Nkrumah Circle: A ‘Monkey’ Being Decorated!

By Solomon Mensah

Nkrumah Circle interchange under construction

After we had closed from lectures, a friend sat me and other friends down over some bottles of drinks.

Don’t hold your breath, I took a bottle of Malta Guinness! This was Saturday, February 27, 2016.

Our gathering was very successful. We discussed almost every trending issue concerning Ghana – from the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards disqualifying Shatta Wale from its 2016 edition to President Mahama’s 2016 State of the Nation Address.

There at the Ghana Institute of Journalism’s cafeteria were five passionate young men poised to see Ghana rise. We all had at least one concern about the nation that we wished changed for the better.

My concern had to do with the hawkers still taking over the Kwame Nkrumah Circle even when the construction of the interchange is ongoing.

True to my Nkrumah Circle worry, at 7:53 pm on the very day I complained to my friends, I watched a trailer when I got to Circle. The trailer, rather a horrifying tale starred a young thief who whisked a lady’s phone.

The victim, sitting at the front seat of a four-wheel drive, held her phone in her hands as a pupil does to an excellent terminal report in the air. She was presumably on WhatsApp.

I saw the young man approaching the said car. Within a split of a second, the thief had annex ‘his’ phone from the lady, turned, doubled his steps while the lady shouted “thief, thief!”

The thief waned into the thick crowd. Just like that. Although that was my first time witnessing a theft case at Nkrumah Circle, I have heard gory accounts told by many other victims.

Three years ago, a lady friend cried her heart out when she realized in a bus that her laptop had been stolen. While jostling for a bus at the Nkrumah Circle, after work, the cunning and unsuspecting thieves cut-open her bag on her blind side and took away the laptop.

If we were to call on the general public to render an account on their Nkrumah Circle experience, I am sure it will take the father of history, Herodotus, to document such accounts.

But thievery is not the only problem at Nkrumah Circle. What annoys the most is the hawkers taking over the streets as a market place. If you mean to walk through this part of Accra and you do not have the heart of a class one teacher, then be prepared to fight always.

“Yes, boss. Hello madam …” the phone-in-hand sellers would beckon. As if that is not enough, when you decide not to give them attention, they hold you by whichever part of your body they get hold to.

These hawkers are the very reason for which the Odawna Pedestrian Shopping Mall was built. Once a reporter with The Finder Newspaper, I did a story on the shopping mall where the head-trader of the place told me that the few traders who had occupied the Mall may go back to the streets.

His explanation was so simple and reasonable that bombarding him with questions, I thought, was unnecessary. “My son [the head-trader addressed me], we were on the streets but were convinced to occupy this place. The idea was that (we) all the traders will move to these shops so the market stays here. But, the authorities could not enforce the other traders to come here. They are on the streets selling and they are having all the sales.”

Indeed, why would I begrudge the head-trader when we only make cacophony of noises about policies and bylaws for two weeks and then go back to sleep? When after a hoax made Ghanaians wake up at dawn, stood on football fields with many saying their last prayer because an earthquake was about striking us, we made bylaws.

That bylaw said that Ghanaians must register their SIM cards to make it easy to arrest anyone who peddled falsehood using his or her phone. This law worked but only for two weeks. Now, SIM card vendors sell registered cards using either their own identification cards or that of unsuspecting innocent persons.

As it stands, one can easily buy a SIM card today, commit a heinous crime with it and cause the police to arrest an innocent man whose ID card a SIM vendor may have used to register the culprit’s new phone number.

However, since our elders say that a frog does not jump backwards, I thought our leaders have learnt their lessons well. But a year and some months into the Nkrumah Circle interchange makes me understand that the average black politician thinks about the next election and not the next generation.

In the first place, it is not a coincidence that the government of the day timed the construction of the interchange for its completion to meet Election 2016. This, however, is pardonable. But I find it sickening that the contractor of the interchange having to move the hawkers to one side then to another in order to get the interchange constructed.

