Ghana's talented but ignored inventors - Africa - Al Jazeera English

Ghana's talented but ignored inventors - Africa - Al Jazeera English

FIRE!

 

  Markets are very important in the economy of every country. Ghana, an African country with a population of over 24 million, like all countries in the world has many markets. Some being major and others being minor. Unlike markets in other countries across the planet, Ghanaian markets are unique. Their uniqueness lies in the fact one would hardly find a market that trades in one particular group of wares. In a typical Ghanaian market one can find everything from apples to  suits.

 
One common issue that Ghanaian markets face is the problem of market fires. These are rampant and the effect, typically, is that goods and structures are destroyed with the cost running into thousands of cedis. These fire outbreaks start from varied sources, that is, they may start as a result of an unattended iron, coal pot fire not turned out to wielders forgetting to turn off their wielding torches. The problem is always compounded because of congestion. Every major market in Ghana faces the problem of congestion. Due to this, fire hydrants have been obscured by stalls, lanes that fire trucks could use to access the market are converted into stores etc. All these come together to cause the kind of destruction that occurs during such outbreaks of fires.

 

  Indeed, there were stories of fire everywhere in our newspapers. Fire continue to cause considerable damage to life and property as the country recorded 2,201 fire outbreaks in the first quarter of last year with markets being the most affected.

         Several markets in Ghana have experienced fire outbreaks, what  comes to mind are the fire outbreak at the Makola Market, the kantamanto Market, the Agbogbloshie Market in Accra, the Kumasi Central Market, and the Market in Tamale which destroyed goods and properties worth millions of cedis.

        This fire outbreaks have busted out varied concerns and speculations among the Ghanaian public. At the Centre of most discussions, is the attempt of discovering the cause of what has become a major liability to the state.

        Investigations revealed that all these outbreaks were caused by illegal wiring, some electric cables hanging loosely on the electric poles while some are dangerously exposed, illegal connection of electricity to their shops and poor planning as well as failure on the part of traders to comply with local laws and the educational messages on issue of fire safety.

Statistics                                           

          According to the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS), barely two weeks into 2013, 265 fire disasters have been recorded in the Country, this means that 18 fires occur a day and almost one every hour. The fire outbreak have claimed three lives and injured two others.

      According to statistics by the GNFS, the Central Region had 10, Western 7, Brong Ahafo 28, Eastern 10, Northern 2, and Greater Accra 51.

     The categories of the outbreak is under domestic, vehicular, electrical, commercial and industrial, and under these categories, domestic fires recorded the highest, with 18 of them in the Greater Accra Region.

        The fire outbreak do not only destroy properties worth millions of Ghana cedis but also rendered many people homeless, left traders in agony because aside their losses, their livelihood and their dependent were all destroyed and some life’s were lost.

        “This is all I have, my life and my family’s  well being depends on the little I gain from this market” tears rolling down from her eyes “ Now everything is gone” said Abena Amoako, a market woman who lost everything through the fire outbreak at the Makola Market.

Causes

        In most market places in Ghana, shops have been built close to one another without ample space between them to allow for the passage of the fire service in case of fire outbreaks.

      Congestion in our markets place is unbearable, and this has accounted for destruction of properties during fire outbreaks.

       The government tried to solve this problem by providing the traders with well-established and secured market places, but most of them refused to move because people were not patronising their goods like they use to as compared to their old market.

The way forward....  

  In ensuring safety in our markets , I think the traders must first eliminate or avoid fire hazards, they must isolate items that are highly flammable, switch off and unplug electrical items before leaving the market and finally to install smoke alarms to warn off and detect fire in a timely manner.

    In conclusion, I would say that fire could be dangerous but measures can be put in place to reduce the loss of life and properties, it has destroyed our markets enough, we need to stand up to control this hazard.

story by: Elizabeth Okletey

  

                                                               

 

THIS IS KETA

Keta is a town located in the  volta region of Ghana  with a population of a 22,739.It is the capital of the keta municipal district .
Parts of the town were devastated by sea erosion between 1960s and 1980s.

Keta was settled  by Anlo Ewe, a sub-group of Ewe people who,in the 17th century migrated from Ketu in Benin to the area.

Keta was an important trading post between the 14th and the late 20th centuries. The town attracted the interest of the Danish, because they felt they could establish a base here without interference from rival European nations. Their first initiative was to place a factor at Keta to sell alcohol.

