Reflections on Ghana - Four

My final blog about my visit to Ghana is about the politics of the country. While I was there the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) was choosing its next presidential candidate to contest the next elections due in 2012.

It appeared that party members were engaged in primary elections based on regional voting across the country. This resulted in a final gathering of party representatives in a public park on a Saturday evening in Accra for the final declaration of results after they had been faxed in from the regions.

The NPP is a centre right party whose avowed aims is to extend human rights and property ownership to Ghanaians while maintaining a strong sense of public accountability. The government party is currently the National Democratic Congress (NDC) which is a left of centre party with ambitions of socialism, but with weak Government machinery it cannot finds ways of implementing its lofty ideals.

As I travelled in taxis and minibuses during and after the final election day I was struck by the animated conversations my guide had with several taxi-drivers and the interest shown by fellow travellers when the bus radio was tuned into a talk station. The eventual runaway winner for the NPP was Nana Akufo-Addo who managed a resounding 79% share of the vote against four rivals for the role. His nearest competitor, Alan Kyerematen, could not even get a clear majority in his own region, and he along with the other losing candidates conceded gracefully.

It was the first time the grassroots members had been trusted to vote in such an internal election and all candidates appeared to be proud of the exercise and the way it was conducted. What struck me was that I was 3,000 miles away from England but the speeches made by the NPP's leaders could all have been made by any party's representatives here after an internal election of this type. For example it was reported in the Daily Graphic that Alan Kyerematen had "pledged to support Nana Aku-Addo in his bid to win the 2012 presidential election and urged all his supporters to also work tirelessly for the party's flag bearer to ensure victory".

The newspapers and airwaves were littered with such statements for several days. A sense of deja vu struck me. I had heard all this before. Politicians the world over still tell the same stories...

What was more striking though was the lack of policy differences between the declared candidates. This contest was surely concentrated on the personality of the contenders.

Although Labour back here in Britain is conducting a similar exercise, I can find little difference on policy between the competing candidates, and where there may be some there is little interest from the press or the public anyway. Only Diane Abbott appears to be trying to seriously broaden the policy debate but as she is favourite to lose we can predict now the "rally round our new leader" speeches at the final declaration. Was it ever thus?

Reflections on Ghana - Three

Once you get over the regular sight of people (mostly women but some men) walking around with goods on their heads on the streets of Ghana, one becomes ever more curious about what it is they are actually carrying.

Travelling in a mini-bus or taxi you are besieged at every traffic light stop or general traffic jam by an array of vendors hoping to catch the eye of the traveller interested in an instant bargain. Some goods on display are obvious and instantly useful such as bags of plantain crisps, nuts, a range of cakes, bags of chilled water and so forth. Given the slow speed of traffic at peak hours these instant snack items are useful and popular with travellers.

But what was more surprising and indeed almost surreal on occasions were the other objects carried by street sellers. It was puzzling why these people on the margins of society had chosen the goods they were hawking around the streets. Some of the more bizarre included a wardrobe collection of kipper ties, three pairs of garden shears, a full length mirror, a selection of discount vouchers, or a variety of combs and brushes. One woman had really taken the message of diversification from the marketing people to heart when she offered the option of packets of biscuits from her hands with a selection of girls' underwear from the basket on her head.

I reckon if you stayed in a car at a junction anywhere in Accra for long enough you could do your complete week's shopping, and renew your wardrobe, through your car door window. It might seem like the ultimate convenience store was coming to you but there is a dark side to this enterprising culture.

I learnt while I was there that many young people from the north of the country had left their villages to seek their fortune in the big city and ended up on the streets as vendors making as little as 5 cedis a day - worth about £2.25. Even in a cheap city like Accra that would give them only enough to buy food to keep them alive, but nothing for a room or clothing. What was even more telling was that the street hawkers were all of an age. I saw very few who I would guess were over 25 years old. Indeed I saw few people anywhere who would be of middling years or older. This is a young country certainly but one wonders what happens to people when they reach 30?

Reflections on Ghana - Two

I was determined to try out the local food in Ghana, and my guide helped me by interpreting menus and making recommendations. She also took me to restaurants which the locals patronised rather than the places designed for tourists.

One key feature of Ghanaian eating is that cutlery is not used. Fingers were made before forks after all, and eating food this way adds a further dimension to the pleasure of eating.

In one restaurant I went to the standard table setting included a bottle of liquid soap, as the adjacent picture demonstrates. The waitress delivered a plastic bowl of warm water so I could wash my hands at the beginning and end of the meal.

My guide was an expert in eating this way of course and could strip the flesh off a Tilapia fish (a local staple) using only one hand. I had to use two hands to strip the flesh away from my chunky portions of goat's meat. The sauce managed to spread up to my elbows, so I really needed a stand up wash after finishing lunch.

The standard dish was a portion of a starchy food, which looked like mashed potato, with a spicy soup and added meat or fish. The starchy foods came in different combinations. Banku was a blend of cornmeal with crushed cassava, and FuFu a mix of cassava with plantain. Both were excellent when dipped into the soup usually spiced with chilli.

Another delicacy was palava sauce which is a thick dark green potage made up of cocoyam leaves with palm nut oil, onions and tomatoes. It reminded me of Sag - the equivalent Indian dish made from spinach.

Although not a great lager drinker Star beer was the most palatable of the local brews, while wine was relatively expensive, being imported from South Africa.

