My Views of Accra and the future capital of Ghana

I am not an urban planning expert and I am not by any stretch of imagination claiming to be. I am writing this piece as a lay person based on my understanding of what constitutes attractive city from observations made during a couple of travels elsewhere. I am very much aware of the ramifications of the things I am about to write. It has both financial and historical implications and as such I appreciate the fact that things bordering on butter and bread as well as culture are always basis for arousing emotions. Forgive me if I am rather proving to behave like a stubborn cat by deliberately rattling Accra residents especially the powers that be's cage. We have no option however than to accept the assertion that the truth like a cork stands and irrespective of how we feel or react, unless the situation in question fundamentally changes, the truth won't change. The plain truth is that Accra which is the capital city of Ghana is unattractive.

I have lived in Accra continuously since 1996 but had intermittent stays from 1988. A lot of things have changed since that time. Most recognisable among these is the sheer growth as in spiral in numbers and physical expanse. Unfortunately these changes have not necessarily translated and impacted qualitatively  on the lives and living conditions of the residents of Accra. On the contrary, living conditions have being deteriorating or for want of a better word, they lag behind both in expectation and reality. Maybe it was about time we began to compare standards with the best, and not the worst. In Accra, the worst and the ugliest examples are visibly around us. Trying to measure cleanliness is about the degrees of comparison with similar places worldwide. Actually the superlative form of the adjective used here implies comparing three or more national capital cities.

What yardsticks or indicators are there to measure the attractiveness or otherwise of Accra? What does it mean to say a city is the ugliest? Are these parameters culturally or environmentally sensitive or responsive? The plain truth is Accra is just an ugly duckling with small chance to turn into a beautiful swan before relinquishing her status to Bui City, I am not hallucinating. Review the following lines and you can't but agree with me. Accra is crowded, dirty and just boring, and in terms of architecture she is simply unsightly. Obviously, some may find entirely planned suburbs like the East Legons, Sakumonos, Golden Gates, Ashongmans or a couple of others as fascinating or inspirational, but calling these dotted areas beautiful would be a bit of an exaggeration.

The truth of the matter is that Accra lacks or has inadequacies in terms of the most modern facilities and also qualifies as the most impoverished and uninhabitable area. Many parts of Accra look as a cesspool appearing and smelling like pure hell where you can't choose to eat else you do so at the peril of your health because in some of these areas eating food there is equivalent to garbage. There are no safety standards and all you know it could be a vulture dressed up as chicken and dished out at the 'chop bar' or the greenery but poorly treated vegetable garnishee was grown with water from the typhoid-infested drain or sprayed with pesticides just hours before harvesting them. You only need to be near Odaw river or properly called Odaw  garbage landfill to verify or collaborate this. The repulsive stench emanating from the channel alone will be enough confirmation of the extent of dirt and filth. This problem has two fold causation: attitude and incompetence or square pegs in round holes. If mosquitoes those cacophonous tiny insects that cause malaria are soldiers, Accra would have been the most impregnable place on earth. 
Regrettably, the city lacks constant flow of treated water. Residents endure what is termed 'water rationing' whereby total volume of water available at any point in time is shared according to a roster among residents. Even here, there is no assurance that water will run through the pipe at the stated dates and times. Consequently, a phenomenon has emerged where residents have developed their own unique coping strategies through which water is stored till luck comes smiling on them. A peculiar yellow jerrycan originally meant to store cooking oil is the preferred container for this purpose. It appeared on Accra landscape and many parts of Ghana during the reign of former President John Kufuor. People sarcastically named it 'Kufuor Gallon'. I am not so sure if it is still being called by same name or a new name has replaced it following the expiration of Kufuor's tenure of office. As a result of our inability to supply treated water, Accra appears to more vulnerable to cholera outbreaks than any other major city in the country. As for misdiagnosed water-borne disease like typhoid and dysentery as malaria, the least said, the better. Even the number hospital, Korle Bu is often not spared this agony and mismanagement facing Ghana. The sad thing is that Accra seems to be thirsty in the midst of abundant water. The supreme creator was so good to Ghana that the land is blessed with many streams and rivers many of which are perennial and ultimately have no option but to empty themselves into the Gulf of Guinea. We are not into water war with our neighbours unlike other nations at least for the foreseeable future. Indeed to buttress this point is the fact Ghana has just signed an agreement with its Togolese counterpart to export between 40,000-70,000 gallons of water everyday to Lome, the capital city of Togo. The Water Purchase Agreement with the Togo Water Company will enable that country get water from Sogakope through transition lines to the capital Lome. Besides, huge quantities of water from the Bagre Dam in Bukina Faso is released in which several communities in the three Northern regions have been inundated by perennial floods, affecting lives and livelihood of thousands of citizens of Ghana.    

