All-Die-Be-Die Fatwa

Ever since the Presidential candidate of Ghana's main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo declared the so-called All-Die-Be-Die fatwa in Koforidua, the statement has been received in the country with mixed reaction. His opponents have largely vilified him while his sympathisers point to reasons to justify it. Yet there are some who do not question the edict but seek to know contexts in which the fatwa should be carried out. And yet those who are religious also claim that there is more in a word than a mere collection of letters saying death and life are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Consequently, many people in Ghana have lost their lives by the tongue, and some have saved lives by it. While the controversy rages on, it may though appear that some people are manifesting the practical aspects of "All-Die-Be-Die".

The last couple weeks have seen the action of killing oneself intentionally in Ghana climbing at an incredible rate thus dominating news headlines. Network for Anti-suicide and Crisis Prevention suicide statistics in the last year shows that the most dominant methods used to commit suicide in the southern sector were hanging and poisoning while in the northern sector they shoot with a gun and hanging by rope. The highest number of suicide cases were recorded among the age range 20 to 35 years with a total of 702. The outstanding reasons offered by this group were love relationship problems and poverty amongst other things. The next category of suicide prone people is the age cohort of 9 to 19 years recording 531 deaths. The dominant causes of their deaths were problems with parents, failure at school, inability of parents to provide their needs, love relationship problems amongst others. The third category comprises 36 years upwards with some 323 suicide deaths. The foremost reasons here were impotence and poverty. There were 1, 129 men and 427 women suicide deaths.

The Network for Anti-suicide and Crisis Prevention suicide statistics gave the following geographical ranking breakdown.

Greater Accra Region 431
Northern Region 276
Ashanti Region 132
Upper West 118
Brong Ahafo Region 114
Upper East 102
Western Region 102
Eastern Region 98
Volta Region 97
Central region 86
Now All Die Be Die was at work when one examines the individual cases and how some of these final journeys were executed.

An Ambassador-in-residence at the Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy (LECIAD) and Ghana’s former ambassador to France, AU and Algeria, H.E Clarus Kwabena Sekyi, 70 years jumped from the ninth floor of the Trust Towers and died instantly on May 23, 2012.

A 57-year-old man, Emmanuel Nii Adjei Owusu, shot his wife, Mrs Elizabeth Adjei Owusu, 50 and then turned the gun on himself on May 13, 2012 at Firestone in Madina, Accra.

A 37 year old graduate teacher, Simon Sahira hanged himself on a mango tree at Weta Junction in the Ketu District of the Volta region on May 11, 2012.
A 21 year old upcoming rapper from Tema, Gabe Small, killed himself in May 2012.
A 25 year old auto electrician, Isaac Amponsah hanged himself in  a wooden kiosk at Community 12 at Tema.

A 50-year-old man, Kwadwo Ababio cut his throat with a razor blade at Pewodie, near Adansi Anwiaso in the Ashanti region. He failed and subsequently jailed.

A 27 year old ex-convict, Kwadwo Yeboah, butchered his 26 year wife who was three month pregnant, Yaa Oforiwaa and two children, Abena Adwubi, 4, Francisca Ama, one-and-a-half year old in Kumasi.

One lingering question about all these incidents is that not a single one of these suicide cases has successfully been detected and foiled by the Special Forces Unit of the GAF set up specifically to deal with All-die be die incidents. From all indications, the Special Forces are not up to the task of dealing with the incidence of all die be die. The reasons could be that they are either ill-equipped or not well trained to handle the delicate assignment of diffusing suicides in Ghana. Some people have also said perhaps whoever formed the group did not do good analysis of the problem confronting the nation and therefore the Special Forces is not well suited to deal with all-die be die fatwa. Maybe they opined that the powers be who are the brains behind the setting up of the Special Forces must consult the US Homeland Security and the CIA for tit-bits on how to deal a deadly blow to suicide the Abottmandad-style. All die be die can take many forms and can be committed  by all sorts of citizens irrespective of status hence in depth knowledge rather than show of brute force is what is required to curb the phenomenon. The folks who read psychology at our universities need to help the Special Forces by formulating theory to explain why five people in Ghana take their lives daily. Although all die be die is glorified and justified by some people, the stark truth is that some deaths are indeed horrific and better be avoided in favour of a more humane death. All die, no be die!