Farewell to a woman of exemplary political courage
This week I dedicate my column to the memory of Mrs Mary Adu Boahen, widow of the 1992 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party and my ‘special auntie’. Her funeral took place a week ago today and this is my farewell to a woman of substance, class, political acumen and courage.
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What else is there to say about a person whose burial service in Cape Coast was attended by two former Presidents, J. J. Rawlings and J. A. Kufuor; as well as Nana Akufo-Addo, presidential candidate of the NPP?
Auntie Mary died peacefully at home last month, on Sunday, October 9, aged 90. Sadly, she died the same day her beloved NPP launched its manifesto for Election 2016. She is survived by her four children: Mr Hassan Majdoub, Mrs Irene Tagoe, Dr Bernard Rawlins and Mrs Ruth Amanda Nylander.
Tributes by people from different perspectives are the pieces of a life’s jigsaw puzzle which join together to form more or less a complete picture of the personality of the departed. Thus I hope that mine will provide another dimension to the personal history of this extraordinary woman.
Mary Aba Arthur, was born in Cape Coast, on May 13, 1926, the eldest of seven children of Mr J.B. Arthur and Madam Araba Tawiah. In 1951, she moved to Sierra Leone with her then husband, Mr Bernard Rawlins, an Englishman, a quantity surveyor whose company had posted him there. Among other accomplishments in Sierra Leone, she made a name for herself as a much respected elected president of the Ghana Union from 1955 to 1965.
However, unfortunately, her husband died, so she returned to Ghana in 1967 and spent all her energy on a textiles and jewellery businesses in order to look after her four children.
According to the biography read during the burial service at the (Anglican) Christ Church Cathedral in Cape Coast, last Friday, November 18, she and Professor Adu Boahen met in 1973 and she eventually accepted his marriage proposal. They were by all accounts a devoted couple, the renowned history professor and the vivacious businesswoman, both democracy campaigners.
When Prof fell ill after years of happy marriage, how she helped nurse him for months until his death in 2006 is a much admired episode of her life.
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Incidentally, a family source explained to me that although Auntie Mary was known as Mrs Rawlins before her marriage to Prof Adu Boahen, there is no relationship between the family ‘Rawlins’ (spelt without a ‘g’) and the former President Rawlings’ family. The curious similarity of the names, which sometimes confuses people, is purely coincidental.
The following excerpts from two of the tributes read at the burial service illustrate vividly Auntie Mary’s contribution to the achievement of democratic rule in this country. She is described as a founding member of the NPP in her own right.
Mr Akufo-Addo: “When the People’s Movement for Freedom and Justice (PMFJ) was inaugurated in January 1978 its architect and leader, Lt - Gen Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, had no home in Accra so Auntie Mary offered Afrifa her house as his home and base in Accra.
“She became by that decision the mother of the PMFJ. Her love of Ghana, and, above all, her courage were part of the glue that held the PMFJ’s galaxy of stars together ….
“Mary Adu Boahen’s contribution to realising that task was considerable, and democratic Ghana owes her a great debt of gratitude.
“She was a formidable supporter of my cause. Nothing would have given her greater pleasure than to see my success, if God so will it, in this year’s election. She is certainly one of those to whom I would dedicate the victory if it does, indeed, materialise.”
Former President Kufuor: “In the heady days in 1988, after Prof Adu Boahen delivered his seminal lectures on the ‘Ghanaian Sphinx’ which were credited to have led to the breaking of the ‘culture of silence’, that had emasculated free speech in the country under the Provisional National Defence Council military regime, Mary stood staunchly by her husband in the face of harassment from the military men.”
I first met Auntie Mary in 1988 when I used to go to their house to interview Prof for the BBC and the then West Africa magazine. Years later, I was usually one of a group of friends who used to visit her on Sundays, a sort of ‘Sunday club’.
During the visits she would regale us with reminiscences of her life in politics, spiced with many wistful, loving references to her beloved “Adu” or “Prof”. She also told of her spirited encounters with state security.
General Kutu Acheampong had her arrested twice for her fearless criticism of him. The second time was in 1977 (during the Union Government or Unigov campaign) and, interestingly, she was arrested a few days before the arrest of her husband, Prof Adu Boahen.
The following account is part of the tribute of Her Ladyship Barbara Mensah, daughter of the late Mr B. A. Mensah, the renowned industrialist:
“(Daddy’s) favourite story was the occasion when soldiers from a certain regime came to the house and wanted to arrest (Auntie Mary). She stripped off all her clothes and appearing from her room naked told them they could take her like that. Needless to say, they beat a hasty retreat.”
Auntie Mary was a friend, despite the difference in our ages; very generous and caring, never forgetting birthday gifts and even Christmas cakes. The one thing she said she never liked about me was that I hardly ever took a drink or a bite when I visited her.
In her direct way, she would say, nodding in my direction to the other visitors: “This one, she will never take anything, not even water! That’s why she’s so small.” Also, being partial to a drink herself, she used to tease me about my abstinence, but we had a common love: tea drinking.
She was a very loyal person. In spite of her age, when I was bereaved she would come to my house to express her condolences the traditional way and offer her support.
Surprisingly, despite her background as an astute politician, a very successful businesswoman and a high profile personality, she was also very modest and self-deprecatory, often telling me, “As for me, I’m not a learned person.”
Nevertheless, even at age 85, she was ready to try new technology. I recall that in 2011, when I happened to mention the wonder of the Internet and email, the speedy new ways of communicating with people, notably those abroad, she became very excited and decided to get a computer and learn how to use it.
Accordingly, she paid a visit to my office so that my tech-savvy assistant could explain better computer usage to her. A few days later, she sent her younger brother, the ever patient Uncle George, and her driver to my office to go with my assistant on their computer-buying assignment, “with clear instructions from her,” my former assistant recalls. They were told firmly that she wanted a “nice laptop.”
Soon she had learnt how to use the laptop to call her family abroad by using Skype. However, it wasn’t too long before the novelty wore off. She lost interest and went back to her favourite pastime: watching the news on BBC and CNN.
Auntie was by all standards a classy lady. Photos of her as a young woman, show her to have been a true black beauty and even at her advanced age, she still looked good. And there was no day when I visited and she was not well-dressed and stylish. Elegance was a way of life with her, from her hair to her toes.
On her 90th birthday on May 13, when a group of us joined her for the customary birthday lunch, she looked absolutely stunning and was so lively that it was hard to believe that she was that age.
For some of us, Sundays will never be quite the same again. However, as Prof Mike Oquaye, distinguished NPP man and member of the May-13-birthday-lunch-Club proposed in his tribute: “If the Lord blesses us with life, members of Club 13 May will gather on 13 May 2017 to celebrate Mrs Mary Adu Boahen ….
“Members may be inspired to turn Club 13 May into something else.”
Perhaps the sentiment expressed in the tribute of another ‘Club’ member and well-known NPP activist, Daavi Ama, sums up best our relationship with Auntie Mary: “Family isn’t always blood”.
I conclude with what I wrote in the Book of Condolence: “Auntie, my special Auntie; this was too sudden! I can hardly begin to comprehend. I shall miss you. May God grant you eternal rest as you join your beloved Prof.”