A Nation under Fire: Moving Beyond 'Happenstance', 'Past coincidence' to 'Enemy Action'???

"Once is 'happenstance'. Twice is 'coincidence'. Three times is 'enemy action' "

-Mr Auric Goldfinger, from the film Goldfinger

Goldfinger about to experience his first encounter with 007 via earpiece. At this point he was far from suspecting 'enemy action'

If you happen to be in the Beacon of African Democracy (Ghana) then you know that aside from the usual politricks, poor utility service delivery and sweltering heat, our nation is being plagued by mysterious fire outbreaks:


21 October 2009: Fire at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Last year, the 10 storey Ministry of Foreign Affairs was transformed into a towering inferno by a blaze that completely razed the entire building and all its contents. Aside from extensive damage costing millions of dollars, documents dating back to independence we turned into ash.


19 January 2010: Tema Oil Refinery Fire
A fire outbreak at the nation's premier oil refinery saw the main loading dock up in flames. The fire was eventually contained but  still resulted in the tragic deaths of two people.


14 February 2010: Fire at the Rawlingses' Residence

On Valentine's day, the nation was aghast to hear that the official residence of Ex-President Rawlings was completely gutted by a fire that started in the early hours of the morning. The fire destroyed their possessions as years of memories were lost forever.

Late last week, the tragedy of this event was eclipsed by a curious incident involving a young man named Nana Darkwa Baafi and the spokesman of the Ex-President, Kofi Adams. Overnight, Mr. Baafi went from zero to hero while Mr. Adams  went from zero to  *erm* zero. The incident also managed to throw the spotlight on questions surrounding freedom of speech in Ghana.

 

17 February 2010: Fire at the Ministry of Information 

A fire started at the Ministry of Information but was luckily put out by vigilant staff. Speaking of the Ministry of Information, are they still running their Facebook interactive sessions or did these (excuse the pun) go up in smoke?

21 February 2010: Fire at Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC)

A fire believed to be the result of a power surge problem was contained by the Ghana Fire service preventing what could have been a major outbreak at our nation's national broadcaster. 

So are all these fires simply a result of archaic electrical wiring combined with frequent power outages and surges? Are we past 'coincidence' and now in 'enemy action' territory?

Interestingly, the outgoing Minister for Information Mrs. Zita Okaikoi has her own take on the matter which she expressed on the popular Accra radio station Citi FM last week:

“I strongly suspect foul play. It is no longer an accident or a coincidence. It can no longer be a coincidence that almost everyday there is one fire or the other, I am ruling out coincidence at this stage because it is no longer a coincidence that we are having these fire outbreaks”
 
Clearly, Mrs. Okaikoi has ruled out 'coincidence'. Could this be the work of a fire-starter? A (really) twisted fire-starter?



Could there be an instigator out there?!

Movie Making on an Accra Street: The Gawker's Paradise

 

Movie-making on a dusty street in Accra

Being a curious, nosy gawker, when I see a crowd of people gathered I instinctively stop and stare.  You would be appalled to see the effect a street brawl has on me! So when traffic was held up on a dusty road in my 'hood  2 weeks ago, I just had to pull to the side of the road  to satisfy my curiosity. There was a small crowd gathered and all I could see up ahead were some people making strange bodily motions on the side of the road near a parked car. They appeared to be expressing elements of surprise at the car's contents. As traffic was waved on, my eyes fell on a camera, an overhead microphone and an actor I have seen in that Ghanaian TV series Sun City. A movie was in motion! I was excited since I think this is the first time I have stumbled onto a set anywhere in the world. People I know always seem to be in some fast-food restaurants when one Nigeria-Ghana film collaboration or another is being made but never me. In other parts of the world they use paid extras to decorate the scene while in our neck of the woods we use real people! Do you have any experiences walking in on a movie or television series set?

First Strides into Freedom: 11 February 1990

It has been 20 years since one of the most phenomenal events in modern history occurred; the release of Mr. Nelson Mandela from prison. The exact sequence of that day's events are jumbled in my mind but I clearly remember the euphoria and excitement as we huddled around a television  set in our school in Swaziland. We were glued in awe and silence as Mr. Mandela took his first steps into freedom after 27 years of incarceration.

