Blogging from Kalss Inn Redux: Ghana Rocks!

I thought I'd do something entirely different and walk to the place I buy newspapers from on Thursday. Instead, I took a taxi--such is the fickleness of the human condition!

In front of me, I have P*P newspaper; the Investor;Business Week;Star newspaper/tabloid; and Weekly Fylla.

I like a wide range of papers on Thursdays to get up-to-speed on what's happening in the arts; entertainment; and whatnot. The average person who sees my newspapers buys on Thursdays probably thinks I'm a businessman par excellence. Such is the superficiality of Ghanaians. Many a time, I've heard comments suggesting I must be loaded--for me to be able to afford these types of papers. If only they knew...

Whatever the case may be, very rarely do I get the opportunity to be this whimsical in my writinfg for this blog. A breath of fresh air is always good--and that's why I'm here at Kals Inn, to the tunes of a just-ended "Everything I do, I do it for you", by Brian...oh, I forget his surname...

Either way, I very rarely get the opportunity to write about what makes Ghana interesting, and what makes it rock. Today's my opportunity.

I LOVE my country; it's got more beaches than I could ever find in Belgium; there's always something to complain about without feeling that no-one will understand your complaints. They are real and manifold, but somehow, somewhere, with more people complaining about things--by way of radio and other parts of the media--you get to exorcise the frustration you might feel.

Somehow, somewhere, things do improve--even if the administration continues to lie to us about how they get their results or solutions! The furore over the ADB is one thing: their plans were scuppered by the likes of civil society who complained endlessly about giving in to Stanbic. The bank has no done a volte-face and said it wants to be a "partner".

The government won't tell us the truth, but Ghanaians will keep fighting.

With three minutes left at the cafe, I'd just end that it's glorious to have lights these days more frequently. Power comes from Cote D'Ivoire, and helps mollify the energy situation toa degree it was not last year around this time. The complaints MUST continue to come; that's the only way we can get results...

long live Ghana!!

My New Ghana@50 blog

As a way of providing to all and sundry the latest happenings, by way of video capture from my Digital camera, of what's happening around the Jubilee celebrations, I have purposefully set up a new blog:

http://myghanaat50videos.blogspot.com

enjoy!

Blogging from Kalss Inn, East Legon: Random Thoughts on Ghana, Belgium, Development

insideKalssinn
Originally uploaded by ekbensah.

So there I was was, taking a walk from the office to the nearest newspaper stand to buy some local papers -- P& P (tabloid with useful lifestyle and relationship tips that comes out on Thursdays) et al, -- when it occurred to me that if one stepped away from one's car more often, one would probably be able to obtain a more discerning view of one's country.

As I walked, I thought about the necessity to challenge the complacency associated with moving back to one's home country in Africa after twenty years plus, and feeling that because one has access to many things, all is well.

So, I was a kid when my Dad started working in Brussels in 1980, but for sure, even my late brother, Samuel, who would have been 33 yesterday would have needed to make some serious adjustments upon arriving in the country that is his home of Ghana.

With me being 3.5 years younger, you can imagine how challenging it is for me, for example, to marry the quasi-virtuousness of Western life in Belgian suburbia with that of Ghanaian suburbia, where I am perceived more as a rich man than middle class--as I would have been in Belgium.

August saw me in my second year of living and working (and enjoying!) Accra, Ghana, but there are adjustments that need to be made to disturb any creeping complacency of life in Ghana being "good": a LOT of work needs to be done--either by way of advocacy and otherwise. That Ghana was able to say "no" to a Gay and Lesbian conference in Ghana to me speaks volumes of our visceral reluctance to adopt all that is Western. Democracy, ok, but homosexuality? In this deeply religious country? Even if the "religiousness" associated with the country is this side short of ersatz at times, or perhaps superficial, given the mushrooming of pastors left right and centre, it is clear that this latest development struck a serious chord with our moral fibre.

In any event, the walk got me thinking about some possibilities for moving forward:

1. a blog on ghanalives-belgiummoves.blogspot.com
if so, what would be the "mandate" for it. What would it be about? A way of updating myself and readers on life in Belgium, followed by a comparison of life in Ghana? On paper, it doesn't sound bad, but when you are in a work environment and home that emphasizes the qualitative as opposed to the quantitative (I maintain three blogs regularly!!!), then you begin to have some second thoughts.

The danger with something like this would be that whilst comparing Belgium with Ghana, which is virtually impossible, you would end up castigating unwittingly the country you so love. I'm talking about my OWN country of Ghana;-) How far do I want to do that?

Criticising is fine, but how much would people be able to connect to the proposed blog?

