On CK Gyamfi: A rare honour

My first meeting with Charles Kumi 'C.K' Gyamfi occurred under curious circumstances in November 2009.

I had entered Achimota School a year earlier as a lush green 14 year old, naïve and diminutive, who was still very much obsessed with football - a game I fell in love with during the 2002 World Cup.

It was within the calm, shady expanse of Achimota that I developed an aspiration to become a football coach. My life up till then had been dominated by a wide range of dream occupations. I had once wanted to become an action movie star, as crazy as that sounds, harbouring wild hopes of getting to emulate all my heroes; from Bruce Lee to Jet Li, from Jackie Chan to Chuck Norris, from David Hasselhof to Wesley Snipes. Later, I ditched it when I discovered that I loved writing.

I started writing from around age 10, amid the playful distractions of primary school. My infantile, fantasy-themed writing explored mostly subjects that I saw in blockbuster movies: Kung-fu, rattling machine guns, kidnapping, revenge, the underdog stories, and of course, the raging feuds between the good guy and the bad guy. I remember just how happy all that deliberately constructed chaos made me, and how I yearned to create such worlds through words. My dream, therefore, was to become a prolific author of fiction, and so I churned out story after story with boundless enthusiasm.

Later, after my heart sealed its vows with the beautiful game, I dreamt of becoming a footballer. I would spend days on end playing, practicing. But, by the time I entered Achimota, I had somehow become disillusioned with the idea of becoming a footballer. I don’t remember exactly why that was, but I remember starting to drift away from active play, suffering an inevitable consequence of piling on weight.

A decisive moment at Achimota came during a cold, quiet January night in the course a prep session in my classroom. My mates were busy studying, their heads buried in their books - as it was supposed to be. But I, on the other hand, was seated behind my desk, absentminded, my mind’s stubborn excursion into the realm of dreams refusing to be disturbed by the croaking crickets.

While everyone else was racking their brains around figuring out math equations, I was way detached, off curriculum, stacking my brain with wishful thinking, all in a bid to figure out one thing: what I wanted to be in the future. 

Then it happened. An epic epiphany. I wanted to become a football coach. The whole idea of influencing the game through defined ideas and strategies excited me. I had read about the game’s most successful coaches, most especially the Dutch master Rinus Michels, who managed the Netherlands national team in the early 70s and the late 80s, reaching the World Cup final in 1974 and winning the European Championship in 1988, achieving all that with a groundbreaking invention called total football – a philosophy that changed the face of the sport. I was intrigued. I wanted in.

That same night, I drew up a list of my life’s goals in a small notepad which I have kept till date. Among other ambitious bullets, I wrote that I wanted to become one of the most successful, most celebrated coaches in history. It was an exciting dream because I found that there had not been a single black man mentioned in the same breath as the great tacticians in the game’s history. I was baffled by it all. Why weren’t black people cutting it in coaching? I dreamt of changing that.

My Dad, Kwaw Anaman, who was just about the only person in the world who didn’t see my dream as laughable gibberish, told me that he wanted to take me go see a man called C.K Gyamfi. “I attended school with one of his eldest sons and I’ve gone to see him before,” my Dad assured me. “I’m sure he would tell you a whole lot about coaching.”

I had, of course, heard of CK Gyamfi several times, though I had never paid particular attention. He was embedded in my subconscious, mainly because there was no conversation about Ghana's football history without his name popping up at a point, but I never was privy to the full extent of his achievements. I had heard him mentioned within a context of reverence, of deep respect, as one of the immortal legends of Ghana's over 100-year-old relationship with the sport, but little did I know that he had been one of the most successful personalities Ghana has ever produced.

I was in a phase in my life where I'd developed a frenzied addiction to curiosity, and so I did not waste time in commencing a hunt for information on him. The more material I devoured, the more I became excited by his career and achievements. C.K Gyamfi had been an accomplished footballer who had played for and excelled for both Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak - Ghana's biggest clubs and two of Africa's elite - which is a rare feat. In the 1950s, eventful years when Ghana was still known as the Gold Coast and football was played barefoot, C.K Gyamfi strove to play in boots, and was instrumental in the country's adoption of the boots culture. In 1951, he had been the young star of the national team, the Gold Coast XI, when they toured the United Kingdom playing barefoot and selling Ghana's widely hailed natural football talent through a series of trial matches. Two years later, he had become 'Sports Man of the Year', and seven years after that, the first African player to play professionally in Germany when he signed for Fortuna Dusseldorf. As if the feats chalked as a player weren't enough, he went on to become equally as successful as a coach, winning three of the four African Cup titles Ghana has won as a nation, an accomplishment that made him one of the most successful coaches in African football history. Here was a man of abundant substance and decoration, oozing inspiration.

