Duloglana Ebenezer Adam

Wednesday, July 22, 2009, the day before my departure from Tamale to Accra and about two hours before our "Good-bye" dinner given by our host, I had the pleasure of meeting Ebenezer Adam. Last minute is the description the event and anxious was my state of mind. I was a bit nervous because I didn't have his phone number to schedule a meeting time. Thoughts of rejection and of being turned around at the door rattled me. "But how am I supposed to get in touch with someone who does not have a telephone," I thought. Once again I was proven to be the Americanized foreigner whom induces her own anxiety such as, being nervous about showing up to some one's home unannounced in the Ghanaian culture. I had to tell myself "Relax, this is the way they do it, it's fine." Of course it was no big deal. And my soothing process began when Ebenezer walked in excited and very welcoming. He has a smile and eyes that carried the innocence of a child and the joy of a grandfather every time he sees his grandchild. I felt the warmth of his welcome as he did my visit. At ease I felt.
Duloglana Ebenezer Adam of Tamale, Ghana is a sub-chief; Duloglana represents the region or neighborhood of Tamale in which the Chief resides. The Duloglana is eighty-nine years young and will be ninety in December. The Duloglana began his career as a teacher in Kumasi which is about three to four hours south of Tamale. His career then took a turn in 1948-49 in favor of politics, particularly, in the advocation of independence for Ghana. Chief Ebenezer Adam has worked closely with the first president of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, in the establishment of the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) in both the southern and northern regions of Ghana. Later after serving as a member of the the UGCC, he then became the General Secretary of the UGCC.
About six years after Ghana's independence was won in 1957, Ebenezer Adam became the Regional Commissionor for the Northern Region of Ghana in 1963 to 1966. He was also the NP for the Tamale. Chief is also known for his mastery work of facilitating, along with three other translators, a complete translation of the Old and New Testament Bible into the Dagbani language. The conception of the Naawuni Kundi Kasi was around 1980 and it took approximately 28 years total to translate both Old and New Testaments into Dagbani. The first Dagbani written bible, the Naawuni Kundi Kasi translated as God's Holy Bible, was published in 2006.