Then again, since there is no serious site out there encouraging Belgium/Ghana relations, it would be blazing the trail of sorts...

definitely some food for thought, but right now, I gotta go buy my paper.

Here are some links for good measure: [just learnt that Kalss Inn is owned by a Caribbean man called Kallos, or so...interesting]

http://www.brusselspost.com
http://www.brusselspost.com/s/belgiumheadlines/
http://www.lalibre.be


tags: ghana belgium ; living in ghana ; ghana-belgium; thoughts on ghana belgium ; ghana belgium blog ; gays in ghana; ghana homosexuality; accra brussels ; understanding belgium accra ; accra; ghana; i love accra; i love ghana;

Why I Love Accra--Genesis

A&C Shopping Mall at day, East Legon 

Being in Ghana, it is sometimes easy to forget that our next-door neighboursare not so at peace as this country appears to be. It was, for example, hard to believe that, as reported in the Daily Graphic of Friday 22 July, the so-called refugees from Sudan and elsewhere attacked our so-called "Ussher Fort", which is, um, named after the well-known R&B singer;-)

Naughty.

Ofcourse it isn't:-)

Point is: these putative, or so-called, refugees saw fit to attack the policemen, and break their mobile phones. Bad mistake -- anywhere!-- to attack policemen--let alone in Ghana!

In any event, the situation turned quite nasty, with newsmen and others callling fro police reinforcements.

This--in Ghana!

Ofcourse, that's a pretty naive taking of the whole thing; social unrest in a developing country is no indicator of the countr'y political climate. We live in a democracy--or so we are told by all and sundry--so a little discontent here and there, as long as it's well-managed by police, does little to disturb the prevalent peace in the country.

Incidentally, here's the cover of today's Graphic newspaper for good measure:

---

"Daily Graphic" banner title(27/7/05) 

you may have seen that there are riots at Weija. You can read the story here

AD FOR THE DAY

National Health Insurance Scheme ad in Daily Graphic 

---

But on the positive side, almost every day, I am reminded of why I love living, working and, um doing naughty things in Accra.

For the past few weeks, I have done what is akin to extensive 'research', googling "ECOBANK" and "ECOWAS".

I have had the priviledge of doing research, lately, on the celebration --or lack thereof--of 30 years of the West African regional organisation, ECOWAS.


Ecobank, the West African bank! 

Like ECOWAS, ECOBANK is, in effect, a trailblazer in Africa. It is the only bank in Africa that has thirteen agencies in 12 ECOWAS countries, including one in non-ECOWAS Cameroon. It has West African shareholders, and is operating at par with the British-owned Barclays, and Standard Chartered, which are two prominent foreign-owned banks in Ghana. They say the Brits save with Barclays and Standard Chartered. You tell me:-)

ECOBANK is the sixth largest bank in Ghana.

Their website, however, SUCKS big time. The last time it was updated was 2003. Though the information on their site remains rudimentary, and still useful, the two banks above put the ECOBANK site to shame. I have written, over the past two weeks, several emls to the webmaster to update, but nopthing has been forthcoming. As I am not one to give up, I will continue to hammer home the point of the site--even if I have to write a complaint to Graphic's letters. Now, that's an idea!

Ona more serious note, their inability to update their website may be seen as a reflection of their competence, which would be wrong, but in this 21st century, I am sorry, a website for a bank is primordial! Particularly for the competitiveness of the West African banking industry, it is paramount that they get their website in synch with Ghana of 2005 and the ECOWAS countries in which they are based.

For three years running, ECOBANK has won the best bank in customer service (see image of ECOBANK above), and ICT. They have ATMs littered over the country, and their interest rates are eyebrow-raising. I have certainly been waxing lyrical about them to many of my colleagues, and friends. Point is: they are a very interesting bank to save and manage your money with, and for me, ECOBANK is indicative of why West Africa has great potential--and would go far if ALL the ECOWAS neighbours consolidated political will in the West African regional efforts.

But, ofcourse, ECOBANK is a fraction of the reason why I love living and working in Accra. One of the reasons is that there is SO much to do here, plus the plush greenery makes people like myself appreciate the city even more. To be honest, another reason is the so-called A&C Shopping mall that has, as it were, hit the ground running since early June--in East Legon.

You will find a picture of it above this entry, but here's an idea of what they offer, seeing as it's difficult to read:

Textiles shop

Wine Shop

I-Net Internet Cafe

Computers & Electronics

Allure Beauty Palace [Hairdressing, massage, etc]

Body Shop

Shoes

Cards

Books

Men's wear

Boutique

Pharmacy -- hi-tech {US import}

Restaurant

Clinic (general practice}

Mobile Phones

Forex Bureau

Travel & Tours

Coffee Shop {pancake crepes at 20,000 cedis--yum!}

Children/Teenagers wear

ECOBANK

Maxmart is also there (see below):


Lebanese-owned Max Mart, A&C Shopping mall, East Legon 
The mall is owned, I hear, by a Ghanaian couple who lived and worked in the US, is on a beautiful compound, with trees and a modern carpark, with ATM and petrol station. Like any Western mall. Really classy.