During my second year at Achimota, just before the midterm break of the first term, my father decided to take me to our hometown of Winneba for the first time since the early years of my life. I was beyond elated – but I would be even more elated when he told me we’d pass by C.K Gyamfi’s house at Kaneshie on our return.

And so it happened. When midterm arrived, my Dad turned up to whisk me away from my hall of residence at Achimota, a building coincidentally named ‘Gyamfi House’ (though not in any way related to C.K Gyamfi). After a brief stop at my Aunt’s at Achimota Mile 7, we set off for Winneba.

In Winneba, my Dad took me to the National Sports College, where we did a few inquiries and spoke to some people about life there and the prospects. The idea, my father told me, was to equip me with enough knowledge and present me with viable options just in case my dream of becoming a coach was still alive by the time I was due to enter University three years later. That same Sports College, I learnt in the course of my visit, was named after none other than the great C.K Gyamfi.

***

We passed by C.K Gyamfi's tidily kept Kaneshie-Swan Lake residence on our return from Winneba. I remember that meeting so well. We sat with him on his porch, where I remember being awed by a painting of a football pitch on the terrazzo floor – a beautiful artistic piece that sadly perished when the porch was tiled some years later during a renovation.

I remember him, in his peculiarly energetic old age, sporting a vintage hat, holding on to a stylish walking stick. He was a few months short of turning 80 but he looked so full of life, so ebullient in his outlook. I had been very nervous prior to meeting him, but his demeanor proved more calming than intimidating. He was generous, and so our chat wasn’t onerous.  He spoke to us as if he’d known us all his life. I sat entranced by his stories, by his contagious love for football conveyed in his passionate tone, by the depth of his knowledge.

With an exercise book and pen in hand, and my father looking on, I wrote with voracious interest as the old man spoke. He spoke of his trade secrets as a coach: about how he got his players’ trust, how he got his players to work for him and for the team, how he believed that the secret to successful coaching was a healthy relationship with the players. “Be a friend to them,” he kept insisting. I felt it was profound how he emphasized that bit of building solid relationships with players, because I had been expecting a long, tedious lecture wading into the sometimes superficial world of tactics. I got the sense that he essentially thought creating that link with players was the foundation – and it had to be done right to be able to hold the subsequent layers of tactical dynamics.

Before we left, C.K, by this time so evidently engrossed in the interaction, told us that a book containing his memoirs was under production, and that he hoped it would hit commercial shelves by the end of 2009. It was such a refreshing thing to hear. I couldn’t wait to learn more about him, about his story, about the way he thought.

When we left the compound, I felt like the luckiest boy on earth. To have gotten to spend a significant amount of time in the presence of such a monolithic monument was an opportunity so rare, and I honestly thought it was going to be a one-off experience that I would cherish for the rest of my life; one that, in the future, I would wax lyrical about to my children on a loop.

But little did I know that fate would bring us together again.

***

I never met or spoke to C.K Gyamfi for four whole years after that meeting. The intervening years saw me lost in the lightning flight of time, events as blur as cars speeding past on a high way, but it saw me go through a lot of growth and changes. 

My dream of becoming a coach had fizzled out over the years, and had been permanently replaced by an aspiration to become a football writer. I had started to write about football during the short break between Senior High School and University, a time I spent consuming a lot of knowledge on my brother’s laptop amid the bliss of newly-acquired wifi at home in Kumasi.

Football writing had basically been born out of an experimental decision to merge writing and football, two things that represented what people around me claimed was my talent (the former) and what I was passionate about (the latter).

Months down the line, I had graduated from being a modest blogger to being a professional writer.

The next time I saw C.K Gyamfi, July 2013, I had just completed my first year at the University of Ghana, along with being a freelance writer. This time, I had gone alone. This time, I had not gone as an early teen looking for coaching pointers, but a fledgling writer looking to interview him and tell his amazing story through a write-up. My idea of visiting, in fact, had been to have a conversation about the 1960s – a golden era in Ghana's football history; an era I had grown so fond of with every piece of information I unearthed.

