GHANA CELEBRATES GOLDEN JUBILEE:

A Great Day to be in Accra

On the eve of the 50^th anniversary of Africa’s first nation to break-free from European colonization, I decided to take a walk through the downtown core. For the last few months, the city had been buzzing with preparations for the event. Over the past few weeks, that buzz had become visible: renovations were being done, statues put up, lawns being manicured, curbs being painted, and structures were being decked in the national colours of red, gold and green.

On the 5^th, walking through Accra, the atmosphere was at a new height. Having been to the airport a week earlier to meet Kamau who was arriving from South Africa, it was apparent that crowds of visitors had been wooed by this romantic highlight in the history of Pan-Africanism. Many of those visitors and their counterparts could be seen walking through the streets, decked in Ghana’s colours with their cameras in hand.

On the roads, large trucks with massive speakers lightened the mood in the city’s slow moving streets, as the sounds of hiplife gave the crowds on the back of the truck something to dance to.

At the Independence Square, a long line-up of people stood at the outer gate. When I inquired what they were lined-up for, I found out that they were just there to see what preparations were being made. Across the street sits the Independence arch, etched with the date “1957” and the words of the national motto “Freedom and Justice”. I took a few minutes to sit under that arch and contemplate upon those two words, and what they really mean in Ghana, in Africa and in the world.

While sitting there, one Ghanaian woman must have thought my being there was an interesting scene, so pulled out her camera and she snapped a photo of me.

Before I had gone to walk around the downtown core, I had taken my lunch at the British Council office. Over my plate of fried fish, fried chicken and jolof rice, I paid close attention to the BBC coverage of the upcoming anniversary; I did my best to recognize the places that they used for their live broadcasts.

Back at my spot in the shade of the Independence arch, I could see a celebratory crowd pressed together in front of a camera and a journalist with a microphone.

At the National Theatre, the lobby was being used for a display of photographs telling the story of the nation. My main interest was in the section chronicling Ghana’s political history. The first photos were of Nkrumah as the formation of “The First Republic”. In one photo he walked in the centre of Emperor Haie Selaissie of Ethiopia and Dr. Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, while in another photo he danced with Queen Elizabeth smiling gleefully. There were images of the men that led the coup that took Nrkumah out of power and sent him into exile in Guinea. There were photos of Rawlings as a General listening to chiefs speaking, and there was one of him sitting closely and listening to Fidel Castro, both of them in fatigues. There was Dr. Limann that the coup led by Rawlings put into power (after an election), and there were photos of Rawlings being elected as Head of State afternoon leading a second coup. Lastly, there were photos of President Kufor taking over leadership of the nation in an election after almost twenty years under the regime of Former President J.J. Rawlings.

I walked to the state house, to the conference centre and into the lobby of the parliament house. I ventured over to the international trade fair, and observed the rows and rows of kiosks housing carvings, kente cloth, jewellery and many more items.

That evening, I met with Kamau again who had gone around the city for the day with his friend Tugz, and we headed to the airport for his departure. Crowds awaited the arrival of foreign dignitaries which included the Nigerian President and the Duke of Kent. One worrisome moment came our way when we say about a dozen men dangerously close to having a huge signboard that they had been hoisting to the upper wall of the airport drop to the ground. Thankfully, by the time we passed them again, the sign was raised and the men were standing around talking (probably about how close they had come to a very serious incident).

Once home, I laid in bed listening to the radio broadcast of the session held that afternoon in the house of parliament. I wanted to go to sleep, but I was unable to slow my mind down enough to drift into dream.

As a result of my restlessness, I got up and turned on the TV to see the live broadcast from the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park, where the President and other guests were gathered for some musical and dramatic presentations.

Around 2am, I finally drifted asleep. However, by 4am I was up again.

Liz (who I went to York with and worked with at Northwood Community Centre) had arrived the same day that Kamau left. We were able to get in contact and planned to go down to the festivities with Adwoa and her cousin Madonna.

In order for us to meet up and beat traffic and the crowds to get a seat at the venue, it we needed to leave for Independence Square at 5:30am. Knowing that ladies tend to take awhile to get ready, and motivating people to be on time can be a major task, I was up at early to ensure we got there on time.

While I did my best, a few delays had us heading to the city an hour later than we had planned. Traffic was not too bad. Along the way, nearly every person or vehicle that we passed was sporting the national colours.

Once we had arrived at the venue, we had to force our way through a crowd, being organized and impeded at the same time. The crowd was entering the premise by climbing a short stone wall. Once through that hectic scene, we proceeded to the grandstands to find that they were completely full. The crowds along the walkway in front of the grandstands were thick, and could only be seen over by those with an eye level of about 6’4”.

At first, we didn’t know what to do: the crowd was thick, the heat was amplified among the crowded areas, and we could not see a thing. Eventually we made our way with numbers of others onto the actual parade grounds, and settled on the ground in front of a section seats that had seemingly been filed for at least an hour. As we waited for the program to begin, more and more people began to settle in front of us. As the crowds surged into restricted areas, moments of chaos were plentiful: police with batons chasing back crowds caused small stampedes, and large trucks bringing barricades opened the gates to swells of revelers.

Eventually, the ladies I was there with (who had not had breakfast) decided that the chaos of the crowd, the inability to see or hear what was going on, the heat of the sun, and the delay in the program was too much. They wanted to leave and go have lunch. While I was also hungry, I told them “I can’t, in good conscience, leave here for lunch”. I told them that they should go ahead, and that I would meet them later on.

Once they left, I decided to roam the grounds. I moved through the crowds on the parade grounds at first, but after almost getting trampled in a stampede, I decided to take a seat on a wall marking the edge of the grounds. I waited for the moments when the estimated crowd of 50,000 would simultaneously roar and wave the small flags that were in nearly everyone hand and littered the ground.

From there, I went to see the status on the grandstands, but the humidity and congestion was too much.

Independence Square is actually set along the coast. The grandstands are set up on the east and west of the square. To the north is the road and the roundabout with the Independence arch, and the south has a very tall structure which was used for the diginatries, which has the sea to it’s back.

When I reached that tall structure, the open breeze from the ocean was delightful. I entered another crowd that was standing underneath it and I was able to see Kofi Annan and his wife, as well as Predient Kufor and with his guests of honour.

On the sea, were a number of military boats. In the air we jets and helicopters, which roared over the crowd, becoming the highlight of the day for most.

Around noon, I decided to depart the square, and I walked towards the statehouse to find the streets gushing with happy crowds.

Before I left the grounds though, I took some time to reflect and soak in what I was seeing and where I was.

To be in Ghana in 2007, in Accra on March 6^th, and at Independence Square for the 50^th anniversary is a turn of divine design in my favour that I will not foget.