My special ‘father and son’ relationship with Sir John

It was at some point in June, 2004 that I met Mr. Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, who I later became more acquainted with was prominently called ‘Sir John,’ at Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. It was at an occasion composed by the Office of the Stool Lands Administrator at the Prempeh Assembly Hall and he was the director for the event. What pulled in me, as a youngster who was at the occasion as a writer speaking to the ‘Ghanaian Times’ paper, was the way he had dressed and I strongly approached him and revealed to him that he was looking very acceptable and moved further to acquaint myself with him.

Subsequent to hearing my name, he began a discussion verging on my late uncle, Ohene Djan, and gave me his card to connect with him.

At the occasion which he led, he showed inside and out information in stool lands issues and mixed with his introduction with Ghanaian maxims and Biblical citations. In the end ‘Ghanaian Times’ distributed the occasion and he included conspicuously in the story.

Sir John’s law office was situated at Adum and was nearer to the workplaces of the Ashanti Regional Office of the New Times Corporation and that made me to turn into a customary guest to the workplace and he was prepared to get me any time I visited him. As times proceeded onward, junior attorneys and office administrators of the chamber turned out to be near me that I could stroll in whenever I needed to do as such.

I put some distance between ‘Daa,’ as I called him, until 2007 when he was the Northern Sector Campaign Manager for Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, who was one of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential applicants for the 2008 Presidential races. I was headed to Osu to meet with a source and at the time I was the News Editor for ‘The Enquirer’ paper. I saw ‘Daa’ before the Ampomah House on the Ring Road and immediately requested the cab driver to stop without thinking about the risk such rough request would posture to different drivers.

It was a get-together with ‘Daa’ and that in the end implied that I had become part of the media for Team Dr. Addo Kufuor, which I generous acknowledged. Nevertheless, our up-and-comer didn’t fly at the congress and we needed to proceed onward.

Sir John’s excursion to become NPP General Secretary

I was continually in contact with Mr. Afriyie and we generally had political conversations which now and again were profound due to basic comprehension and trust among us and it was during one of such conversations that he revealed to me that he needed to challenge to turn into the General Secretary of the NPP.

He got some information about what he had let me know and whether I upheld the thought or not and I, thusly, requested that he teach me on the changes he had done and with respect to whether he will win or not and he immediately revealed to me that he planned to arrange an irritated in the race.

One individual who was somewhere down in Sir John’s excursion to turn into the NPP General Secretary was Sampson Kwame Nyamekye of Despite Media. Kwame assumed a greater media function in the mission by righteousness of the way that the mission base camp were in Kumasi. I was doing the media ‘Mafia’ work in Accra.

The night prior to the congress at the Kumasi Sports Stadium that saw Sir John winning, he asked that I moved to Kumasi, which I did, Surprisingly, I never observed ‘Daa’ until the morning of the decisions and he was profoundly depleted.

His first inquiry was the place did you rest the previous evening and before I could answer him, he had just closed on where he trusted I dozed and we snickered. It was there that he inquired as to whether I came to Kumasi with a white shirt, as he planned to dominate the race and genuinely he won.

After that political race, Sir John moved to Accra to fill in as the Chief Executive Officer of the NPP and our relationship got more tight than at any other time. I had become the Deputy Editor of ‘The Enquirer’ and utilized my situation to run stories for Mr. Afriyie, something that astounded top NPP people as a result of the political situation of ‘The Enquirer’ paper.

‘Daa’ didn’t have a house in Accra and was subsequently obliged at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) Guest House, adjoining the Police Headquarters in Accra. I was an ordinary guest to the spot until he moved to an inn office at East Legon and later appropriately settled at a similar East Legon where he lived until he died on July 1, 2020.

His home turned into my home as I could move in and out at my own time since I was constantly invited by everybody in his home.

Sir John lost his offer to be held as the General Secretary at the Tamale Congress in 2014, despite the fact that he made certain of succeeding at that congress. As a major aspect of his group, we had accomplished all the work, yet the ‘Mafia’ work from different hopefuls overpowered us only minutes to casting a ballot and he was unable to have said it better when he said ‘Dread DELEGATES’

After General Secretary

Mr. Afriyie was currently a full time Accra inhabitant and a guest to Kumasi, his origination, and we were still in our best minutes. He was consistently with his cousin, Mr. Joe Baffour (Joe Bee), whom I additionally call ‘Daa.’

