Never Mind Arsenal, Here's What Football Can Do in Ghana...

Given the debate going around among football enthusiasts worldwide and in Ghana about whether Arsene Wenger should be kicked out of his job at Arsenal or not, I thought a football post to be more than appropriate!

If you knew of the paucity of my football knowledge, then you would know this issue must be quite big, given the manner in which I seem to explain it away like I know the issues with a fine tooth-comb!



Coming back to the picture, I can safely say that the magic associated with football means that any "Tetteh, David or Harrison" can stand in the street--or at least is "permitted" to do so (at the risk of their own lives)--so as to catch a football game!


Such is Ghana, and some of the laxity thereof!

I took this picture of a crowd of fellow Ghanaians who on 8 May this year had surrounded the premises of a popular eaterie--Eden Tree--located on the famed Spintex Road.

At the best of times, Eden Tree regularly has a television on. Shame their food is not always so great; if it were, I would be plugging it here -- big time. Still, if you're in Ghana, and heading that way, give their jollof rice a try!

Waiting for Godot / Glo Mobile

Kindly check out that green structure with "Glo" emblazoned on it to the left of this caption. Seen it?

I don't quite think Ghanaians will resort to hara-kari--as per the characters in the classic "Waiting for Godot". You might remember Ghanaians are a happier bunch than the dyspeptic duo of Estragon and Vladimir.

But, like in this post in 2007, where we are wont to wait endlessly for tro-tros, we are also likely to get tired of waiting.

It's a good thing Ghana's Ministry of Communications--in its wisdom--has chosen 15 September for Glo Mobile, our putative sixth operator, to shape up or ship out.

That they will do the latter is a prospect close to zero. Hoping for the former is what we all hope for. As for hope, it springs eternal in this land!

Exeter Corned Beef Getting More Expensive in Ghana...

So there's a global recession -- but does it stretch to corned beef as well? I know for the past five years, sardines in this country have gone from under equivalent of $US0.50 to 1 solid US dollar now. In some retail stores in this country, it's just a little over 1USD.

But corned beef, too? This one is being retailed at GHS7.70, or USD5.13!

Is corned beef really retailing for that outside Ghana? Does anyone know?

Welcome to Koffee Lounge, East Legon, Where Your Fried Rice tastes Chinese!

This is uncharacteristic on my part to frequent a place for many months, and not feature it here! Wow...I believe this post is seeking to rectify that;-)

Koffee Lounge, located at A&C Plaza, serves some of the nicest Chinese food this side of Accra(being East Legon/Tetteh-Quarshie/airport area), and so far, the price is fairly decent, with egg fried rice going for something like 3GHC (US$1.5).

Naturally, Ghanaian foods are served there, and it also has free wireless.

Coincidentally, my fellow bloggers from the ghanablogging.com community will be in an adjacent coffee shop that overlooks this coffee shop on Saturday 13 August for a meeting.

If you're in town and happen to pass by, give them a big shout!

Make your weekend safe!

When 'Accra by Day&Night' Was Airborne

Back when we were in Belgium, I always looked forward to coming home to Accra. I always also knew when we were almost home.

After connecting to Amsterdam with KLM from Zaventem in Brussels, the contrast was magnificent. Whereas Zaventem by day was orderly from  the air, six/seven hours from Amsterdam to Accra was met with darkness...and serious patches of light throughout the capital.

Never mind that a gush of hot/humid Accra air would meet us every blessed time, what increasingly amused me many a time was just the above. And despite all that, I would not trade it for any other country.

This is a shot I took landing in to Accra back in March. It is of no less than the Tema motorway. From up high and during the day, one gets to appreciate the beauty a bit more.

Nothing Like Graphic Road Traffic in Accra!

Traffic anytime, anywhere, is bad enough, but in Accra, it has a singular distinction of being more than headache-inducing -- on account of the rising tempers and the foolish antics of taxi-drivers.

Graphic Road is so named because of the nation's 'premier' newspaper "Daily Graphic" located on that road.

