OBAMA in Ghana: Retracing the steps of history

A large crowd gathers at Accra’s international airport in anticipation of the expected visitors. Music, fanfare and excitement fill the air. Among the expectant crowd are dignitaries from all walks of life, the top echelon of society. The president, his vice, their wives, ministers of state, members of parliament, members of the diplomatic corps and the media all wait in anticipation of what promises to be a turning point in the history of Ghana and Africa. Then, sometime after 21:00 hrs GMT, US airforce 1 touches down on the tarmac, takes a short stride on the runway and makes a graceful stop. Emerging a few minutes later is the man that the whole Africa and the world had been waiting for. He emerges from the aircraft, holding in hand a young girl of about 11, flashing his trademark style. Immediately on his heels, emerges a woman, taller than the man before her, who holds to another girl of about 8 years. They all walk down the flight of stairs to where the dignitaries await them. They exchange pleasantries amidst great fanfare, as if they were friends long lost. Next, the man walks over to a group of drummers and dancers, who are fuelling the evening’s excitement with intricate dancing steps and movements to rhythmic, melodious drum beats. Many watch amused as the man begins to gesticulate as if he was doing their dance himself. That man is Barack Hussein Obama, the first black president of the United States of America.

I’ve already done a blog post about Obama’s emergence as a global icon, but the Ghana blogging group, influenced by his visit to the country, decided to make Obama our common topic for July. Since Obama’s inauguration, all will agree with me that Obama has discharged himself excellently as the president of arguably the most powerful nation on the planet. Today’s blog post centres on the significance of Obama’s visit to Ghana and the new direction of US-African relations.

President Obama’s itinerary in Ghana includes a breakfast meeting with the president and senior statesmen, an address to parliament and a short visit to one of Ghana’s relics of slave trade and colonialism, the Cape Coast castle. According to most commentators, Obama’s visit was to highlight the growing importance of Ghana as a centre of democracy, good governance and rule of law, emphasizing its role as the beacon of hope and “shining star” of Africa. Some cynics tag the visit as a reward for Ghana being a “good boy” and an ardent follower the democratic creed as per America.

Whatever Obama’s visit means for you, the occasion gave him the opportunity to spell out America’s new policy direction for the African continent. It is heartwarming to note that America now identifies Africa as a strategic partner in global affairs, rather than the continent being on the fringes of world history and constantly receiving foreign aid and handouts. In his usual engaging, smooth and charismatic style, Obama proposes a four-prong approach of tackling the development needs of deserving African countries: democracy, creation of opportunity, health and conflict resolution. What Africa needs to take from Obama’s speech is his admonition that African development lies in the hands of Africans and not any other group of people, and certainly not the United States of America. We are again reminded that corruption, tribalism, religious intolerance and tyranny have no place in progressive 21^st century societies.

Also, the Obama family’s visit to Ghana and the Cape Coast castle in particular provided moments of reflection on racial interactions through the course of history. The fact that Obama’s father, a respected elder in his tribal community was just a houseboy in a British colonial officer’s house; the fact that the ancestors of Michelle Obama were slaves on America’s farms; the fact that a church was right on top of the male dungeon in the Cape Coast castle; and the fact that the African continent had been the playground post-world war II cold war powers; highlights the indignity that Africans and black people had suffered in the hands of history. When all those sad events are contrasted with the glory that has been achieved by man since then: Kwame Nkrumah’s successful independence struggle, Nelson Mandela’s demolition of apartheid, Kofi Anan’s leadership of the UN and a black family in the white house, one can’t help but be grateful for the fulfillment of the messianic visions of black leaders like Marcus Garvey, M.L. King and Kwame Nkrumah.

From all indications, the relationship between Africa and the United States would further be strengthened in years to come. What the continent’s leaders need to do is to strategically churn out homegrown solutions to the continents problems and take full advantage of programs put forth by the Obama leadership. Young people in Africa need to continually believe in the emergence of the African renaissance, and make patriotism, hard work, vision and imagination their watch words. Even Obama is watching what we are doing in Africa. Did you catch him mention Anas Aremeyaw Anas, that daring investigative journalist in his speech? YES WE CAN! Please don’t forget to keep your comments on Obama’s visit coming.