In the course of our conversation, I asked to record him, and he was most gracious to allow me tap into his vast reservoir of footballing knowledge. I was so excited by the amount of information I was able to extract from him that I suggested helping him write his story in full.

“Oh don’t worry about that,” he politely declined. “My memoirs are still in the works and I’m told it will be out by the end of this year.”

I found it odd that his book had still not come out, four years since he'd raved about its imminent release, but that nonetheless, that piece of new information rekindled my excitement about getting to read about him.

I left his house feeling so fulfilled. I held on to my nokia phone – which I had used to record him – like it was the Holy Grail while I was in a commercial mini-bus, a trotro, headed home. I remember alighting at the Accra Mall bus stop, in the middle of the Tetteh Quarshie Interchange, and placing a call to my boss, Kent Mensah, editor of Goal.com – where I was freelancing at the time. “Boss! You cannot believe this! I got an interview with C.K Gyamfi!”

Kent was so excited. He congratulated me and said he trusted that I’d take my time to write it the best way I could. I told him I’d send the piece as soon as I was done. Later that night, and in the subsequent days, I sat down to listen to a playback of my recordings, and ended up writing and filing an over 2,500-word profile of him.

The piece did better than I had expected. Many people sent me facebook messages complimenting the interview, and that felt really encouraging. Among these messages, though, were two distinct ones from two men whose surnames were ‘Gyamfi’. The first was from Edwin Gyamfi, the second from Duke Gyamfi - both of whom, I later learnt, were sons of C.K Gyamfi.

Both were messages about how they were glad that I had done their Dad proud with how I wrote the piece, about how it was 'the best interview about our Dad that we've read'. For me, that was the ultimate compliment, a moment of fulfillment.

Later, Edwin kept in touch and, when he came to Ghana on holiday sometime in March 2014, asked me to meet him for a chat.

Our rendezvous, the Papaye (fast food chain) branch at the ever-nocturnal Osu, was emptying when Edwin walked in late in the night and introduced himself. We went upstairs and had a sprightly conversation about my career and how I met his Dad. He said he’d expected me to be a much more older guy, and that he was surprised that I wrote with what he described as a 'matured sense of delivery'. 

In the middle of our chat, he mentioned his father’s memoirs, and I immediately made him know that I was aware of it being in the works, though I found it a bit odd that it was still not out five years after I’d been told it was coming out 'soon'. I still really looked forward to it, I told him.

Edwin then sounded out a suggestion; a request, if you will, that would stun me. “My brothers and I would love for you to have a look at our dad's original writings and see if you can turn it into a book.” 

At that moment, I remember thinking: “Wow, this isn’t happening!”

I knew how much of a big deal it was. I was being asked to author the autobiography of someone who'd come to assume heroic status in my life, and I was being asked to do so just two years into my career as a sports writer. I'd been lucky to have experienced many milestones unusual for my level of experience: having gotten to do work for global media giants such as SuperSport, ESPN, Telegraph and Goal, all on the back of me - an untrained (formally, at least) journalist thriving on passion and hunger - being barely two years old in my field. Weirdly, all of these rare, surreal opportunities had largely found their way to me, blindsiding me as they came along, and I always thought about them being as frightening as they were exciting; but perhaps their most important quality, for me, was their challenging nature. They carried an intimidating weight of responsibility -  a responsibility to exhaust my reserves of hard work and ambition to prove worthy of such early career blessings. To date, getting asked to ghostwrite the autobiography of someone who many consider as the most influential figure in Ghanaian football history represented the biggest challenge yet.

During that moment when Edwin offered me the opportunity, it also dawned on me how poetic it all seemed: the project that I’d been so eager to read chose to find its way to me – not as its reader, but as its writer.

***

It took many more months before things properly kicked off. That was when Edwin's younger brother, Duke, came down to town from his Canada base. I first met Duke at his Dad’s at Kaneshie-Swanlake. Like Edwin, Duke also had that look of bewilderment when I introduced myself as ‘Fiifi Anaman.’ “What?! How old are you?!” he joked, both of us breaking into laughter. We had an even heartier laugh when he offered me a beer and I told him I did not drink.

