Celebrating 10 years of (the other) Nana Kwaku Duah

Otumfuo Osei Tutu II swearing the oath of allegiance to Asanteman [Ashanti nation] in 1999
Source: A Handbook on Asante Culture (Coverpicture) by Mr. Osei Kwadwo.

In 1999, Nana Kwaku Duah ascended the Golden Stool as the 16th Asantehene (King of the Asantes/Ashantis) taking the title Otumfuo Nana Osei Tutu II. Earlier this year, the 10th anniversary of  the event was celebrated with great pomp and pageantry in Kumasi. Interestingly, it was also in 1999 that a young fresh-faced Nana Kwaku Okyere Duah burst onto the Ghanaian music scene with his debut album Philomena. This other Nana Kwaku Duah took the title 'TicTac'. 

The young TicTac on the Philomena cover sleeve
 

TicTac's Philomena holds a special place in my heart because it was the first hiplife (highlife + hiphop) album I  bought. Correct me if I'm wrong but the  title track, Philomena (featuring Obrafuor and Nana Quame) is about a girl with excess body hair in need of an appointment with a Gillette razor (?). Hmmm, despite the allure of this song, my personal favorite from the album was the second track K.K.B.K featuring Daasebre Gyamena.

So why am I waxing lyrical about TicTac? Well, this past Saturday I randomly turned on snoozy afternoon TV and happened to catch TicTac's new video Bosoe featuring KeyNote of Nigeria. Although I'm not familiar with the collective works of Mr. KeyNote, I must say I was quite impressed by this English, Twi and Yoruba infused track. 
 

Above: Bosoe TicTac Featuring KeyNote

TicTac has lost the baggy clothes in favour of more trendy threads. Love the hair too. 

Not only has TicTac managed to stand the test of time but he has also survived the  crisis facing the hiplife industry. Well, I'm not sure about the exact details of this crisis but if you have heard Obour's great song The Game featuring Ritchie and Okyeame Kwame, then you will know that the hiplife industry is (apparently) in dire straits. I should add that not all are inclined to agree but that is another matter.  Anyway, back to TicTac, over the years, this talented, hardworking young man has been quite busy. He has been featured on MTV Base,  has matured lyrically (thank goodness) and has even advertised phonecards targetting Ghanaians in the diaspora!  TicTac has also collaborated with other artistes such as  Obrafuor, Nana Quame, Daasebre Gyamena, (Batman) Samini , D'Banj, Tony Tetuila and of course KeyNote with the end products being some pretty infectious tracks. By the way, I just noticed that singer Nana Quame has completely slipped off the radar. Does anyone know where he is?

Anyway, my sincerest congratulations to (the other) Nana Kwaku Duah  for 10 years years in the Ghanaian music industry and proving that no matter how high he goes he will never fall because he is indeed the son of..... a kangaroo. 

Ghana Politics 101: When on the Radio DO use popular cliches/catchphrases.... By all Means Necessary

Ghanaians have two favorite pastimes;  Football and Politics. What better instrument to enjoy both these two passions than the radio! Indeed, the radio is the medium of the choice to reach masses all over the nation and there are a plethora of stations in different languages such as Akan, English, Ga, Ewe, Foreign-Acquired Brooklynese and even Ghana-Acquired Brixtonese!

Anyway class, I digress, our lesson today is about the aspiring politician and how the radio can be a useful tool to  share views, ideas or stupidity. If you are a politician and making a radio appearance then there are some important phrases you should be familiar with that are well-understood by listeners across the country.Some people may call these clichés but I call them 'useful catchphrases.' Examples are below:

• "Ghanaians are discerning". Perhaps one of the most overused catch-phrase in recent times especially since the 2008 election appears to support the validity of the statement. For the aspiring politician, this phrase will be sure to endear you to many but may seriously irritate others tired of hearing it.
  

• "In 2008 a  ball of kenkey cost 20 pesewas as against 30 pesewas in 2009". If you listen to the radio, you will discover that the real barometer for the cost of living is the price of a ball of delicious kenkey. If it is not the price of kenkey then it will be a 'tin of milk' or perhaps a 'tuber of yam'. If you will ever use this cliché then be sure to make a quick trip to one of the large markets to ensure that your price-list is current.  Nothing worse than a politician caught quoting out-dated prices.
  

