The Dapaah video and the morality gods – Abdul Hayi Moomen writes: Ghanatoday.net

Nyaba,

Given the current commentary on the supposed video of an elder of the chief’s compound, which has been shared among the people of our chiefdom like the way Koose is shared during funerals in Wa Zongo, I have had to take back my promise not to write to you.

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You see, our elders say that a bird that flies off the earth
and lands on an anthill is still on the ground. Yes, it is true that per our
society’s definition of morality, an elderly man especially, is not expected to
be seen to be publicly displaying affection. Unfortunately, however, not many
of us will pass the test, if cameras
were placed in our private spaces. Just like the bird that flew off the earth
and landed on an anthill was deceived into thinking that it had actually flown
off the earth, let no man or woman who has not yet been caught deceive himself
or herself into believing that he or she has escaped.

He that beats the drum for the mad man to dance is no better
than the mad man himself. Stop beating the drum and cure your own madness.
Every normal man and woman has a libido. Every normal man and woman exercises
libido in their own way. Once one man’s libido does not affect the food on
another man’s table, it is my view that, that exercise of libidonal expression remains a matter to be settled in bedrooms,
washrooms and even in pyjamas.

Nyaba, many are those who have condemned the elder of the
national chief’s palace in charge of security for not being security conscious,
and rightly so. Many are those who are also condemning him based on morality.
They too may be right. After all, are those we put in positions of authority
not expected to be more morally upright than the rest of us? The word
“elder” isn’t the preserve of the aged. It is earned by those who
wash their hands well. On that score too, the critics of the elder in charge of
our chiefdom’s security may be right.

But Nyaba, you see, my problem is with those who are excited
that a man has fallen in trouble. My problem is with those who sin differently
and who strongly believe that the sins of others are worse than their sins. I
have a problem with those who can only stick their necks and chests out only
because the people who have access to their videos are either God fearing
people or are blackmailers who have been eating off their backs for years.

No matter how beautiful and well crafted a coffin might
look, it will not make anyone wish for death. Today, the elder in charge of
national security may have his beard on fire. Shouldn’t the next man find a
river to sit by just in case fire arrives at his beard? Or is the next man
falsely claiming that he doesn’t play with fire?

Nyaba, when the shepherd comes home in peace, the milk is
sweet. I have made a personal vow never to judge any man based on morality. If
a man’s action leads to a situation that affects the life of another,
negatively or leads to the depletion of our national cowries, or leads to
putting our chiefdom in danger, I will condemn such actions and such men and
women who are responsible for those actions.

When a certain teacher intentionally recorded himself having
“sulut” with an underaged student, I condemned the teacher not based
on moral grounds but on legal grounds. When a certain teacher in our chiefdom’s
big school was alleged to have exchanged sex for grades, I found it difficult
to condemn him because I neither saw sex not grades. I saw two adults
negotiating “sulut”. I couldn’t condemn any negotiation between two
adults for “sulut”. Sulut is a purely moral issue. And who am I to
judge?

What people should know is that a spider’s cobweb isn’t only
its sleeping spring but also its food trap. Sulut has been used as a trap to
catch many men (and women). There are very few people who haven’t been caught
in this trap because they have stayed far away from it.

On the flip side, there are many who haven’t been caught in
this trap, not because they haven’t gone near it, but only because the traps
were not potent enough.

Our people say if you pick up one end of the stick you also
pick up the other. And that when you go to the market, you must attend to your
business with the vendor in the market, and not to the noise of the market.
Many of us haven’t paused to reflect. We are just following the crowd. Pause a
little, tarry a while and you might just find a little Dapaah in you.

And I see some people trying to score political points. Why
not? May be, had it been a man from the umbrella family who was caught in this
tape the elephants would have made a meal of it too. But the truth is that a
doctor who invoked a storm on his people cannot prevent his house from
destruction.

I read somewhere that all politicians are the same. Should I
increase the volume, or perhaps the font size?

All our leaders must learn from this. That If you carry the
egg basket you do not dance – not even if you are instructed to do a 360 degrees
dance. Don’t dance! not even if you are instructed to do a 360 degrees dance.
Don’t dance! It could be a trap set for you to spill the eggs and break the
yoke.

Even the lion, the king of the forest, protects himself against flies.