On the Move in Accra: Mobile Police

Mobile policeman, accra,
originally uploaded by ekbensah.

a mobile policeman passes by us last week, looking very determined, as if he were in a motorcade for the President.

Considering the speed with which he passed by, maybe, he was in need of responding to a call of nature;-) The toilet bowls there would have been of no use to him!;-))

Front view of Ghana's human rights body, in Accra

front view of Ghana's human rights body, in Accra,
originally uploaded by ekbensah.

I was up "High Street" in Accra this morning (this is where the big banks of Standard Chartered; our nation's major park, named after the first President--Kwame Nkrumah--is located; as well as main headquarters of Ghana's still state-owned Ghana Commercial Bank, established 1957; and a slew of other institutions) on a work-related issue, with one of my colleagues. We were meeting officials from the so-called CHRAJ, or Commission on Human Rights and Adminstrative Justice, which has been monitoring and intervening in favour of a rights-based society since 1993. A good number of the officials there are legal practitioners. Feel free to check out their website.

Shame about their location: at the old Parliament House. You can imagine that they haven't upgraded the building, so it looks a bit incongruous seeing state-of-the-art IT equipment, coupled with men and women smartly-dressed, speaking in legalese and otherwise, when...the kitchen is, for example,...far from salubrious!!

Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS)

Despite this huge placard in town, you'd be surprised by the difficulties associated with registering, which include first and foremost: apathy:-( Though the government has done a good job in communicating the NHIS to its citizens by way of TV ads (both in major local languages, and English), its full implementation remains a mystery;-) Some districts and areas have fully-subscribed; others are seeing very low levels.

Evidently more work to do than this huge placard, no?;-)

A Place for Kids to Go

Enough said?

This is located minutes away from where I work. Too quiet a neighbourhood for me!!

Have a good weekend!!:-)

A Glimpse of the Ubiquitous Shell Shop

Ubiquitous, cimply because they are littered all over the capital--and beyond! Few Ghanaians can now manage without visiting their Shell Shop (even if some of the prices of the goods are a tad higher than the retail price);-)

Wahoo--it posted!:-)

afternoon probs...

…with uploading of blogger photosL

 

Why???!!!

Finally!!-Battle of the Coke Vans:-)

Just a light-relief picture for the weekend of two vans--both from the Coca Cola Company of Ghana--having stopped at a shop just minutes walk away from where I work.

Now tell me: who's gonna win the battle of the Coca Cola vans?:-))

sorry!!

still having difficulty posting pictures from blogger!!!:-( anyone having the same problem?

blogger upoading...

...proviing difficult:-( will not load..maybe better luck tomorrow?

hope you are all well:-)

Madina Merriness: Mobile Phone Repair by Mobile Max

I was in Madina this afternoon to take my phone for repairs. You might remember Madina a while back, where I featured the Madina Police station and the market.

This is the placard of "Mobile Max", one of the largest Mobile phone retailers in the country, with many branches dotted around the capital. It has a penchant for giving people clocks, radios, and irons around festive seasons--with a caveat: buy something beyond, say, cedis500,000 ($uS50.00);-)

Whilst we are on Metro Mass Transport

This is a picture, taken last year, of me holding a ticket for the Metro Mass Transport bus I took. If you are interested, you can read more on this here, about how it began to upstage the tro-tros, that are the soul and life of many a foreigner travelling througout Ghana.

In any event, the 1000 cedis you see is so cheap it's not funny;-) $US1=cedis 9000, so that's, what, 1/9th of a dollar, or 9 cents? to travel from inside the capital to the airport area, which is about twenty minutes.

Going to the Tetteh-Quarshie Interchange

That orange bus there is one of our many Metro Mass Transport buses, which have been providing free transport for pupils to school during school period, and offering very low prices within the city (ç1,500-2000)-- around 15 to 22 cents.. More of these to come!

good to be back!

This is where I was last week for a conference:

Cresta Royale--a plush, 4* South African hotel that has won the award this year for the best hospitality in Accra. You can visit their website here.

Just a small note...

...I will be away from my desk/office for next few days for an organisational conference, but will post when I can. I am STILL here in the capital, and will be sure to bring you some juicy pictures. Right now, blogger is refusing to accept photos. PLease accept my apologies:-)

Welcome to West Africa's ICT Powerhouse

Though I took this picture last year, I don't want to re-invent the wheel, so I'm copying what the website says about West Africa's biggest ICT centre:

The Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT (AITI-KACE), Ghana's first Advanced Information Technology Institute works to stimulate the growth of the ICT Sector in ECOWAS. Established in 2003, through a partnership between the Government of Ghana and the Government of India, this state-of the-art facility provides a dynamic environment for innovation, teaching and learning as well as practical research on the application of ICT4D in Africa.

