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By Isaac Ato Mensah<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Accra – Tuesday 25 January, 2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anumnyam Anumnyam, formerly known as Nii Anum Telfer, a 71 year old poet and art lover, has made history by discovering and compiling primary source records on the peri-independence years of Ghana accumulated by his grandfather – hidden in plain sight in his home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I first met Anumnyam when as a radio station manager, I arranged an interview for him at Radio Latenu 96.1MHz in 2017, in order to publicise “Olewu”, his book on leadership. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Olewu is a children\u2019s story book approved by the Ministry of Education\u2019s erstwhile Curriculum Research and Development Division, for moral guidance and is suitable for primary and secondary\/technical school students. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On that occasion, Anumnyam also performed for our listeners his work \u201cPoems with Music from Africa\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hence when I entered his home last Saturday evening, near the Osu royal mausoleum, the darkness of the compound, the foliage and old Osu Ringway Estates architecture provided a hallowed moment pregnant with expectation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI have discovered my late grandfather\u2019s archives and I want to publish them,\u201d he revealed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My Google drive and email are already almost full due partly to some of Anumnyam\u2019s personal intellectual property materials which I have been storing since 2017. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But when he opened his laptop and revealed the massive amount of latest source materials on his grandfather – John Buckman, I responded, \u201cNot just one book, but several books\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This amazing treasure trove of materials on Ghana\u2019s peri-independence years is so large that in 1996, Anumnyam took huge files to the University of Ghana and donated them to the Institute of African Studies (IAS) – his alma mater, fearing he might expire without the relevant national institutions having access to them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For several months there was no acknowledgement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI alerted them and they replied,\u201d he said, very charitably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anumnyam delivered to the IAS the \u201cJournal of the Gold Coast Agricultural and Commercial Society\u201d, and \u201cMinutes of the Eastern Province House of Chiefs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also wrote to the Ghana Museums and Monuments Board about 10 years ago asking for help in locating Buckman\u2019s artwork that may be available outside Ghana; a formal response is still pending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The failure to acknowledge official correspondence appears to be a regular feature of ghanaian public institutions and it must change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He completed the O-Level at Adisadel in 1970 and Sixth Form at Oda Secondary School in 1972, and spent a year at the Ghana Institute of Languages from 1972-73.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anumnyam proceeded to the University of Ghana in 1976 where he read for a bachelor\u2019s degree in Drama and Theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe only History I studied for grades was at Adisadel and Oda,\u201d he told me over the telephone Sunday morning following the previous night\u2019s meeting. \u201cBut I wanted to make history\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fulfilling that desire, he worked with Ghanaba, the illustrious Divine Drummer, on several projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also worked with Professor Atukwei Okai to establish the Ghana Association of Writers\/Pan African Writers Association (PAWA House).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But it was in 1985, that is, 15 years after Anumyam told his mother about his career choice of becoming a historian, that sheer happenstance led him to discover his maternal grandfather, John Buckman\u2019s archives at VicIvan House, Castle Road, Adabraka, Accra. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On that fateful rainy day, when Anumnyam entered VicIvan House, something led him to John Buckman\u2019s room where he saw some old files. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As he was poring through them, a strong wind gust suddenly broke an old wooden window, whereupon a voice in a neighbouring house exclaimed that the late John Buckman\u2019s spirit had come to the house. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The conjunction of the eerie feeling and words of that male voice, inspired Anumnyam to painstakingly collect the material, believing that he was on to something of great importance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It took him several years to read and arrange the material according to thematic areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fast forward to recent times, he purchased a laptop computer and scanner, and taught himself typing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He has to date put a significant portion of the material in digital format. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
John Buckman MBE (1897- 1966), was a mechanical engineer, contractor, artist and Gold Coast grandee, who became substantive Secretary to the Eastern Province House of Chiefs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Buckman later acted as Secretary to the Joint Province House of Chiefs comprising the Eastern, Western and Central Regions of the Gold Coast Colony\/Ghana. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anumnyam\u2019s compilation of Buckman\u2019s archive covers politics, governance, mining, sports administration, education, colonialism, art, government protocol, lands, media\/journalism, prominent personalities, state garden parties, photography, and much more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His laptop\u2019s desktop is filled with folders hidden within folders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t even know where to start,\u201d he often said when a topic came up for discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a letter dated 27 January 1951 headed \u201cThe Daily Graphic\u2019s Stadium Fund\u201d which states that \u201cThe Daily Graphic is organising a boxing tournament to help the Gold Coast Sports Council raise the \u00a312,000 they still need before work can be commenced on the new sports stadium on Rowe Road Accra\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The logo was an image of legendary featherweight boxing champion Roy Ankrah in the trademark \u201cAboy\u201d haircut of those days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Other documents provide evidence that the then incumbent CPP raised funds through advertisements to celebrate Ghana\u2019s first independence anniversary in 1958. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is also an invitation to unveil a statue of Kwame Nkrumah at (Old) Parliament House in 1958, by the Chief Justice, just one year after independence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several files indicate that Nana Sir Ofori Atta, the late Okyenhene, wrote to Buckman, asking for advice on educational policy. He also received invitations from President Kwame Nkrumah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In short, these materials are less about Buckman and more about Ghana\/Gold Coast history; Anumnyam\u2019s role, though vital and important, is only incidental to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Publishing Anumnyan\u2019s compilation of Buckman\u2019s archives is urgently needed as a necessary bulwark against what my mentor describes as \u201cour legion of wannabes; Barrators, Hypocrites, Counsellors of Fraud, and yes – Sorcerers, Flatterers, Simoniacs and Thieves.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anumnyam, Ayekoo! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Feedback: ato@writersghana.com; www.writersghana.com; LinkedIn, Isaac Ato Mensah; Instagram, @atomenswriters; Twitter, @Atomens; Facebook, Writers and Shakespeares Ghana; Telegram, Isaac Ato Mensah; Quora, Isaac Ato Mensah; WhatsApp, (+233) 020 022 0353.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Writers and Shakespeares Ghana Limited exist to be a moral and intellectual guide to the best practice of PR and integrated communications around the world, beginning with Ghana. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"