On March 11 this year the President of Ghana, John Mahama addressing Ghanaians in Botswana said “he had become impervious to threats of strikes and demonstrations back home and adopted the dead-goat syndrome, telling agitating labour groups and the opposition that a dead goat does not fear the knife”.
He added “ I have seen more demonstrations and strikes in my first two years. I don’t think it can get worse. It is said that when you kill a goat and you frighten it with a knife, it doesn’t fear the knife because it is already dead. I have the dead goat syndrome”, he told the Ghanaians in Botswana.
The president’s statement was received with mixed reaction back home with the opposition describing it as a sign of insensitivity but those on his side stressed that it was a metaphor indicating the unwillingness of the first gentleman to bow to unnecessary pressure to throw the country’s budget out of gear.
A blogger by the name Abdul-Mumin Sofo Yumzaa in an article titled “ the dead goat syndrome- how do you understand it?” stated that “ the President’s comment was a METAPHORIC analysis of a given situation in relation to fiscal discipline, juxtaposed with a ritual indiscipline in every election year.
It was an assuring statement of hope : HE would not fall to pressures of “unwarranted demonstrations” by labour unions that may influence an unnecessary fiscal indiscipline. This is responsible leadership! He went ahead to say that anyone who takes the dead-goat syndrome literally or out of context is suffering from “selective myopia”.
But I beg to differ because what this writer failed to do was to ask himself how did we get to this level of fiscal indiscipline? This is because Ghana recorded her biggest deficit ever in history which was in the tune of 4.3 billion dollars just after the 2012 elections though the president had promised to break that jinx which always shows up after every election.
There were many a Ghanaian who tried to explain that if one looks at the dead goat syndrome from traditional settings of the Akans then it was wrong for the president to use the dead goat to explain the stance he has taken with reference to strikes and demonstrations. To them, he should have used the “ dead sheep syndrome” because in the Akan language it is said that “ Odwanfunu nsuro sekan” literally meaning the “dead sheep is not scared of a knife.”
The dead goat syndrome according to the president was taken out of context, so on the 11th of August 2015, when he was being interviewed by George Sappor on Uniiq FM, he said “ he is no longer a dead goat but a living one”. The resurrection from the land of dead goat also came at a time that medical doctors for the first time in the history of Ghana had declared their longest strike which lasted for 21 days without emergency services. The strike was described by the dead goat turned a living goat as not “making sense and illegal.”
Then came 15 August at the Ghana Journalists Association, GJA awards night, President Mahama again addressing journalists stressed he is no more a dead goat but a living one.
Come August 19, then came a report that journalists at the presidency had been involved in an accident after covering an assignment at Ho. This set me thinking that whether it is sheer coincidence that after the declaration of am no more “a dead goat but now a living goat “in the presence of journalists back home then one life is claimed and several others wounded in an accident. It is like dead goat in abroad but at home a living goat. This incident has led to division on the front of the inky fraternity with the president of the GJA supporting the living goat’s chief of staff explanation of how the accident happened though he was not in the vehicle. That is amazing because if you work with the living goat you are able to see things differently hence the call for the resignation of the president of the GJA, Affail Monney. The presence of the living goat at the GJA awards night might have been seen by the GJA president as a privilege to the extent that when one of his own junior staff, in GBC Radio, Yahaya ….had his recorder destroyed by the dead kids turned living kids, Stan Dogbe, Affail Monney and his executives at the GJA see nothing wrong with this acts of impudence.
My pondering over this dead goat syndrome drove me to look for the Webster’s dictionary and Free dictionary on the internet to find out figurative expressions that are related to the goat.
Interestingly, I realized that basically all the figurative expressions connected to the goat were not positive.
For example, get your goat means to annoy someone. So one can say “ it really gets my goat when people push past without saying excuse me”.
The third example is to act or play the goat, which is an informal expression. It implies to behave in a silly way, sometimes in order to make people laugh. That is one can say Kwame resorted to acting the goat to get people’s attention.
The next expression perhaps what I considered very important from the Webster’s dictionary was the expression “separate the sheep from the goat or put differently separate the men from the boys”. Figuratively, separating the sheep from the goat means to separate the competent from those who are less competent. Many of the challenges confronting Africa including Ghana is mainly due to our inability to separate the sheep from the goat when it comes to choosing leaders during elections hence the dumsorisation, that is to borrow from the words of Professor P.L.O Lumumba must stop.
As a practicing Christian my coming across the expression separating the sheep from the goat reminded me of what Jesus said in Matthew 25:31-34.