Since 2014 that I acquired a passport, I have not yet travelled beyond the borders of Ghana. Frankly, I have never seen a plane on a tarmac except the ones that fly above my head. That notwithstanding, I can say without fear of contradiction that nowhere in Europe or America would people sell right under a constructed interchange.

A Zimbabwean proverb teaches that an ox hide must be folded to a shape one wants while it is still fresh. Was this not the right time to have kicked off the hawkers at Nkrumah Circle and forced them to stick to selling at the Odawna shopping mall and at other markets?

We could not sack them before the construction. Will we be able to do so after the interchange has been constructed considering the fact that Election 2016 is just few months away? Certainly, the fear of losing the hawkers’ votes will not make that ‘a prudent political decision.’

In his book “Dark Days In Ghana,” Dr. Kwame Nkrumah cited a letter a white man by Name Richard Wright wrote him.

“I say to you publicly and frankly: The burden of suffering that must be borne, impose it upon one generation! … Be merciful by being stern!” said Mr. Wright.

I look up to a president, who would impose the burden of suffering in kicking off these hawkers from our streets on one generation. A president who will not listen to the mantra ‘this is where we get our daily bread.’ A president who would sacrifice winning the next election to winning the good of the larger society. A president who will be merciful by being stern.

Until then, Nkrumah Circle may have all the good looks with its monumental facelift and upgrade but a decorated monkey will still be a monkey.

The writer is a journalist and a cultural activist.

Email: nehusthan4@yahoo.com

Twitter: @Aniwaba

Instagram: aniwaba

‘Let the Charter House awards go’ - Okyeame Kwame tells Shatta Wale

Okyeame Kwame

The Rap Doctor, Okyeame Kwame has advised acclaimed dancehall commando Shatta Wale to let the 2016 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards pass him by.

Speaking on Accra based 3FM on Wednesday evening, the Rap Doctor said that: “I think he [Shatta Wale] had it coming. If you take an award someone has given you and you auction it on Facebook, you send it back to them and you want to go inside again, I think any sane organization will make sure that … I mean … how would they know you are not coming back for it to ridicule them again?

“I like Shatta Wale. I understand his hustle. I think he is an inspiration to all of us but I think he should let the Charter House awards thing go. He should let it go.”

Answering a question on his favourite Ghanaian artiste currently, Okyeame Kwame said he likes Shatta Wale.

“I like Shatta Wale. I like the whole Bandana silence, makeover, the rebirth of Bandana [to] Shatta Wale as a movement. I think he is the modern definition of marketing in music properly.”

Charter House disqualified the dancehall commando from the 2016 VGMAs over comments he made about the awards of which they are demanding an apology.

Source: Solomon Mensah/Aniwaba

Afia Schwarzenegger, Ken Agyapong & the Ampan Dankwa scenario

Afia Schwarzenegger & Kennedy Agyapong

“The drums beat and the flutes sang and the spectators held their breath,” Chinua Achebe, in his book Things Fall Apart, described the fiercest fight between Okonkwo and Amalinze, the Cat.

That spectacular Amalinze-Okonkwo banter was years ago. Wondering whether we have had such a hyped bout in Ghana aside the recent Bukum Banku vs. Ayitey Powers’ bouts? You need not look further. 

It started with comedienne Afia Schwarzenegger, who doubles as a radio and television personality, hurling missiles of insults at Honourable Kennedy Ohene Agyapong for the latter’s reported attack on President Mahama’s family.

Defending one’s President positively, I must say, is in a good direction. Afia Schwarzenegger started a good course. She wanted to ensure sanity prevailed in our daily politics where one would not go the extent of seeing his or her opponent as an enemy.

However, like a child who drew a beautiful lion but unfortunately added wings, Afia spoilt her ‘lion.’ Lions don’t need wings! Indeed, Afia could have respectfully tamed Mr. Agyapong and reminded him that he bore the title ‘Honourable.’