‘Joe Bee’ is a super Security Intelligence individual and was consistently there for Sir John and Sir John was consistently there for him and they remained together and they regarded me as a ‘child.’

In the entirety of my talks with Sir John, he was energetic about seeing an Akufo-Addo Presidency and would not quit discussing his will to ‘battle’ for Akufo-Addo to turn into the President of Ghana one day and that happened as the NPP won the 2016 races.

‘Daa’ was one of the principal individuals to sort out a triumph party which I didn’t go to for some close to home reasons.

At the point when President Nana Akufo-Addo selected Mr. Afriyie as the Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, he immediately educated me before it got public and we had extensive conversations on how I could assume my media part to assist him with succeeding.

Strikingly, I had set up ‘The Inquisitor’ paper and Sir John was frequently at the first page of the paper. There are not kidding banters inside political circles with regards to why Mr. Afriyie was regularly on the first page of ‘The Inquisitor.’

There were sure characters at the Presidency who had gone to the degree of hawking lie that ‘The Inquisitor’ was for Sir John, something he snickered over. Obviously, I as his ‘child,’ there was no chance I could set up a paper without educating ‘my dad.’

As CEO of the Forestry Commission, he was driven by enthusiasm to complete things and was a cooperative person as he was ever prepared and arranged to work with the keep going individual on the organogram of the commission who ought not be in direct contact with him as the CEO.

Perceivability of the Forestry Commission was significant and vital to him as he considered that to be as one of the devices for public turn of events. He was similarly aware of the biggest partners he planned to manage and was prepared for the assignment.

Protective job

Mr. Afriyie on each event would acquaint me as his child with everybody and I was consistently around him and prepared to react to his call to serve. He had an exceptional method of tending to me and it was sheer pleasure to get a call from him.

At the point when I was brought in February 2017 that my grandma, Madam Grace Efua Bedford, was dead at my old neighborhood, Aburi, Sir John was the main individual to call me and commonplace of him, he asked that I come to see him immediately.

He contributed monetarily towards the burial service and would not quit asking how far I had gotten with arrangements towards the burial service of my grandma and advised me to fall on him if there should arise an occurrence of troubles.

Sir John made me structure solid binds with the individuals around him and it was not to no end that his child, Kwaku Yaw (Strange Name), considers me to be his senior sibling.

One unique thing about ‘Daa’ was the way that he would not draw in with me without citing bounteously from the Holy Bible and talking with axioms. He disclosed to me that was the most ideal way he could assemble me ethically.

There were times that we could go for quite a long time without conversing with one another in light of the fact that we were unable to concede to specific things, in any case, not surprisingly, as a ‘child’ I would creep back to him.

I concealed my horrible cigarette-smoking propensity from ‘Daa’ for a long time and just admitted to him after I had stopped smoking and he saw a few changes in my physical appearance and his bliss was wild. He was, notwithstanding, stunned with regards to why I could conceal that negative behavior pattern from him for quite a long time.

Sir John marked a check for me when I later disclosed to him that I had stopped drinking liquor about four years prior and gave me a giant squeeze at his lobby for doing right by him, on the grounds that, to him, cigarette-smoking and drinking of liquor were spoiling.

My last days with ‘Daa’

‘Daa’ called that he had lost his senior sister in Kumasi; I knew the sister as I had experienced her on a couple of events at his home in Accra and he had consistently been enamored with his sisters and talked about them in our collaborations.

Unfortunately, week after the pitiful episode, Sir John’s mom likewise kicked the bucket thus he chose to go to Kumasi for the “multi week” service, something he had faltered not to watch as a result of the COVID-19. E tat as it might, he asked that I see him before he made a trip to Kumasi for that family task, which I did.

At that gathering I let him know of how to stand firm as a man since his family and the individuals of his old neighborhood, Wonoo, were admiring him. He was astounded with the bearing of our discussion that night at our typical sitting spot in his lobby. Prior to leaving his home, he entered his chamber as common to bring me cash and said “expect me back on Sunday” That experience was the last time I saw Sir John, as I was unable to see him on the Father’s Day for my standard reverence, as he was resting when I went to his place thus I left my package with his girl, K.K.

It was the following day that K.K. called that ‘Daa’ was not well and that she disclosed to him I was there the earlier day. I was continually in t