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The saga of the dancing kiosk
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IN every society, there are people who please themselves and do things their own way, whether people will talk about them or not. Check out the man who, by some good fortune, came by some money to purchase a beautiful Benz bus. Instead of becoming a bossy transport owner to whom daily accounts will be rendered, he decides otherwise.
He hires a driver but no driver’s mate. He becomes the mate himself and the bold inscription on the back of the bus is ‘MAN NO FOOL’. Of course, he does not rank himself a fool. He has long observed the way drivers collaborate with mates to play Kwaku Ananse tricks with daily accounts. He is far and above such tricks.
What about the married man who decides to enforce the principles of division of labour? Early one morning, he decreed that he would start doing the daily market shopping all by himself because he suspected that his wife was “tearing chobo”
This domestic tyrant had, a month before this unilateral family decree, arrogated to himself the power of the kitchen ladle. According to him, he was not feeling the chop-money’s worth in his stomach and, therefore, decided to overthrow his wife and establish a new kitchen regime.
He declared himself the chief cook and the wife a steward. He told his enquiring friends that he was forced to take the stringent measure because whenever his wife fetched the soup, his share looked like that of a prisoner although he is the one who “moves the chopmoney”.
He calls his actions “domestic pragmatism” and when the wife completes the cooking, she arranges the plates and bowls and calls out to the chop-money man to come and fetch the soup and allocate the meat.
Also, consider the noble ways of a man and wife who have a kiosk in which they sell their wares. Because they cannot carry their goods home back and forth everyday, and taking care not to be burgled, they decide to sleep in the kiosk every night although they have a house.
Last week Tuesday, they were fast asleep when the rains started. Deep in slumber, each one of them began dreaming he (or she) was dancing in a jamboree. It was indeed a real boogey, but two people side by side and dreaming simultaneously about dancing was too mysterious on a rainy day to be true.
When they came around and opened their eyes they realised that is was not a disco night, after all. The kiosk in which they were sleeping was rather water-borne and was doing the Michael Jackson dance, tossing up and down enroute to the abode of death. The magnificent dream dance turned out to be a Music-For-Your Dancing Kiosk.
Unfortunately, the dream dancers did not die in the floods. They lived to tell their story. They were one of the fortunate ones who escaped death by the skin of their teeth. Others were not so fortunate with water.
Death and Mourning!
It turned out that on that Tuesday, 24 residents of Accra were sentenced to death by water squad. It was a pitiful experience for many when the rains, the heaviest in 59 years, destroyed property, drowned human beings and animals and precipitated the worst traffic jam that ever hit the capital.
I was at home when Radio GAR (no longer GBC FM) announced that the situation was quite precarious and that the flood action was happening live Circle, the Odaw River overflowing, blah, blah, blah! Well, when you live in a planned city like Tema, you see rain but not floods and boogeying kiosks.
Neck Insurance
I had gotten dressed up for work but the announcement made me take off everything and got firmly tucked in bed as the rain drizzled even at about 9:30 a.m. having fallen from 11:00 p.m. the previous day with such intensity that I was surprised Tema was not inundated.
When I got to Circle the next day and saw the extent of damage, I was overawed. I heard people had to transform into human transport, carrying people in waist-deep water across for a fee of ₵500. Luckily I wasn’t around to be carried. I would have been charged ₵1,500 because the carrier would have had to first, insure his poor neck against dislocation since my weight is quite helluva! In any event of injury he would have tossed me into the water, anyway, to save his neck. You joke with your neck and you’ll die young!
When I got to the office on Wednesday, it was a mess. Workers and labourers were carting out soaked material and drying the offices. I had left my office radio on the carpet floor and I guess it did a bit of swimming before it was rescued. When it got dried a bit, I tried it and it cackled to life.