The Centre houses West Africa's first supercomputer as well as top-of-the line desktops and laptops. The spacious meeting and lecture rooms as well as the 802.11 wireless network guarantee that the AITI-KACE can host close to a 1000 IT professionals, researchers, visitors and trainees at any given time.

from: http://www.aiti-kace.com.gh/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=26&Itemid=32

On that note, I'd like to wish you a very relaxing and stress-free weekend!

PS.pour tous mes amis francais, j'aimerais leur souhaiter une agreable journee du fete pour le 14 juillet!

A Glimpse of CITI-97.3FM's weekly free Salsa Mania event

So there I was on Wednesday evening around 9.30pm at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel, located "within 3-6 minutes drive of USAID, the World Bank Office, Danish, Canadian, German, Swiss, Nigerian and American Diplomatic Missions, Ghana Immigration Service and National Theatre, Government Ministries and the Accra Intentional Center, all on “traffic free” routes."(from: http://www.coconutgrovehotels.com.gh/Regency/regency_index.htm on private business with my parents when I heard feedback from the car's radio as we approached.

It was CITI-97.3FM--the Accra-based English speaking private radio station, which you can listen to in crystal-clear quality wherever you are in the world (I know, cos people from Germany and the UK have been calling in the 8.45am regular phone-ins to the CITI Breakfast Show; and listeners send emls from South Africa and the US!)--hosting its weekly Wednesday Salsa Mania event, where Latin American tunes are played, and people get FREE Salsa lessons.

Guess you never thought Salsa was big in Accra. Now you know;-)

Oh yeah, you see the guy on the left of this picture wearing a tie, and holding his mobile phone, with a document, or so, under his left arm?

Definitely middle class!

for more on teh CITI-FM Salsa page, click here

Welcome to the Biggest Internet Cafe in (West) Africa!

Here's a popular view of it, which I captured in April when I was there for a three-day training...

...and this is a view from one of the BusyInternet eateries, where you get some nice, juicy kebabs

Check the website out:Busy Internet. It's owned by a New Yorker. I'm not about to do any premature advertising for it--it's rich enough--so I exhort you all to check the website out for yourselves:-))

The Substitute

In Ghana, given the mostly clement weather, when your mower breaks down, this is what you do:

Mow the lawn...

...with a wonky cutlass:-))

Liberation Circle, Accra

I took this picture, as the date suggests, last May. To the immediate right is the road that leads to the Accra International Conference Centre. Wondering why there is so much blue? Well, that's from the taxi from which I took this picture.

Another thing you might notice about this picture are the trees in the middle, which is the Liberation circle. It is an interesting area in the sense that that the routes that lead from the circle go to our Public Utilities Regulatory Commission, which ought to regulate our utilities, but doesn't always do so effectively;-); many banks, such as SG-SSB, which is a merger between Ghana's Social Security Bank, and the worldwide Societe Generale, which also operates in Belgium (in fact one of the biggest there).

It also leads to downtown Accra, including the Electricity Company of Ghana, which I featured earlier in these series of pictures.

Silver Star Tower, Airport 'City'

Located just minutes drive from Ghana's airport, you will find Silver Star Tower, which is a huge edifice that hosts Ghana International Airlines; South African Stanbic Bank, regional West African bank ECOBANK.

Another view of the A&C Shopping Mall

I am so sorry for missing two daily pictures this week. Server problems, followed by a brief illness, prevented me; I do hope you will enjoy this picture of the shopping mall, which I have featured before. The mall is located in East Legon, ten minutes drive from where I work.

Tomorrow is Republic Day in Ghana, so Monday has been decreed a holiday. I will "see" you on Tuesday 4 July!:-))

enjoy the Brazil-France game...as I write this, scoreline between Argentina and Germany is 1-1...:-))

Traffic!--With a Twist:-)

Traffic downtown in Accra on a warm, yet breezy day...


...whilst this is traffic is on Accra's famous "Spintex Road", which leads to "East Airport Residential"...

...whose placard is glowing from the reflection of the lights from the cars on the road.

From an Open Road in Accra...