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
From the above Jesus is saying that in the end times nations will be categorized into two- that is sheep nations and goat nations. One should not lose sight of the fact that nations are not just the geographical boundaries but the people within including their leaders.
The key thing is that Jesus is saying those who have the goat nature will be put at his left hand side but while those with the sheep nature will be at the right hand side. The right hand symbolizes the place of power and favour. From the scripture, Jesus described the sheep on his right hand as the blessed of the father implying the goat are cursed and will also not inherit the kingdom prepared by the father in heaven.
Lessons to be drawn are that goat-minded men will always incur the wrath of God and am not surprised since 2012 Ghana has witnessed disaster upon disaster as well as unimaginable corruption scandals but these goats don’t feel ashamed because of their seared conscience.
Another scripture worth looking at is in Leviticus 17;7 “So they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to goat-idols or demons or field spirits with which they have played the prostitute. This shall be a permanent statute for them throughout their generations.
In the New American Standard Bible, the goat demon is referred to as Shaggy in Isaiah 13;21 But desert creatures will lie down there, And their houses will be full of owls; Ostriches also will live there, and shaggy goats will frolic there.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND THE GOAT PROPHECY DANIEL 8:21
The Goat
21 The shaggy (rough-coated) male goat represents the kingdom of Greece, and the great horn between his eyes is the [g]first king. 22 Regarding the shattered horn and the [h]four others that arose in its place, four kingdoms will rise from his (Alexander’s) nation, although not with his power and heritage. (Amplified Version)
23
“At the latter period of their reign,
When the transgressors have finished,
A [i]king will arise
Insolent and skilled in intrigue and cunning.
24
“His power will be mighty, but not by his own power;
And he will corrupt and destroy in an astonishing manner
And [he will] prosper and do exactly as he wills;
He shall corrupt and destroy mighty men and the holy people.
25
“And through his shrewdness
He will cause deceit to succeed by his hand (influence);
He will magnify himself in his mind,
He will corrupt and destroy many who enjoy a false sense of security.
He will also stand up and oppose the Prince of princes,
But he will be broken, and that by no human hand [but by the hand of God].
From the above it is clear that any nation whose leader likens himself to a goat are heading towards doom because the goat symbolizes rebellion, pride, evil and corruption. I will therefore advise parents to cease calling their children kids because etymologically kids are not human beings but little goats.
THE CHINESE LUNAR CALENDER AND THE GOAT
The Chinese lunar calendar for 2015 says it is the year of the GOAT. The Chinese say people born in the year of the goat should beware of financial loss.
“The propensity for good fortune will not be very good for those born in a year of the Goat, and they will easily become involved in financial difficulties. Therefore, they should adopt conservative strategies when dealing with investments. They should try their best to increase their income, decrease their expenditure, and live within their means. Lottery fans should restrain themselves from gambling too much in order to avoid big losses.”
Per the Chinese believe, perhaps it is not by accident that the Shangai stock market and the Chinese economy as well as their currency, the Yuan are going through turbulence. And back home in Ghana can one say that the cutting of expenditure and increasing of taxes by the dead goat turned into a living goat government is a reflection of the Chinese mindset?
On July 26, 2015, the BBC reported that a controversial statue had been unveiled in Detriot, US by the Satanic Temple at a secret ceremony. The report said the goat-headed statue coast 100,000 dollars, which depicts a winged hermaphrodites known as Baphomet, was flanked by two smiling children. Ultimately, the satanic temple wants to move the goat-headed statue 900 miles south-west and erect it opposite a Ten Commandments monument outside Oklahoma City’s capitol Building.
The co- founder of the statue Lucien Greaves says “ The Baphomet will complement and contrast the Christian commandments which include unconstitutional prohibitions against free speech and free exercise of religion.”
Greaves went on to say that “ he hopes people of all ages will sit on the lap of satan for inspiration and contemplation. We understand the satanic figure as a symbol of man’s inherent nature, representative of the eternal rebel, enlightened inquiry and personal freedom rather than a supernatural deity or being”.
History has it that the name Baphomet can be traced to the Inquisition and torture of the Knights Templar about 1000 years ago. French chroniclers of the Crusades, said the Knights Templar confessed that they were worshipping an idol called Baphomet.
However, Dan Brown in his book, Da Vinci Code indicated that the Baphomet has been decoded to mean “ Sophia or Wisdom”.
In 1856, a known French occultist, Eliphas Levi in his book Transcendental Magic: its Doctrine and Ritual, imagined a winged hermaphrodite with a torch between his horns and a pentagram on his forehead. The arms of Baphomet bore the Latin word SOLVE (separate) and COAGULA (join together) the powers of “binding and loosing” usurped from God. The inspiration for the new satanic statue unveiled in Detriot, US reflects the drawings of Levi, which had an image with the top being a goat and below a human being.