Tubers of Yam 

Source: http://en.wikivisual.com

• "Under the current administration, the people are suffering": This is a versatile and timeless must-use phrase. It  is applicable to any regime in fact anywhere in the world. Let's face it, the masses will always suffer.   

• "Sycophant": Its a big word. Its hard to prounouce and do we actually know what it means? Well, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary a sycophant refers to  a 'servile self-seeking flatterer'. In Ghana, it appears leaders of all shapes, hues and political colours enjoy surrounding themselves with 'servile self-seeking flatterers'. Well, at least that is what people on the radio keep saying!   

• "Grass-roots/foot-soldiers/cadres": These all refer to political party supporters known for doing all the leg-work to ensure a party takes power, remains in power or will come back to power. Discontent among this group can lead to real problems for any party. Keeping foot soldiers happy appears to be a priority for many a political party in power.

• "I have studied the terrain": Politico-speak used to demonstrate an expertise or profound knowledge in matters affecting the masses. Usually the terrain surveyor knows squat.
  

• "Come 20XX, we will vote them out": I missed most of  "Come 2000...", was around for much of "Come 2004..."  as well as "Come 2008...." and there are already grumblings of "Come 2012....".  This expression can be used by any opposition politician looking to galvanize support and give the masses confidence in the potential of people power. 

• "The ordinary man living in Chorkor":  Has any regular radio listener noticed that the Accra neighbourhood of Chorkor seems to provide a barometer for how the masses are living and feeling? One wonders if the people of Chorkor have seen improvements in their area since every politician seems to have them at heart!

Polling Booth in Chorkor, Accra. December 2008

Source: Associated Press/BBC

• "I know the true situation on the ground": Any politician claiming to know how the masses or political foot-soldiers are feeling will claim to know the situation on the ground. Someone who knows the situation on the ground is also likely to use the kenkey barometer or claim to be a regular visitor to Chorkor. However, like the terrain surveyor this person is NOT likely to know much about the true situation on the ground.
  

Homework Assignment: Do you have any catch-phrases and cliches that are essential for any politician hoping to be on the radio? Please do share!

Return of the Prodigal Gardener

We had an unexpected visitor one Saturday morning a few months ago. After a mysterious 3-month absence our gardener nonchalantly strolled into the yard with a big metal cross around his neck. The whole household was excited to see him and we welcomed him with breakfast. Of course the big question on my mind was "Where the @#$@#$ has he been?" It later emerged that he has been staying in a prayer camp in the Akwapim mountains casting out his demons... literally. Although our gardener seems like a quiet, polite young man apparently he has been wrought with 'spiritual' problems for a while. 

Prayer camps offering 'treatment' for mental health issues are not a new thing in Ghana. Around May this year, the BBC's West Africa correspondent Will Ross did a documentary on the phenomenon in Ghana. What he found was  sad, appalling and down-right embarrassing. He visited a prayer camp where mentally-ill individuals were chained for hours. According to the BBC report:

"With only four practising psychiatrists in the country and a stigma attached to mental illness, doctors say the only way to cope with the workload is to work with the Church-run camps."

Ironically, there are most probably more Ghanaian psychiatrists in just one zip-code in Manhattan than there are in the whole of Ghana! A snippet of Will Ross's documentary can be seen here:

Scene from the BBC Documentary on Prayer Camps in Ghana 

BTW; Where is BBC reporter Will Ross these days? It appears he has relocated to Nairobi  but someone forget to tell us!

Oddly-enough, my family and I are no strangers to gardeners with mental health issues. Back in Southern Africa, we had a  gardener who never showed up for work one day. Days turned into weeks which eventually turned into years. One sunny day 2 years later, our gardener returned wearing the green uniform of a  mental institution close to our house proclaiming  loudly that he had come "to reap what he had sown". While my big sister and I stood perplexed, he headed straight for the garden and got to work!  Being the immature 10 year old, I immediately took off and left home leaving my 17 year old sister to deal with the erratically behaving gardener down in the garden.  Luckily she made a couple of calls and he was picked up by some nice people who took him back to the mental institution from where he had made a dramatic escape that morning. Understandably, it took my sister sometime to forgive me for that one!

