle-class people must be bold and support one to win, instead of condemning NPP to opposition and Alan to a failed attempt.
Today the Movement for Change, coming out as a Monarch Butterfly, is attracting lots of the youths and commoners, and of course same as some middle and upper class elites.
It is doing what the Flying Elephant did in the music industry from the seventies. Floating about like a butterfly but firm as an elephant, the Movement for Change is the new Flying Elephant.
By Hon. Daniel Dugan