All A&C needs is a website!!!

I write this like such things are, these days, rare in Accra.

No.

When I arrived from Brussels on 31 July, 2004 to start work on 2 August at my current workplace in this job, I would not know that Ghana's currency would remain so stable ($US1=ø9000}, neither would I know that Ghana would go through very peaceful elections in November 2004; nor that inflation would be stabilised, despite petroleum price increases, at around 15%-16%.

My paternal grandfather, E.K.Bensah I, who opened the first motorway in Ghana (Tema motorway) (in his capacity as Minister of Works and Housing***), and one of the firsts in Ghana when Ghana obtained its independence from the British in 1957, must be turning in his grave with ambivalence.

Ambivalence because though he was an Nkrumahist (Convention People's Party), which the incumbent New Patriotic Party (NPP) then tried so very hard to overturn, he will be happy that elements of the Nkrumahist tradition of Ghana continuing to be the black star, and leading in (West) Africa remains.

It's definitely good to be back home!

---

***E.K.Bensah I being asked to remove a quotation from President Kwame Nkrumah's statue:

NATIONAL RECONCILIATION COMMISSION.
OCTOBER, 2004
VOLUME4 CHAPTER 9
429
9.3.2.5 There were a few occasions when the churches openly protested actions that
they believed to be blasphemous, during President Nkrumah’s administration. In
particular, the churches were unhappy with the messianic ascriptions that were used in
adulation of the President. After his statue of about 20 feet had been erected in front of
the Old Parliament House in Accra, with the inscription, “Seek ye first the political
kingdom and all other things shall be added unto you”, the Christian Council, found it
necessary to challenge this. This was because the inscription was an adaptation of the
biblical quotation, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and
all these things shall be added unto you.”
58
The Christian Council of Ghana sent a
letter, dated 28
th
April, 1958, to the Minister for Works, E. K. Bensah, asking him to
remove the quotation from the statue of Dr Nkrumah and substitute it with a non-
biblical inscription. Threats were issued from the government that such an action from
the Christian Council was an offence against the provisions of the Avoidance of
Discrimination Act. The government further tried to silence the Christian Council by
accusing it of carrying out a political agenda.
9.3.2.6 On 1
st
July, 1960, the programme for the celebration of Republic Day included
the pouring of libation to solicit spiritual protection. The Christian Churches
considered this as idolatry and unacceptable and therefore protested against it, even
though Ghana was a secular State. The churches felt that if spiritual protection had to
be sought, then it had to be according to Christian practice and teachings.
9.3.2.7 There were many instances in which people sought to deify Dr. Nkrumah. In
fact, there emerged a cult of President Nkrumah that was nurtured by the CPP. Part of
the practices of this cult in its deification of Dr. Nkrumah was to ascribe several
appellations to Nkrumah. Such appellations included “Osagyefo”

from: http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=RNWE,RNWE:2004-32,RNWE:en&q=%22E%2EK%2EBensah%22+CPP+Ghana

Why I Love Accra--Part I: The A & C Experience

I-Net Internet Cafe @ A&C Shopping Mall, East Legon 

It's not just the air-conditioning (AC) almost everywhere that makes working in Accra interesting, but it's places like these: this particular Internet cafe at the ultra-modern A&C Shopping mall in East Legon. The computers here are very fast and I have just paid ç5000 (5000 cedis) or just under 1 dollar for thirty minutes at this very plush and posh cafe.

There are about 51 hi-tech computers here (17 x 3), and you'd be hard-pressed in NOT finding a gorgeous Ghanaian lady sitting at the computer, or waiting to attend to your needs.

Yum:-)

There's another floor that leads to ???, but the place is spotless. I just also came from this other place right round the corner, called SCOOP parlour, or something. It's owned by a foreign couple: othe guy is from Florida, and the wifr from Bermuda.

When you walk in, the first thing the cute girl says is "Welcome to SCOOP..." -- EVERY TIME.

I heard her say it about 5 times. Can be a bit nauseating, especially because she exudes such enthusiasm saying it--and one may not necessarily be in the mood for that type of exuberance. Oh well, it's great customer service, no?

Also, as you leave, she says "Thankyou for coming. PLease come again!" --with an annoyingly huge grin. The guy with her at the counter just smiles. I did that too, and flirted an exchange smile with her. Only because she asked me whether I liked the music. Oh, the curves in her body...wow.

