The first Black American president of the United States will pay a visit to Ghana on the 10th and 11th July this year. Along with him will be his lovely wife Michelle, Air Force One and an entourage of high-profiles members of his government. Many Ghanaian see his visit to be a breath of hope unto the Ghanaian economic situation. Not too surprising Accra and other vital parts of it are getting new looks to show Obama how environmentally friendly we are as a nation.
It is reported that Obama will visit Cape Coast with his wife, in this light the Mfantseman Municipal Assembly embarked on a massive clean-up exercise a few days ago. This action according to the Chief Executive was done to give the district a positive image. Streets of Accra are being white washed and gutters that have been choked for months are being attended to. These measures are similar to the measures taken by previous government when the Queen of England came to Ghana. Nor are they any different from the ones taken when Bill Clinton visited Ghana in President Rawlings’ regime. Days before Clinton visited Ghana; lunatics were taken off the streets of Accra and hidden away form public view, only to return to their various ‘posts’ after Clinton’s departure. The . Now no one seems to care about their welfare any longer, not the government, not the churches, or the NGO's .Kaneshie overhead which broke down weeks ago got fixed a few days to Obama's visit. Pathches on the roads leading to and from the Airport area have been filled and maintiained. All in the bid to impress the incoming messiah. My question is “Do we always have to wait for the BIG names to come before we clean up?”
I am pretty sure if Ghanaians had a cleaning habit the floods that destroyed lives and property in Kaneshie could have been avoided. We do not need an Obama or a Clinton in the country before Accra is put into an attractive shape.
My other concern is the hypocrisy involved in these actions. These important guests will arrive in Ghana for a day or two in within these days trust me there will be no black-outs, no filthy gutters and no lunatics in sight. Is this the real Accra or for that matter the real Ghana? I believe if we want to portray Accra as a clean city, it doesn’t need to be a nine days’ wonder. It needs to be a part of our system. The AMA or whichever body is in charge should see to the maintenance of the city. The right thing must be done at the right time in the right way!
4 comments:
Na true!!
Sources have it that when the queen was visiting way back in Nkrumah's days,we had to cover some buildings and refuse dumps with tarpaulin and lie to her that they are raw materials for some industries whose warehouses are full.
What kind of ppl are we? I think we are joking as a nation.
Oboi,good work.
A big round of applause... You said it all and its so funny to think about. and then when Obama reaches Ghana, hes gonna be like "hmmm?... Ghana wey fine so"??...hahaha. Just think about it. Im sure the man will be impressed somehow but because the place has been cleaned for his coming. It shows some respect too. Like Frederick said.. we're just joking but thats probably what makes us Ghanaians
Interesting views expressed by Frederick and Bright. I think we need to reexamine our priorities as a nation. What we need to get clear is that even people who live here, Ghanaians and foreigners alike, deserve to live in clean environments. Clean environments are certainly not the preserver of ablotsi visitors!
It about time we took charge of our own destiny, that was the exact message the first ever African-America president told the Ghanaian Parliament. We however seem to be so dependent on them for almost everything!!!
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