Apart from the goat cum human statue, this same year the US Supreme court has legalized same sex.
In the UK, the 5 May,2015 election saw more homosexuals and lesbians entering parliament than ever with the number put at 32. The DailyMail says “that makes the UK the gayest parliament in the world”.
The Bible however says, Jesus the Lamb of God is our Bridegroom while we are his bride in waiting.
The move to place the goat-headed statue beside the Ten Commandments in the US clearly shows that the battle lines have been drawn between the sheep nations and the goat nations.
On 17 January, 2015, a Jamaican Dancehall artist, Kenardo Robinson, also known as Furtyle Brain, got goat horn implants on his head. The artiste says he got the implant after prophetic instructions from God. “I do believe that I got some form of prophetic instruction by God. I didn’t do this alone,” 29- year old, Brain revealed that the surgery, which was done by a Canadian-based surgeon, did not come cheap but with severe pain.
The statement by Robinson that he got his inspiration from God is strange because I wonder which God will tell him to take way his hair and go for an animal nature unless he is telling us that he is like Nebuchadnezzar who had his heart turned from a human being to an animal. But he was restored after seven years. I would say Robinson’s move for the goat horn in the year 2015, which has been described by the Chinese as the year of the goat, trigger a lot of questions among students of prophecy.
On the other hand, Jesus in John 1:29 is referred to as the Lamb (Sheep) of God, who takes away the sins ( corruption, lies, deception) of the world including Ghana. In essence the sheep takes away corruption, bribery, stashing of state funds abroad but the goat promote these things.
I am of the view that it will not be out of place at all to take a look at some of the characteristics between the sheep and the goat.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SHEEP AND THE GOAT
TAILS
The easiest way to tell the difference between a sheep and goat is to look at their tails. A goat's tail goes up (pride) (unless it is sick, frightened, or in distress it will never hang down). Sheep tails hang down (humility) and are often docked (shortened) for health and sanitary reasons.
Goats like to eat the tops of plants. Sheep are grazers, preferring to eat short, tender grasses and clover. Their dietary preference is forbs (broadleaf weeds) and they like to graze close to the soil surface.
BEHAVIOUR
Sheep and goats usually exhibit different behavior. Goats are naturally curious and independent, while sheep tend to be more distant and aloof. Sheep have a stronger flocking instinct and become very agitated if they are separated from the rest of the flock. (sheep are team players while the goats want to do it alone) It is easier to keep sheep inside a fence than goats.
Goats will seek shelter more readily than sheep. In a fight, a ram will back up and charge to butt heads. A goat will rear up on his hind legs and come down forceably to butt heads. During confrontation, such fighting behaviour favours the ram.
DISEASE
Goats tend to be more susceptible to worms than sheep, due to their natural browsing or eating from the top of plants behaviour. The sheep prefer eating from the ground thus enabling them to develop some level of resistance to worm infection.
SOCIAL DOMINANCE
The aggressive behaviour, goats will usually dominate sheep, especially if the goats have horns and the sheep are hornless. However, when young goats and rams are maintained together, rams will dominate because the ram will preemptively strike the goat in the abdomen while the goat is still in the act of rearing up.
“DEAD GOAT BUDGET”
On 1 December, 2015 after the Minister of Finance, Seth Terkper had presented the 2016 budget in Parliament the minority described the budget as a “DEAD GOAT BUDGET”.
DEAD GOAT WAHALA
A top Ghanaian comedian, KSM dubbed his Christmas show as DEAD GOAT WAHALA.
As if that was not enough, the BBC in a report on 28 December 2015 said the dead goat statement made by the Ghanaian President, John Mahama is one of its famous quotes of the year. The international network even said the nick name of John Mahama is the “GOAT’.
CONCLUSION
As a prophetic- minded person, I get worried to hear the president of Ghana saying he is a dead-goat turned into a living goat especially when he says he is a Christian. It is either he does not know the spiritual significance of his statement or he is aware but he is now revealing his true identity and also indicating his readiness to join the goat nations as prophesized by Jesus.
If the latter is the case then I would like to advise Ghanaians that the goats are poised to push the sheep to the sidelines across the globe including Ghana. But it is time for the sheep (incorruptible men and women) to use their horns ( prayer, thumbs or voting power in 2016) to push the goats out of every sphere of our public office and ensure that Ghana ceases to stand at the left hand of God but occupy her place at the right hand side of God.
Source: Edward Nyarko, Accra
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