If you're travelling this weekend, keep it safe--and temper-free!;-)

Thirteen Curves on the Accra-Cape Coast Highway

Every 1 July is Ghana's Republic Day. As such, it is celebrated as a holiday, affording many Ghanaians working in Accra to trek back to the village/town to see family.

Whatever the motive might be, the travel bug is always alive around this time--and this time it hit my family, prompting us to go to the lush, verdant Central Region--some two hours away from the capital--to attend to family matters.

Getting back--never mind going there--was hair-raising, on account of the so-called "13 curves" on the Accra Cape-Coast Highway. Never mind that many drivers driving like bats out of hell may be oblivious to the inconspicuous signboard of "13 curves", the notice is there!

In between hilly and undulating roads that can beat what I have seen of San Fransisco in TV shows anyday, these 13 curves are not to be sneezed at.

As to whether police are ensuring that drivers slow down before and after these curves is a moot point. They are stationed on the highway alright, but there are clearly not enough  to stop thirteen curves from leading to reckless driving which will lead to "thirteen ghosts"!

So, Ghana Has a Maintenance Culture After All?!

Offlate, the airwaves have made serious effort to reduce reporting of politics, focusing instead--as CITI97.3 fm did last week -- on discussion of bad roads, and how Ghana's Road Fund.

Needless-to-say that a pot-hole-free Accra is a reflection of a maintenance culture that has reached near-perfection.

It is therefore very encouraging to see--as I saw this afternoon while at A&C Plaza in East Legon -- that workmen were fixing the streetlight there.

Long may it continue!

Ghana's Precarious Record on Road Safety Needs Revision...Now!

The call is more of an appeal than anything. Lets face it: Ghanaians can sometimes be an indiscplined bunch--as exemplified by this picture here, where a "heavy duty" truck is parked on the first lane of a motorway...without hazard lights.

Apart from the fact that the Ghana police is nowhere to be found, other things are found wanting:

1. a number--preferrably toll-free--to call to report cases like these;

2. a number--perhaps a twitter account of a news outlet, or the National Road Safety Commission--to report such cases;

I don't have the statistics, but simply put: too many Ghanaians die on the road every year--and this can be avoided if we put some small steps into place.

Anyone for "Pure" Water? Maybe some "Standard Water"?

"Pure Water" is a typical name given to water that is not bottled in Ghana. They usually come in sachets, and are patronised by people from all walks of life.

"Standard Water" is but one of many of the Food and Drugs Board-approved producers of sachet water.

Happy Africa Liberation Day to all AU Citizens...on 25 May!

Every 25 May, Ghana, along with many African Union(AU) member states, celebrates what has now come to be known as Africa Liberation Day(ALD). It is erroneously celebrated as African Union day, which is actually celebrated on 9 September, when the Sirte Declaration was conceived to transform the-then Organisation of African Unity into the African Union.

In Ghana, Chelsea's Michael Essien (a Ghanaian) in his capacity as AU Peace Ambassador will lead a team of other international Chelsea superstars to play in a "Peace for Africa" match. This poster is merely to reflect this reality.

Wherever you may be on 25 May, have a fabulous Happy Africa Liberation Day!

Second-Hand Tyres? Almost Second Nature to Ghanaian drivers!

Offlate, there's been quite a bit of discussion about road safety in Ghana. Beyond driver error, the patronage of second-hand car tyres remains a serious bane to ensuring road safety.

Apart from the fact that the World Health Organisation has declared 2011 as the beginning of the "Road Safety decade" (and used 11 May to launch it), Ghana's National Road Safety Commission has launched its third National Road Safety Strategy (NRSSIII) in Accra.

Interestingly, the NRSC has caught up with Facebook, and can be found at this link here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/National-Road-Safety-Commission-NRSC-Ghana/312888131523?sk=wall#!/pages/National-Road-Safety-Commission-NRSC-Ghana/312888131523?sk=info.

Safe driving...wherever you may be!

Accra Gears up its Urban Transport with Bus Rapid Transit system

In September 2010, I wrote a fairly lengthy piece about the impending Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT), which you can read here: http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2010/09/ghanas-experimentation-with-bus-rapid.html.

Seeking not to repeat myself, I would also like to add that the picture I have here speaks volumes about what motives of the BRT. Just to add, finally, that I took this in the Central region of Kasoa, ...which is very close to the capital!