Service in restaurants was friendly although the concept of eating courses in a particular order was obviously a foreign notion at my hotel because food arrived to the table when it was ready. So a portion of bacon and eggs would arrive before a portion of cornmeal porridge. (The latter incidentally was called Koko - so now you know what the famous club in Camden Town is named after!)

With locally sourced fruits making up part of my breakfast I ate well every day and very healthily too. The standard Ghanaian diet is low in fats, high in natural fibre and includes plenty of fish, so I think I lost a few pounds during my week.

Which I am sure won't do me any harm...

Reflections on Ghana - One

After spending seven mind-boggling days in Ghana this is the first of a short series of blogs about my impressions.The country is lively, welcoming and developing quickly but in a rather haphazard way.

The enterprise culture is embedded in the country and not just in the parts of the economy one would expect to be controlled by the private sector.

The transportation system is the first obvious example. The train system no longer operates. Although there is evidence of a single track threading its way through a market area of Accra, and also at its linked destination in Kusami, 272 kilometres north west of the capital, it is clearly and sadly redundant.

The roads in part are in a good condition with several dual carriageway roads and motorways within Accra carrying huge numbers of vehicles, but as you get to the outskirts of the city and on all major routes between towns, sections of road built to good European standards are suddenly interspersed with dirt tracks. The Ghanaians seem to have built their roads in sections but have yet to join them all up.

Another feature is the way that bus services have grown with little co-ordination by the city authority. Mini-buses are the most popular and the cheapest way of getting around. The vehicles are not always registered with the authorities, are often in poor condition, and run by teams of two, mostly very young men. One is the driver and the other is the fare-collector who manages the sliding-door access to the kerbside. This means in practice that he is bellowing the eventual destination to passers by, trying to attract custom as the bus makes progress. The standard fare is 60 pesewas (about 25 pence) which would be enough to take you several miles.

The city authority is trying to introduce a better standard of bus on recognised routes with a standard fare of only 40 pesewas, but when I took a trip on one of these I noticed that the bus stood at its stop for about 20 minutes to fill up with passengers before setting off.

The idea of keeping to a timetable appeared to be laughable...

The third option is to use a taxi. These are plentiful but again the condition of vehicles has much to be desired, and it's advisable to negotiate the fare before setting off. It's also better to use a local guide who can negotiate in the local language of Twi. Casual racism in trying to rip off white tourists persists. On one occasion a negotiated price of 6 cedis (about £2.75) suddenly rose to 25 cedis when the taxi-driver spotted me with my guide. His kind offer was refused and he lost the fare.

There and back...

I have just had an interesting week in the south of France, travelling there by train. This was my fourth trip on Eurostar and I must say the interior of the carriages are beginning to look a little outdated given the improved rolling stock on mainline routes within England.

This time I changed trains at Lille for my onward journey to Cannes. I had forgotten how long French trains are and the fact the TGV trains are double deckers. I had booked my tickets well in advance through the Rail Europe office in Lower Regent Street. This is highly recommended because whatever you estimate the cost will be after checking prices online, the staff at Rail Europe will always save you more even after taking account of their £8 commission fee. And you can guarantee your window seats too.

The one drawback of large double-decker trains is that while they get up some terrific speeds on the long stretches, they take at least 10 minutes at each stop to get everybody off and on with their cases.

The journey from Lille to Cannes could be described in two ways. The first half travelling through northern France is monotonous with a largely flat, factory-farmed landscape. The south is entirely different with a great deal of variation on the horizon. The only place we went through which looked seriously grotty was Marseille with huge tower blocks of poor standard social housing, and extensive ugly graffiti.

Travelling along the south coast, one saw no evidence of a recession and when I explored both Cannes and Nice on foot during the week, I could find no bordered up shop fronts or other vacant business premises. The main tourist centres were very busy of course and the main restaurants in Cannes were all packed to capacity by 8.00pm.

As a sole traveller this time, I did my usual trick of walking into my restaurant of choice as they opened at 7.00pm. While everyone was friendly and obliging the waiting staff knew that a table for two converted into a table for one is one less cover for the evening, and so my service was often rapid so they could get their table for two ready for service again. Fine food can be fast food when it is in the restaurant's interest!

I had done some research before I went. One restaurant - Mere Besson - had been highly praised by one reviewer, and after my visit on the Monday I could see why. So much so that I planned my last dinner on the Friday to be a return visit. Sadly a stomach bug took a grip straight after Friday lunch and I was confined to my room for the rest of the day. What was even more annoying was the cheery disposition of my hotelier who asked me on the Saturday morning whether I had enjoyed the civic firework display on Friday evening, an event I had slept right through!

Travelling back I was mightily impressed with the time-keeping of my train from Cannes to Paris Gare de Lyon, a journey of 5 hours 10 minutes, which it completed exactly to time. I was also impressed with an announcement at one station when the station staff apologised for a train running 5 minutes late. It wouldn't happen here.

My final journey was from Paris Gare du Nord to St Pancras. What really needs updating is the passenger facilities at the Paris Eurostar terminal. There are too few waiting room seats and the refreshments on offer are pathetic. They are a disgrace given the usual French hospitality standards, and the gents toilets were the worst I have encountered since my childhood.

The train back was only half full surprisingly. Perhaps those that had packed into my outgoing train were staying longer on the continent than my one week.

Back in the flat I had nearly 200 e-mails waiting for me, mostly instantly deletable, but a few will need proper digestion and response.

So I have been there and back and it almost feels like I have not been away at all...