23 November, 2008
Recent travels
A few weekends ago I took a day trip to Aburi Botanical Gardens, about an hour due north of Accra. Aburi sits atop the Akuapem ridge, a green wall that rises abruptly off a scrub plain. The Gardens were established by the British as an agricultural research station. Some research still takes place there, but most people retreat to Aburi’s cooler climes to escape the heat of Accra. The Gardens are just down the road from Tetteh Quarshie’s cocoa farm, though I didn’t visit. The history of Ghana has been inextricably linked with the history of cocoa. Tetteh Quarshie introduced cocoa to Ghana from Fernando Po (google it if you want the date). Ghana was the world’s leading producer of cocoa until it was overtaken by Ivory Coast (again google if you want the date), but it remains number two. Ghana exports the vast majority of its cocoa, processing only about a quarter of the crop in country. At independence, Nkrumah, like a number of African leaders, carried over agricultural marketing boards from the colonial era. The government had a monopsony (sole buyer) on cocoa purchases, which it used to set prices below the world price. The idea, perfectly in line with international development orthodoxy of the time, was to transfer surpluses from the cocoa sector to industry and thus spur modernization. The policy stirred a great deal of opposition among cocoa growers in Ashanti, one of the factors which led Nkrumah to ban opposition parties in the early 60s (google if you…). Generally, the trend starting during colonialism has been to focus on the development of cocoa to the detriment of food crops, which is why you have people still calling for a green revolution in Africa four decades after the start of the original. Something to think about as you chew that Hershey’s Kiss.
This past week I spent a few days in Big Ada, a town situated near the mouth of the Volta about 100 kilometers east of Accra. I wanted to get off campus before I really got into preparation for finals. Ada is a place with a great deal of natural beauty. Low lying mangroves stretch throughout the river delta; palm trees line the river banks and the coast. During the day, the brightly painted fishing boats with messages like “sea never dry” and “forgive them Lord” stare down the ocean. During the evening, their solitary lanterns sit along the horizon, standing in for the stars obscured by the Saharan dust blown in by the Harmattan.
Ada, like Amatlan for those familiar with the trip to Mexico, is out of the way enough to be a get away but close enough to Accra to be accessible. Consequently, there are a lot of vacation homes there. The juxtaposition between wealth and poverty is rather striking. Taking a boat ride along the river, I passed a string of sizable homes. The last of which was a salmon-colored, two-story structure with two satellite dishes, a gazebo, and a jet ski. The property was demarcated with a ten foot wall covered in a pink flowering crawler. 15 yards further down the bank, a fishing village: mud walls, thatched roofs, wooden dugout canoes. I asked myself what else could be done to enable the people who live here to benefit from the economic potential of their home?
I took a boat to a firewood market, and then took a ferry back. The picture above is taken from the ferry.
(I'll post the pictures as soon as the internet lets me)
This past week I spent a few days in Big Ada, a town situated near the mouth of the Volta about 100 kilometers east of Accra. I wanted to get off campus before I really got into preparation for finals. Ada is a place with a great deal of natural beauty. Low lying mangroves stretch throughout the river delta; palm trees line the river banks and the coast. During the day, the brightly painted fishing boats with messages like “sea never dry” and “forgive them Lord” stare down the ocean. During the evening, their solitary lanterns sit along the horizon, standing in for the stars obscured by the Saharan dust blown in by the Harmattan.
Ada, like Amatlan for those familiar with the trip to Mexico, is out of the way enough to be a get away but close enough to Accra to be accessible. Consequently, there are a lot of vacation homes there. The juxtaposition between wealth and poverty is rather striking. Taking a boat ride along the river, I passed a string of sizable homes. The last of which was a salmon-colored, two-story structure with two satellite dishes, a gazebo, and a jet ski. The property was demarcated with a ten foot wall covered in a pink flowering crawler. 15 yards further down the bank, a fishing village: mud walls, thatched roofs, wooden dugout canoes. I asked myself what else could be done to enable the people who live here to benefit from the economic potential of their home?
I took a boat to a firewood market, and then took a ferry back. The picture above is taken from the ferry.
(I'll post the pictures as soon as the internet lets me)
14 November, 2008
13 November, 2008
Take the second left then stay straight. It's the first stool on the right. You can't miss it.
The new Presidential Palace (pictured above) was commissioned on Monday. They’re still putting on the finishing touches, but according to an interview with the Minister of Information I heard on Joy FM that morning, the President plans to occupy it before the end of his term in office – so within the next two months. This is an election year, and the opposition party has been particularly critical of the structure’s cost. Again according to that same interview, the palace was originally expected to cost $30 million. The Minister of Information didn’t know the final cost, much to the chagrin of the opposition member on the other line.
The current home of government is certainly historic, though not reflecting the chapters in Ghana’s history with which any current leader would wish to associate himself or his administration. The government currently operates out of Christiansbourg (or Osu) Castle, a slave fort constructed by the Danish in the 1660s. After passing through various colonial and indigenous hands (one chief apparently still has the keys to the fort which his people used to control), it was purchased by the British in 1850, six years after the treaty which established their colonial dominion along the coast. In 1948, colonial police fired on demonstrators outside the castle, energizing the nationalist movement that swept Nkrumah into power 3 years later as Head of Government. In 1957, Ghana became the first nation in Sub-Saharan Africa to win its independence.
