When Open Drains in Accra Decide to Punish Us!

A couple of years ago, there was a story close to home about a young girl who, when the annual diluvian rain hit Accra, was washed away by the turbulence of the water gushing through the open drains. I might not remember that story every year, but I do remember the grief on the faces of the family, and I also remember the stubbornness of Ghanaians.

This is manifested in the consistent and regular dumping in some quarters of Accra of refuse in open drains.

I don't know about you, but I would have thought that the authorities of the Accra Metropolitan -- and respective -- Assemblies of the districts of the country would cotton on to the fact that if they closed the drains, this scourge would not just be a thing of the past a huge relief to those careless drivers, like that captured in the picture, who speed unnecessarily too close to the darned open drains!

Where Do You Want to Go Today in East Legon?

East Legon, the area of my workplace, is a plush, verdant part of the capital. As these signboards show, plush is far from being tantamount to "organised";-)

Although the Accra Metropolitan Assembly needs to give permission before these signboards are erected, one would hope that they also help supervise where it is placed. It can look a tad chaotic at times!

Demolished House in Accra

As the Accra Metropolitan Assembly courts controversy for its decision to pull down some slums in the heart of Accra, I thought it timely to snap this picture to convey the mood.

No Photoshop Job in East Legon

With the tremendous number of imge-edittors out there, it would have been rather easy to get a picture of a wall, and have this "for sale" sign, of sorts, written on it.

Just that, it's no (Adobe) photoshop job; it's a very real picture of an expression by someone for anyone to buy guinea pigs and ducks from them.

Last time I looked, "banners" like these were done properely. Properely done, it requires a permit from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly that regulates the posting of such signs.

Fancy that! It has a website that is updated regularly!

DEMOLITION MEN!!: Clean-up of Accra Begins...

It began Monday with what would prove to be a discerning afternoon, replete with dramatic and cascading scenes of pockets of crowds congregating in clusters of emotion, awe, surprise and resignation as men fron Accra Metropolitan Assembly, in collaboration with Zoom Lion--all clad in reflective attire--started demolishing structures, kiosks and whatnot.

All this was happening in a messy atmosphere of smoke, emanating from the furious fire of burning wood and metal.

It truly was a sight to behold.

The helplessness of those whose kiosks were being destroyed was palpable. The glimmer of hope in their eyes for a daily income must have died there and then.

But this was to be expected--for in the past few weeks, the AMA has undertaken a clean-up exercise of Accra--to rid the capital of filth before 15 countries descend into the country in January 2008 for the Cup of African Nations, to be hosted in Ghana.

Either way, the taxi driver who brought me back to the office was ambivalent. He felt that Ghanaians are too stubborn for their own good and that, whilst the situation was sad, the "squatters" had been informed as recently as a six months to a year ago.

"We Ghanaians, we are too stubborn!" he added as he fropped me off, taking my fee.

Could't agree more!!

Orders from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly!

Got anything to post in Accra?

Remember--you saw this notice from the Accra Metropolitan Assembly here first!!

Have a good weekend!

Ghana Taxis -- Security Embossment Exercise A-Ok!

See that "912" embossment on the side of the picture of that taxi (which I didn't take)? Well, it's a security number provided by a private embossment company for taxi drivers in the metropolis by the capital of Ghana's metropolitan assembly, or Accra Metropolitan Assembly, also known as AMA.

A Ghana government document online outlines some of AMA's responsibiities:

While it cannot be denied that waste management is high on the agenda of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly under the new Mayor, other critical issues are also of serious concern.These include the resolution of chieftaincy disputes, the mobilization of revenue to tackle various development projects and the enforcement of discipline as regards conformity or otherwise to the bye – laws of the A.M.A.
from http://www.ghana.gov.gh/dexadd/feature/taatolai.pdf

Guess what? It has a website, that has some interesting pictures, but is under construction. You can click it here