 

Flash-forward to Ghana; Our gardener now lives at the prayer camp full-time. He is 'receiving treatment' and comes down to pay us a visit once every month. Personally, he does not strike me as having any mental problems at all but has been convinced by others that he does. I bet he tends the prayer camp gardens pretty darn well....hmmmm.

Is the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) demonstrating a committment to romance all over Accra??

I was planning a walk around my very dimly-lit neighborhood tonight. I called home and apparently the lights are off AGAIN!  Of course the ironic part is that the electricity company was sure to bring the electricity bill 'round THIS afternoon. 

Today's power-outage is particularly perplexing. I could have sworn my eyes glazed across a newspaper article  late last week that explained these recent frequent power-outages. The tone of the article was that the current spate (to borrow from the Phrasebook of Overused Phrases in Ghana) of power-outages were to be a thing of the past. So now I'm completely at a loss. But eureka...a light-bulb just went off  (sadly only in my head); the power-outages MUST be a sign of the ECG's commitment to promoting romance all over Accra! Why else are we being forced to have dinner by candlelight night after night? Mmm, let's just hope no fires are started because then we are pretty much screwed!

Candelight Dinner

Source: www.blairibmagnet.org/

20 Years On: The Fall of the Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

Source: Associated Press/BBC

The world has changed a lot since 1989. It is hard to imagine that Germany was once divided into two parts for many years after World War II.  It is hard to believe that city of Berlin was once divided by a wall and difficult to fathom that it has been 20 years since the wall came down and sparked a chain of events that eventually led to the end of the Cold War. For all those too young to remember the Cold War, all you need to know is that it meant constant tension, threat of a nuclear war and inspired some of the best movies of our time! Who can forget all those films where the bad guys always  seemed to speak Russian? Did someone say Hunt for Red October? In the end, the West 'won' the Cold War but it is ironic that 20 years later, capitalism has basically imploded and we are all feeling the effects of the world economic crisis. 

I'm trying to remember 1989. TV Images that come to mind revolve around sledgehammers hacking away at the Berlin Wall, families being reunited and celebrations all over Germany. I also recall how real and fake chunks of the wall were up for sale everywhere. In fact, if the internet was up and running in 1989, I'm sure chunks of the wall  (real and fake) would have been all over E-Bay.

Speaking of East Germany, a couple of months ago, I finally got round to seeing the 2003 film Good Bye Lenin! which is set in Communist East Berlin. The film  is a comedy/drama that chronicles events from just before the collapse of the wall in 1989 all the way up to German Reunification in 1990. Aside from the amusing plot underlying the film,it shows the shocking disparities between  life in East Germany compared to the much wealthier West Germany. Was also interesting to see the rapid changes that took place as communism gave way to capitalism literally overnight! Of course the major catch for me was that I watched the film entirely in German with no subtitles .Thanks to the good people over at Wikipedia, I was actually able to follow the story!


Today, celebrations are set to take place all over Germany. Hopefully, the rest of the world will reflect on other barriers such as race, religion, ethnicity that separate people all over the world. Can't we all just get along?

Nov. 4th 2008, One year later: The Beautiful Dream becomes Stark Reality

President Obama in the Oval Office
Source: White House Museum Online

November 4th, 2008: The Beautiful Dream

The US Democratic Party Candidate Senator Barack Obama achieved one of the most amazing feats in history. He won the US Presidential race becoming the first African-American President of the United States.

It is hard to believe that that was actually one year ago.

November 4th, 2009: The Stark Reality

President Obama is now firmly at the helm of affairs yet he is facing many obstacles in his way:

• Dealing with the grave impact of the sub-prime mortgage crisis on the US economy
  
• A health-care reform bill for universal health coverage that has been far from being universally accepted
• Tough decisions to make concerning American troop numbers in Afghanistan
• The War in Iraq and looming questions
  
• Two gubernatorial races in the states of Virginia and New Jersey have just been won by the opposition Republicans

Beautiful dreams may have given way to harsh realities but the chapter has not ended. Despite skepticism and cynicism, I still believe that President Obama will pull through and live up to many expectations.