"Mohr to Basel"

Complains about the dealy involved in settling the matter in Akim. Lethbridge has no troops now, and this gives the Akim chiefs room for manoeuvre. The £500 has been collected. A ‘Bond of Peace' is being prepared. Turton (Colonial Secretary) is unfortunately hostile to the mission. He told Mohr that Lethbridge had been presented with a list of conditions on which the Christians would be allowed back into Akim. No fishing in certain streams, no planting certain types of yam, no working on certain week-days. There are also complaints about Christians not taking their cases before village chiefs. Mohr is keen on things being arranged, otherwise the crucial aspect of the Ata problem will recur, people not knowing how far they could go. Administrator White has promised to get the Christians back as quickly as possible, but having had such trouble collecting the £500 fine he is not disposed to collect damages for the Christians, even for the £126 extorted in Kibi. Mohr offered to abstain from legal processes if this sum could be covered, but White said he had nothing to do with the courts. Mohr complains that the Christians are being pushed towards the courts though they do not know who actually stole their possessions in most cases, while much of the damage would have been avoided if only Governor Griffith had taken Mohr's advice to send a man with the funeral procession into Akim. Mohr talked to White about his own position. A letter accusing him of various misdeeds had in fact turned out to be identical to one found by Mohr, which had been written by Lethbridge's interpreter. Mohr points out that this man, now calling himself Newman, is no less than the long-ago dismissed Basel Mission. Akwapim employee, Obuobisa. He felt that he had probably been bribed by the Kibi people to intrigue against him. White agreed that his long stay in Begoro had not given rise to charges, and a letter had arrived from Lethbridge saying that the Kibi people had nothing against him really. In the Kibi community there are some of the opinion that if they do not receive compensation they should find some easy and profitable place to settle down. Mohr is evidently very pleased with Bosompem's attitudes. He has said that the community belongs to Akim and should return there. He has also said not a word about court cases to revenge himself on the people who caused him all his trouble. Mohr had been making investigations as to how people lapsed during the persecution. In many villages people went no further than that Christians should move back to live with their heathen relatives. Others had to swear that they would no longer live on mission land. Others to swear that they would have nothing to do with the 'school people'. So far he has uncovered no requirement to express hatred of or curse the name of Jesus. In some places people were told to call the fetish. This they did with the mental footnote that they did not believe the fetish existed, that Jesus knew that they thought in this way, and that He knew that they loved him.

05.06.1887

05.06.1887

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