Features
Just in time –Part 2
A couple of weeks later, Esaaba left home later than usual, and stopped by his service centre on her way to work. He smiled with surprise, but she noted that he was not exactly thrilled to see me.
‘I thought you would be at work by now,’ he said. ‘Yes, normally I would. But I decided to wait so that I could stop by and see you.’ ‘Thanks a lot. I appreciate that. Do come in.’ They walked past the several cars with their bonnets open, young men busy at work, and they responded to her greeting.
They entered his office, a medium sized air-conditioned room with a laptop computer on the desk, a fridge, and a shelf behind his desk with files and manuals. There was also a big open cupboard with what I guessed were spare parts. ‘So, you are welcome. Would you like some tea?’
‘No thanks. I already had breakfast. Actually, I won’t be more than a few minutes.’ ‘Okay. So, now you know where I work. You already know that I service German cars.
Most of my customers are owners of Mercedes, BMW and Golf. I get several others but these three are the main ones. I’ve been here two years, and I’m getting busier every week.’ ‘Glad to hear that. Good to know that you are finding your work productive.’
‘Well, yes, except that sometimes Ghanaian customers are a little difficult. I’m used to working with time and precision. Everything I do here is IT oriented, but our people are a little slow when it comes to technology. And when it comes to the staff, that’s a whole big issue. It’s often difficult to get them to understand simple processes.
You have to keep saying the same thing over and over again, until they get it. And I think Ghanaians are lazy. You have to virtually push them to work. Sorry, I shouldn’t be complaining like this to you, certainly not on your first visit’. ‘Of course it’s fine.
These are real everyday issues you can’t ignore. But I’m sure that as time goes on, you are developing your own mechanisms of dealing with people, even difficult customers and employees. Eventually you will win them over.’ ‘Well, I hope so. Sometimes it’s very difficult. Anyway, so how do you normally get to work?’
‘There’s a taxi rank just some fifty metres away from here. The taxi drops me very close to my department. And it’s the same coming back home. So I don’t have any transport issues’.
‘Okay, let me see you off before it gets too late.’
He saw her off and wished her a good day, and as she walked to join the taxi she reflected on her impressions of him at work. It was good to know that he was doing something productive, but while she understood that his German education and training inclined him towards punctuality and efficiency, she thought that anyone working in our environment, especially a Ghanaian, should find a way to handle customers and employees.
Customers would flock to you if they knew that you were efficient and punctual, so that could be an advantage. And employees could always be trained to work the way the employer wanted, depending on the motivation and the style used. Those were her early impressions, but she was quite willing to give Stanley time to come across with his plans for the future.
Some two months after he proposed, he had not said anything else. They met as usual and chatted over all manner of things, but he avoided the relationship issue. Esaaba started thinking of dropping hints about the subject, but one morning he stopped by the house as she was about to leave for work, and announced that he was going to Germany ‘for a few months.’
He was going to prepare to fully settle back in Ghana. He apologised for not informing her earlier, but he had had to take the decision in a hurry. He would call regularly, of course, and discuss everything’ then he was gone.
He called some three days after he arrived in Germany, and promised to call regularly. He honoured his promise, and called for a couple of months, mostly to talk about the two German brothers he was working with.
They had a great working relationship, and he hoped to get them interested in investing in Ghana. He believed that in spite of the challenges, Ghana was a very viable place to invest, and he was going to work hard to succeed in Ghana.
Quite a few Germany based Ghanaians had returned home to invest, and some were doing extremely well. He mentioned Kwasi Okyere, who had opened an organic farm with two branches in the Central and Eastern Regions, and was supplying vegetables to the supermarkets.
Then there was Dan Appiah, who was bringing rebuilt tractors for sale to Ghanaian farmers, and was struggling to meet the numerous orders he had received. There were many success stories to inspire him, he said, and he was certainly going to make it in Ghana.
And to top it all, he had met a beautiful lady, just the type of woman he wanted.
Esaaba found those words really heart-warming, but she was not thrilled. She hoped and prayed that he would be able to achieve those objectives. She tried to encourage him, saying for example that having already been to Ghana to start working in his preferred line of business, all he needed was to prepare adequately and come back with full vigour.
