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13:28
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Accra by Day & Night
From left to right: Holiday Inn, which prices are not just downright hostile to the Ghanaian (what do you say about over 250 US$/night in Accra?!?!) pocket; a flashy-looking building that houses some financial institutions; and more glitzy-looking buildings that are bound to house more institutions that are close to the financial sector.
This trio is located in what will be known as "AIRPORT CITY". In fact, it
is AIRPORT CITY. More buildings, including a mall, which will be known as "
Marina Mall".
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13:27
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Accra by Day & Night
Ghanaians are waiting with baited breath! It's been a good two and a half years!
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11:48
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Accra by Day & Night
Disappointed by the fact that my usual haunt--Allure SPA--at A&C Shopping Mall had closed down, I decided to find the next best place.
I honestly didn't know "best" was going to mean "expensive", but I must confess: it really
was worth it!
Arriving to the place some couple of hundred metres from the said-mall, I walked inside to have the door opened for me.
"Uh-oh!" I thought. That itself must already be 1ghC! I was quickly ushered to a small, albeit snazzy, counter in the corner, with a lovely, young and personable lady explaining almost-everything about what the X-men outfit was going to do to revolutionize the typical barbering experience.
I'm sure you can see:
- Barbering
- Manicure
- Pedicure
- Massage
- Lounge bar!
- Pool table!
- [FREE wireless] Internet!
The exclamation points are certainly my emphasis as that was the last thing I expected. So let us quickly go through my experience:
1. I got a haircut...
2....followed by a clean shave(!) [there was a little stubble...] and after-shave...
3. ...followed by a wash of my hair with shampoo...
4. ...followed by a wash of my face with some sweet-smelling herbs
5....followed by a mini-neck massage...
6...followed by...a clean-cut and clean-shaven me!
I was asked to write my name, and was handed a receipt with my name...and a complimentary sweet!
Paying 12ghc (circa US$8.27 ) might have been comparatively more expensive than the erstwhile 7ghc I used to pay with ALLURE SPA, but in a typically-
L'Oreal moment...(pre-2000):
I'm worth it! ;-))
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13:24
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Accra by Day & Night
With the great number of cars on the road, is this phenomenon really
that inevitable?
What is curious, however, is the number of roadworthy cars that make it on the road and which go on the road in disproportionate fashion to the number of good roads that are built.
Ghana has seen an increase in well-constructed roads all round the country, but the capital seems to suffer the most when these roads are completed. This is because good roads invite
more people with cars to use them, especially because they get to their destination in a hassle-free manner.
What's the science for ridding Accra of a considerable degree of traffic other than...more flyovers??
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10:14
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Accra by Day & Night
Remember the
Bats of 37?. They're those mammals that
don't come out at night, but late evening.
Well, in a rather circuitous manner, I am finally getting to the point of this post--it's about the ever-elusive "37" I keep banging on about. The above post should help clear up matters, but in the meantime, you will find on your left the "Emergency Trauma and Surgical Ward" of the 37 Military hospital. They're still actually building more to this part of the hospital.
This is a close-up of the same department. The first gives you a better panoramic view, and I must say: it's fairly neat.
At a time when the debate over private versus public health care seems to occasionally dominate the news, I want ti emphatically state that 37 military health care is very-much
public, but a darn side less expensive and of higher quality than one would expect!
Highly recommended anyday!!
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7:08
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Accra by Day & Night
Come on now, let's face it: we
all iron, don't we? Or at least we have someone do them for us, right?
Whatever views you hold about it,.it a cardinal activity of almost-every household world-wide is this oft-mundane activity.
At a time when it seems like almost every other product Ghanaians have at their disposal is imported, it is refreshing to know that
even these boards can be produced by Ghanaians themselves.
I didn't stop to ask how much one is, but I do know that your bargaining skills have to be this side of acute!;-)
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8:50
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Accra by Day & Night
...even if it is in a flash!;-)
Remember you first saw it
here on this blog!;-)
Keep your weekend safe!
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9:20
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Accra by Day & Night
It's not as if advertising on a car is anything novel even in Ghana.
It's just the manner in which it's been done, and the fact that the car looks a
little worse for wear, but the person thought "hey, who cares?"
Only in Ghana indeed!!
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5:18
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Accra by Day & Night
On February 26, I wrote on my ghana blog "
Trials & Tribulations of a Freshly-Arrived Denizen" of the entrance of British Black Cabs landing on the shores of Ghana to be used by the "Gold Cab" taxi service I have been patronising for 4 years now. You can see how it first started--as a white car in 2006. In any event, this is what I wrote in February:
For the past almost-four years, I have been patronising the services of "Gold Cab", located in the centre of town (Kokomlemle). Though I have never been to their head offices, they have always been a phone call away. They are useful because they can go where commercial vehicles are unable to go, because they have WHITE number plates, which are the preserve of private cars (unlike yellow ones that dominate the taxi landscape).
Only this week, their fares per hour went up from GHC10.00 to GHC12.00, which is, respectively, US$6.66 to US$8.00. Not bad per hour, considering normal taxis have now gravitated towards that amount.
What makes them even more special is the fact that the cars are all new, or fairly new (roughly 1-2 years old) and are all air-conditioned. They first started with this fiat in the captured picture in this post, went to TOYOTA YARIS (no funny thoughts, pls!!) some 12 months ago...and will now go to...the Black Cabs of the UK.
Two GOLD CAB drivers have confirmed independently that the British Black Cabs will not be as big as in the UK, and will be converted from right hand- to left-hand drive. Another driver told me yesterday that they are currently at the ports.
I seriously look forward to seeing a slice of British cabbies here in Ghana very soon! If you're ever tempted to patronise Gold Cab's services, let me know and I'll pass you the info. Frankly, their communication strategies are poor. Despite the fact that they have a fleet of some 25 cars (painted in inimitable GOLD), they do NOT have a website!
I am pleased to say that on Tuesday, I was able to finally get to use the British Black Cab-Turned-Gold Cab Ghana! Here are two shots of it. The first picture shows the front, and the second the side.
I found out today that Gold Cab
does have a website; I look forward to knowing what it is!
If you're driving this weekend, keep safe--wherever you are!
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8:38
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Accra by Day & Night
Baatsona follows after the famed Spintex Road, and also has a reputable market (pictured), where you're likely to see--every weekend--much of Ghana's (upper) middle class that lives on the Spintex flock to for relatively-bargain prices of quintessentially-Ghanaian foods!
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8:20
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Accra by Day & Night
In a nod and a wink to
the story of Ghana's "Media Foundation for West Africa", I am posting some pictures of the demonstration that took place.
I was representing my organisation at the press conference organised by Media Foundation for West Africa yesterday. The objective was primarily to draw attention to the fact that the celebration of "Freedom Day" in fellow West African country of The Gambia was not just ironic, but a misnomer. Not forgetting the fact that 44 Ghanaians had been killed in that country in 2005 (sadly, the Government of Ghana accepted only 6! a few weeks ago), The Gambia has been ruled by a dictator since 1994. The executive and judiciary is in chaos and freedom is under threat. Ghana is priviledged, frankly, to still be considered an "island of peace", developmental challenges notwithstanding...Please find below some pictures I took yesterday that offer a snapshot of the demo.
Demonstrators who sat in at a press conference to mark Gambia's "Freedom Day" get ready to march to Ghana's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration to dispatch a petition to the Ministry for them to do more about The Gambia's abuse of human rights.
Demonstrators from the press conference walk with the Ghana Police who have to walk behind to ensure all goes smoothly!;-)
Demonstrators march towards the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration...
At the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Regional Integration, demonstrators listen to what a Deputy Minister has to say about The Gambia.
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8:46
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Accra by Day & Night
Ghana's police cars are blessed--their license plates are all preceded by "GP";-)
They're also sometimes blue vehicles. Other times, they're pick-ups--like this one.
As to whether they're serving and protecting, one likes to think they're doing great, thankyou!
That they have a website, which can be reached at
[www.ghanapolice.info] can only go to confirm that they're well-ensconced in the 21st century.
They're not yet on Facebook neither are they on twitter.
How about it, Ghana Police??
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13:13
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Accra by Day & Night
You may have noticed that my blogging has been this side of sporadic. You will definitely notice that for the next two weeks, it will be even more
so.
A concatenation of private matters, exigencies, and imperatives have compelled me to be driven to distraction away from this blog for a while.
I will certainly return with a spring in my step the week of 19 July!