Check out the placard to the left of this picture...Melcom is a Indian**-owned shop, where you can buy home appliances, and quality goods. They claim "where quality costs less", and have been running a month-running ad, using the song with the lyrics "tempted to touch, tempted to touch...". They've substituted it to the naff lyrics of "melcom, where quality costs le------------sss. tempted to touch, tempted to touch...". You get the picture, I guess?:-))


...to standby-traffic on a cool, Monday morning, where an opportunistic newspaper vendor plies his trade.

Yep, he caught me taking a pic! Sue me, dude!:-)

**correction was thanks to a keen eye who emailed me the correction on 11/4/07!

Let's Go Have a Read!

I believe the stand speaks for itself--a newspaper stand not too far from my place of work. Check the headlines--it's the morning after the day before the US was beaten by Ghana at the FIFA 2006 World Cup:-)

have a good weekend!

I promise refreshing pictures for next week!!:-)

well, what else can I say? I captured this from the late (11pm) TV3 news of jubilation in the streets as Ghana Booted the US out. The Accra Mayor jumped for joy, as did many who believe Ghana has blazed the trail for Africa...enjoy!

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Ghana 2, USA 1--Redux : David Meets Super-Sized Goliath

I’m just listening to commentary from my favourite Accra-based radio station (http://www.citifmonline.com) CITI97.3FM, which you can listen to online in crystal-clear quality. And as I sit at my desk, the cool wind blows, and I hear cars honking their horn in staccatos of one, two, three. We may be playing against the Brazilians.

The USA are out (the staccato continues), prompting a comment from my colleague that the car’s battery “is gonna die isn’t it”?

Someone shouts. Many hearts pound relentlessly.

As if in a dream, work resumes, but is it at its normal pace?

Ghana, the wrongly-speculated underdogs have transformed from football Lilliputians to the quintessential Black Stars of Africa who will be meeting Brazil – number one on the FIFA rankings – on…Tuesday.

Hold your breath, Africa. Hold your breath, World!

here are some more pictures:



Ghana and Italy top Group E, leaving the Czech Republic and the USA woefully behind.

A car stops by the entrance, and a lady springs out jumping, almost uleleling. Out comes a be-spectacled man joining in the dancing.

It would be a serious breach of security...were it not for the fact that the man is my former boss at work:-)

USA did good, Ghana did better, though the play was not as engaging as the Czech-Ghana game.

Hasta manana:-)

"Who Wants to Play With Me?": Airport Shell, Accra

Ghanaians affectionately call it Airport Shell--rather than the Shell Shop at the Airport, but truth be told, the prices are not affectionate to the pocket! I came out this afternoon complaining, and feigning anger at the prohibitive prices. Prohibitive being between 2000 and 4000 ghanaian cedis (around $0.20 and $0.40) more than the market price.

Still, they did win this year most (customer-)friendly shell shop in the capital!

have a good one!:-)

World Cup Febrility--Part II

This is today's front page (as you can read) of one of our private dailies--The Daily Heritage

Dear DP-ers, mucho apologies for this fixation on the world cup, but you know, whilst I am no pundit, as I intoned yesterday, nor real ardent fan of football generally (lemme hear the women whoop "hooray!"), I am in over-the-moon mood, which means that praises left, right, and centre abound. However, just one admonition: to fight complacency, which can very easily set in. No dis-respect to my US visitors, but I am seriously confident the Black Stars shall, yet again, shine on Thursday 22 June, which incidentally would be apt as that would be the day after the summer solstice has commenced, according to this UK website on equinoxes and solstices"!:-)

In what some might consider a tongue-in-cheek image, you could say that this picture reflects the head-to-head competition that will reach its apogee on 22 June at the FIFA 2006 World Cup. In actual fact, it is a cheeky picture I took: that of a privately-registered car(the black VW Golf) and a so-called tro-tro, or public passenger bus (white BENZ 207 van). Look closely, and you will see the driver of the Golf is wearing a tie, and trying to overtake the tro-tro at a T-junction (which is where I took the picture), maybe just going to show that on the road, even "gentlemen" are rogues.

Incidentally, in Ghana, privately-registered cars have white number plates, and commercial ones are yellow. More to come at a later date:-)

Quadrennial (World Cup) Sensitivities: When Football Defies the Maths, or When David Met Goliath in Germany: Ghana 2, Czech Republic 0

Every four years, the world is awakened to the heightened and unique sensitivity that comes with twenty men running around after a small, leather ball. The timeless objective is to get that ball into that quintessential six-yard box area and score what ought to be a decisive goal.

