The Most Reverend Matthew Kwasi Gyamfi, the Catholic Bishop of the Sunyani Diocese has tasked the Bonoman Institute to frontline advocacy to confront historical complexities, cultural and political challenges that undermine the identity and autonomy of the Bono people.
Founded in 2019, the institute focuses on documentation, research, and promotion of the education, youth empowerment and community transformation and the heritage of the Bono people.
Most Rev Gyamfi, also the President of the Ghana Catholic Bishop Conference (GCBC) asked the Institute to conduct extensive historical research on the Bonos and intensify advocacy to solve the ‘Bono problem of complex historical, cultural and political situation”.
He gave the task when he inaugurated the Institute’s new Advisory Board in Sunyani on the theme: “Steering with purpose, serving with integrity for ethical leadership and purposeful decision making”.
Mt Rev Gyamfi says that: “Your primary duty is to work to free the Bono People from oppression through historical research, advocacy, and cultural restoration”, saying that more research ought to be done to shape the narratives of identity, land, and historical backgrounds of the Bono people.
“Historians acknowledged that the Bonos established the first Akan empire in modern-day Ghana in the 13th century with other Akan groups who later adopted elements of Bono culture and administrative systems”, he recollected.
Most Rev Gyamfi argued that: “while most states conquered during the era of might are right and later regained their independence and their lands, sections of the Bono lands allegedly remain under claim by other traditional authorities due to past conquests”.
“The British gave back our land and our sovereignty which therefore stands to reason that all forms of internal colonization of one state by the other state should cease”, he stated.
The Catholic Bishop tasked the Board to write the Bono history, saying that it was only through knowledge of the Bono history that the Bonos could have a knowledge of itself, asking it to also serve as a pressure group for the region.
He urged the Board to develop and promote the Bono literature and the Bono language in schools in the Bono Region, urging them to understand and appreciate the paradigm of the “oppressed and the oppress to know how to dismantle the system to set Bonoman free from their oppressors”.
“The oppressed, having internalized the image of the oppressor and adopted his guidelines are fearful of freedom”, he stated, adding that “the oppressor will never let go of the oppressed and it’s the oppressed who should fight to set themselves free from the oppressor”.
The 10-member board is chaired by Professor Richardson Addai-Mununkum, Associate Professor of Curriculum and Pedagogy, University of Education, Winneba, and tasked to provide strategic direction for the institute’s research and advocacy on the Bono history, culture, and development.