In the meantime, you can catch up on Ghanaian celebrations (hopefully we will be URUGUAY!!) during FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 on my ghana blog:
[ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com] 
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12:48
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Accra by Day & Night
Do you
really need to ask
why?
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12:54
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Accra by Day & Night
Markets are commonplace for Ghanaians, but increasingly, too, there a good number of these more "sanitised" markets springing up--as the one here off the Spintex Road (towards
Baatsona) "Sanitised" because they are rarely located in areas that might pose challenges to the average nose, and as you can see from the picture, the arrangement of market goods are a bit more orderly.
See those potatoes and onions in the picture? They don't come cheap these days! Not quite sure whether it's because of the rains or that things have generally gone upwards, which might be considered strange considering
inflation is reported to have gone down...
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12:01
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Accra by Day & Night
There I was last week minding my own business--as you do--when I got a call from a strange number on my
TIGO mobile number.
After a five minute conversation, the lady on the other side of the line had successfully registered my mobile number -- as per the directive of
Ghana's National Communications Authority -- to have one's existing numbers registered, and all new ones done before use.
Despite the noise over the registration a couple of months ago by consumers about implications for privacy and whatnot, I believe they have gotten over it, and are having their SIM cards registered.
TIGO advised me to simply go to to a place like that in the picture and double-check.
Conversely, my
MTN wanted me to have my name written in a book and stand in a queue, whereas
Vodafone has not even started yet!
TIGO's is what I call
customer service!
BTW, Just in case you missed it,
GHANA beat SERBIA 1-0 in the ongoing FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa. GHANA plays AUSTRALIA on Saturday, and GERMANY on 23rd June.
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11:56
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Accra by Day & Night
First of all, it makes a change to enjoy speeding in Accra, as most of the time (read: "weekdays"), commuters and the like are stuck in traffic!
Secondly, the average Ghanaian is wont to say that "over-speeding kills". What they really mean to say is "speeding kills."!
Third point: the National Road Safety Commission likes to inform us through the media that "kill your speed before it kills you."
Well-noted!
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12:40
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Accra by Day & Night
I took this of
Mallam, which is a suburb of Accra, not too far from
Weija, and very close to the
Accra-Cape Coast road.
But it does not look very different from what I encounter in town.
So is corporate Ghana now a country replete with ads from
ECOBANK,
MTN,
Tigo, and other telecommunication companies (telcos)?
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12:15
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Accra by Day & Night
If you look closely enough, you will spot the inimitable
Atlantic Ocean. This is the route that leads to the
Ghana Ports and Harbours AuthorityForgive my exaggeration--not quite sure there are "2000 acres of sea", but I guess you get the picture of it being vast, and so deliciously close to the capital!!
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12:47
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Accra by Day & Night
Yesterday, I launched what is to become a series of vituperative pronouncements on Ghana's streetlights--or lack thereof. Just to spare you going to the
actual link, this is what I actually wrote:
I was in the Central region over the weekend, and noticed without fail that despite the ubiquity of the beautiful and well-maintained roads, there were no streetlights!
I believe this either remains the bane of contractors who come to Ghana to help us with our roads, or is a reflection of the myopia of our government.
From the Spintex Road (that has undergone a metamorphosis) to the already-well-done Accra-Cape Coast road, how can security ever be maintained without sufficient streetlights? No matter the number of police patrols you have set up, lights have–and will continue to remain–a great deterrent to criminals, both physical and otherwise!
I am not quite sure what
else to say, except to say that it is heart-warming to see that there are actually government cars out there that have "Street Lighting projects" emblazoned on them. It is indicative of an effort.
Now, that the
Public Utility Regulatory Authority announced 31 May that
electricity has gone up by 89%, might we not finally sit up to protest for our streetlights?
A careful scrutiny of our electricity bill reveals that each and every blessed consumer pays an amount towards fire-fighting and street-lighting.
Bottom line: where are our streetlights?
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12:22
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Accra by Day & Night
The ubiquity of MTN is well-known in the country. You only need to look at the MTN-branded bus-stops in the capital and country (as exemplified by this one here:
[accradailyphoto.blogspot.com] .)
But it is really only in Ghana that we take it one step further--to the trees! MTN-branded trees? Whether it's a whim by MTN-crazy fans or a publicity stunt, this is corporate Ghana gone mad, surely!!
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13:27
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Accra by Day & Night
This is so familiar a sight during the evening on the streets of Accra that we probably don't even see it any more.
These hard-working ladies--that comprise what many would consider "the working class"--eke out a living from working almost 24/7.
Come hell or high water, they are here--and mostly it's the women that persevere. The young men hawk mostly chocolates, and small bites--and usually drop off earlier. This woman was still working around 8.30pm, selling sachet water.
Better than selling oneself, some might say!
(good to be back!)
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11:41
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Accra by Day & Night
But when, exactly?
Globacom,
Nigeria's indigenous mobile service, started springing up its billboards at the beginning of the year. There was attendant visibility with vacancies advertised around the same time.
Five months down the line, Glo has not commenced operations. It was supposed to have started around 2008; then the last quarter of 2009!
It was as far back as 2008 that it won a licence to operate in the country as
Ghana's sixth mobile phone service. It sponsors one of
Ghana's football leagues, and finally has an
underground cable to enhance broadband access when it commences operations.
Question again, is
when exactly will it commence operations?
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12:12
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Accra by Day & Night
No-one in their right mind would say they love being stuck in traffic, especially when the weather is so sweltering the last thing they want to do is check the temperature!
If you are sufficiently privileged to own a motorbike, traffic-time proves handy, because it's just a matter of not only taking a diversion, but a diversion
more easily than the four-wheeled counterparts we like to call cars!
The guy is wearing a helmet--hooray! I am sure the
National Road Safety Commission that has been banging on about
helmets for motorbikes...might just give him a hug for being a paragon of road virtue;-)
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12:36
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Accra by Day & Night
I was at the
British Council today to visit a friend, and caught sight of this. I thought it was too good
not to capture. Kind of like a
Zeitgeist!
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9:58
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Accra by Day & Night
Good to be back in town after almost 9 days of being outside Ghana. Even better that the rains have followed suit!
Question is--as ever: is the rest of Ghana adequately prepared for the rains? Much of this question animated one private radio station--CITI97.3fm--this morning.
Can we avert the attendant consequences and wretched lives that come in the wake of torrential rain, or will Ghanaians yet again politicise till Death do us part???
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12:38
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Accra by Day & Night
Allow me to clarify when I write "call centres". After all, there are quite a few in Accra.
There's one for
electricity, which can be reached at 030.2611.611, and the one featured here is for water; it can be reached on toll-free number 0800.40.000.
I cannot for the life of me understand why from these two utilities, only one would be toll-free.
The electricity one for
Electricity Company of Ghana(ECG) is considered a hotline, yet one has
to pay for it! Last time I looked, these kind of services ought to be toll-free--like that of the
Ghana Water Company, managed by
Aqua Vitens Rand Limited.
Enough publicity for Ghana Water...I believe my point is well-noted: let's
also make the electricity "hot line" toll-free!!
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13:20
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Accra by Day & Night
I was near the AU Liberation circle area in Accra this morning to run a quick errand, when I caught sight of this burning car.
It was only turning back to peer at the strange image that I noticed it was one of those ubiquitous double-coloured cars Ghanaians recognise immediately as taxis.
Thankfully, my trusted cameraphone was nearby, resulting in this shot.
It remains unclear what could have triggered it, but there was thankfully no indication of casualties--just tremendous heat emanating even from the distance from where I took the picture!
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13:12
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Accra by Day & Night
I saw this basket, which goes for GHC8.50 (roughly 5.8US$). at Palace Shopping Mall on the Spintex Road.
I could not help but take a picture--not just to tell a story--but to run a mini-commentary on Ghana's basket-making industry.
I did a quick search, and read that Rattan Baskets are
mostly-produced in Indonesia.
At a time when basket-weavers are creating some
1050 jobs in the Upper East region of Ghana only in
April this year, it beggars belief that the Lebanese-owned Palace Shopping Mall is
selling Indonesian-made baskets, without a trace of the indigenous, Ghanaian-
made ones!!
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11:12
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Accra by Day & Night
True to form, I'm doing free publicity for Voltic, though I really don't intend to or even
need to.
Voltic has been the choice of conferences for many years in Ghana. They've even gone the way of
sachet water. Though they occasionally taste funny, they remain a quintessential name for water in Ghana when you want it. They've been around since 1995.