Jesus Christ, the radio must be holy-ghost filled. Perhaps, it walked on the water. I was so glad and tuned in to BBC, hoping something would be said about the floods in Sikaman. Nothing! Only Bosnian Serbs and their atrocities and that kind of boring stuff. People killing themselves and never stopping,
And it came to pass that Mr Nat Nunoo-Amarteifio, the AMA boss, came on the air later on to undertake a post-mortem of the disaster. Among other things, he talked about the level of the sea and lagoon rising to meet the floods. As for that explanation I was not convinced at all, but I won’t comment
You see, one veteran journalist whom I respect so much because of his prophetic genius, is TOM DORKENOO. He is, a man from whom I often take counsel because of his experience in life and journal-ism. Whatever he predicts comes to pass and recently I suggested that he should establish a church so that he could prophesy both day and night.
Uncle Tom as he is fondly known, wrote an article in his column two years ago, enumerating in graphic detail, reasons why Accra is a disaster area as far as floods are concerned, concluding that if the authorities do not take radical steps in tackling the drainage issue and allied problems, we must expect deaths and disaster in all forms and ramifications.
A year later, people died in the floods. The dose was repeated this year with 24 people losing their lives. Many have lost their animals and property and have been thrown into debts they can never redeem.
It is not enough for Nunoo-Amarteifio to come on the air to talk about actions he wants to take concerning the drainage system and unauthorised buildings. He should get down to work and see to it that everything that is contributing to the yearly floods is tackled appropriately.
If he is in doubt, he should look for back copies of the ‘Weekly Spectator’ and scan for Uncle Tom’s article. Tom is a man of the environment. He has talked extensively on floods and earthquakes.
Yes EARTHQUAKES! How prepared are we?
This article was first published on Saturday, July 15, 1995
The average modern Gold Coaster born and bred in Sikaman is an adventurous creature. Go to any part of the world and you’ll find Ghanaman diligently slugging it out either in the snow or in hot sweltering weather, earning a decent living.
Go to Guinea and see Ghanaman in the garb of a herbalist, curing the sick of various ailments. He makes the Guinean understand that not all diseases are caused by James Lucifer alias Jimmy Satan. On the contrary, most diseases are caused by kooko which can even attack the human nose and turn it upside down.
That kooko is also the cause of poverty and the internal bleeding of personal back-pocket economies. And that kooko can be cured using the chemistry underlying Sikaman herbal medicine which has been blessed by the gods of Larteh.
And before Ghanaman starts dispensing his herbal concoctions, he must attract the passing crowd with some Sıkaman-originated choreography, akin to a combination of adowa and agbadza, such that the dancer can easily dislocate a shoulder and start crying for his mother.
When the crowd is enough to form a quorum, Ghanaman must perform magic as a side-attraction, and proceed to sell his drugs. The drugs are genuinely made from potent herbs which the Pharmacy Board of Sikaman says it has no confidence in. Believe me, Ghanaian herbalists are practising in neighbouring countries like Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone and Benin, while we are discouraging them from practising in Sikaman.
Go to Las Palmas and see Ghanaman as a fisherman. He sails on Korean-owned boats and is forced to eat garlic and raw tuna for radiant health. The garlic is also supposed to protect him against witches. But sometimes, he is not good bedfellows with some Korean crew members, and once in a while a fight breaks out.
The typical Korean is a Kung Fu expert and before displaying a golden dragon data. He must first terrify Ghanaman with a Korean dance which consists of wild arms and leg throwing. But Ghanaman is usually not daunted. Why has he been eating cancer kenkey all years without developing cancer? It mean is a superhuman capable of countering Kun fu side-kicks to the ribs.
Anyhow Ghanaman’s most potent arsenal lies in his fists. If he is a southpaw, it mean left fist is probably insured and can cause damage. When Ghanaman lands a cassava blow and it lands on a Korean chest, it has the effect of a cruise missile. If there is no ceasefire a funeral cannot be ruled out.
Greenland
Go to Alaska and find Ghanaman there. Greenland, Iceland, Brazil, Argentina, Madagascar, everywhere and you’ll find him. He has become an international citizen and is generally lauded for his hardwork, sincerity and honesty.
However, some bad nuts are also condemned and despised.
The world and all its parts and corners are for the human race, and anyone can choose to live anywhere and earn a decent living so long as he doesn’t misconduct himself or become a social misfit and a law unto himself.
Sıkaman for instance accepts foreigners, and we are so liberal that people just come in through our borders and we welcome them with the best palmwine in town and goat light soup. Who cares about passports and visas? Our hospitality is, as it were legendary.
