African Chat Paints Ghana!

Have you ever been flashed before?  And I’m not talking about someone running past your pub window and showing you a naughty bit of flesh…I’m talking about an African flash.  The other day I was springing down Accra’s trendy Oxford Street ducking and diving between the advances of the street hawkers and the stampede of [...]

Meeting Africa’s First Ladies

It was like an episode of the Bold and the Beautiful…I am referring to the recent BBC interviews conducted with five of Africa’s infamous first ladies: Sierra Leone’s Sia Koroma, Namibia’s Penehupifo Pohamba, , Zambia’s Thandiwe Banda, Uganda’s Janet Museveni and Ghana’s very own Ernestina Mills.  One by one they recalled the whimsical tales of [...]

Ghanarama…No theme Park can Compare!

I am constantly being asked the question…”So what is there to do in Ghana??” My mind is then set into action trawling through memories from the past year, those of; Paddling my hand carved wooden canoe, through crocodile infested marshlands on my way to the strikingly isolated Nzulezu village on stilts. Bushwhacking Kakum’s thick West African [...]

Soweto Township: World Cup – Day 15

There was a tramp…a man so poor that he had no shoes on his feet…he had little food in his belly….he had only one ragged shirt to his name….he felt so  deprived that one day he decided that his life was no longer worth living…. In the distance he saw thick vines hanging from a [...]

There is no Future without Sound: World Cup – Day 7

Following the earlier demise of the Nigerian team from grace, the imminent exit of the Super Eagles was yet another dagger to the heart of African aspirations in this world cup. But what better way is there to ease the pains of life and football than engaging in a little bit of music therapy; which [...]

Africa – Expect the Unexpected: World Cup – Day 6

When high-school students in Soweto started protesting for better education on 16 June 1976, police responded with teargas and live bullets. They surprised their oppressors, the Apartheid government by demonstrating against legislation that insisted that; “Natives [blacks] must be taught from an early age that equality with Europeans [whites] is not for them. Black people [...]

Clap for Korea! World Cup – Day 5

Today I was made aware that it is not only the English that hold 1966 as a year dear to their hearts.  For Korea DPR their most glorified moment in international footballing history also came about during the 1966 world cup, in which they audaciously knocked out European heavy-weights Italy to reach the quarterfinals!  However [...]

The Audacity of Hope: World Cup – Day 4

Obama hoped to be president of the United States of America… Nelson Mandela hoped for the ending of apartheid… Black Stars hope to win the World Cup…. South Africa hopes to make the most of this world cup utilising the generated revenues to bridge the huge income inequality that currently is scaring the reputation of [...]

New GHC2 to Change it All!

How many times have you negotiated a price, sat in the taxi, reached your destination, pulled out your five Ghana cedis to pay only to be abused by the taxi driver:  “Ah Madam….Why?…You think I am Bank of Ghana….Who told you to bring your five cedis for this small small journey…eh…I don’t have Change ohh!” [...]

Itchy Feet

Cultural Exchange between an Imported Ghanaian, American Student, and Japanese Peace Corp in Accra   The most irritating thing in the world: to have an itch that no matter how hard you scratch is never satisfied.  Those of you out there with itchy feet (the urge to always be on the move and discover new places) I [...]

2 Fast 2 Furious

Just the other day I was in town, hurrying along ducking and diving my way through the hoards of people at 37 tro tro station (one of the largest bus stations in Accra). In between the hawkers shrills of “PPPPPURE Water!” I heard someone hissing at me in attempt to catch my attention. Although I [...]

Power to the People

“The Electricity Company of Ghana provides quality electricity services to support economic growth and development in the country.” Extract from the ECG Mission Statement As I sit here in the dark, I wonder if the sweat currently streaming down my forehead will act as a sufficient barrier to protect me against the onslaught of mosquitoes [...]

Free Range

Why did the Chicken cross the road? To get to the other side! Arguably one of the most classic jokes of all time. Hilariously funny to those of us raised in the framework of a Western society; as where on earth would you ever see a Chicken roaming free enough to enjoy the liberty of [...]

Speak Up, Be Heard!

As I mentioned in my last entry, I believe that in order to Initiate a Change in Ghana we need to create effective forums for public expression.  If you feel passionately about something, you’ve got as much right as anyone else to climb on a box and share your views. You’d be in good company [...]

SSNIT Happens!

“Today, ‘good governance’ is understood to include among others participation, rule of law, government effectiveness, efficient public service delivery, conflict management, transparency, accountability and anticorruption, efficient revenue mobilization, effective management of resources, property rights and rule-based governance, efficiency of public expenditures, and unbundled regulatory burden.” Baffour Agyeman-Duah, From Fifty Years in Perspective, in Governance In [...]

I Believe I Can Fly!

Have you ever done something that contradicts all basic Human instincts? Well the gauntlet to defy the general fabric of our being was laid before me; when I had to actively will myself to take a running jump off a big cliff! Following this train of thought not only did I emerge the victor by [...]

“From Abroad”

Last weekend after happily chomping my way through a serving of fufu and goat light soup I called the waitress of the chop bar (local eating spot) to bring me a toothpick.  After delaying for some ten or twenty minutes she eventually returned with a handful of made in China toothpicks.  I was surprised to [...]

UB40 -“No Food 4 Jobless Man”

A topic of great hostility between the youth in Ghana and the presiding government is the suggestion that there are; “NO JOBS IN GHANA!” Each and every day as I weave my way to work through the backstreets of Osu, I often pass herds of young men, idly loitering on street corners. More often than [...]

What’s on TV?

Who wants to get Rich? Church Prostitute part I, II, & III? The 10th year celebration of the rule of a prominent chief?  Or a series of funeral announcements and obituaries? Founding father and visionary Dr Osagyefo Kwame Nkrumah as far back as 1957 was scrupulously aware of the significance in educating the masses.  This [...]

The Countenance of a Nation

“Ghana has a reputation as the friendliest country in West Africa…Taken as a whole, Ghanaians do seem to be remarkably affable and friendly both among themselves and in their dealings with tourists.  It is difficult to imagine a country where women have less to fear on a gender-specific level, and women travelling alone will often [...]

Accra is Pure Rubbish

Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2004; “for her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace” recalls, in her memoirs Unbowed that when she was a child growing up in the Kenyan highlands; ‘People carried beautiful, colourful baskets of different sizes and types made from sisal and other natural fibers to and from markets [...]

Write For Our Future

“Today is my birthday!” Well not my literal birthday as I am notably older than a few hours. But today is the first day in my life that I have awakened and had the overwhelming urge to write about me; my trials, my triumphs, my stresses and my inspirations. I guess today is the first [...]