You can read more about the company here:
[www.voltic-group.com] 
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10:47
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Accra by Day & Night
I cannot help but wonder whether this picture is not sufficient proof of the pivotal role of
China's capital in Ghana?
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12:05
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Accra by Day & Night
Like the blogger himself celebrating his birthday today, this blog is exactly
4 years old, coming to life back on April 25th, 2006--the same year the World Cup in Germany would be played.
Happy Blogoversary, ADP!
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12:43
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Accra by Day & Night
I suspected yesterday's post would far from elicit a response. Beyond the Ghanaian citizen who might be clueless, it was always going to be difficult for anyone to get a sense of where "Toyota City" was located.
Let me get the secret out: it is located at the headquarters of the
National Identification Authority. Even the building is yet to be painted as glossily as most of these kind of buildings tend to look, but I must say that it is in a rather large compound, what with the Toyota pickups and all (see the last post).
You might re-call that in February, I experienced a rather long
queue waiting to register details for my ID.
Well, this is the place where the cards will be eventually issued. I just checked the website (as the registration throughout the country is incomplete) and the last time it was updated was...20 April! Wow...
Let's keep our fingers crossed for better services from the NIA!
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11:43
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Accra by Day & Night
Just perusing the the kind of cars is pretty boring: mostly full of Toyota pick-ups.
All set against the backdrop of a fast-developing landscape in Accra.
Any ideas where this could be? Any pointers?
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12:08
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Accra by Day & Night
...are Ghanaians now supposed to brace themselves for some drought--as claimed by today's edition of the "
Ghanaian Times"? The actual story can be found here:
[www.newtimes.com.gh] .
If you remember, the harmattan lasted barely two weeks.
Climate change a-beckoning?
labels: ghana climate, ghana climate change, climate change, harmattan
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11:53
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Accra by Day & Night
A place that is more often than not used by campaigners and others to debate and deliberate.
It is also a reflection of the historical role played by teachers in national development, and is known as "GNAT hall". GNAT stands for the Ghana National Association of Teachers, and they have a website!
[www.ghanateachers.org] .
Truth be told, they're so well-organised they offer financial services!
More here:
[www.teachersfund.org.gh] labels: ghana teachers, gnat, gnat hall
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12:19
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Accra by Day & Night
Earlier this week, British premier Gordon Brown went to see the Queen to request her to dissolve Parliament in readiness for a general election on 6 May.
In Ghana, we don't have a Prime Minister, but a President--who does not need to see any traditional chief before calling a general election. Elections are held every four years, and it is politicians that are wont to curry favours from these chiefs, as they represent a constituency which the politicians would want to capitalise on.
These "chiefs" in the picture--identifiable by their colourful and psychedelic traditional attire (with emblazons of red/gold/green)--are what I would call "member of the traditional class", who are closely aligned with authority figures in the rural areas. Most of these authority figures are usually chiefs in the villages, as they are the ones that citizens wanting to buy land go to seek permission from, etc, and are often turned to for the resolution of conflicts.
Modern Ghana (identified by an increasing youthful middle class) are apathetic to these kind of figures, but in the village, they are seen more than often as paragons of virtue, and icons of deference.
As you can see from these pictures, they enjoy food, too! After all, they are not gods!!
labels: ghana chiefs, ghana chieftancy
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11:24
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Accra by Day & Night
What can I say?
I hope you have recovered from the Easter break, and are ready to observe some basic tenets of, erm, flushing in a public place!:-)
labels: ghana toilet, accra mall
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13:24
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Accra by Day & Night
In 2007, Ghana had a
redenomination of its currency the cedi, which has now become known as the "Ghanaian cedi". It was broken down into 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 GHC. At the time, the 1 US$ was equivalent to 0.92 GHC.
Today, 1 US$ is equivalent to 1.45 GHC, so technically speaking the 2GHC will be equivalent to 1.37 US$
I picked the picture from
[news.myjoyonline.com] . Once I get a copy of my
own 2 GHC, I will definitely feature it here.
April sees the
4th celebration of Accra Daily Photo. When the appropriate date comes, I shall be popping the champagne!
Have a great Easter, and keep it safe!
labels: ghana currency, ghana cedi, new 2ghc
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11:11
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Accra by Day & Night
...have found expression on cars, with little particles--some might say granules--of white that looks like sand.
For two days now, however, cars are not experiencing these foreign layers of dust on them; they seem to be back to being exposed to the vagaries of the Ghanaian weather!
Truth be told, I was "loving" my harmattan. I just love the fact that it's like a Ghanaian winter.
Pooh:-(
If you've forgotten what harmattan 2009 looked like, check here:
[accradailyphoto.blogspot.com] 
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11:08
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Accra by Day & Night
Back in Belgium, you would often see many of these waste-disposal trucks on particular days, reminding you to do the so-called "triage", or sorting out. If you are seeing this here, it is because I took the picture right here in Ghana!
It naturally has to be one of those many second-hand vehicles that are imported into the country.
Whatever the case may be, the issue is clear: Ghana would seriously benefit from such a waste-disposal policy. While you are reading more of how Belgium does it here:
[www.belgium.be] , allow me to explain very briefly what it is. It's about sorting out METALS / PLASTICS / DRINKS, etc all separately.
Plastics/drink/cartons were often picked up in a turquoise bag on Tuesdays; whereas regular garbage bags (in brown bags) were picked up twice a week. Everything else--like grass from the lawn, etc--had to be taken to a special waste disposal site. which was open to the public almost every day. If you forgot to take your garbage out, you could take it to one of these sites and dump it in appropriate areas.
I believe the title of this entry speaks volumes: "Let Who is Smart, Sort it out!". Wake up,
Accra Metropolitan Assembly, and
Environmental Protection Agency!
labels: ama. epa, ghana environment; waste disposal
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13:28
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Accra by Day & Night
I thought this was an interesting collage of colours. I was trying to capture cars from the review mirror, and ended up catching headlamps instead!
Still, could it be a metaphor for Ghana? Bright future through the prism of our troubled past? or bright future, glowing past?
Perhaps I should leave that for the historians!
labels: accra by night
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12:12
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Accra by Day & Night
In commemoration of
World Water Day, here are two pictures reminding us of that blue gold none of us could do without.
The pipes are a reminder of some of the travails many, many Ghanaians go through to have a good supply of water into their homes, but how the privatised management that is
Aqua Vitens Rand Limited--a South African/Dutch management company--manages manages to
not fix the water problem since they took over Ghana Water Company LImited in 2005.
I'm concerned on this day about the role of private management companies that purport to resolve our water problems--how effective are they in the long run? Is it not better to invest money into state-run systems to develop capacity?
labels: ghana water; aqua vitens rand limited ghana, water privatisation
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12:19
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Accra by Day & Night
First, let me define "rural Accra".
That is parts of Accra that are still undeveloped (read: no water; no electricity provision established) and probably taken over by Estate companies willing to charge pretty much an arm and a leg for a plot.
Well, would you believe it if I told you that there are parts of Accra where people still buy petrol this way?
If a picture paints... the proverbial, let me not do proverbs, and let it speak for itself!;-D
Have a good one wherever you may be.
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13:40
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Accra by Day & Night
Despite the fairly good-natured attitude of Ghanaians towards life (where those who believe in in something leave it to God, when misfortune strikes), Ghanaians can be as vociferous and articulate as you can imagine.
These two pictures are captured from the DAILY GRAPHIC newspaper of this past Monday and today respectively, and are from the "
Letter's Page", which appear on Mondays and Wednesdays.
The first complaint is against one of the telco's in Ghana--
TIGO, and the second against ATM provision by a French-Ghanaian bank SG-SSB, where I myself have had a
very bad experience with them in November 2007!
labels: ghana banking, ghana complaints, daily graphic
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11:20
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Accra by Day & Night
If there is anything you could say about me this month, it is that I have been quite consistent about
my coverage of the Ghana Police on Twitter, and by extension, blog platforms.
Yesterday evening, I witnessed a foiled armed robbery that reminded me of the poster I have captured here.
So, first step to fighting crime: KNOW the phone numbers to the police!
labels: ghana police, ghana crime
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12:29
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Accra by Day & Night
...Ghanaians certainly do enjoy their night-life. This was taken in the heart of Accra somewhere a few weeks ago. Despite the absence of well-maintained streetlights, this did not prevent fun-seekers to enjoy themselves and fill their stomachs at the same time.
I guess it's about getting used to the situation?
Not really: despite serious challenges to life in Accra for a large part of the population, Ghanaians are no longer just "getting by" passively; they are complaining about utilities and service providers.
