Features
COVID-19 ‘locks down’ Accra New Town printing business
The name “Accra New Town” may suggest the area is a new settlement in the national capital but it is not.
The suburb dates back to many decades with an interesting history that deserves its separate spotlight.
If there is anything new about Accra New Town, it is definitely not the printing press business.
Like Abossey Okai is synonymous with vehicle spare parts, the vicinity is the hub of almost all printing needs from books, posters, invitation cards, t-shirts, branded souvenirs, banners, calendars and more.
Sight, smell and sounds
A cursory look is enough to confirm why it is the hub of printing; there are countless outlets of all magnitudes and ancillary businesses crowded along major streets there.
The sight and sound of printing machines, computer keyboards, cutting machines alongside the smell of ink and fresh paper, topped up with a display of beautifully designed banners and signages are characteristic of this area especially “High street”.
Things fall part
But in the last three months, COVID-19 pandemic has figuratively disconnected the power to the printing hub resulting in the temporal turning off of many printing machines.
The business is bearing the brunt of restrictions on social gatherings like weddings, funerals, churches, schools, workshops and other events, which has drastically declined the printing of invitation, programmes, flyers, exercise books, and souvenirs.
COVID-19 Restrictions
President Nana Addo Dankwa in March imposed various restrictions on social gatherings such as church, political party activities, as part of measures to curb the COVID-17 with only 25 expected to attend private funerals.
After weeks of economic meltdown, the restrictions were eased on May 31 with church, weddings, conferences, funeral expected to have not more than 100 people and adherence to social distance protocols.
As of June 12, the country had recorded 11,118 confirmed cases out of which 3,979 people had recovered with 48 succumbing to the virus.
Even though the restrictions have been eased some owners of printing houses in the town has it has not eased the pain suffered by the economic blow dealt the sector by the pandemic.
Impact
Many printing outlets at New Town have closed down. Those still open have either laid-off their staff or frozen their engagement until further notice. Clients do not walk in in their numbers. The industry is on ice.
Inkit Ghana Limited is one of the biggest signage and digital printing company in Accra New Town and Ken Sarfo, a staff, tells the Ghanaian Times that the pandemic has gravely affected business.
Before the pandemic, he said, the company could print about 10,000 different items within a day including 500 pieces of funeral booklets but now the company handles just about 100 in some days.
“There is virtually no business. Our business comes if there are social gatherings. So definitely the restrictions are having a great impact on the business” he said.
According to Mr Sarfo, the church was one of their biggest clients but due to the low key Easter celebration, they lost out on the printing of posters, banners and other advertising materials.
“By this time in an election year, we would have been printing a lot of party paraphernalia but there are no political activities. Jobs do not come”, he said adding that most clients who come in prefer softcopies of invitation cards and posters so they distribute on social media.
Electricity reliefs and MSME support
The Government has absorbed 50 per cent of the electricity bill for residential and commercial consumers, for three months, which began in April, as part of reliefs to support industry, enterprises and the service sector who have been hard hit by the impact of the restrictions to curb the pandemic.
Additionally, a GH₵1 billion Coronavirus Alleviation Programme (CAP) business support programme has been instituted to support Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) with soft loans to survive the impact of the pandemic on their operations.
But according to Ebenezer Sarpong, a caretaker of an a printing press which he asked not to be named, all these measures were good but for the printing industry it would not soothe their pain because “ our business thrives on events, so if there are no events, we do not exist”.
He would not say how much his company has lost but indicated that the printing industry in general has lost millions of cedis.
Contribution to awareness creation
Kwame Boahen, a freelance designer called on the government to collaborate with graphic designers so they produce awareness creation materials adding that” it is through this collaboration that we could get something small to heal our wounds.”
Glimmer of hope
The sad tale of the industry’s woes was the same in other outlets the Ghanaian Times visited.
But one thing that ended most of the narrations of the interviewees was a prayer that the pandemic would be over before the last quarter of the year .
This is because they are still hoping to make money from intense political campaigns, weddings and funerals that usually define that time of the year.
“We hope and pray that God heals our land so life returns to normal”, Mr Sarfo of Inkit said.
Until this prayer is answered and all restrictions lifted, it appears the industry would remain locked down by COVID-19.
Source: Ghanaian Times
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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