In 1792 a war between Anloga and Keta In 1784, Fort Prinzenstein, like most slave trade forts, was built by the sea's edge. However the sea had retreated by about 600 ft by 1907. Since then Keta has been subject to sustained erosion. The Bremen Factory and Coconut plantation, which were close to the high water mark in 1907, had been swept away by the see by 1924. The erosion has now advanced as far as Queen Street and started to wear away the Fort.

To save the town from drowning government, gave way for a sea defense project, estimated at $84 million to prevent the sea from consuming the land.

Prinzenstein Located in Keta, this fort was built by the Danes. This fort played a significant role in the slave trade involving Europeans in West Africa, the Caribbean and southern USA. Apart from a small fort in Benin and Senegal, the fort at Keta is the only ancient European built fort of its kind east of the Volta River, which is close to the slave coast of Benin (Dahomey). Parts of it have been destroyed by the angry waves of the sea, but a significant portion remains to tell a sad story.

Prinzenstein is one of the few that lie east of the Volta River.  It was initially built by Danish traders in 1784 for defensive purposes in a war against the Anlo Ewe and to keep the area safe from other colonial powers.

Up until 1803 the fort was used as a dungeon for slaves awaiting transportation to the Caribbean. In 1850 the fort, along with the rest of the Danish Gold Coast was sold to Britain. The fort was used as a prison for a period before it was partially destroyed by the sea in 1980.  The remains of the fort are now visited by tourists.

STORY BY: ESTHER ASABEA

PATRONAGE OF AFRICAN PRINTS IN GHANA

Today, fashion has taken a different trend whereby African wax prints has become the toast of the masses. Gone are the days when African prints were worn only on and to occasions. These occasions include funerals, church, festivals not forgetting naming and wedding ceremonies. Cloths ranging from the all black, black and white, black and red, all red, all white were thus required specifically for attendance of these functions. This required colored function cloth is still in existence but with a touch of high class fashion styles and designs.

Talk of styles and designs and oh boy, you would be amazed at the outcome. From the well-known “kaba and slit” to the “housewife”, the “puffs”, just to name a few. I remember talks of it from my grandma (Esther Margaret Pearl- a home science teacher back in the day) like it was yesterday, how they used to rock these styles to every function, especially to “discos” as it was called back then. “If you don’t own some of these styles, then man, you don’t know what time it is”, says Esther Margaret Pearl enthusiastically.

In keeping to fashion designs today, tailors and designers have taken to mixing these variety of print with plain materials, chiffons and laces so to come out with trendy outfit. With no specific names of style, a designer is sure to design casual, formal, freestyle and businesslike outfits. These trendy outfits are worn by people from all walks of the world especially Ghana to variety of functions and most importantly to work.

This working trend began, when former President- J.A Kuffour officially involved the Ghanaian populace to at least try wearing African prints to work on Fridays. This involvement has since stayed with us and thus has helped in many ways. Ways including portraying the rich culture of Africa and boosting the countries income-economy sector.

I would not be fair to my homeland, if I leave out the famous “Bonwire Kente” cloth. As goes the name, it’s a silk interwoven cloth woven by great weavers from the township Bonwire-a suburb of the Ashanti Region of Ghana.  In representation of the in-depth rich heritage of Ghana, it’s made of symbols which mean a lot in our tradition. Symbols ranging from “gye nyame”, “ohene aniwa”,

“Akyekyedi3”, “fontonfrom” and the likes depicts knowledge, greatness, wisdom… that our forefathers instilled on us, as that is the belief.

As a cloth worn by great chiefs of the Ashanti kingdom during occasions like festivals, it is worth preserving. Although it’s specially made for “royals” of the Ashanti kingdom, it’s made available to people interested in acquiring them, at a very expensive price I must add. Like the normal wax print, it can be used as a token of appreciation; it is worn also to weddings and engagements especially. A kente cloth when used is believed to show the graceful-kind heartedness of a person and also ones wealthiness.

The love for African print has grown to the extent of people making it as a hobby as well as making it a source of income due to its versatile craftiness. This craftiness has developed not only in the dressy aspect but in the accessories aspect; bag and footwear aspect of fashion.

Talk of designers and there are a whole lot of them taking African fashion in Ghana to the top. Names like Duaba serwaa, kayda of kenaaf couture, Pokuaa Poku, Elikem of big brother fame, Sarah Christian, kofi Ansah, Msimps and the list goes on.

Looking for classy wears to occasions with great designs that would make you stand out and be the talk of town, look no further and think of non other than African prints and its versatility of styles.

 story by:Gertrude oppong kyeremeh