Every four years, some succeed where others fail. Some arrive on a neophyte ticket and perform woefully, making it very difficult to return, whilst others just go for their last time.

Some call it the World Cup; others "the beautiful game".

I am far from being a football pundit, but it is fair to say that this year�s world cup games have brought about a number of surprises.

From Togo's surprise first goal leading to defeat of 3-1 for the Koreans once the Togolese lost their captain after a red card; to the rather lackluster Brazilian performance against the Croatians that saw them winning in the second half on a scoreline of 1-0 in their favour; the English scoreline of only "1" goal against the Paraguay's "0" to Saturday's quasi-brilliant display of a David-versus-goliath match that saw the debutante Ghana team, ranked 48th in FIFA rankings mesmerize international audiences by scoring an unexpected 2-0 against the Czechs, ranked second to the Brazilians who top the FIFA rankings.

If ever I believed that luck and flair could defy mathematics and technique, it was that historic Saturday 17 June, 2006, when minutes before the match, the skies opened up in the West African country of Ghana to deliver what one could only presage as showers of blessing from Above.

The Czechs might have had key strikers missing, but so did the Italians have one of their key players, Pirlo, being only 70 percent fit, yet managing to defeat Ghana with two decisive goals. Whether the Italian goals from the Azzurris were lucky goals or not, it was evident that Ghanaians--not to mention their national football team of the Black Stars--were crest-fallen.

Thankfully, the Black Stars, to borrow the words of a lawyer-cum-presenter on CITI 97.3FM -- one of the Ghanaian capital's leading English-speaking radio stations broadcasting from "the heart of the city", who wrote a poem for the Stars, arose and surprised.

Kudos for the Czech goalkeeper for speaking up for Asamoah-Gyan, Ghana's leading striker who scored the first goal against the Czechs within two minutes of the game, when he took a penalty before the referee's whistle, incurring a yellow card. Cech maintained that Asamoah Gyan, the Modena forward, took the penalty because he heard a whistle, which actually came from the crowd.

That's what I call sportsmanship. That's what I call great football.

But, ofcourse, I would say that: I am a very proud Ghanaian.

For the sake of posterity, I have captured the last ten minutes of the game on my digital camera, and uploaded it on my blogs, so whether you are an Accra by Day and Night visitor, or an international visitor to my Reflecting Eccentric World of E.K.Bensah II, or my indigenous Trials & Tribulations of a Freshly-Arrived Denizen, you are seeing this post in uniformity.

God Bless our Homeland Ghana!!


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Read the Guardian newspaper's account here: Ghana's young stars reflect the diamond at their heart.

Come, Let's go to a Local Market!

Ok, this is not quite the market, but walk literally 5 metres, and you find yourself in one of the most bustling markets in the country. I cannot give you any figures on the number of people who buy here--except to say that it is considerable, and it is comparatively neater, anad less insalubrious than other markets littered around the districts in the colourful capital. Another interesting aspect about this marketplace is that it is located some ten minutes drive from the premier University of Ghana in Legon, which makes it a useful place for students--both foreign and otherwise--to shop and experience local Ghanaian bargaining, food and whatnot.

DOn't mind the picture of the police station too much. It is comforting to know that just opposite the police station is the market--a great deterrent (I'm talking about the police station) for would-be-thieves. Thankfully, Ghanaians are more known for their friendliness and hospitality and so the likelihood of a foreigner being picked and needing to report to the police station is incredibly rare.

Have a good weekend!!

Wanna Go to a Conference? Welcome to the Accra International Conference Centre (AICC)

The front of the AICC. Look at the streets closely enough, and you will see that, yes, it is a rainy day. But not just a rainy day. Ghana is in the rainy season, and the frequency is --what-can-I-say-sporadic. You would have thought a rainy season would have meant frequent and regular rain, but no, not in Accra. It means days of rain, followed by two or three days of sunshine (26 - 30 degrees celsius), followed by a day of rain, and back to four days of sunshine!:-)And I thought Belgium was bad!
On a historical note, this is the road on which the British colonisers used to travel, and further up to the left of the picture, the guards guarding the British would close the gates. You still see signs of there being a gate, after some eight decades later! Will get a piccie of that some day!