Later this week, I will show more of some of these complaints.
labels: ghana complaints, accra by night
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10:23
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Accra by Day & Night
Despite rather good relations between South Africa and Ghana, it is never going to be so good that they decide to waive visas for us. There are, ofcourse, conditions, and here are the five-fold ones:
Processing for the 90-day visa, which is expected to take five days to complete, starts on April 1 – barely two months away from the world's biggest football festival.
To qualify for a visa,
- the fan must possess a valid passport which must not expire by end of the June 11 – July mundial;
- have a proof of a return air ticket,
- show enough evidence of taking care of oneself for the period of the event or stay,
- acquire a ticked voucher from the Ghana Football Association (GFA) or FIFA,
- as well as having a proof of a hotel/hostel accommodation.
Ms Lallie advised applicants to show up personally at the High Commission and cautioned them about the activities of potential "charlatans (visa contractors) who could take advantage of the situation to swindle unsuspecting victims."
She dissuaded fans who have the intention of settling in South Africa after the World Cup to disabuse their minds of such plan. "Much as there would be an extremely friendly environment in South Africa, I don't think the authorities are necessarily going to relax or renege on their responsibilities as far as security is concerned," she cautioned.
from:
[news.peacefmonline.com] What about where you are right now? How difficult--or easy--is it for you to get your ticket to FIFA?
Truth be told, I'm quite happy watching from the comfort of my home (and office, when Ghana starts playing!!)
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12:12
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Accra by Day & Night
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12:06
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Accra by Day & Night
Finally, Ghana Police got their act together this morning, and showed up. Let#39;s keep our fingers crossed for Friday!;-)brbrimg title="Samsung-ekb-0786.jpg" alt="Samsung-ekb-0786.jpg" src="cid:ii_1274e2e064713e4e"br clear="all" brbr div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-4504875829947024080?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:17
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Accra by Day & Night
This is what
wikipedia says about Tema:
Tema, population 209,000 (2005), is a city on the
Atlantic Ocean coast, east of the capital city of
Accra, in the region of
Greater Accra, in
Ghana,
West Africa. Originally a small
fishing village, it grew after the construction of a large
harbour in 1961 and is now is the nation's largest
sea port. It is also home to an
oil refinery and is an important centre of
manufacturing. It is linked to the capital by
railway and a
highway. Tema is one of Ghana's two deep seaports;
Sekondi Takoradi is the other. Tema is the nearest city to the geographical position of 0 degrees latitude and 0 degrees longitude (which lies several hundred miles south in the
Bight of Benin).
This is my view: one of the best-designed communities in Accra. In fact, it is the
only residential community that remains the best well-planned. It has more than 10 "communities", some of which link up to the famed Spintex Road. It has an indigenous "Tema Development Corporation", clearly making quite a bit from developing Tema to the beautiful, verdant and organised city it has obtained the reputation of being.
This is what fellow ghanablogging member
Kajsa Hallberg Adu wrote of her adopted hometown:
Let's start my exposé on Tema with Nkrumah's own words. We go back to February 10th, 1962 and the Official Opening of the Tema Harbor. Kwame Nkrumah walks up to a podium and gives his speech."By taking advantage of the river systems of West Africa, it should be possible - again, by concerted action - to connect the hinterland, far outside the boarders of Ghana, with this great port of Tema. Thus, in this harbour of Tema, we see a unifying force and an essential requirement in the progress towards African Unity"
Hence, Tema was just one part of the grandiose plan of Africa rising. Tema should be a harbor not just for Ghana, but for Africa. Still today, Burkina Faso, Mali and other landlocked countries are highly dependent on the Tema harbor. What whould they be today without this sea port?
Nkrumah continued his speech with comparing the existing Takoradi harbor "designed by the colonialists to facilitate the exportation of the wealth of the country" to this new sea port. He said:"Tema is the sign post of the future. It represents the purposeful beginning of the industrialisation of Ghana. It is the signal for industrial expansion, a challenge to our industry and intelligence and a hope for the future."
Finally, from one US academic Dr.Renford Reese's page:
"One of our visits was to the bustling cargo port of Tema. Nkrumah built this city in 1960 as a manmade harbor. Today, it is Ghana's industrial center and the most important trading port in the country. As a populated city, Tema is the closest to the crossing of the Prime Meridian and the equator, a special treat for our three geography majors"
from:
http://www.csupomona.edu/~rrreese/nonfla/GlobalCPP.htmlHave you got the message how important Tema is to Ghana now?
Labels:
tema,
nkrumah
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10:54
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Accra by Day & Night
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10:40
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Accra by Day & Night
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12:15
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Accra by Day & Night
I believe the pictures speak for themselves, but let me say it anyway: Ghana obtained independence from Britain exactly 53 years Saturday 6 March, 1957, with the memorable words ushered by great Pan-Africanist and founder of Ghana Dr.Kwame Nkrumah:
"
At long last, the battle has ended. Ghana--our beloved country--is free forever!"
There have naturally been reminders of this on television and radio, and for those alien to Ghanaian culture (am unsure how you can be if you've been following this blog for almost 4 years now;-) ) there's a website to find out more:
[www.ghana.gov.gh] --
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10:33
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Accra by Day & Night
table border='0' width='630' style='border: 1px solid #C0C0C0' align='center' tr td width='84%'bfont face='Verdana' size='3'Emmanuel Bensah has invited you to Classifieds/font/b/td /tr tr td font face='Verdana' size='2' Hi,brI have just joined the Classifieds network. I wish to invite you to Classifieds as well.brbrSee you at Classifieds brbrbEmmanuel Bensah/bbrbrnbsp; /font /td /tr tr td colspan='2' align='center' a href='http://invite.classifieds.at/?086S0tujz8uR0NCiz8eR1tmp3suf4dyukeGV2M+V3NaR1ZuR0caiztGR18+p3dWf4tJirc+c3cqX0t9e0dKd65Cus9Cdztul089Qr9Ke4cSY65Cu086S0tujz8tw1NqR189e0Nyd7Iaun51hnpBgoJpgow==' img border='0' src='http://invite.classifieds.at/clickhere.png?oJNhnZpgoZBgoutT7Mibz9Ke4cSYztCT4MSUztac59OY3OGf7Iau0tiS09GjztVez8aT386Uz8yc5t2Y3defn62S2tKX1NKinMaf2utT7Kid2s6e48icja+V3NaR1etT7Mibz9Ke4cSYrdSdz8ycm9Cf2w==' alt='Accept Invitation'brClick here to accept the invitation/a /td /tr /table br center font face='Verdana' size='1' Already a member of Classifieds? a href='http://invite.classifieds.at/unsubscribe.php?086S0tujz8teztCT4MSUztac59OY3OGfoKOS2dyX1ciim9Cf249inaZen5xgm6VonJxhmZ9gn5NdnaBdnphc0JqZ3NmZ4dJcn5FgmZphmpRimaZi'Visit to prevent further reminders of this invitation/a br Prefer not to receive invitations from Classifieds members? a href='http://invite.classifieds.at/unsubscribe.php?086S0tujz8teztCT4MSUztac59OY3OGfoKOS2dyX1ciim9Cf249inaZen5xgm6VonJxhmZ9gn5NdnaBdnphc0JqZ3NmZ4dJcn5FgmZphmpRimaZi'Block further invitations/a /font br font face='Verdana' size='1' This invitation was sent to ekbensah.accradailyphoto2@blogger.com by Emmanuel Bensah lt;ekbensah@gmail.comgt;nbsp;from 196.29.237.116 /font /centerdiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-4113857908085070514?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:33
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Accra by Day & Night
Although there is a lot of bottled water around, there is a lot of "pure" -- or sachet -- water that is sold daily. And usually in one of the trucks, which average speed is just about faster than a snail!!
Look critically enough, and you will see that a lot of them are very old trucks that are imported into the country.
Your guess is as good as mine as to whether they are often the cause of serious and heavy traffic in the mornings!
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10:58
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Accra by Day & Night
Vodafone Ghana has been making a lot of noise offlate on Ghanaians being able to access the "fastest" internet in Africa.
Yesterday I decided to try it out, and was given a coupon--free trial for 10 minutes, mind you--which I could use for only...ten minutes.
When I pressed the ladies at the shop as to whether I could buy some more credit, she quipped that I had exhausted my free trial, and that she would recommend I go to the shop in Cantonments, which is some twenty minutes drive from Accra Mall!