11 February 1990: Mr. Nelson Mandela greets the crowd outside
Victor Verster Prison, Paarl, South Africa
Source: www.anglonautes.com

I could ramble on about the significance of this day but  instead I'm leaving that to the lyrics of the pop idol kids like me growing up in Southern Africa worshipped; the (late) great, irrepressible Brenda Fassie (a.k.a MaBrr). Brenda Fassie's song Black President was originally released in 1989 (5 years before Mr. Mandela even became president). The song was  promptly banned by the apartheid regime. Ludicrous as it may sound today, the  paranoid apartheid dons used to ban everything; books, songs and even people!

Black President
by Brenda Fassie (3 Nov 1964 - 9 May 2004) 
 

The year 1963
The people's president
Was taken away by security men
All dressed in a uniform
The brutality, brutality
Oh, no, my black president
Him and his comrades
Were sentenced to isolation
For many painful years
For many painful years
Many painful years
Of hard labour
They broke ropes
But the spirit was never broken
Never broken
Oh, no, my, my black president

He broke ropes
But his spirit was never broken
Never broken
Oh oh oh, my president

Now in 1990
The people's president
Came out from jail
Raised up his hand and said
'Viva, viva, my people'
He walked the long road
Back, back to freedom
Back, back to freedom
Freedom for my black president

Let us rejoice for our president
Let us sing for our president
Let us pray for our president
Let us sing, let us dance
For Madiba give us freedom
We thank you Lord
For listening to our prayers
Night and day
Oh oh oh, my president

Madiba

My president
I will die for my president
I will sing for my president

I will stand and say
Viva, viva, viva, viva, viva, viva

© Brenda Fassie  

Source: museke.com  

Later in 1990, Nelson Mandela made an unannounced, surprise visit to my school while on a trip to Swaziland. It was not an official visit. Wednesday afternoons were the time that we were allowed to go to town unless we had been punished or did not want to go. In the greatest irony, those who had been punished were still at school and we able to meet Nelson Mandela while the rest of us were in town. This is something all of us who went to town earlier in the afternoon will regret for the rest of our lives. 

Kofi Kingston; the Jamaican Wrestler from.... Ghana?

 Jamaica's own son Kofi Kingston in a rich display of national colours

source: wrestlingvalley.org

Back in 2008, the BBC featured the fascinating story of Kofi Kingston; a professional wrestler claiming to be the first Jamaican wrestler with the multi-million dollar franchise the  World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

To be frank, I have not watched the WWE since it was the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) before those pesky legal problems with the other WWF (World Wildlife Fund for Nature). Back in those days, the hottest wrestlers on the bill were The Undertaker, Bret 'Hitman' Hart and Shawn Michaels! Nevertheless, I was impressed that there was  some young Caribbean representation in this eerily popular franchise. But...

• Apparently Kofi Kingston spoke with the worst Jamaican accent known to man
• Kofi's real name is Kofi Sarkodie-Mensah which sounds mysteriously like he was born on a Friday and hails straight from the hinterlands of Ghana
• Although  a large number of Jamaicans can trace their ancestry directly to Ghana, Kofi Kingston looks uncannily like dozens of Ghanaian guys I know or see on the streets of Accra  EVERYDAY!
• Kofi's mum was head of the Ghanaian-American Association and she claimed that Kofi was born in Ghana and not Jamaica.

So it appeared that poor Kofi Kingston was facing a cringe-worthy corporate-fueled identity crisis! Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I randomly tuned into the WWE on that new TV station eTV Ghana. Just as I was about to hop to another channel I heard: 

"...hailing from Ghana, West Africa...Kofi Kingston!"

What? What happened to Trenchtown? What happened to the land of Bob Marley and reggae? According to the good people at Wikipedia, Kofi Kingston has been billed as coming from Ghana since October 2009.

So what brought about this change? 'Change' may just be the key word. Could the ephemeral spotlight shone on Ghana by  the Obama family visit in July 2009 have had a ripple effect? Very possible.

Speaking of change, since the whole Jamaica facade has  been dropped, isn't Kofi in need of a new ring name:

"Kofi Accra" ?

"Kofi Tamale" ?

"Kofi Kumasi" ?

"Kofi Koforidua" ?

 "Kofi Kintampo" ?

I like the sound of Kofi Kintampo!

Those finely-toned buttocks could only be of Ghanaian origin!

Source: wikipedia