ENEMIES AT THE GATES…
I read a book a couple of years ago. The book was titled, “A Place of Beautiful Nonsense”. The author was Alba Kunadu Sumprim. Alba, obviously, a Ghanaian, born and raised in the diaspora. She decided to move and settle in Ghana. It was the cultural shock that led this author to write this book. Actually, she has another book, provocatively titled, “The Imported Ghanaian”.
Back to the “place of beautiful nonsense”, there was a chapter, aptly, headed, “a Ghana moment”. The idea behind the “Ghana moment” was for the author to recount her experiences of everyday living in Ghana which she found unbelievably ludicrous.
I guess I witnessed my personal experience of the “Ghana moment” on last Sunday morning. I was driving around the port enclave in Tema. This was very early in the morning, around 7am. When I got to the traffic light close to the old office building of the “black star line”, along the Meridian road, the light was green on my side. Before we go on, can I ask what the green light among the traffic lights indicators means? I always thought as far as the road was clear, green meant right of way to go…or?
Well, I was forced to reevaluate my understanding of this basic traffic rule last Sunday when I escaped death by a whisker. Two, not one, cars driven supposedly by human beings, decided, when clearly the traffic light had indicated RED to oncoming traffic from their lane to stop, to ignore the signal and sped off with complete disregard for the drivers coming from the other side. If I had been driving at even an average speed, I would have almost had no time to react resulting in inevitable collision. Apparently, it is a common occurrence on Sundays across the city because on that same day, I observed numerous cars jump the red light at the traffic light just in front of the Golden Jubilee terminal. So, the next time you are in Ghana, don’t carry the burden of the imported Ghanaian, just know that on Sundays and holidays, most traffic rules are suspended in the city in Ghana. On normal days, we only suspend 40% of the rules. Alas, I have finally come to terms with something profoundly stupid in Ghana.
The government of Ghana in 2018 declared the following year as the “year of return”. This initiative was aimed at the African diaspora to encourage as many as possible to take the “spiritual pilgrimage” back to the “motherland”. We were subsequently informed by the government that this initiative was a great success. It was therefore my hope that we were going to build upon this great feat to promote tourism in our country. Before the disruption in global travel caused by the pandemic, tourism was on the average contributing 6% to the GDP of the country. Tourism remains one of the top five forex earners of Ghana.
During his vetting, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, outlined plans of the government to increase revenue from the sector to $6 billion within the next three years. The minister further went on to speak about a “further improvement of tourist sites…”.
This brings me to my first issue. It has to do with the state of the Assin Manso slave river. At the height of the transatlantic slave trade in the 18th century, this river served as the last point of bath for captured slaves from the inland kingdoms being brought to the coast (mainly Cape Coast and Elmina) to be sold off to European merchants. The spiritual and historical significance of this river cannot be overstated. It is regrettable though when one visits the site today. Though I would not advocate for excessive disturbance of the natural vegetation around the river or indeed the river itself, more needs to be done to make visit to the site more attractive.
Much of the historical knowledge of the “guides” at the site leaves much to be desired. I do not say this as a criticism of the competence or indeed the hard work of the young men and women who man the facility at Assin Manso but a call for further training for them. The ministry can liaise with the history department of the University of Cape Coast to achieve this aim. The ministry should further take a critical look at the commemoration of the iconic Emancipation Day Celebration, which has been taking place in Assin Manso for the last twenty-three years. I believe there is the potential for this festival to become the spiritual pilgrimage of the black diaspora all over the world in search of re-connection with the motherland. We need to do more to bring attention to this great festival and market it to the black diaspora world.
I believe this is the right time to finally discuss the sorry state of the national museum. In 2015, a group of friends from South Africa visited Ghana. They contacted me to “show them around” Accra. They had just returned from Cape Coast to Accra and wanted me to take them to the national museum. I had just joined a company owned by my high school mate, Mawuli, and this was one of our very first business. I had not been to the national museum then since my last visit there in 2001. I had thoroughly enjoyed that visit in 2001 as a junior high school student. The museum had some brilliant artifacts, historical items, and very well knowledgeable staff. I was therefore under the impression that things would have better fourteen years on.
I was not prepared for what I saw in 2015. The national museum was a shadow of itself and only a handful of items were on display. The staff member who took us around informed us that the museum was closed for rehabilitation works which was going to last for a year. I left there in 2015 feeling quite happy that my next visit was going to be a renovated, well-refurbished museum.
A conversation with a friend last week about domestic tourism got us thinking about the national museum. My friend who lives in Tarkwa wanted to visit Accra with his family over the Easter holidays. He wanted to visit the national museum and wanted me to inquire if it was re-opened. Folks, the national museum closed in 2015 for rehabilitation works which was supposed to last for a year remains closed as I write on this cold Monday morning of March 2021.
We can’t be talking about our supposed cultural heritage and leave the institutions that preserve such heritage at the mercy of circumstances. I hope the new Minister of Culture, Arts and Tourism will avert his attention to the state of our museums and cultural institutions. Budgetary allocation to these institutions must be prioritized whilst the institutions themselves should be supported to raise funds through private initiatives. Museums are rarely profitable ventures and are therefore not attractive for private entrepreneurs to invest in. The mantle therefore falls squarely on government to provide the bulk of the funding.
March is the heritage month of Ghana. Perhaps, this is the best time to start conversations on the preservation of our history and cultural values. Suddenly, one area we have lost a great deal of history is a cemetery in the Cape Coast. I will tell you that story one of these days…until then, just remember the word of the former British prime minister; “nothing matters very much, and few things matter at all.”