I Went to Accra Today

Sometimes, it becomes too hard in Africa to call a spade by its original name – our situation is a virtual basket case but since many nations have been where we are today, we are inspired to keep on keeping on.

Driving in Accra is a nightmare. This situation can be blamed on several factors. First, we the road users drive as if we have been handed the hangman’s noose – so away the gallows the driver heads on a typical African (limited to Ghana in this narrative) road.

The roads are bad – there are too many craters, which explains why the ruling elites want to drive the most rugged SUVs on the shortest distance within a city in Ghana. Further, the people are just disorderly. Many of the roads here are still narrow but native Ghanaian wisdom dictates that drivers should turn the narrowest road into a four-carriage lane – this is most common when there are hold-ups during the morning and evening rush hours.

Then complicating the city drive further are those road users who find it even more dazzling to drive on the hard shoulders of the road. They make driving on the roads sometimes seem like Accra is the actual definition of the descriptive, chaos. The last group here to be blamed are those brothers and sisters of ours who don’t know that Accra is largely built for the aristocrats and would therefore sell their votes to the ‘poly-tricks’ chaps in exchange for allowing them to sell on the streets.

Therefore, it has been very normal to drive for four odd hours from one end of Accra to the Central Business District of the city. Yes you got me right – sometimes you have to drive for four long hours from the Independence Avenue to the Rawlings Park in Accra to get a few things – I mean, its always worth the while going to the Makola market to see if you can get some made in Ghana stuff. Maybe over there, you might just get a made in Ghana toothpick. In these developing days of the nation where even WC buckets and toothpicks made from bamboo (one of the most common tree species in the Western Region of Ghana) are all imported from China. Another interesting imported product is the Vietnamese rice sold in almost all the supermarkets in town.

So the rains came down and are still coming down – many lives were and would still be lost, because we fail to plan and allow nature to takes its course. Hence, the rainwaters are finding their way out and as the floodwaters struggle to get their way into the Gulf of Guinea it only makes sense that they carry a few human bodies that stand on their way into the sea. Sorry, I don’t mean to be callous – may the souls of the departed rest in perfect peace!

The chaos, which has been created, simply means one thing – it is making it increasingly impossible for indigenous companies do produce anything. So the destinations of choice for many a Ghanaian businessman are China and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates – I just wish I could consult for the Emirate Airlines. The people are making a lot of money off hapless Ghanaians!

When this confused status of our nation is expanded further (a nation which produces nothing of value) one would realise the reason why the most interesting business enterprise is the real estate business and even the choicest part of this is not for homes but rather buildings for stores and mini markets which are springing up within every available space.

That is why street vending has become the order of the day. Our disobedience of the laws as citizens coupled with the inability of the authorities (who are paid with taxes) to apply the laws to the letter has led to thriving markets in the middle of expressways in Accra. And when you take a rough sample among the goods on display in many of these jungle markets, nine out of ten are likely to be inferior imported products.

So did the city of Accra become a living hell – I don’t mean Greater Accra in totality but rather the enclave which is called Accra ‘proper’. The hawkers often sell their votes to the politicians and the politicians promise before the polls to allow everybody to sell their goods in the middle of the road.

Normally, the hawkers are driven out of the streets (to restore sanity maybe) within the first few years of the coming into power of a new government – because at that time, the goodwill of the people allow the politicians to do ‘anything’ without incurring the wrath of the masses. And when the polls are close, the voters are allowed to go back and sell on the roads – call it licence for the creation of a temporary state of anarchy and you would just be spot on!

There are two ways for breaking the laws of Ghana with ease. The most favourable one is to belong to the political party in power. The second is to break the law when elections are close – this way, the politicians would allow you and sometimes actually encourage you because they need your votes. On the previous score, when you belong to the ruling political party, you could even murder people and the courts would set you free ‘for lack of evidence’.

So today (July 2, 2009) I wanted to buy some books for my niece. For some funny reason, the first bookshop that came to my mind was the EPP Bookshop, which is very close the Ghana Law School – after a long struggle within myself I mustered the courage and set out for the bookshop. Indeed, it took just five minutes for me to drive to the bookshop. That was even after I had stopped at a couple of traffic lights. The seven or more kilometre journey was just smooth – the roads were clear and there was seeming sanity all around Makola.

My journey to Accra was very interesting so after purchasing the books I decided to take a drive through the Central Business District. It was an experience worth the while. Everywhere was just ‘clear’ and I could breathe natural air right there on the streets. Sorry, my experience at the bookshop was also very interesting – the salesperson was just nice but just when she wanted to calculate my bill on the till, there was a total blackout at the bookshop. The lady politely told me ‘Sir you have to wait’ because we don’t have voltage stabilizer – so I waited for about fifteen minutes, the lights came on, I paid my bills and left for my driving tour.

As I headed back to my office I was just imagining how interesting life in Accra would be if the streets were to be cleared of hawkers. While driving back to the office, I also remembered how a street hawker once threatened to break my windshield because I drove too close to her wares, which were displayed in the middle of the road. A new mayor has been appointed for Accra. MrAlfred Vanderpuje seems to have a lot of vim and I reckon he wants to leave a mark – so he is taking the fight to the lawless hawkers. The new mayor ordered the streets to be cleared to make movement easy – he has caught the ire of the ‘political hawkers’. And so far, his superiors at the Osu Castle have refused to see the ‘demolition’.

I am sure that the voters would soon be back on the streets – in fact, some are also doing ‘mobile street vending’ and I am sure a few among them are going to try very hard to sell a few Wrigley’s PK chewing gums to President Barack Obama right at the Airport Junction on July 10, 2009.

Some conspiracy theorists are even saying that the removal of hawkers from the streets is just in preparation of President Obama’s visit – whichever way, I think Mr Vanderpuje and his friends are just playing to the gallery.

Meanwhile, I remain because in Ghana Everything is ‘Basaa’! Just watch out for a tale from my next journey to Accra, when the hawkers would have returned!

Source: Kojo Owusu-Mbire

Email: owusumbire@gmail.com