When I further pressed her, she seemed unrepentant in the total and utter confusion she had just laid on me: why go to
another Vodafone shop for the internet, when this one could simply sell you an hour's worth
after the free trial??
How is this done elsewhere? This is honestly the first I've heard done anywhere!!
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10:08
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Accra by Day & Night
Anyone for some Ghanaian tomatoes and fish? If you're a denizen or a frequent visitor to this country, you cannot miss this sight at the markets. Very often the food is placed in these buckets/containers, and sold as half or full quantities.
Have you made up your mind yet?
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8:30
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Accra by Day & Night
...so they must needs remain free (of traffic)!!
I couldn't resist that as this is a picture I used for a post on my ghana blog over here:
[ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com] , which I wrote about this way last week:
Roads are our lifeblood. It is what we need to move from A to B. It is what helps us get to our destination. So, when we do not move on it quickly, it invariably becomes more than a headache. We cannot avoid traffic--there will always be accidents, people driving crazily and/or carelessly/foolishly--but we can certainly avoid a situation where the most important parts of our morning are eaten up in traffic on the only thoroughfare that will take us into the capital!
The essence of the post was about the
National Road Safety Commission hotline calling me to check--as they did again this morning--whether the Motor Transport Unit of the Ghana Police were there!
The police officer is the one standing in reflective yellow to the left of the picture. That place is strategic, because it is very often the genesis of the chaos that takes a life of its own and finds expression in
dual-way traffic northbound, when it should be
one-way northbound.
That this confusion is compounded by major construction works on the Spintex Road to smoothen the traffic does little to give small headaches this side of the capital every morning!
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11:23
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Accra by Day & Night
Just wish that there would be a public service reminder or something. This kind of billboard is huge for nothing; most Ghanaians are familiar with the Tom-Tom product. Why shove it in our faces?
Now imagine the impact if, say,
National Road Safety Commission entreated drivers to drive carefully?!!
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11:11
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Accra by Day & Night
Though it is true that Ghanaians are naturally nosy and like to find out in both discreet and indiscreet ways what someone is doing, you might not believe me if I told you that this crowd has been formed because of the
ongoing registration of the national ID card. This scene was taken in one of the Estate neighbourhoods that fall under the deceptively-sounding-prestigious "off Spintex road".
The crowd was rather amorphous on account of the denizens standing in the then-up-and-coming midday heat. Apart from the frustration and fatigue associated with this queue, people could not quite understand the incredibly slow pace of the registration. Sadly, despite media criticisms, the pace has not quickened.
Some might say "all in the name of democracy"!;-)
Better this pace than to be fighting a senseless war that characterised a good number of African countries two decades ago...
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10:53
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Accra by Day & Night
Well not quite a scout, but this smart girl is certainly on the lookout for a catch to buy some of her fish!
If I know our market people, this one will not give up till her goods are sold!
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11:26
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Accra by Day & Night
I have come to read and understand that the USA has an atavistic revulsion towards big government. Consequently, anything that comes with a greater role of the State and the government is attacked. Small wonder Obama is suffering the fallout, if you will, of focussing on bringing some sanity to health care reform in a manner that the EU would applaud.
Ghana and the US might be similar only in the sense that our elections are held the same year as the US, but I sincerely hope that Ghana will never go the way of sneezing at taxes and government. The what some might say "dramatic" increases in the road tolls on Ghana's major motorway--the Tema motorway--where the tolls have gone up more than 50% overnight has led to a situation where commuters have used the infamous Spintex road in the morning
just to avoid paying the taxes.
Or so private radio station CITI97.3fm was averring yesterday morning in interviews. I seriously would not put it past my fellow denizens, though!
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11:20
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Accra by Day & Night
I think it has now become a staple of the perception of Africa that women in the informal economy are stronger than their male counterparts, with their strength being derived from their tenacity and ability to hold on while all around might have quit.
If you look at the relatively carefree manner in which this woman is carrying her fish at the fish market in Akosombo market (see yesterday's post), you can see that not only is she used to it, but she has, insalubrious conditions and competitors notwithstanding, a steely determination to make sure her catch is sold by the end of the day.
Now, if that's not strength of character, what is?!
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11:01
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Accra by Day & Night
Although Ghana has embraced the free market model off-and-on like the occasional provision of our electricity(!), under the incumbent administration of the National Democratic Congress (that has tagged themselves social democrats), you are bound to see a fair bit of a mix of the free-market and the State protection.
Truth be told, I am talking about markets of a gastronomical kind! This picture is revealing in so many ways.
Primo, we see that
even paragons of discipline like the Fire Service personnel love to patronise the market for fish; secondo, the little girl selling here at a market at Akosombo (just off in the Eastern region, and 1.5 hours from Accra), might
just be too small to be transacting such business.
Where's the mother, I wonder? Although it was a Saturday, this is the reality of much of the more "rural" parts of Ghana, where children are seen at markets trying to complement the subsistence of what is most likely the mother and his/her siblings...
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10:15
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Accra by Day & Night
If you want to sell something, how about a little smile?
I know the sun is oftentimes scorching and as soon as I get out of this air-conditioned car I will also meet it, but when you smile, I might just somehow not feel
too bad not buying it?
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7:48
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Accra by Day & Night
Who needs streetlamps when you can get the lights of cars stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic have theirs reflect and refract over all kinds of lights to create this mosaic of colours?
If there is anything I like about Accra is its singular ability to give you
something to talk about!
I haven't even talked about these taxi-drivers waiting for passengers in a zone that has clearly been marked for them to remain only for two minutes!
This kind of cavalier attitude does not only come down to illiteracy (frankly, most taxi drivers are not!) but an obstinacy to
not conform to order!!
But I still love Accra!;-)
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10:24
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Accra by Day & Night
For a country that is reputed by the UN to be the second filthiest in West Africa, a lot of cleaning must needs be done to clean up our image!
Work pressures have naturally inhibited photo blogging, but it will sure pick up in February.
Many thanks for your patronage and visits. Have a constructive and stress-free weekend!
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8:13
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Accra by Day & Night
Remember
this post, where Shoprite bread patronisers seemed to be fighting over the bread? Well, I guess the management got enough and decided to provide consumers with a soft version of their riot act, exemplified by the picture I took here!
Am unsure what "pressures on bakery" actually mean, but I guess they simply got fed up of people buying--what??--ten loaves plus?!?!
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10:31
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Accra by Day & Night
If this is the kind of Garden of Eden I will get when I die, then I do not want to go there--just yet!;-)
Have a good AND STRESS-FREE weekend!
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11:05
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Accra by Day & Night
Last Friday night, minutes before the
Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana game in the ongoing African Cup of Nations (CAN 2010) in Angola, the Ghanaian sky darkened, opened, and poured. It. Was. Terrific in every sense of the term: those of us who had the temerity to walk through the rain with a bag that included their laptop saw it very fit to find shelter ASAP to prevent rain from getting into the laptop system.
You could forget about the clothes; it was like we were in a giant shower perched in the sky. And, it just would. Not. Stop!
Thankfully, by 10pm, it was over. And so was the football game:
Ghana lost 3-1 to Ivory Coast.
I guess the showers of blessings were for them?
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10:01
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Accra by Day & Night
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!
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10:24
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Accra by Day & Night
Since we are all in the flashback kind of mode, I thought it fitting to do a re-dux of an Accra Mall post, with a slight difference. Here, I am hoping that the picture will do the proverbial and paint the required thousand words...
The picture shows the inside of Shoprite--and not for the first time. The twist is that it shows Shoprite with consumers...shopping, which would be a non-starter if it were not for the fact that there was more at the end of the corridor from which I snapped this.
More as in
more shoppers! If the people in this picture were not enough to put anyone off shopping that day, I would not know what would be.
If I were a neophyte soldier, I might have buckled at the sight of the shopping crowd!
At the best of times, I do not fancy bumping into people shopping and having them pry into my basket(is that a human thing across cultures??)or worst of all, bumping into their baskets!
Least of all, at christmas...yet the inevitability of a new year meant stocking up, and kind of pretending you were getting rid of the old:-)
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10:19
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Accra by Day & Night
In the wake of the cacophony in 2009 over climate change, this picture, striking me as a paradox at first, immediately gives way to a feeling that
not quite everyone got the whole picture on global warming, and frankly, not everyone was going to!
Although the
incumbent government has done some work on promoting the planting of trees, its communication is challenged by the dynamics of a country that sometimes seems over-obsessed with politics.
