3rd March, 1988 – The people of Abease-Buipe woke up to the horrors that accompanied the singular event which shook the very foundations of the town. Never a year goes by without this event been recounted; this event which has been recounted so much had turned from history to myth. Popularly referred to as ‘Ruck-by mtam kesie” caused the near extermination of the whole village is what motivated the writing of this book; this is how it all began;
The hospital was very quiet; it was midnight so all there was, was quiet. The hospital was located some few kilometers from the main town. Legend whispered it that, when the white men first came to the town, they wished to live with the people as one big family. The chief priest at that time warned the king not to allow this ‘unhappy’ union because he had seen fiery visions and did not smile after waking up. The chief, Nana Sere, was however very sympathetic. He just couldn’t– he thought it cruel. He loved the colour of their skin and strange tongues. Instead of sending them away, he gave them a large piece of land in what was then called “THE FORBIDDENS”. This did not go down well with the people and as a result there was a revolt which led to his destoolment. The people decided not to take back the land after all it was forbidden to go there and they believed they wouldn’t last in there. Regardless, they made a pact that should they let them keep that land, they were not to interfere in their domestic issues; which they graciously agreed to. Years went by and they began to realize the importance of the hospital and some of the infrastructure the white men built. They felt they had been misled by the chief priest. As a result, Nana Sere, on his dying bed was reinstated as the chief of the town although he didn’t rule for more than a month before his demise.
The hospital called “John Wesley Hospital” was hence located in the bush and most people didn’t frequent there at night even if it was an emergency. The area that housed the hospital was a spectacle to behold, it was well-planned with laid out roads linking the next village and the main town, it also had a good water system which supplied the clinic, the several bungalows, the chapel and the market specifically built for the white. The area was originally called “Ridgeburg” but as years went by it corrupted to “Rick-by.”
So then this story opens from a midnight once upon a time when there was nothing but quiet,footsteps could be heard across the street. A woman was in labour and she was being carried by two women who were sobbingly holding her. Apparently, the woman was having difficulties in giving birth so they had to rush her to the white men’s hospital before she lost her life.
Due to the initial opposition by the Chief Priest, the hospital run a policy of serving the whites and a privileged few. They knew that they would be turned away should they step foot there but that was the only option which stood bright among several candles in the wind; they couldn’t take the pregnant woman to the hospital in the next community, it was a dangerous adventure to make. They also couldn’t call their husbands for escort because the pregnant woman had been cast out by her husband for infidelity; an offence she had vehemently denied. Per the laws of her town, she was to be stoned to death, luckily, she was able to run away from this sad fate. She run as far as she could despite being heavy with pregnancy and the only place of refuge she could think of was an old friend she had met long ago when she was at Techiman engaging in petty trading. This woman called Auntie Ceci lived in the next two towns after hers but she took the risk and walked all the way there.
She told her all what had happened and begged her to lodge with her till she give birth in which after that she would go to Accra and live her life as an outcast. She didn’t refuse, she hide at her friend’s house because it was more secured that her place than her own. This woman was a young widow whose husband had died two months after their wedding so as it stood, she was sleeping alone. That was where she was hide for about three weeks till it was time to deliver when she had developed serious complications and was at the point of death.
Despite the dangers of the night, they hurried, making sure no one heard their footsteps. They knocked on the gate and they were opened by a gate man who was sleeping on duty.
“Madam, weytin you wan dzi night?” the gate man asked them pushing them away.
“Please, our friend is dying please we need all the help we can get” Auntie Ceci replied in twi.
“I am soli, thele’s norring my oga can do ooo. So please oya walka for home before I lose my job ooo.”
The pregnant woman was sweating and was shouting for help, since it was night it reverberated in the quarters and afar, one of the white man switched on his light to see what was going on. Luckily, he was the doctor and he lived three blocks away from the hospital. With a frown on his face, he carried his kerosene lantern to inquire what was happening. He wore a green pajamas, had hair tied like a ponytail and wore thick beard which almost covered his mouth and half of his face.
“Waa look, you see you wake Doc o, weytin I go say for me to keepu ma job ooo. Wey kind bad lock bi this koraa.” As he was saying this, he knelt down imploring on the doctor to forgive him before he even give his defense.
“What is happening here?” he said in his heavy British accent.
The two other woman also went down on their knees communicating with him in vernacular.
“What are they saying and for God’s sake would you stand up, Philip!” he roared.
“Doc, the two wemen claims that their friend” she pointed to the pregnant woman who was now unconscious on the floor holding her stomach “is dying. Shi won’t deliva and they want to come hier for help oo. I no do anything, I was told them to”
“Enough, Philip, help the woman and bring her to the maternity ward.”
“What did he say” the woman inquired in Twi.
“He says I should help the woman and bring her to the ward, he’s had mercy on you” he replied in Twi.
“What are they saying?”
“Doc, they oneto me to tell dem what you were tellion me”
“Just tell them to bring her inside.”
She signaled to them to help her carry the woman inside. They run inside the lonely corridors following the white doctor whilst they thanked him for his generosity. The lights in the hospital shined bright, the corridor that led to the maternity ward was not big enough; by measurement, and it was like the horizontal stretch of the hand. Soon, they came across a blue door with the inscription “MATERNITY WARD.”
The gatemen let go of the pregnant woman and pushed the door open and they all entered. The room was a bit sizeable and heavily furnished with the accoutrements, the doctor helped the women to put the pregnant woman on the bed and told them to wait for him outside. Because they couldn’t comprehend English, the gateman explained to them.
“The white man said go outside and wait for him”. They sheepishly obeyed and began pacing the corridor. Suddenly, they could hear the pregnant woman screaming and then paced the corridor muttering words of encourage.
From the corridor, they saw afar a bright light and Abena Hannah, Auntie Ceci’s friend tapped her on the back and told her to look at it.
“It must be the witches of Abease Buipe” Auntie Ceci muttered.
“I agree with you sister, all what they do is to destroy people! May Odomankoma punish them for their wickedness!”
But the lights was appearing nearer and nearer with each passing second and they began to sense danger. It was three men approaching with full speed holding torches in their arms. Auntie Cecirecognized one of the men, he was Yaa Sophia’s, the pregnant woman’s husband. She had never seen him before but the description she had given her before fitted one of the men perfected: dark, broad-shouldered, short, had lots of hair on his arms, legs and chest and also had pale eyes which could be mistaken as red.
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