Mr. Agyapong, when received the barrage of insults and the comedienne calling on him to let Ghanaians know his true source of wealth, did not take it lightly either. Speaking on his Oman FM, which Afia said she would never tune in to, the Honourable Member of Parliament did not mince words. He, as well, retaliated calling the Kↄkↄↄkↄ host a prostitute.

This brouhaha between the two has generated a heated debate among a section of Ghanaians. Both sides of the divide either praised or bashed the fighters. Recently on Radio Ghana’s News Commentary, a social commentator bashed Mr. Agyapong for not acting as an Honourable. The commentator, again, called on Parliament to discipline their colleague for stooping so low.

While the bashing and praising went on, the supporters of both Mr. Agyapong and Afia hailed them respectively. They did not only hail but scored their respective candidate with high marks and declared their fighter winner of the verbal battle. 

If an egg falls on a stone or a stone falls on an egg, our elders say, the result is the same. Whether it was Mr. Agyapong who first insulted President Mahama and his family or it was Afia Schwarzenegger who first insulted Mr. Agyapong, both sides did not help matters.

Without fear or favour, I condemn the two for not acting professionally. However, I will not ‘put it to’ Mr. Agyapong for not doing what is expected of Honourable Members of Parliament.

In one of Nana Kwame Ampadu’s songs titled “Ampan Dankwa” – where the title refers to the bat, the legendary highlife musician told an intriguing story in the animal kingdom.

The animals had met for a meeting. Mr. Squirrel, the Secretary, began the meeting by marking his register. When it got to the turn of Ampan Dankwa, the bat, there was silence. Squirrel mentioned the name over and over again. It was obvious Ampan Dankwa could not attend the meeting.

It was later discovered that Ampan Dankwa was in the belly of the Leopard, after a surgical operation. The case appeared before Judge Rabbit to rule on why Leopard had breached an established law that called for animals to live in peace without one eating the other as food.

The court case was tensed. Very! Perhaps, comparable to the NPP-NDC Supreme Court battle. Lawyers for both Ampan Dankwa and Leopard argued vehemently. But… the Leopard’s lawyer’s interpretation of the law had Judge Rabbit setting Leopard free.

“Mr. Judge,” started Leopard’s lawyer, “it is true the laws say one animal should not pounce on the other as its prey. However, there is no clause that says that because of this law one could use the mouth of his/her friend as a playing ground.”

Leopard had had his mouth opened while sleeping. Ampan Dankwa, instead of waking him up to ask for them to play, decided to rather play in the mouth of the former.

Nana Ampadu recounts that Judge Rabbit was well convinced and eventually set Leopard free. He [Nana Ampadu] commenting on the animals’ story cautioned the public not to take things for granted.

It is true Members of Parliament must command respect by first respecting themselves. However, Mr. Agyapong could not when Afia Schwarzenegger had virtually been given the license for abusive words to freely leave her mouth as milk freely drops from a lactating mother’s breasts. 

When it was alleged that musician Becca had had an affair with one of the Black Stars’ players in Brazil, Afia Schwarzenegger had the guts to call the former names. As a matter of fact, even if Becca indeed had that affair and it did not contradict any of our laws… then no one had the right to fight her. After all, Afia Schwarzenegger is not a ‘moral police’.

In another breath, Afia Schwarzenegger has fought with her former boss Delay. That did not end there. She has battled Bishop Obinim and the boxing stars, Bukum Banku and Ayitey Powers.

Afia Schwarzenegger may be right in some of these instances but I think her approach has not been the best. In fighting Mr. Agyapong over his derogatory words fired at the President, one is tempted to ask if what she says of the president herself is not derogatory enough. Don’t get me wrong. I am not blindly justifying Mr. Agyapong’s act.

On her show dubbed Kↄkↄↄkↄ on UTV, she is known for flaunting herself as the President’s girlfriend among other risqué jokes. So… when the Despite Group and Okay FM issued a press statement on February 9, 2016, to apologise to Mr. Agyapong and Ghanaians for their presenter’s words, I laughed.  Here in Ghana, we do unnecessary things with careless abundance and later apologise.