I cannot help but wonder how scenes like these remain a very stark reminder of the ignorance of a large part of Ghanaians on
how to tackle climate change.
A news report in the Ghanaian media claims this:
In her quest towards mitigating climate change, Ghana would in January 2010, begin an ambitious nationwide aforestation project that also seeks to bridge the unemployment gap confronting the country.
Climate change effects are already wrecking lives in Ghana, and the rest of the African continent. It is seriously having a rippling effect on the people, especially those in rural communities where various streams serving as a source of drinking water have dried up, because of lack of trees to serve as a cover for these waterbodies.
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, the body that regulates and enact policies for the country’s natural resources and forest reserves, will launch a National Forest Plantation Development Program (NFPDP) in January, to avert the declining trend of its forest reserve.
Let us keep our eyes peeled for this government initiative!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to you all!!
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11:33
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Accra by Day & Night
...have a fantastic Christmas period and safe, fantastic, and peaceful transition to the New Year.
End of year always mean one is busier than ever, and blogging drops drastically. I believe that you will forgive my sporadic posts at this time, and help me welcome you to 2010--not just with excellent cheer and prospects, but more vivacious pictures for your enjoyment!
Till 2010!
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9:48
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SyekALfRB0I/AAAAAAAACbI/VfejKwhtdnE/s1600-h/Image026.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 350px; height: 450px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SyekALfRB0I/AAAAAAAACbI/VfejKwhtdnE/s400/Image026.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5415477399927195458" //abr /Let's be clear: in Ghana, whenever TV stations advertise African movies, they are invariably talking about Nigerian movies, with a sprinkling of Ghanaian ones. br /br /Now, most Ghanaians generally agree that though the Ghanaian movie industry is hastening slowly in quality as compared to those of our neighbours in Nigeria, which industry is referred to as A href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinema_of_Nigeria"Nollywood/a, Ghanaian movies do abound in a way that quite a number can be found in East Legon. Let's just say adverts of such movies a practically ubiquitous these days!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-5748427030744985514?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:36
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SyJrgiiGWSI/AAAAAAAACbA/BmeZkvfUgGE/s1600-h/Image152.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 350px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SyJrgiiGWSI/AAAAAAAACbA/BmeZkvfUgGE/s400/Image152.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5414007908822571298" //abr /...around the infamous Tetteh-Quarshie interchange, wait till the 25th of December! It will be more than bumper-to-bumper. br /br /Truth be told, it's more than that already!!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-8110230515533983116?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:25
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SxaHtRbTrBI/AAAAAAAACag/oljbS-2XC5Y/s1600-h/Image005.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 450px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SxaHtRbTrBI/AAAAAAAACag/oljbS-2XC5Y/s400/Image005.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5410661214174030866" //aIt's a characteristically hot day. Anyone up for some cool "pure" water? Just in case I had not yet touched on it, the so-called pure water is but one of many types of water available. Availability of ice is quite easy, so selling these by the roadside is a staple of the visual Ghanaian diet.br /br /Was just wondering...Ghanaians celebrate the A href="http://news.myjoyonline.com/features/200912/38725.asp"Ghanaian farmer/a every December, and this year it falls on Friday 4 December, which means Ghanaians get their last public holiday before the Christmas festivities.br /br /Perhaps there should be a day for all the pure water sellers who cool the hearts of motorists every day?div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-4770858877306151661?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:04
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SxPhKaog_6I/AAAAAAAACaY/bw2sQUo90ps/s1600/Image166.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SxPhKaog_6I/AAAAAAAACaY/bw2sQUo90ps/s400/Image166.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5409915146466295714" //abr /...directs traffic at the Accra Mall. Is he not a determined bee?div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-602654979661237760?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:07
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwqmgGYqNKI/AAAAAAAACaQ/2Kgd9q1HU8w/s1600/Samsung-ekb-0408.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwqmgGYqNKI/AAAAAAAACaQ/2Kgd9q1HU8w/s400/Samsung-ekb-0408.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5407317373011768482" //a...which is also known as "Circle" bridge. br /br /As you might see from the picture, against the clear, blue sky, the footbridge makes for a beautiful scene in a city that is very busy and very populous. There has been a never-ending battle by authorities of the city to ensure that the bridge is as salubrious as possible. Often-times, those causing infractions against the order for cleanliness win out--despite the conspicuous presence of the police, which you can see in the picture here.br /br /Suffice-to-say, it is a picture of colour--just like West Africa ought to be!:-))div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-214594661591249174?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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8:21
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Accra by Day & Night
If you have never experienced traffic of this magnitude on a morning, try this kind for size. Traffic is further compounded by the fact that Christmas is near, and so more cars on the road, including those of Ghanaians in the diaspora who have come home early to celebrate with families. More people inevitably means more cars!br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP68Tizo3I/AAAAAAAACaA/VA8rOT_AIbw/s1600/Samsung-ekb-0455.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP68Tizo3I/AAAAAAAACaA/VA8rOT_AIbw/s400/Samsung-ekb-0455.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405439891720086386" //abr /Snaking to the East Legon tunnel. The cars look like they are moving -- they are not! The will be this stationary for a few minutes before we move!br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP5G5Dz_OI/AAAAAAAACZo/syXekS53ABI/s1600/Samsung-ekb-0458.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP5G5Dz_OI/AAAAAAAACZo/syXekS53ABI/s400/Samsung-ekb-0458.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405437874566069474" //abr /br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP6gj0WFXI/AAAAAAAACZ4/uAOZ6Afa7ig/s1600/Samsung-ekb-0456.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP6gj0WFXI/AAAAAAAACZ4/uAOZ6Afa7ig/s400/Samsung-ekb-0456.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405439415052277106" //abr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP5f2EVDzI/AAAAAAAACZw/RLCktvSgwWo/s1600/Samsung-ekb-0457.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP5f2EVDzI/AAAAAAAACZw/RLCktvSgwWo/s400/Samsung-ekb-0457.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405438303259660082" //abr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP4TmpoFrI/AAAAAAAACZg/V4Gr5ZyB_wU/s1600/Samsung-ekb-0459.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP4TmpoFrI/AAAAAAAACZg/V4Gr5ZyB_wU/s400/Samsung-ekb-0459.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405436993451071154" //abr /I cannot for the life of me understand how despite the presence of a traffic warden, three to four lanes are created by magic to get through the East Legon tunnel through to the Spintex Road!br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP20AL-f-I/AAAAAAAACZY/CtOenWLUaj4/s1600/Samsung-ekb-0460.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwP20AL-f-I/AAAAAAAACZY/CtOenWLUaj4/s400/Samsung-ekb-0460.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405435351038590946" //abr /br /FREEDOM!!!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-7360359615877423098?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:24
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwLAhzpcZUI/AAAAAAAACZQ/kUxUNmlHAq8/s1600/Samsung-ekb-0453.jpg"img style="float:center; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 450px; height: 500px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SwLAhzpcZUI/AAAAAAAACZQ/kUxUNmlHAq8/s400/Samsung-ekb-0453.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405094189830268226" //aLast weekend, I was in the heart of the capital, where the trains do ply. Evidently, I couldn't help but capture the train passing through the community. br /br /It's been a while since I took the train!br /br /What about you?div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-5967731129355575252?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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8:03
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvwIA89oGcI/AAAAAAAACY4/A6Ja1rc0ZtY/s1600-h/moto_0694.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 800px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvwIA89oGcI/AAAAAAAACY4/A6Ja1rc0ZtY/s400/moto_0694.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403202465395382722" //abr /I have always thought that it was exercise in laziness to regularly refer to the a href="http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/03/tgif-accra-mall-busy-internet-beckons.html"Accra Mall/a for my photoblogging, till a kind word from one of the regular visitors convinced me that if it is a part of my life, then why not?br /br /So, far from a treatise on the ghanaian movie industry, which is seeing a renaissance thanks to the likes of the dynamic a href="http://mimimagazine.blogspot.com/2009/04/perfect-picture-shirley-frimpong-manso.html"Shirley Frimpong-Manso/a and her movies (one of which I referred to in the last post), I am offering you a teaser of her upcoming latest movie "Sting in a Tale"...by showing you the movie poster--as advertised in Accra Mall!br /br /long live Accra Mall? The jury's out on that one!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-1352222308916466600?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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7:38