I hear there are Obama parties going on in Accra, Cape Coast and cities all over Ghana, and the official song is sure to be this cracker from Blakk Rasta:

Here Comes The Rains

Picture credit: http://www.ghanaweb.biz/GHP/img/pics/50415849.jpg

This year’s rainy season appears to be in full flight as the volume of rainfall recorded by the meteorological agency is estimated to be one of the highest in Accra's history. While many see the rains as a blessing, nurturing crops planted in the fields and reducing the sweltering ambient heat, others dread the opening of the heavens for a variety of reasons. Today's post focuses on the recurrent flooding situation in the western parts of Accra.

One interesting fact is that Accra's floods has been in the news for a long time. It has been one of the major issues on various discussion boards ever since i became conscious of events going on around me in the mid-nineties. Reports from three months ago pointed to the possibility of major floods this year. On 19th June 2009, what has been touted as Accra's worst floods ever took away the lives of seven people in Kaneshie, Abosey Okai, Circle, Accra Central and surrounding areas. Although, concerned authorities are taking steps to handle the situation, their actions have not been helped with the information that the rains would fall even more, opening up possibilities of more destructive disasters. What is needed to avert future disasters of this kind is a combination of execution of currently proposed measures and some fresh thinking.

Firstly, as suggested by many commentators, the local government must be steadfast in pulling down houses and other structures that block the water ways. I suggest that the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) meets with identified stakeholders to devise an appropriate strategy, through which this exercise would be carried out, so as to forestall the risk of hitting a dead end as seen in similar exercises of this nature. In order to minimise possible economic hardships that "victims" of this exercise might face, certain relief packages should be arranged for them.

Secondly, city planning authorities must take a second look at how Accra has grown, its current architectural layout and growth indicators, and come out with an appropriate development framework within which future construction projects should be carried out. During this exercise, reference should be made to older documents and white papers that were issued to adress this problem in the past, so as to emerge with the most comprehensive solution possible. Once this is done, all emphasis should be placed on execution so that Accra is rid of this headache once and for all.

A third approach, which seems quite rudimentary when closely looked at, is the need deal with the city's sanitation issues. Among one of the major causes of the floods is the filth that clog the gutters on our streets. If individuals, the AMA and waste management companies tackle the numerous plastic bags, papers, fruit peels, ice-cream cups and "take-away" containers that perennially reside in the gutters of some of our streets and major markets, water falling into such gutters would flow freely into designated sinks, rather than rising and dominating the roads and finally finding its way into peoples homes and places of public gathering.

Finally, the National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) should be more proactive with respect to events of this nature in the future. Considering the recurrent nature of the Accra floods and the availability of early warning signals from the meteorological agency, it is desirable that they get their acts together next time before hand in order to deal with any emergencies that may arise. Similarly, professional associations of architects, engineers and planners, as well as concerned members of the general public, should come together and deliberate on more modern and scientific approaches through which this problem could be tackled.

To conclude, Accra's flood problem would continue to rear its head in a very devastating manner from year to year if it is not tackled with the execution of ideas that have been on the table for far too long. Let's get to work!

Everyday Scenes in Ghana

I’ve been meaning to make an entry about interesting places and events in Ghana. However, I realised that instead of a long blog entry, pictures might tell the story better. So here are 11 randomly selected photographs that hopefully closely depict everyday scenes in Ghana. Please let me hear your feedback concerning what you think about the photos, what pictures you would like to see, and even if this whole idea of letting photos tell the story sometimes is cool. Enjoy!

Relic of colonialism: one of the many castles that dot Ghana’s coast

History 101: Ghanaian high school students learn about the country’s past

Cultural extravaganza: One of Ghana’s many colourful traditional festivals

Football fever: Accra stadium packed to capacity as Ghana plays Cameroun during CAN 2008

