Me Firi Cape Coast

I was 14 years, it was a normal Sunday church service but a special preacher man had been invited. Everyone sat in eager anticipation but I was rather angry because my mum had forced me to sit next to her in the front row. My mind was racing double time to come up with a good excuse to move to the back row when the preacher man walked into the church auditorium.

We all rose to our feet and closed our eyes in silence waiting for the opening prayer. He let the silence lay for a couple of minutes. I opened my eyes to see what everyone else was up to – it was the usual, people swaying back and forth as though possessed. As my mind began drifting onto other things, the preacher man spoke out into the microphone. He said a lengthy prayer to which the whole congregation responded to with a loud “Amen!” He then announced he had a revelation whilst he was saying the prayer. My heart skipped a beat, was God trying to get back at me for looking around whilst everyone else prayed by revealing something naughty I had done earlier in the week? I slumped in my chair, eyes to the floor whilst sweat beads were forming on my forehead but thankfully God had let me off. The revelation was not about me, it was about Cape Coast! A group of British Business men were on their way to invest substantial figures into the local economy. I was grinning from ear to ear. I did not realise how much I loved Cape Coast until that point. My beloved Cape Coast was on its way up!

Fast forward 14 years down “time lane” and there are no British investors in sight. Maybe this is one of the reasons I have so much distrust for the church system, but we will leave that for another day. All I want to write about now, is my beloved Cape Coast. Since the preacher man’s British investors never turned up, I have taken it upon myself to sell Cape Coast to the world. Hopefully I can do a better job of attracting investors.

Cape Coast is a town steep in history. The castle and fort are grim reminders of a darker moment in the history of all black people but it is our history nonetheless, so for anyone in the black diaspora trying to find their roots, Cape Coast is a very good place to start the process of healing, reconciliation and building broken relationships. Cape Coasters will always welcome you with arms wide open. For the sun seekers, Cape Coast is your ideal destination. If you think the beaches of Barbados are the real deal, then hold your breath! The beautiful beaches of the Cape coastline are better than anything you have ever seen in a Thomson’s holiday brochure. The strengths of the sea waves are pretty strong too, so the surfers amongst you can bring your boards to test it out. Now for the businessmen amongst you, there is a vibrant market. Cape Coast has a university, a polytechnic and several senior secondary schools. If you know anything about business you would know that a uni town always has a healthy spending habit.

Finally I will make an appeal. Cape Coast arguable has five of the best secondary schools in Ghana. Many investor’s sons and daughters of Ghana, have been educated in Cape Coast schools. Now you owe Cape Coast a debt of gratitude. Spread the good word about the town which gave you your education. Bring your friends and family back on weekend breaks. Visit the sights. Go run the sandy beaches. Show the world you are proud to be associated with Cape Coast.

No Vernacular

       

How would you feel if you walked into KFC one day to order a chicken wrap only to be told they will serve anything but chicken?! Or you go on an aeroplane to fly to your dream holiday destination, only for the pilot to announce the aeroplane will not fly but taxi all the way to its final destination?! I will tell you how I would feel - I would feel conned, disgusted and disappointed. KFC without chicken and a plane that cannot fly?! Chicken is the core essence of KFC and so is flying for an aeroplane.

It’s the same sort of feeling of disbelief and disappointment I get when I come across a Ghanaian who has lived in Ghana all their life and yet speaks better English than any Ghanaian language. I have two nephews and a niece just like that. Speaking to them the other day, I realised they speak fluent English but struggle to hold a conversation in Fanti or Ga. Their knowledge or Fanti or Ga – which is their mother tongue – is only rudimentary. It does not go past “How are you”, “I’m fine” and “my name is”…  Shocking huh? And they’re not the only Ghanaian kids living in Ghana who speak better English than their supposed mother tongue. There are many like my nephews and niece and this is deeply worrying. A couple of generations down the road we will have a society that cannot speak its own language but can we blame these kids? They speak English when they are at school and when they are at home. All the literature they read is in English and all their favourite TV characters speak English too: Ben 10 speaks no Fanti or Ga and neither does Hannah Montana! The only time they get to speak Fanti is when their maternal grandmother visits or Ga when their paternal grandmother comes around and they also get a few hours of local language lessons a week at school and that’s about it.

We cannot pretend this problem just crept up on us out of the darkness, we should have seen it coming. I remember in primary school we had a sign on the chalkboard which read “No Vernacular”. Anyone caught speaking Fanti during school hours were punished, but I was lucky not to end up like my nephews and niece. Unlike them, I had a safe haven. I could go home and speak Fanti all I like. These kids on the other hand have no one to speak Fanti or Ga with on a regular basis, so uncle is going to do his bit to help them. Next time I speak to them on the phone, I will be speaking Fanti and

nothing else but now let’s address this problem in a wider sense. Those in charge of drawing up the Ghanaian school curriculum have to take another look at the system. Local language lessons should be given more teaching hours or we can be brave and start teaching a subject – I would suggest History – in local languages. It makes much sense to teach the history of a society in its own language. It gives a better understanding.

Now let’s take a look at the TV stations in Ghana. Do not scrap Ben 10 or Tom & Jerry or Hannah Montana but work some magic with it. It would be nice to hear some of these characters speak Fanti or Ga or Ewe or Twi or Hausa, it can be done. I’ve seen Scooby Doo speak fluent Hindi. Finally, I have a few words for Ghanaian parents. Please do not speak English to your kids at home. It will not make them any clever than the kids who speak Fanti or Ga or Ewe or Hausa at home.

Funny… I just tried counting 1 to 2o in Fanti and I am ashamed to say I’m stuck at 10! And I would think there would be a load of people reading this who cannot count from 1 to 20 in any Ghanaian language. It’s a disgrace! We need to do better.