This is the Accra International Conference Centre, which, according to the Ghana.co.uk website has a "...1600 seater plenary hall [which] is the most important meeting venue in Ghana, and often plays host to important international gatherings."

I took this picture whilst picking up some documents for work-purposes at a Mining Exhibition going on, which closes today. This is one of the reasons why these two tractors were being showcased (see below):


Regrettably, no scoop on the exhibition, except this placard on Ghana's electricity:-)...

...which got me thinking: what on earth does electricity-generation have to do with mining???

Wanna Get some Money? Meet the Truly West African Bank, ECOBANK !

ECOBANK is the sixth largest bank in the country. Not only that, it has consistently won the award for the best bank at the Ghana Banking Awards. It won it for the fourth time this year, for IT infrastructure, among other things. I am no-PR man for the bank, but it is true to say that it pioneered ATM services in the country, with the "VISA" brand a few years ago.

It has thirteen branches in the West African sub-region, including Cameroon. It's major shareholder is the West African sub-regional organisation the "Economic Community of West African States", whose website who can find here. Established in 1985, it is, in effect, a truly, indigenous West African bank that is going places. For more, you can read http://www.ecobank.com/english/group/expansion.aspx?RubID=3&SRubID=1&SSRubID=7.

Suffice to say that I am a proud customer of the bank:-)

enjoy!

Signpost!

Some signposts located at Danquah circle, heading towards one of the most popular streets in the capital of Accra, where a number of tourists, foreigners, and Ghanaians alike congregate--OXFORD STREET, Osu Re.

enjoy!

Ghana's Black Stars to do Anything for Mother Ghana at Fifa World Cup 2006

If Ghana's leading Daily Graphic has lead today's daily with this, what more can I say, except that Ghana hopes to beat Italy--big time:-)

Go, Black Stars!!

For all you non-enthusiasists about the World Cup, hang on, please, only three more weeks to go!:-)

Let's Go Shopping!

This is a picture of the balcony of the premier and plush A&C Shopping Mall. It is owned by a Ghanaian lawyer, Andy Asamoah, who worked with the UN in Geneva for many years. It is named after him and his wife, with the 'A' standing for Andy and C for his wife's name.

This is a view of the carpark from the balcony of the shopping mall, located in East Legon.

Might interest you to know Germany is about to play Costa Rica in what will prove to be a month of the platitudinous "World Cup Fever". Enjoy!

Have a good weekend!

East Legon Guest Lodge--Minutes Away from Ghana's Premier University (of Ghana)

This quaint place is literally five minutes walk from my place of work. It offers the best seafood and rice this side of the capital. For half-portion, it is GHC 40,000 (Ghanaian Cedis) or just under Euros4.00, but you get a sumptuous squid, fish, shrimps and mouth-watering stew. It ofcourse offers classic Ghanaian dishes also, such as rice and beans (waakye); etc...


There is satellite TV, and it's also some ten minutes away from the quite newly-constructed Tetteh-Quarshie interchange that takes you to Tema, Ghana's first planned town, with a harbour.

this was taken in 2005 whilst travelling under the then-newly constructed Tetteh-Quarshie interchange. May/June 2005, I believe.

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Video Commentary:AKOSOMBO Commentary--E.K.Bensah-Style:-)

This is a rather whimsical video I took in January when I was there for work purposes. I take you through a view of the hotel area through a hotel room, and a small peek into what the rooms look like:-) Enjoy!

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Akosombo: A View of the Eastern Region

Ghana consists of ten regions.

This picture is of the front of Volta Hotel,located in the Eastern Region, some 50 minutes outside the capital city of Accra. It has won many awards, and is renowned for being the place where the President (John Agyekum Kufuor) has his retreats with cabinet.


Just a view from the hotel is this resplendent view of Akosombo dam, initiated by the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, to provide electricity to the whole of Ghana. I cannot resist posting up a picture of the dam, and of Akosombo: too breathtaking;-)


Volta Hotel is on a hill overlooking the Akosombo dam. This is why the picture looks a bit funny; it's because I took it from the bottom of the hill. The building is a view of the hotel itself. Try to look out for the video, which is a bonus:-) enjoy!

Electricity, Electricity!

This is the storey building that houses the main electricity company (ECG) of Ghana (Accra East) in the heart of the bustling capital.

My First Post!: Hanging out at the BusyInternet Lounge

The picture speaks for itself. A group of guys hanging out at the BusyInternet eaterie. On Accra's Ring Road, or so-called "Silicon Valley"...