But why is President Kufuor moving into a giant “H”? The architecture evokes the Akan stool, symbol of chiefly power. In the 17th Century, the Golden Stool fell from the heavens into the heart of Ashanti (The Ashanti are the most populous branch of the Akan ethnic group. Ashanti was a British corruption of Asante. I’ve heard some people here use Ashanti to refer to the territory centered around Kumasi occupied by the Asante.) Upon the occasion of the Golden Stool’s descent, the priest of King Osei Tutu, the Asantahene (ruler of the Asante) at the time, issued laws for the Asante confederation. To this day, Akan chiefs occupy stools, but they do not own them. If the chief’s behavior is found un-chiefly, he can be de-stooled. Interestingly enough, stools are also used in Asante girls’ nubility (initiation) rites.
The new presidential palace taps into a rich history of political and architectural symbolism in Ghana. To take just one instance, President Nkrumah was enstooled as a chief at Nsaeum in 1962. Also consider that chiefly authority is not a relic of “traditional” times. 80% of land in Ghana is held under customary tenure; chiefs hold allodial title, which means that they decide who gets access to the land and its product (usufruct).
As a concluding note, one of my hostel co-habitants was impressed but also a bit disappointed when I told him that the striking building between campus and downtown was the new presidential palace. He thought that maybe it was going to be a night club.
The current home of government is certainly historic, though not reflecting the chapters in Ghana’s history with which any current leader would wish to associate himself or his administration. The government currently operates out of Christiansbourg (or Osu) Castle, a slave fort constructed by the Danish in the 1660s. After passing through various colonial and indigenous hands (one chief apparently still has the keys to the fort which his people used to control), it was purchased by the British in 1850, six years after the treaty which established their colonial dominion along the coast. In 1948, colonial police fired on demonstrators outside the castle, energizing the nationalist movement that swept Nkrumah into power 3 years later as Head of Government. In 1957, Ghana became the first nation in Sub-Saharan Africa to win its independence.
But why is President Kufuor moving into a giant “H”? The architecture evokes the Akan stool, symbol of chiefly power. In the 17th Century, the Golden Stool fell from the heavens into the heart of Ashanti (The Ashanti are the most populous branch of the Akan ethnic group. Ashanti was a British corruption of Asante. I’ve heard some people here use Ashanti to refer to the territory centered around Kumasi occupied by the Asante.) Upon the occasion of the Golden Stool’s descent, the priest of King Osei Tutu, the Asantahene (ruler of the Asante) at the time, issued laws for the Asante confederation. To this day, Akan chiefs occupy stools, but they do not own them. If the chief’s behavior is found un-chiefly, he can be de-stooled. Interestingly enough, stools are also used in Asante girls’ nubility (initiation) rites.
The new presidential palace taps into a rich history of political and architectural symbolism in Ghana. To take just one instance, President Nkrumah was enstooled as a chief at Nsaeum in 1962. Also consider that chiefly authority is not a relic of “traditional” times. 80% of land in Ghana is held under customary tenure; chiefs hold allodial title, which means that they decide who gets access to the land and its product (usufruct).
As a concluding note, one of my hostel co-habitants was impressed but also a bit disappointed when I told him that the striking building between campus and downtown was the new presidential palace. He thought that maybe it was going to be a night club.
08 November, 2008
Election Reflection
I’m sure you can guess which candidate the majority of people here were pulling for. There was an ad in the paper a day or two before the elections announcing a prayer meeting on behalf of Senator Obama. My roommate contrasted the slim margin of victory in the American election with the response of the losing candidate in Zambia’s recent presidential election. The loser, bested by a margin of 2%, alleged that the election had been stolen by “a bunch of thieves.” International election monitors didn’t report any serious irregularities. The losing candidate prior to the election had said that there was no way that he would lose.
I don’ t know that I have too much to add to the general storyline that you’ve been reading. The election clearly has won us lots of goodwill, even in a country like Ghana where the majority of the population was already favorably disposed towards the U.S. Obama’s victory is a tremendously powerful symbol. And the expectations which many Africans have attached to the man are completely unrealistic. In many ways, those expectations reflect an idealized understanding of America itself. Streets of gold, so to speak. Better in every way. In a recent editorial Nicholas Kristof wrote that America is best when it’s not just a place, but also an idea. I agree with the sentiment, but not the phrasing. For people who don’t live in America, America is always an idea. The idea may be that the US is the breeding ground of cultural arrogance and militant imperialism or the idea may be that it’s a place where you really can go as far as your abilities, not your connections or your skin color, will take you.
One thing that is important to add: many of the people I’ve talked have a pretty sophisticated understanding of American politics. The headline of the most popular newspaper on the day after the election was: US POLICY WON’T SHIFT. So there’s still an appreciation that American leaders will privilege American interests. And that’s ok, as long as long as that pursuit is tempered by respect for the rest of the world.
I don’ t know that I have too much to add to the general storyline that you’ve been reading. The election clearly has won us lots of goodwill, even in a country like Ghana where the majority of the population was already favorably disposed towards the U.S. Obama’s victory is a tremendously powerful symbol. And the expectations which many Africans have attached to the man are completely unrealistic. In many ways, those expectations reflect an idealized understanding of America itself. Streets of gold, so to speak. Better in every way. In a recent editorial Nicholas Kristof wrote that America is best when it’s not just a place, but also an idea. I agree with the sentiment, but not the phrasing. For people who don’t live in America, America is always an idea. The idea may be that the US is the breeding ground of cultural arrogance and militant imperialism or the idea may be that it’s a place where you really can go as far as your abilities, not your connections or your skin color, will take you.
One thing that is important to add: many of the people I’ve talked have a pretty sophisticated understanding of American politics. The headline of the most popular newspaper on the day after the election was: US POLICY WON’T SHIFT. So there’s still an appreciation that American leaders will privilege American interests. And that’s ok, as long as long as that pursuit is tempered by respect for the rest of the world.
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