I spent my Saturday afternoon at the mall.
Not shopping like most of the folks who thronged in and out of the beautiful and luxury looking shops and stands, but just to sit and watch.
I sat next to a used-phone dealer who had his make-shift shed by a street in front of the Accra Mall. He struggled to get passer-by’s to come over to buy his gadgets, but he still had a smile on his face. I’m sure this was a normal day for him, with just a few people looking his way with interest to buy his used-phones.
I looked away towards the other side of the street.
It wasn’t difficult to notice the light-skinned immigrant beggars who had hijacked pathways leading to and from the Mall. Oh, these beggars were brutal in their dealings. They deployed their young ones to approach people and beg for money. One of the young clenched on a gentleman, desperately begging for money to buy food. Another knelt before a lady also begging for money. They had shamelessly made a business out of begging. I counted a little over fifteen of such immigrant children from where I was seated. I was sad but unsure for whom; the poor passer-by’s or the unfortunate but unrelenting beggars.
It was interesting just sitting and watching people waltz and rush around attending to their own businesses. Several make-shift structures decorated the edges of the road, displaying Ghanaian styled clothes, shoes, and a lot more- probably anything that had the potential to be bought. These structures stood tall amid the crowd of men and cars. Of course, this wasn’t legal but had become a norm in Ghana. More of a culture. You would see the local authorities running raids to rid the city of such structures but they never seemed effective as the structures sprung up days later. Things work differently in my country. You do what you can get away with, and oh, people do get away with a lot of things here.
Just when I thought I had seen enough of this interesting Ghanaian reality, a young preacher boy approached where I was seated. I guess he was eleven years or so. With his Bible tucked under his arm, he prayed for blessings and good business fortunes and walked away. This was something new… I know that when preacher folks pray, let alone call on God’s Grace and Mercies on your life, they never fail to ask for financial offerings. This young preacher did otherwise. Interesting.
My thoughts run wild; was it that this young lad wasn’t interested in money as most preachers were, or he was just playing on our minds so we offer it willingly? I guess you never know what to expect on the busy streets of Accra.
I had had enough. A kickback into reality. What the ordinary Ghanaian (and in this particular case, immigrants) go through on a daily basis to survive. I knew for sure this was just a piece of the Ghanaian reality.
I thanked the used phone dealer for allowing me to sit by him and disappeared into the thick crowd.
Michael Tsatsu Axolu
23/06/2018
MikeTsatsu 