The Ghanaian Journal

I am lost for words to convey my feelings on the parting of my senior brother and friend, Professor Kwesi Andam.

This is one of such occasions when a man sacrilegiously thinks he could do something other than what the Almighty does, like altering the path of fate: preventing a man from dying, if one indeed could. But alas, we are mortals.

I got to know him through my friend, John Adu, of blessed memory. John Adu called out his name with ease and fondness, having forged a very close relationship with Kwesi Andam and the late James Quist-Therson, Uncle James for short.

Having received assurance of salvation through the Scripture Union ministry, these gentlemen went all out to identify with and witness for Jesus Christ.

They also made their mark in the Inter-Hall Christian Fellowship (IHCF) of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Their devotion was open and unalloyed, and younger believers like me felt very comfortable in their presence.

A look at them conveyed a heartfelt assurance that one was on the right path and in good company.

Such was the atmosphere when I wrote an article or two in The Trumpet, a magazine of the then Ghana Inter-University Christian Fellowship, now GHAFES.

Professor Kwesi Andam was the Editor-in-Chief of The Trumpet. The opportunity given to Sixth Form students to join the university students at the annual conferences of GHAFES was the spark that opened the door for me to relate to the likes of R. O. Ankrah, now Rev. Father R. O. Ankrah, Brother E. S. A. Odeng, Rev. Isaac Ababio, Brother Richard Ekem, Rev. Sam Atiemo, Dr C. C. T. Blankson, Brother Bismarck Neequaye-Tetteh, Prof. Alfred Abaitey, to mention but a few.

This relationship was deepened later by the attractiveness of the IHCF Male Voice Choir which I replicated in my school, Adisadel College, almost instantly.

Such was the acceptance and openness from them that I have often been mistaken as their colleague.

It is not merely a case of “Abofra hu ne nsa hohro a, one ne mpanyinfo didi” (if a child knows how to conduct himself well, he finds a place among his adults), but one of open arms and true practice of the faith we profess, that “in Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek”, secondary student or undergraduate.

Professor Kwesi Andam took the exhortation to write as a means of evangelism very seriously, and beyond the opportunity of editing The Trumpet, and positively responding to the encouragement of starting Shoebox Libraries, we all felt very proud to see his Ato Badu’s Schooldays in print.

Later, more threads were to be woven when his daughter Ama came to work with us at KPMG, and also when he took a liking for my son, Yaw.

Kwesi, there are a lot of unfinished businesses: the Architectural Museum, for example. We discussed the ingenuity of the technology behind the roofing of huts with cocoa leaves, as opposed to the more common palm branches and tall grass.

We also discussed the Rock House, the fast-disappearing designs driven by reducing family sizes and diminishing communal living and the need to document these and the need for your proposed University to be a vanguard in creating solutions appropriate to our weather, etc.

I heard about your admission to the 37 Military Hospital. I prayed for you and got others to intercede as well.

I made an attempt to visit you that evening. Not only was the time outside visiting hours, but I readily agreed with the nurses that you would be best helped to be left in their care and that I would return the morrow.

The morrow? “Fofie anto Ata na woaguare Abam”. The silent text message left for me at dawn on my mobile phone was words that were brief, sharp, unmistakable, painful and bitter. “We lost Prof.”

Kwesi, little did I realise that you were “borrowed” and that you must be returned. I feel the anguish of one of the sons of the prophets when he lost his axe head in the muddy waters of the Jordan River when he and his colleagues went to the forest to cut wood to build a house for themselves because the place they occupied was too small.

There is no Elisha in our midst to perform a miracle to bring you back. But we know that the Lord has prepared a better place for you.

Kwesi, we have both believed that there is a better life out there to which we must prepare and be transported to. Little did I know that your flight would arrive so soon.

St. Paul was right when he questioned the Corinthians: “What do you have that you did not receive?”

Truly, you were a gift. A precious one indeed. Rest in the Lord, till we meet again.

By Reindorf B. Perbi