Vanity Plates of Nigerian Cars in Ghana!

I used to call vanity plates "personalised" plates -- till I was corrected a few years ago. I could not think of a more apt description for these number plates.

Needless to say that they're a common feature in Ghana--I have featured it on this blog before--but this picture just takes the West African solidarity of supporting and hating everything-Nigerian contemporaneously  to ridiculous proportions...

Honestly, this is a Nigerian vanity plate. A Ghanaian who has watched enough of Nigerian films would know, because the IGBOs are reported to be from south-eastern Nigeria.

At first sight, seeing "I G80" would not make anything sense, but I guess seeing it from this "perspective" makes the reality of vanity plates of Nigerians in Ghana a more acceptable...reality?

Welcome to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle!

If you have ever heard what sounds like "sec-sec-sec!...sec-sec-sec!" around Accra, I can assure you it is nothing mysterious, but the call by tro-tro mates for passengers to board the mini-bus (known as tro-tros) down to Accra's "Kwame Nkrumah Circle".

In other words: this place in the picture I took. This is the major roundabout, with a fairly new sign that exhorts Accra residents to keep the city "clean".

Now, with a number of illiterates among the informal sector, I continue to ask myself how they can understand the note--let alone live up to the principle!!

West African Corporates Leading the Way in Ghana?

When I took this random picture on Ghana's Ring Road, it was more of a serendipitous one, hoping to capture a snapshot of life there.

Instead, I unwittingly and fortuitously caught the logos of no less than two West-African-based corporate brands.

GLO, clad in green, is a 100% Nigerian mobile telecommunications company, which recently launched its broadband service--Glo 1--a few weeks ago in Ghana.

"ECOBANK"--a brand that is no stranger to this blog--is based in Togo, just next door to Ghana. Thankfully, this minimalist description belies its reach: it is represented in no less than 30 countries, and started off as a bank for West Africa, with support from the West African Chamber of Commerce. These days, it has expanded astronomically, diversifying into brokerage services; investments, etc.

It recently opened a China desk to take care of increasing Chinese investments in the country. It has an office in Dubai, and France!

Simply put: it's only a matter of time before the West African private sector goes global...watch this space!

"CNN Gets Ghana Wrong"--and Here's a Picture to Prove Why!

Last week the Ghanablogging.com communitywas agog--screaming blue murder--over foolish pronouncements by no less than a group associated with the CNN who claimed that most Ghanaians are able to cater for themselves through a Ghanaian variation of advanced-free fraud, or SAKAWA.

Fellow ghanablogger Mac-Jordan--also a member of the Global Voices Online community -- captured it in his summary here: http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/04/15/bloggers-react-to-demeaning-article-about-ghana/. The reason why I refer to the article again is to ask you to read the link above and get a sense of the complaints.

Secondly, the title is a nudge-and-wink to Kobby Graham, who's title I wittingly borrowed to draw attention to the simple fact that CNN got it wrong--whether by association or otherwise, they should never have posted an article by a source who had not done the necessary checks on a story.

As the picture I took last May at the airport shows, Ghana's NACOB (Narcotic Board) has increasingly been reminding Ghanaians about the need to be vigilant in how they handle luggage--never mind the risks of carrying narcotic drugs.

I don't know about you--but if this is not an effort by a government agency trying to remind Ghanaians about keeping the country free from such vices, I do not know what is!!

Beaches by the City of Accra

Okay. So I exaggerate. There are not that many beaches by the city of Accra, but there certainly are one or two: KOKROBITE and LABADI beach.

That alone is sufficient to warrant any visitor to want to come to Accra. It certainly has challenges with sanitation in particular parts of the city, but the Accra mayor assures Ghanaians that in keeping with Accra as a Millenium city, it will become a city for all Ghanaians to be the best they can be.

The picture is that of Elmina, in the central region of Ghana, but is very reminiscent, nonetheless, of the beaches dotted along the coastline of this beautiful country!

Five Years of Providing Vignettes of Accra Life to You!