Duke’s visit was basically about updating me on status of the book: how C.K Gyamfi started it, when it was started, the state it was in at that moment, and how he - representing his brothers – wanted things to be going forward. He then formally presented me to his Dad as the writer who was going to work on his memoirs. Because C.K Gyamfi, or 'Nana', as I affectionately called him, knew me already, he readily accepted me and pledged to give me all I needed to make his project a success.

It was not until a March 2015 that I received Nana's original scribblings: a close to 57,000 word account of his professional experiences up until 1982. It was a gold mine, especially given the fact that it was at a point where his memory was fast fading. He could only remember selectively, or after long talk aided by pictures or texts. Sometimes, I could see physical pain on his face anytime he tried to remember certain things that happened in his event-laden life.

My original job, as prescribed by the legitimate instruction of my contractors, Nana's sons, was to put some flesh on his blueprint of recollections, while delivering it in my own writing style.

Along the line, when the project’s variables became more visible and an understanding of it became bolder, that role gradually evolved. It became more complex: about leading the production and artistic direction of a coherent story by using all available sources of information - the most basic of which was the original writing. This meant that I was to write the entire project from the ground up by conferring with the information sources. In this regard, I was to determine how the story was to be told, which topics to accentuate and which ones to tone down on, how the narrative would flow, the chapter names, themes and scopes, the tempo of the plot, possible asides to construct from my conversations with him, and many other artistic factors. It was, admittedly, a mountainous task. An intimidating one, too. It filled me with trepidation many times, because I'd been thrown in at the deep end, and my only snorkel was my talent.

There was a haunting fear of a screw-up, an anxiety to do the subject the justice that it deserved, and this influenced the whole process. It was a slow, conscientious one, involving a lot of brain work and an obsessive attention even to the most irrelevant of details. I wanted to justify the honour bestowed on me, to step up to the plate, by bringing something refreshing to Nana’s story. 

During the time of writing I had stepped aside from my mainstream job, mainly because of school, and so had a lot of free time to read up on a lot of art’s great minds – across writing, painting, music and film. What I discovered of each master, was an ambition to be different, to translate influence to innovation, and to stay true to an original feeling, an original goal. It resonated with my innate leanings. I had been given a lot of freedom by Duke and Edwin with regards to style, so I planned to make this empowering license worthwhile. And so, rather than just being guided by the story, allowing style to be bullied by the facts of the narrative, I decided to respond to my craving to be artsy by constructing the story accordingly. Certain parts of the story feature puns and alliterations and rhymes and many other literary instruments – some subtle, others bold, all in an attempt to tighten the story being told. 

***

The other sources of information aside the original writing were many. For instance, in an attempt to fill in gaps, trying to bridge storylines and trying to correct chronologies and factual errors appearing in his writing, I had to commit to painstaking research. The research part, though heavily stressful, came easily to me, thankfully, as I had been spending a lot of time at the Archives section at the offices of The Daily Graphic since November 2014. I’d been going there to mine information on Ghanaian football during the 50s and 60s – an era that basically had Nana in the mix of everything. This thankfully meant that I was well equipped with a great deal of knowledge about him and about that era – which was so critical in his story. This put me in a position to summon enough confidence to tackle the project.

I continued visiting The Archives, but this time, went there with a particular target to dig up information related to Nana. The commercial transport route I would use – starting from Mile 7, passing through Lapaz and Kaneshie before the destination at Graphic Road - would see my trotro pass right in front of Nana's house anytime I went to do research. 

I remember staring at the house each time my trotro drove by, wondering what he was up to. I would imagine the common sight: him seated in his specially designed chair in his living room, his walking stick resting on his wizened legs, gazing into his large, flat screen TV - which would either be showing cartoons, or wrestling, or even the popular telenovela La Gata - with a quietude that felt so therapeutic, especially given the air of innocence that graced his face.

Sometimes, after each session, I would pass by his place to have a chat and show him some of the images I took from certain old newspapers. I remember how excited he was anytime he’d take my iPad and glance through the images, nodding, smiling. Such moments, when the calm, frail old age of his present became immersed in his youthful, glorious past, were so beautiful.

