'I felt angry enough to draw' - Artist sketches Sir John

A Ghanaian artist, Bright Ackwerh, says although art cannot solve the loot of the country’s resources by politicians, it helps to soften the pain of the citizens.

To him, the leaders in Ghana continue to loot resources that should be used for the good of the state for themselves and their associates.

According to him, although societal norms indicate that the dead should not be spoken ill of when someone lives “dishonorably not even death should save” him or her.

He, therefore, “felt angry enough to draw,” the late Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, also known as Sir John, in a in a forest without clothes.

He added that, “Ghana's political elites continue to steal what is supposed to be sacred state resources and use these to generate wealth and social status for their friends and relatives and we are expected to respectfully take the piss. Art doesn't solve this problem but it sure is cathartic.”

In an interview with GhanaWeb, Bright indicated that he was motivated to produce the sketch because of how President Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo-Addo showered praises on the late member of the New Patriotic Party when he passed away.

The president described Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie as a “passionate devotee of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia political tradition, an outstanding stalwart of the NPP, strong defender of human rights as a lawyer, proud, a faithful adherent of the Seventh Day Christian Adventist faith.

“These were the multi-faceted aspects of the career and character of which earned him great affection and considerable renown.”

However, two years after the demise of Sir John, the Fourth Estate revealed that he had willed portions of the Achimota forest to his relatives.

Read Full Story