Remembering King Tackie Tawiah III, a man, a giant, and a royal

E. Ablorh-Odjidja

May 04, 2013

I have always admired Dr. Blankson since I first met him in the early 70s. He was every inch a leader, except I was blind back then to the fact that one day he would be king of the Gas - King Takie Tawiah III.

The then Dr. Joe Blankson never bragged about his ancestry or bloodline to the circle of friends we shared in common in the years of our sojourn in New York City.

Rather, the impression of him we got was that of a very humble man.  And, indeed, he was in his inclination to serve his fellow man.

The future king at this early stage impacted, in diverse and very positive ways, the cutural  lives of Ghanaians in the United States; those in the New York state area the most.

He accepted invitations and calls to officiate at “out-doorings” and other ceremonies of tradition for Ghanaians in North America. 

He was the genial, resourceful, and helpful gentleman, with that natural flair for service to his fellow man, the sort that set one apart in a crowd.

Dr. Alfred Clayton Bannerman, a friend and a contemporary in the US once said of Dr. Joe Blankson that “he was a man who had culture running like blood in his veins.”

There was a brief loss of contact with Dr. Blankson when he moved out of New York City to subsequently work in London, UK.

Our next encounter was in 2005 when I visited Ghana from the US. The man who would be King was now in Accra.  He (and his wife Lady Faustina) had invited me to dinner.

Much to my surprise on arrival at his house, I saw on one of his wrists a string of beads. He was still the Dr. Blankson that I knew, a man of culture and an intellectual who was not prone to empty cultural symbolisms. 

I knew instantly that the string on his wrist had a purpose. I got to learn later that the beads formed part of the ceremonial accouterments towards his enstoolment.  He was soon to be king.

Suddenly it dawned on me that Dr. Blankson, the man I had known for this long, had been a king in the Diaspora all along.

The veil that blinded me from seeing the full worth of the man suddenly dropped. What had seemed opaque before was now clear on account of those little beads on his wrist.

The mild-mannered Dr. Joe Blankson, now late King Takie Tawie III, was a leader who for a well-deserved frown would rather choose to wear a smile. But inside, he would still maintain that visceral toughness that could respond to appropriate situations sensibly.

But more so than the smile and the visceral toughness, was a combination of street smartness, eloquence, sharp intellect, plus a calm manner in approach to most situations that usually assured a supplicant that all would be right. 

King Tackie Tawia III was as close to a philosopher-king as one could get.

The nation and the Ga state have lost a great leader. Death has robbed us of an extraordinary man, King Takie Tawia III.

He was enstooled in 2006. A chance encounter in December 2008 brought us together. The occasion was the opening of the new presidential palace. I had gone with a crew to cover the event for use in a documentary film I was producing. 

The subject was the presidency of Mr. J. A. Kufuor and its consequential transition to a new regime that was to assume office in January 2009.

The king was at the event, seated in full regalia. I asked his linguist's permission to approach him. When the word got to him, he looked in my direction and flashed an instant recognition, and motioned for me to come to him. He was the king but still the same affable Joe that I knew.

The king, at my request, rewarded me with an impromptu speech on camera right there at the Presidential Palace. The clip can be seen in the documentary film, President Kufuor, A New Face for Africa.

Later, I visited the king at the Ga Manste palace at Kaneshie. I took the opportunity to request his guidance and help in an intended production of a documentary on “Chieftaincy in Ghana through the years”.

I followed that visit with one interview of the king on camera and another for coverage of a traditional event at the stool house – “Children’s Christmas”. There I obtained the promise of more such filming to come.

I returned the next year with the hope to start filming, but I was to learn to my regret that King Tackie Tawiah III had passed after a protracted illness. He had gone to the land of the ancestors.

Though gone, the memory of him would long remain among many of us who were with him in New York - a brilliant, kind man and a gentleman who was born to serve as king.

I wish to repeat here the same words of goodwill that he, King Takie Tawia III, had said some time ago for a departed soul:

“Our prayer is that the promise of God for eternal rest will be granted ….., just as it is hoped that the earth would rest with deference upon the remains of this soul of merit.”

On behalf of the many mutual friends, we shared back in the 70s – Dr. Alfred Bannerman, H. E. Kobina Annan, Winston Davis, Edward and Victor Adom, Rudolph Dodd, Dr. Clarence Addo Yobo, and all their families – I say farewell to you, King TakieTawiah III.

May God your creator give you eternal rest and peace.

E. Ablorh-Odjidja

Emerging Media Institute, Accra, Ghana

May 04, 2013