Part of my process of exploring other sources involved a series of interactions and transactions with Mr Harold Akwetey Quartey, the nephew of Nana's second wife, Mrs Valerie Quartey. Mr Quartey was of immense help. He had known Nana since the late 90s and had been very close to him, almost like his right hand man, and had started to help the old man with his book along the line. In the process, he had rewritten parts of Nana's original writing, stocked with additional information and research. When I was brought on board to ghostwrite the project, he was kind enough to lend me his files to scan through to use information that had not appeared in the original. I often visited Mr Quartey at his office at Kokomlemle, and sat across his book-filled desk to have chats about Nana and about certain portions of the story where I needed clarification (he was in a position to say a lot as he’d had infinite conversations with CK over the years, especially during times when he could remember every detail of what he wrote originally and could give additional perspectives). Our conversations were always so substance-filled and helpful, just as much as his writing was.

Also, I figured I had to talk to the people close to Nana, the people who knew him, to get information that could help building his story. The principal source in this regard was the legendary Ghana defender Dogo Moro, who played with and under Nana as part of the Black Stars from 1958 to 1963. I had struck a friendship with Alhaji, as I call him, when I first visited him as part of research for a project I had started in 2014. Alhaji gave invaluable insights into CK’s character and personality anytime I paid him a visit at his Kenyase home during my Kumasi trips. Sometimes, when in Accra and when distance did not allow physical meetings, I had long, rich conversations with him on the phone.

***

The strategy I adopted from scratch was to visit Nana as much as my time would allow, to have conversations with him with the hope of salvaging whatever memories he still had in connection with any part of his text. Luckily, it was always an exciting process, because Nana was always very hospitable and eager to converse. 

Most of our conversations were not on record, as he struggled to talk with the coherence and flow he would have had no problem producing if he was younger and with a good memory. I talked with him about many things and made notes of what he said – which I would later construct texts out of, for incorporation into the story.

In all of this, the underlying aim was about getting to know him, about becoming deeply acquainted to the workings of his his thought process, his emotions, his demeanor and all the other idiosyncrasies of his personality. This was important because I was basically going to be him anytime I was writing. I owned the words and the style, but the story, with its accompanying thoughts and feelings, its soul, were solely his. And I so had to live him – to live his thoughts and experiences. I had to be a method writer anytime I sat behind my laptop to do what I code-named ‘CK writing’. 

Such writing sessions were many, spread across many months. There were times when I would sit for hours and only manage to write one paragraph; other times when my creative juices were most kind and so would translate to many words and pages. There was a lot of rereads, a lot of back editing, a lot of rewriting – all in a bid to chisel out the very best I could manage for Nana.

And boy, did he deserve the best. This work had been in the infamous ‘pipeline’ for many years, and I got the unmistakable sense that its delayed completion worried him. Once, he even told me that he had almost given up on it, resigning himself to the feeling that it was probably never going to be published. In fact, during my research for the 2013 Goal.com profile I wrote of him, I stumbled on an interview he'd granted the Ghana News Agency many years ago, in which he'd claimed his book was going to be on the market by the end of that year. It was in 2004. 

He always talked to me about how he had started a long time ago, about how he’d been told it was almost done one too many times, about how he really wanted it to happen. Anytime he said so, I felt a conferment of responsibility, from his heart to my conscience, and I would, without hesitation, promise profusely to do everything I could to make sure it materialized. He would look me in the eye and tell me about how he believed what I was saying. These conversations always felt like an exchange of trust, an establishment of legitimacy, and it spurred me on during the lowest moments of production.

Nana made me feel motivated with how he opened his doors to me. Anytime I went there, he looked so happy to see me and would ask about how school and work was treating me. He always reminded me, with a sort of congenial curiosity, that I looked familiar. I remember how he would joke about me having the same name as one of his favourite grandchildren. Once, I heard him introduce me to one of the ladies of his household as “my friend who is handling the writing of my book". "I trust that he will do a good job and all will be well in the end,” he had added. Friend. This was from a man who was a good 64 years older than I was.

Anytime it was time to leave, he’d thank me for the conversation, for keeping him company, then he’d make me promise not to let too much time elapse until my next visit.

Indeed, who are we kidding? I was perfectly aware of the delicate underpinnings of having such a young, relatively inexperienced writer handle such a high profile project. And I’m sure Nana did too. But, interestingly, not once did he ever express doubt or convey a sense of insecurity around me or about my being in charge of telling his story. Duke would constantly remind me in our correspondence that he and his brothers were totally sure of having me at the helm of such a project, not only because of their claims of loving my style of writing, but also because they respected one of their father’s most recognizable philosophies: giving young people a chance; investing confidence and belief in youth talent. During his years as a coach, he cultivated a stern reputation of being an overhauler of squads; someone who believed in discarding incompetent experience for competent inexperience. 

