Junior Jesus died on November 12. That was the nickname of former Ghanaian president JJ Rawlings. His admirers in the land of the eminent Pan-Africanist Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah filled out the initials JJ (Jerry John) as Junior Jesus. No revolution without a sense of humour, donge?
“Jerry Rawlings, Ghana former leader don die”, is how the BBC Pidgin service headlined the story. “Rawlings die on Thursday morning from Covid-19, according to wetin BBC Pidgin find out”, the report said.
“E die at di age of 73 for Korle Bu Teaching Hospital…Liberia President George Weah wey also confam Rawlings death tweet say: ‘Ghana, Liberia and Africa go miss a great leader’”.
In Nairobi, the media flashed the news almost immediately. Capital FM described Rawlings as “Ghana’s towering leader”. The story was done by the French news agency AFP.
KTN Prime ran a 50-second story headlined, “End of an era: Former President Jerry Rawlings dies”. Spent less than a minute on a story about “end of an era”? Only basic details about Junior Jesus anyone could pick up online.
The Standard on November 13 described JJ as “Africa’s most unlikely democrat” and dedicated a full page (3) to the fallen former president. The story was by Reuters and AFP.
The Daily Nation buried the story about the “charismatic former air force flight lieutenant” in page 26. The report was filed from Accra by AFP.
“The father of democracy in Ghana dies”, the People Daily announced on its front page on November 13. The story on page 20 was by the BBC.
So, who is doing anything about that tired, old tale you always hear in media discourses about Africa telling its own stories? Why is it impossible for a Kenyan TV or radio station to find an Africa analyst who can speak authoritatively on the legacy of JJ or any other prominent daughters and sons of the continent?
Newsrooms couldn’t get hold of anyone from the Ghana High Commission in Nairobi to talk about Rawlings? Are there Kenyans who knew JJ and could give the public a peek into his life and politics? Did JJ ever visit Kenya? Or address the AU or UN? Any footage?
You are a news editor in Nairobi and you can’t reach anyone at the University of Ghana or the streets of Accra to tell you about Rawlings? Are there Ghanaians living in Kenya?
The writer and cartoonist Patrick Gathara tweeted: “I met Jerry Rawlings when he came to Mogadishu at the start of the 2011 famine. Spent a day shadowing him on a tour of the bombed out city and camps, then later that evening watched as the powerhouse of a man broke down on live TV while narrating the desperation he’d seen.”
Did you see the exhaustive (and exhausting) non-stop media coverage of the US election the other week? Everyone in mainstream and social media appeared to be an expert on American politics.
But no similar expertise is displayed on Tanzanian or Namibian elections or the war in Ethiopia. Why? When will our media start telling Africa’s stories from the African point of view?
Is it about the money? How much would it cost Nation Media Group, Royal Media Services or the Standard Group to station a regional correspondent in Accra, Cairo, Kinshasa and Johannesburg?
The Ghanaian BBC journalist Akwasi Sarpong wrote that people in his country remember JJ for leading by example. “When he showed up he got involved. I remember watching him on the daily evening newscast on black and white TV as a little boy.
“Video clips showed a bare-chested officer in a military jumpsuit leading teams of volunteers hammering in nails and lifting timber planks into place to build rail tracks needed to cart cocoa beans from farms deep inland to the harbours to earn much-needed export revenue.”
Like many other revolutionary leaders, JJ would fold up the prepared speeches given to him by his aides and speak passionately to enthusiastic audiences for long.
But then there are the serious human rights violations JJ’s regime perpetrated – the assassination of three former heads of state and Supreme Court judges, and so on.
When are our media houses going to invest in proper coverage of Africa beyond reproducing the content of Western newsrooms?
On November 4, the acclaimed “father of peace research” Johan Galtung tweeted about “the lost art of minding your own business.” He was reacting to a statement by the US embassy in Abidjan urging Ivory Coast to respect the “democratic process” following a disputed election.
Now, we are Africa and Africa is our business. Could our media urgently rediscover the lost art of minding our own business?