And fortunately too, he had two wealthy partners who would provide him with technical and financial support. With hard work, he could win jobs from the big industrial and commercial organizations.
After two months, however, he fell silent. She waited for a couple of weeks, and dropped a few WhatsApp messages. But even though he opened them, he did not reply. She called on two occasions, and he did not answer. So she decided to wait for a while.
Perhaps he needed some time to sort himself out’. Regular communication from her could give the impression that he was obliged to hurry up and come to Ghana to be with her. She dropped a few messages to greet him and hope that he was doing well. Then she stopped.
Her parents may have gotten some hint from somewhere, because they started asking. ‘How are things going between you and Stanley?’ Mama asked. ‘I haven’t heard from him in a couple of months. But before then, things were going very well’. ‘How can that be, Esaaba? You mean things were going well, then all of a sudden, he went quiet, and you haven’t heard from him for two months?’
‘That’s exactly what happened Mama’. We had been chatting regularly. He had been telling me about his work in Germany, the two brothers he was working with, and how he was hoping to get them interested in working with him in Ghana. He was looking forward to resuming work here in a big way. He counted himself lucky to have a girl like me as his support.
On my part I assured him that he had done well to have started the service centre. With his knowledge of the market, he only needed good preparation to come and excel. Everything was going well as far as our conversations are concerned. When he stopped communicating. I kept sending him messages and calling. He never replied any of them’.
‘Listen, Esaaba’, Dada said. ‘We are your parents, so tell us exactly what has happened. Are you sure you haven’t had arguments with him which have caused him to back off? You know you are a very confident person. Sometimes you need to humble yourself a little, especially when it comes to men and relationships. Tell us, what exactly happened?’
‘Dada, are you telling me that I am telling lies? Well, fortunately my phone records all conversations, so I can play all of them for you now. I can also show you the WhatsApp messages we have exchanged. Let me get them all for you now’. ‘You don’t need to get angry,’ Mama said. ‘We only want the best for you. That’s why …..’
‘You want the best for me, so you must tell me that I am lying? I don’t know what is happening with Stanley in Hamburg. Perhaps he is facing challenges with the job, perhaps he has found new partners, perhaps he is moving to a new house and needs to raise money. It could be anything.
Why should you assume that I’m lying? And Dada, I don’t think it is fair that you should imply that I have said something to offend Stanley because I am a confident person. Stanley is an individual with the right to make his own choices. I don’t control him. I think I have said enough’. ‘Then we will call him ourselves and find out what is happening’, he said as I walked away. ‘Here is his number’, Esaaba said as she took a pen tore a sheet from her note pad. ‘Call him’.
The following evening, as Esaaba walked home from the taxi rank, she saw a note from Stanley, stopped to read it and, shaking her head, walked home very angry. She entered the hall and found Baaba chatting with their parents. ‘Good evening’, she greeted, trying to sound warm. ‘How is it, Baaba?’ ‘All is well.
I hear things are not going well with you and Stanley. Anything the matter?’ I don’t know on what basis you concluded that things are not going well. I haven’t heard from him in a couple of months.
I don’t know what challenges he’s facing’. ‘But if he hasn’t called in two months then something is surely wrong. I’m sure there’s something you are not telling us’. ‘Why don’t you go to hell, Baaba? If you won’t mind your own business, then go to hell’.
‘Your sister is asking such a harmless question, and you ask her to go to hell, Esaaba?’ ‘Please, Dada, I think I need to go somewhere quickly and sort myself out before things go badly wrong.
I have just received this note from Stanley. Let me read it to you: “Esaaba, you father called me last night to ask about my plans and the arrangements for our marriage. I think I need to tell you that your parents are interfering in my personal life, and I don’t like it. I must tell you that the reason why I bought you the ring and made that unusual proposal is that they called me and virtually told me to come and marry you. Kindly tell them to get off my back. Regards”.
So Mama and Dada, you think you want the best for me? Thank you for what you’ve done. And Beesiwa, go to hell. I will be moving out of this house, very soon’. Then she walked off.
Ekow De Heer
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.
SKIP THE QUEUE, TAP THE NEWS
You can now read the Ghanaian Times and The Spectator newspapers from the comfort of your device via TimesNewsPlus.
Join our WhatsApp Channel: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbBElzjInlqHhl1aTU27