Ecotourism: Wli waterfalls offer both scenic beauty and refreshing coolness

Beach time: Revellers taking it cool at Bojo beach near Accra on a weekend

Living on the water side of life: Nzulezo, the vlllage with buildings on stilts

Night life: Cultural performance at Labadi beach in Accra on a Wednesday night

Transport: Food for thought on the ubiquitous trotro

Pets: Three beautiful dogs in a Ghanaian home

Caught in the act: Two dogs on the streets at Korle-Gonno

Ayigbe Edem: Hiplife’s New Poster Boy

Hiplife has attracted many dedicated followers ever since it emerged as an authentic music genre in Ghana in the early 1990s. For starters, hiplife is a type of Ghanaian music that incorporates some elements of hiphop (particularly rap) into the more popular and traditional highlife music. Due to its high marketability, the the hiplife industry is growing tremendously and consequently experiences a high turnover of musicians and performers. In most people's books, Reggie Rockstone, Obour, Obrafour, Tic-Tac, VIP, Samini, Praye and Sidney would go down as true hiplife greats. Lately, concern has been raised over the quality of hiplife music on offer. A number of music critics contend that there is a low degree of originality emanating from the Ghanaian hiplife scene. A new breed of Ghanaian hiplife artists are exerting their lyrical and rhythmic muscles to reverse this trend. Prominent among them are Kwaw Kesse (Abodam!), Asem, Richie and Ayigbe Edem. Ayigbe Edem's uniqueness is three-fold: language (he is the most notable Ewe rapper today), rhythmic quality and depth of lyrics. He also comes across as a humble and unassuming chap. In separate interviews with ghanamusic.com, Edem emphasises his originality and the irrelevance of language in communicating through music. In a short, concise and direct manner, Edem shares his passions, motivations and dreams with us.

Q: Why do you sing/ what influences your unique style?

A: I sing because that's my passion. Basically good music influences my style, and what happens in our part of the world also does. Every human being is unique -once you find yourself and what you stand for, you will find your style. From there, it takes you constant practice.

Q: Why do you rap in Ewe and not in Twi or English? How easy is it (rapping in Ewe) to accomplish?

A: Cos I don't have to rap in Twi or English...what I have to do to make it is to understand rap as an art form. Nothing is easy to accomplish. PERSEVERANCE is the word

Q: Who are some of the music stars you look up to?

A: Eminem, Mase, Bob Marley and Wyclef.

Q: How big would Ayigbe Edem be in 10 years?

A: Soo big... I aim to have my own record label, to be a guru in the industry and also export my music

Q: How well is the Ghanaian music industry doing? Why is Ghanaian music failing to sell outside Ghana, compared to Nigerian, South African and Congolese music?

A: Cos there is no formal structure in place...

Q: What are some of the interesting aspects of your life that you want to share with your fans beside music?

A: I love education...I am shy and I don't drink or smoke...I am also single

I'd take my leave now, allowing Edem to strut his musical stuff on The Gamelian World.

Poetry

I'm really excited to be back to the blogosphere after a long break. To mark my return i present two poems: The Return and Why are you so weak? Looking forward to get lots of reactions!

The Return

I know I have erred my darling

For all the days that I was gone without notice

The journey was long and tiring

And I fell into a hole

Without you there were no sweet dialogues

There were only_____________monologues!

So let the celebration of love and expression

Herald the return of our long lost union

As we wave the dreary, weary, cold nights goodbye.

Why are you so weak?

This question you posed to me

When we revelled under the mango tree

In the centre of the village square

Proved a handful for I racked my brains

So hard and long yet…no answer was in sight!

Then you sounded so worried

And cried for a thousand minutes

In my arms where you found temporary solace

The redness of your eyes told a tale

Of the anxiety that pervaded your entire being

Yes, that night when I returned home

Clothes drenched with your tears

Remains firmly etched on my mind

I recall with astonishing detail your very words

That encapsulated the feelings of the moment

For I share in your joys and sorrows

And that was what I always wanted you to know

Remember our rendezvous at the village dance?

Yet you left when it counted

When you could have shown the world you really cared

With the merchant's son, you left to the big city

Pretending you could get used to its glitz and glamour

I know what you thought then, that money was it all

No wonder you failed to detect

The subtle deceptions of your "lover"

Who was about to defect

Now you know t'was a big illusion

Truth is life is worth more than a couple of bucks

And true joy lies in simplicity-of friendship, honesty and loyalty

Your red tomato eyes tells it all: that pain dominates your soul

Thus you spend all days and all nights mulling over

The consequences of your action

So why are you so weak?

You are weak because you are moved by sight

Of things that hold no permanent value

In fact, you are blind!