Indeed, having Duke, Edwin and the rest of the brothers express confidence in my ability to deliver was great, no doubt, but feeling that vibe from Nana himself was priceless. Nana always made me aware of how he trusted that I would do a good job, and I would respond to this vote of confidence by giving him an assurance. This assurance was basically that I was doing the best I could to see to it that his dream of seeing his story published came true before he checked out of his amazing life of earth.

I grew deeply fond of Nana and found myself looking forward to our meetings, though they were, regrettably, few and far between: well, at least not as much as I’d wanted. Nonetheless, I lived for such moments like when he would burst out in laughter, almost to the point of tears, upon recalling a particular memory – be it the beatings he endured from his father and elementary teacher, his days as a stubborn teenager causing havoc everywhere he went, and much later tales of how he would play deaf as coach anytime his players complained about his physically demanding training sessions, which would result in them surreptitiously slandering him and labeling him with hilarious nicknames. I remember, too, the purity and the romanticist’s wonder that wrapped around his words anytime he talked about how much football meant to him and how football had changed his life.

***

On a dry August afternoon, one of Nana’s sons, named Nana 'Egya Alonso'  Gyamfi, who had been in the country for a while corresponding with me on matters concerning the book, asked me to sit through an interview his father was granting to Top FM Sports – an interview that would turn out to be his last.

Because of Nana’s feeble memory, he struggled to have a firm grasp of the things he wanted to say, and so I was asked – as his ghostwriter – to help clarify some of the things that his tired mind was laboring to recall. He would listen intently, nodding with seeming approval anytime I was asked to come in and throw light on what he was saying. After the interview, he shook my hand, looked right into my eyes and said. “Oh Fiifi, thank you very much. You’ve really helped me. If it wasn’t for you…” He paused suddenly and climaxed his incomplete speech with a smile.  

That moment – though occurring in just a split second – represented something so powerful to my mind. I don’t think I can ever explain why, and even more strange is the fact that I’m comfortable with leaving it at that: a soothing Je ne sais quoi.

I left for Kumasi soon afterwards and so couldn’t stay in touch with him for about two weeks.

***

On my return to Accra, I was unable to go see him immediately due to the formalities of school reopening swarming me.

Then one night, while I sat behind my desk in my room at Legon Hall, coincidentally working on the book, I got a call. It was Mr Quartey. “Fiifi, I hope you are well. Nana wants to see you.”

“Nana Gyamfi?” I asked.

“No, not Nana Gyamfi,” he replied. “I’m talking about the old man himself.”

I told Mr Quartey that I would steal time the next day, Friday the 28^th of August, to go see the old man.

That night, before retiring to bed, I kept wondering why Nana had asked to see me. It was strange. I had heard him ask of me, heard him send his regards, but he had never once particularly asked to see me. Was something wrong? My instincts couldn’t shrug off the oddity.

I turned up at his residence the next day, entered and realized that he was not seated at the Living room. That was yet another oddity. Mr Quartey slipped into the hallway and later reemerged, his face dead pan. “Let’s go in,” he said, tailing his words with a signal. “He says I should bring you over. He’s not well.”

I remember seeing Nana struggle to get up from his bed to take a seat by its edge. I had never been to his bedroom, but I did not have time to steal a quick visual tour as I was so overwhelmed by concern. I was asked to sit in a chair by his bed. He extended his hand, as always with an accompanying smile, to shake my hand. “Ei Fiifi, how are you doing? I didn’t hear from you again since that last meeting. Where were you hiding?”

“Oh Nana, I went over to Kumasi to have a little rest ahead of school. But I’m back now and I hope to spend much more time chatting,” I said. “I’ll be in Accra till year’s end so we’ll chat till you get tired!” I joked.

I asked if all was well and he told me his leg aches had gotten worse, that he was unable to walk well. His face lost its glow and his voice dimmed in liveliness while he slowly recounted how unbearable the pains were becoming.

Then, he changed the topic. “Is everything ok with the book?”

I sensed apprehension in his voice and it unsettled me, so much so that I struggled to articulate a response. I think what I felt in that moment was panic, because in truth, the project had experienced a hitch at a stakeholders meeting shortly before I had gone to Kumasi. And so things had stalled as I'd contemplated giving it up. And I felt guilty about it. He did not deserve that, I thought.