Indeed, the Despite Group should have long tamed its lioness. It was rather unfortunate they had to wait for Mr. Agyapong to act as the Leopard in Nana Ampadu’s story to do the taming.

How the media has raised Afia Schwarzenegger is not any different from how they did to Nana Aba Anamoah, formerly of TV3. TV3 revered her so much that Nana Aba insulting Viasat 1 on live broadcast was brushed under the carpet.

In my article on the ‘Nana Aba was there’ titled “My view: Of Nana Aba Anamoah & TV3,” I blasted TV3 for poor-parenting the young woman. I, as well, gave an advice to others especially loud-mouth media personalities to take a caution from the Nana Aba’s.

That advice was summed up in an Igbo proverb which says that a person whose father received a bullet in the head, uses an iron pot as a helmet. The media must also be warned to desist from hipping uncultured mouths.

The writer, Solomon Mensah, is a freelance journalist and a cultural activist.

Email: nehusthan4@yahoo.com

Twitter: @Aniwaba

Instagram: aniwaba

Adom TV, Kumkum Bhagya & A Cow-Dashing Chief

Nana Wadie presenting the cows to Adom TV staff

"Wᴐfa Kofi, do you watch Kumkum Bhagya?"

"What is that?" I deliberately asked.

Reclining in a chair with his legs bent to kiss his chest, Jeff quickly sprang to his feet. He removed both hands that had been buried under his faded green Lacoste shirt.

"It is an Indian movie,” Jeff said.

“Really?”

“Yes, it is shown on Adom TV," he added.

When I got to Sunyani the night of December 26, 2015, I knew I would return to Accra when the cock announced the birth of the next day. So, I strived to visit each of my siblings in the municipality before I went to bed.

When I got to one of my sisters' place, two of her three children were asleep. The eldest of the three, nine year old Jeffery Owusu Korang, also known as Jeff, was awake.

Jeff loves gifts and surprises. Whenever I called his mother and asked that I spoke to him, he would give me a list of items I should buy for him on my visit to Sunyani. One thing remains constant on Jeff's gift list. He wants a "Kufour bus"- Metro Mass Transit bus. Trust me, I cannot even buy one of its tyres!

When I went to his home without even a sachet of This Way Chocolate drink for him, my heart palpitated on seeing him awake.

Surprisingly, Jeff seemed to have forgotten ever speaking to me on phone about gifts. He didn't ask for his 'Kufour Bus'. Rather, he met me with the excitement of watching Kumkum Bhagya. Can you imagine!?

The soap opera “depicts the life of a Punjabi woman, Sarla Arora, who runs a marriage hall named Kumkum Bhagya. She lives with the hope of seeing her two daughters, Pragya and Bulbul (who’re poles away), married,” says Wikipedia.

I first read about the popular soap opera on the internet. The story read that Adom TV was to show an Indian telenovela that has its characters/actors speaking Twi.

That sounded nice. I guess it was a plan to outcompete UTV's popularised stance on such soap operas. On UTV, a presenter sits on air to run commentary on the previous day's shown episode. She does not do this alone. She has a panel who further deepen the discussion.

A lady shopkeeper, whom I buy provisions from in my Accra vicinity, literally gets annoyed whenever a customer calls on her while watching these soap operas.

If you ever heard of UTV’s La Gata which became a household name, some Ghanaians forcibly befriended the opera’s cast. Last year’s Christmas saw banners raised in town. Some read, "Friends of La Gata beach party." Thus, Adom TV would try whatever possible to rub shoulders with its competitor. Hence, Kumkum Bhagya. My mind, though.

This is how far our country Ghana has come. My worry is that these soap operas, apart from hinging on the theme of love, do not bring anything tangible onboard to move our country Ghana from ‘developing’ to a ‘developed nation.’