Shantytown nature in parts of Accra today

The lay out in Accra if there are any are nothing more than 'Zongo lane' which is a metaphor for forest thicket in town. No wonder the Ghana National Fire Service is unable to deal decisively with the rampant fire outbreaks. There is often no passage to the disaster site or water hydrant has been built or encroached upon. And speaking of rampant fire outbreak is in itself a statement of the state of affairs about what Accra is made of. In the month of March 2012 alone, Ghana experienced three nationwide complete power outages on steamy equatorial nights. Many patients at the threatre under the surgeons knife were said to have lost their lives. Who is to blame? Well power play and blame game was at their wits end! The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) seems to have joined the circus by announcing telephone numbers for consumers to report directly to them. Can you imagine this? The regulator is making public admission that it has no independent means of monitoring the performance of organisations that come under its control. No one in Accra is accountable for their actions or inactions. Watch Tiger Eye's (Anas Areyaw Anas) recent exposé on Electricity Company of Ghana,  and you would have discovered shockingly that we use fourth grade electric cables from China. And to add insult to injury, every abode in Accra is completely barricaded like a maximum security prison building or the male slave dungeon at El mina. All for the fear of criminals (armed robbers) breaking in and causing physical harm or looting all possessions. Insecurity in Accra is legendary and often heightened by lack or better still malfunctioning street lights although electricity consumers are charged street lighting levy. No accountability. When you travel from Viana de Castelo to Ponte da Barca in Portugal at night, you think there is just one single settlement all the way. The street lights in various towns along the route merged to create a continuous view of one mega city when in fact there are just small farming cottages. Similarly, if you are airborne at night over cities like Porto, Lisboa (all in Portugal), Trondheim (Norway), Amsterdam (Holland), Casablanca(Morocco)  or Cairo (Egypt) [for these are the places I know, observed the phenomenon at night and can confidently speak to], you can clearly distinguish the streets on the ground by the street  lights along the routes but over in Accra you see dotted and isolated lights coming out from individual households.

Do you know that it is considered offensive to stretch your hand when giving direction in Portugal? On 14th August 2011, on a tour to Bom Jesus at Braga, a friend warned me and said hey, this is unacceptable behaviour here. Try to locate a place in Accra by asking for a guide from residents and they will  stretch the right hand to direct you to 'go straight ahead, forked off right at the T-junction 300 metres away and after two minutes walk you will see a lady roasting ripe plantain, ask her for your desired house or location'. For God's sake, health is not a permanent condition and the lady roasting ripe might have decided not to come to the spot on that day due to ill-health or some other considerations. But this is the reality in Ghana, no house numbers and functional street names. Informal area names that exist do not have signs and only typical locals know them. I am yet to see a block of skyscrapers, cobblestone pavements, metal sign boards, proper street names (not those flimsy ugly wooden structures) and of course overpass and bridges at intersections on high ways. Forget about streets and alleys or lanes. The few ones available are relics of the 19th century performing the functions of the twenty-first century. 

Accra's architecture is not impressive at all. The city centre is rather quite messy, dirty and chaotic continually congested and choked with human traffic. It has few historical monuments that can boast the title of UNESCO sites. In terms of architecture, Accra probably qualifies as the most boring capital along the Guinea gulf coast.

Today, Accra is an odd city and chaotic mix of a few modern constructions and a few remained yurt suburbs. It lacks the elegance of Vienna, passion of Paris or craziness of Berlin and if you are a nature lover, better head for the Brong Ahafo region where you will find some of the country's beautifully laid out and well kept towns, rather than spend your Cedis in the city of Accra.
Perhaps it is time we revisited the Bui City Project as an alternative future national capital. After all Bui is near Kintampo which was adjudged to be at the centre of Gold Coast prior to British Togoland ( now Volta region) joining the Gold Coast in a plebiscite in 1956 and this makes it ideal location for a future national capital. Further, the warmth and hospitable nature of the people in the Brong Ahafo enhances this advocacy. There is plentiful land unlike Accra crowded by over population. This move will also serve as an incentive to make investors relocate firms to help attain the objectives of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA). The SADA initiative is intended to help bridge the widening development gap to the northern Savannah areas, comprising the Upper East, Upper West and the Northern Region; as well as districts contiguous to the northern region in northern Brong-Ahafo and northern Volta region. Investments in agriculture, agro-processing, tourism, mining and services are expected to ensure that more than 90% of the jobs created will be long-term, sustainable employment, especially for the youth. Northern Ghana has been noted for poverty-induced violence conflict for many years. The SADA strategy makes peace and conflict avoidance a cardinal pre-condition for sustainable development in the area.

Bui site

The Bui city concept was to develop relevant infrastructure needed to support the establishment of a well-planned city within the Bui project area. The city complex would be located downstream of the dam on both banks. The Bui City Project is a nucleus of a metropolis which was conceived long ago in the 1920s by one Albert Kitson who had visited the gorge and declared the site suitable for a Hydro plant.


When completed, the Bui city will be one of the potential new growth poles for enhancing cross- border trade and tourism. It is envisaged that the Model City will be the Most Livable City in Africa, representing a human habitat to accommodate the influx of people seeking to take advantage of new opportunities offering
economic, tourism and educational opportunities.
The vision seeks to make this a world-class facility, leading in tourist attraction in the sub region characterised by value added features such as good jobs and economic opportunities, a new economic zone which embraces technology, effective and efficient infrastructure, diversified affordable housing options, as well as access to health care schools. The Bui city with its own university is also expected to accommodate over one million inhabitants in the next 30 years.
We should stop wasting our resources trying to modernise Accra with fanciful names as 'Ministry for the Modernisation of Accra' or the 'Millennium City' with very little chance to turn Accra into a beautiful swan. Names in themselves mean very little. To make matters worse, Accra is often plagued by various natural disasters like the May-July annual floods as it is a low-lying plain and at the same time, the dark side of the city, the numerous shantytowns, is home to places you would rather avoid. Indeed Accra stinks and the superlative ugliest may not be enough to describe Ghana's capital city.