Gh@L : Got Plans?

39 days and counting to March 6th when Ghana is 50!

• Debates abound to why we are intent on celebrating this anniversary when other countries who we started nursery school with are in PhD programs while Ghana is still in Class 2. OK I'd be kind Class 3. Do we really want visitors to have a no-holds barred viewing of Sodom and Gomorrah at it's cinder-blazing best or of throngs of able bodied youth selling an amazing range of made- in- only-God-knows-where goods on the main thorough-fares in the Capital City.

• But behind the congregation of physically disabled panhandlers (sheesh! say beggars already!) around the Ridge Circle, Ghana-at-50 can celebrate the intricate road networks that allow these beggars to manoeuvre their wheelies smoothly. She can rightly celebrate the skyline that showcases beautiful buildings housing upstarts and grand dames of banking operations, telecom mercenaries and well as those that really sound like Ghana. And not to forget recreational edifices that although they have a distinctly Asian look should rightly be hosting Ghanaian cultural entertainment.

• Surface achievements!! the grumpy naysayers will rush to shout. Remember when you were a child and your parents decided to throw a party in your house. At that time you had most probably gotten into a heated argument with them because they did not let you go the Afternoon Jam in that skimpy miniskirt you wanted to wear. Are you going to stay in your room and sulk because you are royally pissed off at them or you are going to throw yourself headlong into that party at the other side of the house because you have put on that bad bad red miniskirt you retrieved from the dustbin??? Did I say the miniskirt had a band of sequins at the hem and waistline?

• Despite all our hesitations with the state of the Ghanaian economy, infrastructure, social services and what not, let us enjoy this party because it is our party.

Any who knows? We might be granted continuous power for all the celebrations because hey! Ghana is 50!

• Anniversary entertainment schedule to follow shortly...............

Brown outs or Black outs?

Is the power rationing exercise still ongoing? Either my coping mechanisms are working very well for me or like everything else I cannot change I am Blacking the experience out of my mind.

• Thanks to the powers-that-be for the continuous power over the Xmas period. I am so used to the power being off that I stop hitting the lights switch in the evenings. I have memorized perfectly the layout of my house, the number of stairs and the eiree human like curtains that I can move around in pitch darkness. So when I drive down the road it never ceases to amaze me the recent generator purchases. Or is the power back on?

• Ask the people in East Legon and they will tell you the 5-day schedule does not matter. On the Brown out days either a couple of phases go off or the constant hourly on-and-off annoys you so much you decide to stay permanently in the Off phase. Revenge on ECG! You deprive them of getting you all agitated because of the unsteady power. Then on the Black out days you just resign yourself to the coping techniques already discussed.

• Will this end? Soon? Seems like Joy FM is no longer trashing this dead horse so everyone is resigned to this state of affairs for the long haul. The Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) is no longer touting the exorbitant cost of generating power for their industries so we all assume they will work it into their costs so that the consumer ends up paying for it. So the average Kojos end up feeling their way around their houses for lack of lights and then when the day comes around goes to purchase higher priced good because of higher prices of production??? Lets hope not.

• I must however concede that the switch to power outs only from 6pm - 6am every 5 days is bearable. Way bearable than the every 3 days alternating day or night if ECG is kind

Let there be lights!