This is not the type of work she should be doing--or is it? Not for me to say is it?

I've got some more waxing lyrical to do much later about this A&C place, but this is such a great place to hang out on a weekend. During the week will prove a bit difficult, and I daresay dangerous, as the time might just overcome you:-)

But back to this cafe: the music is cool. They just finished playing a jazzed-up version of Dido's Thank you.

Sexy.

Accra rocks these days!!

Of Reflections, Ruminations and Redness...in Accra

Accra this time is so breath-takingly beautiful. I stole some time away during lunch break to go give a relative something in the Airport residential area. I haven't been down there in a long time. I was taken aback, en route, by the gorgeous breeze and the scorching sun that lent a paradoxical contrast to the usual scorching African weather. Okay, Ghanaian, as I am not too au fait with other African countries.

On a serious note, it was another sight to behold. As I stood outside the gate waiting to be opened inside the house, I glanced at the street, and the view was very verdant. There was a scattering of red, strangely enough, all over. Note that this particular suburb of Accra is particularly verdant, or green, anyway. At this time of year, it's even more so, and very, very plush.

There was a tree with red leaves that looked much like this one here: and all I could do was stare at it like a mad-man as I tried to process the contrast of the colours of the cars (yes, there was a red car passing, too) plying that route, along with the smoothness of the tarred road, set against the backdrop of the clear, blue sky and the buildings in the surrounding area.

Scenes like these make me so in love with the city, because if my experience in Brussels when I was seriously working in the Belgian capital (2000-2004) is anything to go by, rarely was there a time to appreciate such greenery, as most of it was in the outskirts.

In Accra--my city--the greenery is not too far away, and it enhances the city all the more.

Speaking of which, another infrastructure set against the backdrop of a clear blue sky is the newly-built Tetteh-Quarshie interchange that has been the bane to many a driver, given the contorted manner -- some would say meandering -- of the roads. The Spintex roundabout -- not considered by the African Development Bank in the disbursement (as far as reports go) -- has been, yet again, the bane of the average driver that plies that route to go to Teshie-Nungua, Regimanuel Estates, Manetville, Spintex, and Tema.

It's a busy route for sure, but I am always so amazed by the manner in which people, so busy getting lost and criticising the structure, fail to appreciate the beauty of the Interchange set right in the middle of...something, that's for sure;-)

I'd love to see the Interchange from above. But here's one for measure:


Tetteh-Quarshie interchange 

I took a picture recently, and will try to post a personal perspective of what the Interchange means. If drivers cannot see the beauty of the Interchange, I certainly can! And I will not desist in my appreciation either...

Site of the Day!

Here's a site I came across while looking for pictures of airport residential, but the quotation about airport residential is way too juicy to leave to a click of the mouse:
"It soon became apparent that where I'm staying is completely different to central Accra, with its pollution, traffic and amiable chaos; the Airport Residential Area is to Accra what Kensington is to London, and the streets are wide, clean, empty and dotted with travel agents, internet cafés, well-stocked shops, medical clinics and embassies sporting palm trees and well-watered lawns. I marvelled at it, but like all relatively modern residential areas, it has yet to develop any soul. Suburbia is a great place to live; it's not such a great place to hang out."
from Mark Moxon, UK Travel Writer:http://www.moxon.net/ghana/accra.html

I never figured myself a travel writer. In fact, I re-call being turned off completely when we had to read "In Patagonia" at the British School of Brussels, back in Belgium for an A-Level English class. I touched a few pages with a barge pole. Small wonder I got a bad grade for the review of it;-)

The irony of it all is that here I am--ten years later--doing what is, in essence, travel writing of a different kind...

strangeness.

I'm in Accra!

Ok, it's been, what, almost seven months now, but HELL! I'm in Accra, and its all so exciting! Pretty old feelings, maybe, but sue me...



The President held a so-called People's Assembly today, whereby he answered questions from the public, and according to GhanaNewsToday.com, explained the Rationale behind Petroleum Increases".... I heard the thing live on CITI-FM97.3. Sadly no CITI Prime News @ Midday as the coverage had subsumed most of the usual programmes.

But enough about CITI-FM, even if it is the best station, IMHO, since I decided to leave Joy99.7FM and Komla Dumor...it's time to bring you the best and the latest news in Accra, the exciting city it is.

There's Jazz, if you like Jazz, and every Wednesday, CITI-FM-97.3 covers LIVE music of the salsa kind from the "Jazz Optimist" located near Ring Road, opposite Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC).

I'll do my best to pinch some pictures from Ghana websites, but for now, I guess that's all. The rain is doing its proverbial falling and falling VERY VERY hard.

Talk about cats and dogs.