Kofi Chokosi speaks: from Archaeology to Zoology book launched
A book written by a retired military officer, Brig Gen Dan Frimpong (Rtd) titled Kofi Chokosi Speaks: From Archaeology to Zoology, 1985-2015 was last Wednesday launched at the Burma Hall, Burma Camp in Accra.
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The book, which is the second by the author, documents the life experiences of an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) through a humourous narrative. It also captures the history of the institution he served under various capacities for the last 41 years of his active military career.
Speaking at the launch of the book Brig Gen Dan Frimpong (Rtd) said his decision to write was borne out of a need to preserve history and encouraged serving officers to write about their experiences in active service and other aspects of their life.
He explained that oral literature and oral history has the weakness of being degraded with time, which gives room for speculation but believes that “once it is documented, it becomes a matter of fact, may not easily be destroyed or contemplated.”
“I can say that the experiences you gather in a very short time can form the basis of volumes of encyclopedia if only we decide to write….its not only an appeal to Burma camp workers or to the Ghana Armed Forces. It's a national appeal.... we need to read and we need to write,” he emphasised.
The retired military general reiterated earlier appeals he had made to the Ghana Education Service to bring back history and civics in the educational curriculum.
According to him history and civics should be an integral part of our educational system and believes is the most effective way for instilling civic values such as patriotism, etiquette and discipline.
Former Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Maj Don-Chebe (Rtd), gave a historical account of the column “Kofi Chokosi Speaks”, the column of the author in the AFNEWS, a quarterly journal of the Ghana Armed Forces, which formed the basis of the new book.
He recounted the story in colonial times of how soldiers from the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast were given surnames indicating their ethnic origin. Hence, before Ghana’s independence in 1957, soldiers had names like Atinga Frafra, Kwadwo Moshie, John Builsa, Peter Dagarti, Kofi Mamprusi, Adamu Konkomba etc.
He added that Kofi Chokosi as Brig Gen Frimpong’s pen name was therefore not surprising.
The Chief of Defense Staff, Lt Gen OB Akwa who was also the chairman for the occasion commended the author for his effort to record his experiences as an officer of the Ghana Armed Forces albeit in a humorous manner.
He described the author as an accomplished military officer who finds time to examine his environment and puts them for posterity.
Lt Gen Akwa urged Ghanaians to help dispel the “conception that if you want to hide something from the African you should put it in a book,” by making reading a habit.
Launching the book, Admiral Geoffrey Mawuli Biekro (Rtd), former Navy Commander also commended the author for sharing his experiences and frustrations on a wide range of issues in a diligent manner, adding that the originality of the content will meet the expectation and taste of diverse readership.
He said the author’s use of wit to illustrate thought-provoking issues makes the book a compelling read and worth having in the family library.
The Admiral advised serving Officers and Men OF GAF as well as its Civilian Staff to take advantage of the numerous opportunities now available, to improve on their educational levels.