In an Aljazeera news report titled “Thailand PM bemoans 'divisive' soap operas,” dated September 26, 2014, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha criticised television soap operas for promoting violence and divisions in society.

Mr. Prayuth said he will write them (soap operas) himself “if he has to.” As if that was not enough, he added: “I have ordered that scripts be written, including plays on reconciliation, on tourism and on Thai culture."

Here in Ghana, soap operas may not be dividing us directly as Mr. Prayuth says of his country. That notwithstanding, I think a country which has a lot of its leaders trained in prestigious universities such as the Harvard and yet struggling to combat diseases like cholera and malaria, should not overly get drunk in ‘love’ movies.

Our problem, as a preacher once said, is not to go to the moon. We have no business there. Our problem is simply to clear the filth off our streets and choked gutters. Yet year after year, we die of preventable diseases.

The Ghanaian media, I strongly believe, has a great role to play in helping build Ghana. But is that to devote a chunk of air time showing empty foreign movies?

The BBC of all media houses sponsors a radio drama called Story Story that is recorded in Nigeria and aired on the station. Story Story’s themes have always been tailored towards the development of Nigeria and other African countries.

Few days ago, veteran Ghanaian actor Solomon Sampah passed on. There are many of such actors who are just waiting to die. Thanks to poverty. Can our media houses and movie industry make use of these old actors, together with the youngsters, to tell our story?

Could Adom TV and the rest of our television stations not have recorded their own Kumkum Bhagya with themes that would promote concrete national development?

In another Aljazeera news report: “Thailand taps into soap opera to fight corruption,” dated January 20, 2015, the country was shooting a soap opera to fight corruption.

“Thailand’s military government is tapping into popular culture in an effort to battle corruption. A soap opera based on real-life cases is being produced in the country,” wrote the report.

Most nauseating to hear of our country and soap operas, Myjoyonline recently carried a story that got me asking myself if we are serious as a nation.

“Viewers of Adom TV’s all-popular Televonela, Kumkum Bhagya could not believe their ears,” the story started, “when it was announced that the Chief of Assin Asaaman in the Central Region has decided to reward personnel of Adom TV for being innovative and presenting to viewers the telenovela which is dubbed in Twi language.”

All the way from his land, Nana Kwasi Wadie Esly II and his entourage presented two fat cows to the staff of Adom TV in Accra. We must honestly appreciate Nana’s kind gesture. However, his act would have been much appropriated had he awarded a Ghanaian movie like “Fulani Land Guard” which starred Kwadwo Nkansah Lil Wynn.

Fulani Land Guard was shot in Twi and it addressed some major problems bedeviling us; chieftaincy and the nefarious act of some Fulani nomads in the country.

Perhaps Nana Kwasi Wadie has never watched this and many other good Kumawood movies to reward them with cows. As well, Nana may not have watched the popular Efie Wura television series that addresses societal problems. If he has awarded them at my blind side then I hold my fire.

I am not in any way fighting Nana Kwasi Wadie. With all due respect, I cannot instruct him on who he could bestow his favour. My concern, however, is that we must solidify our movie industry before investing in other people’s. By rewarding Adom TV on Kumkum Bhagya, we are but telling them to do more of copying and pasting. No wonder that on Otumfour Osei Tutu’s 15th anniversary, Adom TV showed a documentary on Manhyia that was filmed by the BBC.

Would an American or European or Indian television ever show a soap opera shot in Ghana by Ghanaians to its viewers? On what grounds? Well, they may do but will that be shown at prime time and almost on air all day?

I am not calling for a ban on soap operas/foreign movies. No! If such soap operas speak on [national] development then why not show? My call is to take off our television screens soap operas that indirectly rob us the little we have.

It is only prudent we empower our movie industry to write good scripts to build the Londons and the New Yorks we dream about... here.

The writer, Solomon Mensah, is a freelance journalist and a cultural activist.

Email:

nehusthan4@yahoo.com

Twitter: @Aniwaba