This blog was born on 25 April, 2006. It's very first post was profoundly minimalist. You can read it here.In that respect, I consider April to be its birth month--and appropriately so, as 26 April is my own birthday. To say that there is some existentialist connection with this blog would probably not be far from the truth.

At the time I created it, I knew nothing of the citydailyphoto blogs, mooted by Frenchman Eric Tenin, who created Paris Daily Photo.

Back in 2006, there were few indigenous bloggers blogging about their home country--let alone indigenous bloggers blogging about their city, so inevitably, I became a kind of pioneer in that genre. My entries have waxed and waned. There have been times I have had blogger's block, but I always returned, trying to ensure that I portray not necessarily the best parts of Accra--but the parts that made the whole experience real. 

To be honest, I am surprised that in less than a month, this blog has been nominated for two awards. First, the tripbase; now this "Go Overseas Top Blog", which you can find here: http://www.gooverseas.com/ghana-blogs. 

In this category, I came 6th of out 10 blogs. The criteria for the selection is listed below :

GO! Overseas editorial staff evaluates blogs with the following criteria:

• New content is posted at a minimum of once a week.
• A writing style which is both clear and interesting.
• A website which is constructed in a manner that provides a user-friendly interface and is maintained regularly.
• A target audience which goes beyond providing friends and family with updates. Our editorial staff is looking for content which appeals to a wider audience.
• Content that is relatively error free and grammatically correct.
• A blog site which engages users on the website and is responsive to regular contact.

from: http://www.gooverseas.com/featured-blogger-badge.

Back in 2007, academic Rebekah Hurt wrote what was in essence a biography of me through my blogs, which she mysteriously pulled down. Before she did, though, I had managed to copy her work, which I reproduced on my website here: http://www.ekbensah.net/pb/wp_fccca1c0/wp_fccca1c0.html. I copy below what she wrote about Accra Daily Photo at the time it was using a pink interface:

Accra by Day & Night is designed in pink tones and is headed by an elaborate banner where different photos rotate within a fixed screen, overlain by moving star characters and blue spots which contain occasional captions. Beneath this very advanced blog feature is the following short description, “Accra is the capital of the small, West African country of Ghana, which achieved its independence in 1957 from its colonial master, the United Kingdom. It celebrates 50 years in 2007, and is projecting itself fast and furiously as ‘gateway to West Africa’. It’s an exciting city, with its unique problems, but with it close to the Atlantic ocean, and many beaches, who can resist not [sic] coming here? Come along...” Along with this header, there is another unique and advanced inclusion of a background song that can be turned on and off with the click of a speaker icon and that, when on, plays on repeat the theme-appropriate song, “Ocean Sized Love” by Leigh Nash[2]. At the top of the page there is a link to the Ghana at 50 website, and then down the right hand margin of the page appears Bensah’s profile, a selection of his favorite videos with embedded media, followed by an extensive list of links to other city photoblogs across the world, a Zooomclouds cluster box which highlights the words most frequently appearing in the blog, and a list of previous posts. The governing order of this blog is that Bensah posts a new photo or photos from daily scenes around Ghana (primarily Accra and Legon) with short captions, comments, and observations...

Suffice-to-say, I am very humbled by the accolades. If anything, it has given me more vim to continue this blog. As I am human, there will be times when there will be hiatus, but I hope to continue offering aspects of Accra life in the quintessential ways in which I have delivered them.

Thank you to all those who have commented and helped encourage me to get this far. Five years is no mean feat! Thank you!!

The Tale of The Nutty West African History Professor Comes to an End

I deliberately chose to use this photo-capture from the front page of Ghana's Daily Graphic today. Given that the ex-President of Cote d'Ivoire Gbagbo was captured Monday, I was confident that the following day, New Media outlets would be replete with the story. While many outlets probably have better pictures, this picture still does not take away the gravitas surrounding Gbagbo's capture by what many believe to be "special" French forces.

Given the proximity of Ghana to that country (we share a border to the West of the country), Ghana was always going to be intimately drawn to any news around him.

West Africa will now focus on how to ensure that its collective effort, through the sub-regional body of ECOWAS, can be brought to bear on bringing the country back to a degree of normalcy.