Mr Quartey, perhaps noticing my difficulty, cut into the conversation, offering a background of why Nana had wanted to see me. Apparently, Nana was worried about progress on the book, and, especially as he felt his health recede, wanted to know if everything was okay.

I felt even worse because I knew just how much the book meant to him. And so, immediately, I assured him, almost out of impulse – because I hated seeing him worried – that all was well. That all was still on track. That I was almost done.

Then, again, I reiterated my regular assurance, but this time with a sense of desperation. I really wanted to calm his fears. “Nana, I know how close this project is to your heart and hearing you say you want it done inspires me to carry on. I promise you to go through with it, to finish it, to make sure you get to see it as soon as possible.”

After saying this, I felt a surge of adrenalin, not least because I saw him nod. I felt renewed energy:  I wanted to get back to the project and get done as soon as I could just so I could present it to him. I wanted to see him happy.

I told him I’d come to see him early the next week and he said he very much looked forward to it. He said his usual thank you and reached for the parting handshake. I said my thank you too. “Your legs too, will be well, Nana,” I said as I got up to take my leave. “I’ll be praying for you.”

That was it. The last time I was privileged to be in his presence.

***

Tuesday morning. I logged unto facebook and saw a friend of mine post that CK Gyamfi was gone.

I could not believe it. I did not want to believe it. A day before, I had called Mr Quartey to seek clarification about a discrepancy I had found while researching early 1972 to aid me in writing a chapter about events at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. (Nana had coached the national team to the football tournament).

Before asking my questions, I asked if all was well with the old man. “No, all isn’t well,” Mr Quartey said. His tone was plain. “His leg pains got worse and we took him to the hospital.”

I told Mr Quartey, from whom I got a sense of pessimism, that I did not believe that the hospital thing was ominous, and that I was positive he’d get well soon. I had, after all, heard Nana complain about his legs many times and not once did I ever feel that it had the potential to be fatal. I always saw it as ‘one of those things’, and indeed, we had once had a laugh about how he felt it was a haunting hazard of his addiction to overhead ('scissor') kicks during his hey days.

He looked a fairly healthy, handsome old man, all the time – even to the last time I saw him in his bed. I always got the sense that he had so much life within him, though he exuded an aura of loneliness sometimes.

And here I was, on a Tuesday morning, lying on my bed, trying to convince myself that what I’d seen on Facebook was an inaccurate report. Shortly before then, my body trembling with shock, I remember exclaiming, cursing expletives of disbelief, thinking it was all a bad dream. I remember some of my floor mates storming into my room to ask what was wrong, but I could not utter a word of explanation. I did not have one.

I later called Mr Quartey. “Hi Mr Akwetey,” I greeted, barely concealing my impatience. “Yeah, Fiifi,” he responded.  His voice was solemn, a heart breaking confirmation even before the inevitable words that followed. “Yes, it’s true,” he said. “He passed around 2am this morning.”

Afterwards, I could barely speak in an organized way. My questions were many and meaningless, and I remember wishing I could be as calm and composed as Mr Quartey on the other end of the line. 

But I just couldn’t. For me, his demise seemed too sudden, too out of the blue, and though he was 86, I had never prepared myself for his exit. The shock rocked me, dampening my mood for the next few days.

I entered a state lethargy, locked up in a lull of constant reminiscing. Trying to recollect my encounters with Nana was a painful exercise, because I realized that I had not paid particular attention to many things, most certainly because of my misguided belief that he was going to be around for much longer. I took many things for granted, postponed many conversations, and I regretted them so much.

But, I realized – upon reflecting on our last meeting – that he probably knew he was on his way out when he asked to see me that Friday.

In hindsight, I deciphered that he wanted to leave with an assurance that I was still committed to the project, that I’d see it through to the end – even if he would not be around to see its completion.

I’m glad that I was able to make a promise.


NB: Beyond C.K Gyamfi's death on Tuesday September 2, 2015, I managed to complete his autobiography, which is scheduled to be published late in 2016. I wrote this article in the weeks following his death, in an attempt to recall the full extent of my relationship with him. It was published here on December 31, 2015, my 22nd birthday, to accompany a press statement released by his family naming me publicly as his autobiographical ghost-writer. Knowing him and working on his story will remain an indelible honour that I will take to my grave.