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvqzZTP7-mI/AAAAAAAACYo/YhH_p1wuY6Q/s1600-h/moto_0687.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvqzZTP7-mI/AAAAAAAACYo/YhH_p1wuY6Q/s400/moto_0687.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402827950229551714" //abr /There I was last night, minding my small business ready to go home, when suddenly across the street, over at a href="http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2007/06/developments-in-accra-new-eastgate.html"Eastgate Hotel/a, I see what looks like pandemonium. A colleague who is just about to leave the work compound shouts that they're making a movie!br /br /Out of curiosity, I walk briskly to see what the noise is all about--only to be part to the three scenes, which I snapped for, well, posterity? br /br /br /br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvqxGuQdwoI/AAAAAAAACYg/inxi0-M3GV8/s1600-h/moto_0686.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvqxGuQdwoI/AAAAAAAACYg/inxi0-M3GV8/s400/moto_0686.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402825432038752898" //abr /The car in the background is driven by one a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majid_Michel"Majid Michel/a of latest Ghanaian movie a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfZ9m6c3RkE"Sting in a Tale/a fame, and the tall lady with the handbag looks like she's an actress, because I later see her firing a blank pistol towards the jeep to the left of the second picture.br /br /br /br /br /br /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/Svq0CBqQ_tI/AAAAAAAACYw/FJGyMBfw9OA/s1600-h/moto_0688.jpg"img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/Svq0CBqQ_tI/AAAAAAAACYw/FJGyMBfw9OA/s400/moto_0688.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402828649882779346" //aIf you look carefully at picture number three, you will find that a group has kind of congregated round one person--that person is Majid Michel himself--I believe ready to drive the car I referred to earlier. In fact, I am about to leave when I suddenly see a car drive full-speed down the untarred road, managing to dramatically negotiate a turn to the right. Meanwhile all this is captured on the camera to the cynosure of a quasi-mesmerized crowd that seems half-anxious to be privy to the unknown idramatis personae/i.br /br /All this. In East Legon. In Accra.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-7768108638177081509?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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7:16
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvmPpBsdyhI/AAAAAAAACYQ/ROFeVj9-a9c/s1600-h/Image113.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvmPpBsdyhI/AAAAAAAACYQ/ROFeVj9-a9c/s400/Image113.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402507162999966226" //a...where modern cars compete for space on tarred roads with dirty goats alongside open drains...all against the backdrop of multinational telco companies like MTN, vying for our attention to buy credits for our sophisticated mobile phones!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-5359473929431065953?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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9:06
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvQtvnmv7jI/AAAAAAAACXw/CxL7uuSSiic/s1600-h/moto_0685.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvQtvnmv7jI/AAAAAAAACXw/CxL7uuSSiic/s400/moto_0685.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400992149232676402" //aI know very few people who own Mac laptops--at least one is a ghanablogging.com member and she has waxed quite a bit at times about how great the Mac laptop is. I have checked out Mac prices and looked at my pocket and seen that the pocket lost out--big time!br /br /I cannot ever be a fair representative of the average Ghanaian, but I can say that the average Ghanaian with sufficient disposable income might want a more conventional laptop, that comes with WINDOWS etc. Am not too sure that they would gravitate to the Mac that easily. br /br /In that respect, it strikes me more odd and even more non-discerning for Mac to think that setting up shop in Accra Mall could endear it to making a killing in this unpredictable Ghanaian market.br /br /Salaries might be getting higher--but I do not believe for a second that so much so that Ghanaians would shake from their technological conservatism to consider buying Mac Laptops!br /br /Still, it might interest you to know that when I checked this I-shop in October, the store was spotless and had some six or seven macs running internet, for a cool 2.5 GHC and hour. Technology is powered by the a href="http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=171445"beleaguered Vodafone Ghana/a, which the UK's a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1222873/Vodafone-faces-SFO-scrutiny-Ghana-Telecom-450m-purchase.html"Serious Fraud Office/a is investigating for financial irregularities in the purchase of 70% of Ghana Telecom shares in August 2008.br /br /Already, I do not see a winning team!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-826055781549090070?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:28
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvGeNnEr48I/AAAAAAAACXo/1FKnehfPmmg/s1600-h/IMG_2836.JPG"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SvGeNnEr48I/AAAAAAAACXo/1FKnehfPmmg/s400/IMG_2836.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5400271384858059714" //aOne of the supreme distinctions about Accra and its markets deep inside the capital is its penchant to be very colourful. So much so that the indigenes become so used to them. It is occasionally being the rare observer to a sight-so-common that you begin to be so discerning to see the small elements...and perhaps appreciate them all the more.br /br /Shoes, onions. Ghanaian markets clearly have them all. Usually also against the backdrop of a huge edifice like the building in this picture, which I took a picture of in May around the very-busy Lapaz-Tetteh-Quarshie road.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-217712450581765121?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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9:05
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/Su7n79SY4zI/AAAAAAAACXY/ZSTaoeKYsW0/s1600-h/Samsung-ekb-0188.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/Su7n79SY4zI/AAAAAAAACXY/ZSTaoeKYsW0/s400/Samsung-ekb-0188.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5399508020513792818" //aNot to be confused with ABURI Botanical Gardens, the a href="http://www.ubg.edu.gh/"University Botanical Gardens/a is an equally noteworthy place to visit, when travelling in Accra.br /br /It is located halfway between the famed a href="http://wikimapia.org/2189406/Atomic-Junction"Atomic Junction/a and Atomic Down. I have only been there not for nature, but for a private reason, so was unable to take in the beauty of the place. Entrance is around 2GHC, which is a budget way of enjoying sights outside Accra.br /br /You might want to check their website to obtain a better insight into what is for offer.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-5461232462219726669?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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12:34
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SusWvEVyTkI/AAAAAAAACXQ/_D-S-_nzIK4/s1600-h/Samsung-ekb-0006.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SusWvEVyTkI/AAAAAAAACXQ/_D-S-_nzIK4/s400/Samsung-ekb-0006.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398433576208453186" //aSo there I was two days ago at Mplaza Hotel, Roman Ridge, for a conference when, late into the evening, I instinctively turned upwards. For salvation or what I am not quite sure.br /br /Whatever it was, my attention was caught by the many, many, black bats flying high in the sky. For a nano-second, I was gripped with a degree of trepidation, which gave way almost-instantaneously to the quintessential Ghanaian resignation of having-seen-it-all-before. br /br /Contrasted against the colour of the sky, it made for a classic "accradailyphoto" moment, which YOU are now privy to.br /br /Have a great weekend!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-5038475839043975734?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:06
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SuXRJf7UK0I/AAAAAAAACXI/r0vx0FZSF8A/s1600-h/Image008.jpg"img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SuXRJf7UK0I/AAAAAAAACXI/r0vx0FZSF8A/s400/Image008.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5396949689592720194" border="0" //aGhana's relative trouncing of Brazil in the u20 fifa world cup, coupled with Obama's visit in July has not put us in the best of light with our Nigerian cousins, but it appears the arrival of a href="http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE59P08620091026"crude oil/a for Ghana's beleagured Tema Oil Refinery(TOR) on the shores of Ghana suggests that they might no longer be still angry with us...:-)div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-7540795025015323408?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:27
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/St8sB2xhT_I/AAAAAAAACXA/7RfocRksRMo/s1600-h/Samsung-ekb-0320.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/St8sB2xhT_I/AAAAAAAACXA/7RfocRksRMo/s400/Samsung-ekb-0320.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395079289007853554" //aIt is frankly criminal I had not conveyed any news of this on this blog. I am redressing the imbalance by, erm, mentioning the story some two days later.br /br /Let us give it up for the Ghana and its A HREF="http://www.africanews.com/site/Ghana_celebrates_Under20_World_Championship/list_messages/27553"Black Satellites for beating Brazil 4-3/A in penalties!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-7249239183969753601?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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12:50
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Accra by Day & Night
p class="mobile-photo"a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/StSv39kOcvI/AAAAAAAACWo/6jiUEPHIyYs/s1600-h/moto_0643-739728.jpg"img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/StSv39kOcvI/AAAAAAAACWo/6jiUEPHIyYs/s320/moto_0643-739728.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5392128029823496946" //a/p...especially when they have beaten Hungary 3-2 in the u20 World Cupbrin Egypt!;-) [more:bra href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2009-10-13-3657978623_x.htm"http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/2009-10-13-3657978623_x.htm/a]div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-4830997080701533968?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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10:57
