The Genesis Of My Life In Ghana

Bismark Adade
Jul 10, 2017 · 6 min read

Born on the dawn of a special day in November 1990 to a teenage Margaret Mensah and Yaw Sarfo Kantanka, Asonomaso in the Kwabre East district in the Ashanti region was where my navel was cut. My parents’ union did not hold and I stayed with my grandmother in the village of Nipankyeremia in the Manso district until I was 9.

From the bushes of Nipankyeremia to the streets of Kumasi my name changed from Akwasi Kobea Moses to Bismark Adade. My step-dad at the time apparently wanted value for money so before he would take care of me I had to be renamed by him! So he named me after his brother. Honestly, I was glad about the name change. Yes, I was and I would have changed that name myself anyway. You are probably wondering why. Well the name always reminded me of my dad who named me and never showed any sign of care afterwards. From Bishop Sarpong International School to Prempeh College to KNUST, all in Kumasi till now I remain Bismark Adade.

I do have to say that I was brought up by a single mum because the man who changed my name changed my mother’s name back to what her father gave her. Divorce set in. My mum became my best friend, girlfriend, enemy (sometimes) and daddy simultaneously. My ex-step-father (sounds funny right) however was not mean. He left my mum his shop, the only property we knew that he had at Suame Magazine which she still manages. My entire education and all were paid off by the income from this shop. My mum often tells me that she thinks God brought that man into our life to help us. Awww, somebody give me a handkerchief.

In the basic school my teachers loved me because I was a quiet, neat (because I didn’t play too much if not at all) and intelligent. From class three to JHS 1, I bought the first position in my class. Back in class four we had a poem recitation drill every Wednesday. We are given the poem on Monday then Wednesday everyone was required to recite the poem verbatim alongside. I always was able to do this easily because my routine from Monday to Friday was like this:

From the house — classroom

Classroom — the house

There were absolutely no different venues in between because at that point my journey as an introvert as I think of it now was quite advanced. Moreover, I feared my mum! I do not remember that she ever beat me but I remember a lot of times that she directed me never to do this or that. I know it’s normal for an African parent to be strict but hers was on another level. Everything had to be on her terms, everything. In the end I became a shy, secretive but intelligent boy. I lived more in my mind than in my surroundings. I masterminded (still do) stuffs in my mind more often than not. In my opinion I think she was been overly-possessive so that I did not end up in any bad company. And her tactics worked. I don’t make friends easily but I keep old ones. Due to the enormous times spent talking to myself, I developed a great deal of thinking and planning thoroughly about anything I wanted to do months before I did them. As a matter of fact this has been a blessing because my creativity has overwhelmingly increased which is why I believe my calling is in the arts. Every day I rediscover myself in ways that will be very difficult to put into words.

In my basic school days, I did not discuss my troubles with anyone. This gave me such a bad temper because more often than not I was worried. On one occasion I nearly damaged one of my classmates, Thomas’ left eye. This guy loved trolling to the highest extreme. So on this day he was just throwing out his trolling tantrums at me. I told him to stop several times but of course he wouldn’t listen. So I caught him of guard and with my right fist, pang! I hit his left eye so hard unintentionally. He didn’t bleed but I could feel the pain he went through. I felt bad and still do but thank God he was okay and it did not have any effect on his eyesight. Pusher, as we call him, knows how sorry I am.

It wasn’t long that I became a teenager and started seeing the girls that I had spent a couple of years with in the same class differently. Instantly I realised the magnitudes of their Manchester following and that not all of them had the same level of Barclays accounts. I regret that to announce that my virginity was dealt with at that moment because this is among the reasons why my graduation from high school was not as pleasant and excellent as that of basic school. God forgive me.

The Basic Education Certificate Examination, BECE was cleared. The only subjects that I had grades B2 and B3 were Social Studies (I hated it) and French (I did my best).


The next two and a half years were spent at Prempeh College for my high school education as a science student. My stay at Prempeh College was well spent; met some amazing young men and woman. Ask of Bismark Adade on campus and you would search for a while but ask of ‘MasterMinded’ and like they say even an infant will direct you to my whereabouts. When you wear that green shirt a new indescribable spirit of perfection and excellence takes over you. You are compelled to live up to our motto ‘Suban ne Nimdee’ which means Character and Integrity. So I had to leave my Boys’ Prefect title at Bishop and get more serious with my books because I realized I was in the pool of most brilliant boys from across Ghana. The boys were and are still good. At Osei Tutu house and in class I was still that quiet boy. I had my own worries when it was time to head over to the dining hall. Instantly I had to go on a slimming course. The first term in the first year passed quickly. We didn’t do any proper exams because we didn’t enter the school earlier to be able to cover all topics for exams. However, we had some sort of class test. Second term, I was at the 8th position at Prempeh College in a science class of 50. That was a great start but of course the end justifies the means. All this while, my mother never asked for my report card. She knew I was doing well in school ‘as always’ but she seemed uninterested in the details and by the way why would his darling, innocent boy lie to her about his grades.

The West African Senior Secondary Examination (WASSCE) was cleared but not to my satisfaction. I got B3 in English and decided to re-sit for the November-December exams because I saw that (B3) as undeserving of me. The A1 in the Nov/Dec exams in English was accomplished. I added it to my other not so good results and was offered BSc Biochemistry at KNUST.

The year is 2014 and I have graduated with a lower, completed my National Service the next year, worked with various NGOs and a private hospital for the past year on contract basis and still searching for a job!

At Imani Ghana’s SYPALA conference 2016

The dream is never dead. Life has just begun…

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