GH2013I set my beverage down with a gentle thud and smiled generously, grateful to be surrounded by the laughter and reverie of friends I hadn’t seen in years…some in over 20. Kwae Terrace, a swanky rooftop spot in Accra, offered all of the elements required for a memorable mini class reunion: Tropical drinks infused with […]
GH2013My earliest memories of Ghana are centered the market. “They” must’ve taken me there often in order for these memories to be so indelibly printed in my mind. Or perhaps a singular visit left such an impression that my imagination has created multiple visits. I have memories of a muddy ground.Nkatie cake cut into sharp-edged […]
GH2013The mystery of religion is its mercurial nature, its plurality. It is a tool that both harbors and wields incredible power. Religion has inspired the pursuit of scientific knowledge and been used as a mechanism to demonize that same pursuit. Religion has been used to dehumanize and marginalize, and has also been relied on to […]
GH2013Naana Opoku-Agyemang is the former Minister for Education, appointed in 2013 by (then) President John Mahama after the 2012 Ghanaian general election. She has lectured and led at prominent African institutions, including the University of Cape Coast and the Women’s University in Africa located in Zimbabwe. As an educationalist, she has authored and co-authored a […]
GH2013Warning: Spoilers abound I would be remiss if I didn’t confess that I no longer write reviews of Ghanaian cinematic productions or streamed series. It was a decision I made after 2015, when my unbiased observations of a certain filmmaker’s work were re-framed (or misinterpreted) as a personal attack, rather than the valid concerns about […]
GH2013Sammy Gyamfi is the National Communication Officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), a position he’s held since 2018. He is a lawyer by trade, most noted for his outlandish populist tirades. He is the generator of a despicable political cartoon depicting George Floyd’s body being suffocated by Ghana’s EC. In the mid 1970s, my […]
GH2013Kwaku Sintim-Misa (KSM) is an acclaimed actor, comedian and talk show host. Last week he invited me to appear on his long-running TV program, the KSM Show. You’ll be proud to know that I kept my cool and resisted the urge to gush for a full six minutes into our conversation prior to taping. Though […]
GH2013Me: Hey, y’all! I’ll be going to the North this month! I’ll be taking a bus and I… Person A: Wouldn’t you rather fly there instead? Me: Of course I would. Person: A.1: So you are going alone? Aren’t you afraid? Me: Well…Of course I am. I’m terrified. Person A.2 & beyond: Hmmm. Let’s pray […]
GH2013I don’t think this year of return thing is good at all. It seems like more focus is being put on the Ghanaians come from abroad, and we who are here are being left out. Like that guy – the (Steve) Harvey guy came here and went to the dungeons and was so upset. Me, I can tell you I’ve been to Cape Coast (Castle), Elmina…when I enter those dungeons I don’t feel anything.
This morning, I woke up in a panic. My heart was racing so furiously I thought it would tear through my rib cage and bounce its way out of my bedroom window. I had just dreamt of Ghana, and I was terrified by the vision that rendered me motionless for an unknown length of time. […]
GH2013There isn’t much to me said for the caliber of Ghana’s media landscape or its professionals. With a handful of bright exceptions, journalism in Ghana is a profession overridden by undisciplined individuals who plague the landscape with their amateurish attempts at broadcasting and storytelling. For this persistent and enduring failing, the country has been the […]
GH2013It must be overwhelming to live as a heterosexual male in Ghana. Imagine being told – explicitly or not – that no matter how difficult your life may be, no matter how many disappointments you may suffer, at least you are not a woman. Women are not “co-equals” to men. Women have been cursed since […]
It’s not the kind of message I was expecting to receive to early in the morning, particularly not from the individual in question. He is a casual (and one of my more pleasant) acquaintances on social media. Our conversation has run the gamut from history, to music, to women’s issues…but never this. “A friend of […]
There was an article making the rounds on social media last week querying why African judges still wear wigs 50 years after the end of colonization. The question remains a post-colonial conundrum: What is so appealing about the trappings of a judicial system that robbed an entire continent of its freedoms and imposed foreign laws […]
If you’ve ever been stopped by a member of the traffic division of Ghana’s police force, you know you’re in for a loss. You will lose precious time and you will likely lose more than a few cedis in the wake of the encounter. The police delight in harassing particular motorists; taxi drivers, women and […]
You ever get tired of repeating yourself? You ever just get bone weary of saying the same thing over, and over and over again? You ever wish that you could find the words to make the carrousel of madness come to a grinding halt? That must be it; maybe it’s the way we’ve been saying […]
It appears that Melania Trump and Nana Akufo Addo completed the same course in Plagiarism at Trump University, the only difference being that Melania actually took credit for her “work”, saying with pride that she wrote her speech with very little help. Nana Addo has left his speechwriter to take the fall for his inaugural […]
Former President JJ Rawlings is a man of many talents and titles, including but not limited to: Coup Maker Benevolent Dictator Boom Speech Giver Democracy Re-Introducer Doctorate Holder Peace Negotiator Now, he can add a new title to his already impressive litany of appellations: Shaolin Monk. And not just any Shaolin Monk… One who has […]
Dear Soon-To-Be-Formerly-Known-As- President Mahama: I trust you are well. Me? Oh…I’m all right. I just returned from an arduous (but fruitful) trek to Cape Town and I’m resting up. I had limited access to Wi-Fi during my road trip, but I caught bits and snippets of the news where I could. As you may well […]
Mzbel: I am not one of your fans. I can’t name a single song you’ve performed and up until yesterday I have been mispronouncing your name, referring to you as “Mmm-zee-bell” instead of “Mizz Bell”. I only have a passing familiarity with your person and your brand. I only mention all this to let you […]