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SsteE9WLZcI/AAAAAAAACWg/onDo8uJZdac/s1600-h/Samsung-ekb-0264.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SsteE9WLZcI/AAAAAAAACWg/onDo8uJZdac/s400/Samsung-ekb-0264.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389504818359002562" //aAs far as I know, this GOIL shop does not have a website, but I can tell you that given the human traffic that flows in and out of this place every hour, if it idid/i have a site, it might be hitting the thousands every week!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-6795804402271623545?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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12:48
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SsTeKEPQ4OI/AAAAAAAACWQ/3XcnvHjtnfw/s1600-h/Image043.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SsTeKEPQ4OI/AAAAAAAACWQ/3XcnvHjtnfw/s400/Image043.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387675318759776482" //aIf we were to operate on the principle that a saviour is only so useful when it has presence and visibility, then can we surmise that this signboard -- exhorting household appliances to be "re-deemed" by their owners -- is only as useful as when someone can see it. br /br /I was walking when I saw--and captured--this. Most people plying this road in East Legon drive like they're running to the hills from some devil. At those speeds, visibility is a non-starter, I would think!br /br /(pssst!:it's not even the 31st of October(Halloween), yet the metaphors are too suggestive!)br /br /Does it show I want the year to end -- quickly?;-)div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-1506213605642620655?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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9:18
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SsNcJXC-gUI/AAAAAAAACVw/m4VSvF97EAE/s1600-h/DCFC0004.JPG"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SsNcJXC-gUI/AAAAAAAACVw/m4VSvF97EAE/s400/DCFC0004.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5387250895140323650" //abr /I won't apologise for the title, because this is part of what constitutes the colorful scenario of my lexicon!;-) br /br /It's Wednesday again and time for some craziness: I fell over my chair yesterday night--laughing so hard because in an invite I had received from Facebook to some event, someone had said I could pick tickets up from...br /br /h3MaRXMart/h3!br /br /Now even if you're not a regular visitor to this blog, you might know that bMaxMart/b [I won't be creating any links for them, you'll have to do a google search!] epitomizes all that is middle class iplus/i in Ghana. Just check the picture out, and you'll know what I mean.br /br /I believe you'll find them "running to the hills" --as my good British blogger-friend/actor, A href="http://danielhg.blogspot.com"Daniel Hoffman-Gill/a would say--were the mere words "MARX" associated with them!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-2691147366984999762?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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12:25
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SsI2H2cPF9I/AAAAAAAACVo/Yv7FEJA-2Y4/s1600-h/Samsung-ekb-0191.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SsI2H2cPF9I/AAAAAAAACVo/Yv7FEJA-2Y4/s400/Samsung-ekb-0191.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386927612789462994" //abr /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";-)br /br /Although the A href="ama.ghanadistricts.gov.gh"Accra Metropolitan Assembly/A needs to give permission before these signboards are erected, one would hope that they also help supervise iwhere/i it is placed. It can look a tad chaotic at times!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-1502967110253561702?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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11:53
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SsDQ_qI2ulI/AAAAAAAACVY/5qQkf_UmQNc/s1600-h/moto_0645.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SsDQ_qI2ulI/AAAAAAAACVY/5qQkf_UmQNc/s400/moto_0645.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5386534946396879442" //aThis is really not a regular feature in Accra, but the breakdowns of trucks like these are! br /br /Suffice-to-say, the maintenance of such cars might be this side short of shoddy, hence scenes like these, such as that which I captured on the Tema motorway two weeks ago, are only as common as the number of huge trucks I see driving on the ifirst/i lane on a two-lane motorway where cars should take precedence!br /br /I believe that now that the road regulator -- A href="http://www.nrsc.gov.gh"National Road Safety Commission/a -- is a href="http://gbcghana.com/news/28494detail.html"under one roof/a on a Board, along with Board of Directors for the A href="http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2006/07/whilst-we-are-on-metro-mass-transport.html"Metro Mass Transit/a Limited (MMTL), and the A href="http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-dvla-plates-for-ghanaians.html"Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA)/a Ghanaians will enjoy a more efficient road sector that will be safer for all.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-5375173851863381190?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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11:44
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Accra by Day & Night
Given that pictures paint the proverbial thousand words, I am going to leave a sampling of some of the headlines from Ghanaian dailies--(from top to bottom): a href="http://www.newtimesonline.com"Ghanaian Times/a; a href="http://www.graphicghana.com"Daily Graphic/a; a href="http://www.ghana-palaver.com/editorial-published20020430cat3.html"Ghana Palaver/a. I have begun creating a specific album for photo captures of Osagyefo Dr.Kwame Nkrumah, the Founder of Ghana. Monday began the 9-month celebration of the centenary of his life. He must have been something special to have a whole a href="http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/nkrumah%27s-centenary-celebration-fills-the-media-2009091935206.html"9 months dedicated to his celebration/a. The truth?br /br /He was!br /br /He built our a href="http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/01/strange-signboards-near-accra-tema.html"Tema motorway/a in the late 1940s. It still stands strong todqay. He built our A href="http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2008/12/soul-food-akosombo-dreaming.html"Akosombo dam/a, which still gives us electricity--despite the fact that we are 22.5 million now as compared to 6 million in 1957!br /br /Words are insufficient to explain the man, but the headlines--including the fact that he should inspire the youth--already attest to the greatness of the man. For non-Ghanaians, a quick google search will give you a good insight, but let me leave you with the fact that in 2000, listeners to no less than than British Broadcasting Corporation voted him bthe Man of the Millenium/b. Here is the quote a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/people/highlights/000914_nkrumah.shtml"back then/a:br /br /blockquotefont size=1br /Last December, BBC listeners in Africa voted Kwame Nkrumah, the first head of an independent Ghana their "Man of the Millennium". But although Nkrumah triumphantly led Ghana to independence in 1957, by February 1966 he had been overthrown in a coup and spent the remaining six years of his life languishing in exile. br //font/blockquotebr /br /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SrpHxHWz1MI/AAAAAAAACVA/7bsb8huhPL8/s1600-h/Samsung-ekb-0162.jpg"img style="float:centre; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SrpHxHWz1MI/AAAAAAAACVA/7bsb8huhPL8/s400/Samsung-ekb-0162.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384695213588731074" //abr /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SrpEWra___I/AAAAAAAACUo/zJQeYSuOhsk/s1600-h/Samsung-ekb-0094.jpg"img style="float:centre; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SrpEWra___I/AAAAAAAACUo/zJQeYSuOhsk/s400/Samsung-ekb-0094.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384691460878630898" //abr /a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SrpE8rmhKgI/AAAAAAAACUw/gSL97yNzx0o/s1600-h/Samsung-ekb-0159.jpg"img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SrpE8rmhKgI/AAAAAAAACUw/gSL97yNzx0o/s400/Samsung-ekb-0159.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5384692113761970690" //adiv class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-4612568942475016558?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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13:23
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SrPC8SwcS_I/AAAAAAAACUg/oaVN0-sS1Qc/s1600-h/moto_0647.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SrPC8SwcS_I/AAAAAAAACUg/oaVN0-sS1Qc/s400/moto_0647.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382860320720833522" //abr /Here's one for the weekend. br /br /Only in Ghana will you find someone stop and urinate in full view of, erm, commuters on no less than...a motorway! br /br /Good grief...br /br /Picture has been made fuzzy to protect the innocent;-)br /br /Happy travels for your weekend!div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-6189503076985237109?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
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12:42
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Accra by Day & Night
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SrEbATXHQzI/AAAAAAAACUY/YLOaEdLJLCo/s1600-h/moto_0591.jpg"img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_zqpA7o7qIBI/SrEbATXHQzI/AAAAAAAACUY/YLOaEdLJLCo/s400/moto_0591.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5382112721695621938" //aCould it ever be clearer enough? br /br /I passed there the other day and noticed that in lieu of GHC20.00, should you dare challenge the message on the wall, you'll be charged GHC50.00!br /br /Unless the originators of the message have mounted invisible cameras, or have deployed a standing force comparable to A href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247082/"Gil Grissom of CSI-Las Vegas/a fame to take your urine sample for "trace" analysis, in order to determine who micturated, I am not quite sure how it will be enforced!br /br /Students of a href="http://accradailyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/08/breaking-news-forget-csi-new-york.html"CSI Tamale/a, take note!:-)div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/26927428-8890926398105488484?l=accradailyphoto.blogspot.com' alt='' //div
From left to right: Holiday Inn, which prices are not just downright hostile to the Ghanaian (what do you say about over 250 US$/night in Accra?!?!) pocket; a flashy-looking building that houses some financial institutions; and more glitzy-looking buildings that are bound to house more institutions that are close to the financial sector.
