To His Excellency Alhaji Aliu Mahama: A Dirge There he goes again; death! He creeps and steals the very best He leaves us at our lowest How could we rest And why wouldn’t we fret Whilst death still prowls our streets? There he goes again; death! Sneaking and stealing away Ghana’s gem He is stalking us; death Lurking around the corners of Ghana Hankering after Ghana’s nobility and Princes See him walk away with our Honourable Aliu Mahama; death! A – ffable son of Ghana L – eader in the class of the good shepherd I – ntegrity personified U – nifier with matchless humility Death has indeed twisted our arms for our precious gem Why have you done this to us; death? We are sat frozen and frightened by your shadow lurking in the dark You should have taken anybody but our Ex-Veep Your cruelty has caused dread and chilling fear in our hearts In Alhaji Aliu; you have indeed snatched our precious diamond and pearl Look at what you have done to us; death! You’ve left our hearts pounding in our chest with fear and trepidation Ghanaians are used to the saying, “Thank God It’s Friday” But we will remember Friday, 16th November in sombre mood It was a different Friday Instead of “TGIF”, we ended up looking on at you; death Hopelessly Powerlessly Our eyes refusing to blink As you nonchalantly walked away with our beloved Alhaji Aliu! Mercilessly, you refused to look back at us As you trudged off with our beloved Ex-Veep You’ve inflicted on us a fatal wound; death! Our hearts bleed Our eyes weep Our lips quaver Our knees tremble You’ve plunged us into turmoil You’ve caused Ghana an untold pain And reduced the New Patriotic Party to melancholic tears Your existence makes Ghanaians ill We’ve lost our pillar of true humility and fountain of wisdom How we wish we could see you as you cowardly tip-toed to steal We would have fought you to save our cherished Ex-Veep His Excellency, Alhaji Aliu Mahama Ghana’s true patriotic son A generous benefactor You were peaceful and calm even in the face of adversity Soft hearted and kind to a fault You served your country with distinction Ghanaians of all tribes loved you From North to the South; East to the West: you were a treasure Moslems Christians Young and old They all loved you beyond measure You’ve gone too soon Veep You should have tarried a little while Sir Ghana needed you in these dark days Your calm persona would have been of an immense help; Alhaji But you’ve paid your dues Alhaji You fought the good fight Our loss is now the Heavens gain Go and serve up there same way as you served Allah’s people May Allah reward you generously for your good service to mother Ghana Fare thee well humble and generous one Damirifa Due Ghana’s faithful son May you find peaceful rest in the abode of Allah!!