So we have Liberians, Nigerians, Sierra Leoneans, Togolese, Europeans, Americans, Scandinavians and Koreans in Sikaman. And some of them have misinterpreted our overzealous accommodation to mean “foolishness” and are misconducting themselves.
The newspapers carry stories of some unscrupulous Nigerians stealing, defrauding and collaborating with their Sikaman counterparts to rob people. You’ll find some good and law-abiding Liberians around but some other Liberians are in the business of fraud, robbery, money printing, money doubling, anything criminal.
Ghanaian hospitality can no longer be extended to such people. I do not think Ghanaians will be treated kindly either, when they misbehave anywhere in the world. Those who come from outside with the intention of bringing down their evil deeds and to practise them here professionally must be getting ready because Ghanaians are getting fed up with the menace.
These days, you’ll find strange people following you as soon as you emerge from a bank. If you are not careful, they’ll wrestle your briefcase from you and speed away in a waiting taxi.
Someone was just saying that many foreign criminals are flocking to Ghana because in their countries, they are enable to operate either because they are being looked for by the police for offences committed or fear instant justice at the hands of mobs. Ghanaians, it is said, are humanitarian in dealing with criminals.
Well, in some African countries, a thief who is being chased runs directly to the police station in his own interest and begs the officer at the counter to lock him up. Otherwise he’ll be lynched or be burnt to death. In Ghana, it is the opposite. The thieves run far away from the cop stations.
The criminals must reform and stay peacefully in Sikaman or quit. No court case!
This article was first published on Saturday September 5, 1998
The human condition is defined by two absolute, biological bookends: the commencement of complex cellular animation and its ultimate, irreversible cessation.
For centuries, medicine treated life and death as strictly separate states. Today, modern pathology and molecular biology reveal a more profound truth: the mechanisms that allow us to live are the exact same mechanisms that dictate how we die.
Understanding this relationship is no longer just a philosophical pursuit. It is a clinical necessity for managing public health in the 21st century.
Part I: How we live – The mechanics of animation
At its core, biological life is a continuous, high-stakes battle against entropy (the natural tendency of systems to degrade into disorder). To maintain form, consciousness, and function, the human body relies on three fundamental pillars:
1. Cellular respiration and energy production
Every second of human life is powered by the conversion of oxygen and glucose into Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), the universal energy currency of our cells. This process occurs within the mitochondria.
Without a constant supply of ATP, the microscopic pumps that maintain electrical gradients across our cell membranes fail, causing cellular collapse within minutes.
2. Homeostasis: The balancing act
To survive, the internal environment of the body must remain incredibly stable, regardless of external chaos. This balancing act, known as homeostasis, regulates:
Blood pH: Strictly maintained between 7.35 and 7.45.
Core Temperature: Ideally kept around 37°C (98.6°F).
Electrolyte Balance: Precise ratios of sodium, potassium, and calcium that allow nerves to fire and muscles to contract.
3. The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
The ANS acts as the invisible conductor of life, split into two complementary branches:
Part II: How we die – The path of cessation
Death is rarely a singular event; it is a progressive biological cascade. Whether caused by old age, chronic illness, or sudden trauma, the final pathways of mortality generally follow a predictable trajectory.
1. The cellular horizon: Senescence and Apoptosis
Every time a human cell divides, the protective caps at the ends of its chromosomes-telomeres-shorten. Eventually, telomeres become so depleted that the cell can no longer divide safely. It enters senescence (a state of permanent arrest) or triggers apoptosis (programmed cell death). This gradual, systemic loss of cellular renewal is the underlying engine of aging.
2. The clinical cascade of somatic death
When the body can no longer maintain homeostasis, somatic death (the death of the organism as a whole) begins. This occurs in a distinct sequence:
1
Clinical Death
Zero to four minutes
The heart stops pumping blood, and respiration ceases. While breathing and circulation have ended, the body’s tissues still contain residual oxygen and cellular energy reserves. At this stage, resuscitation is often still possible.
2
Brain Death (Infarction)
Four to six minutes
Deprived of fresh oxygenated blood, the brain’s highly sensitive neurons begin to starve. Lacking ATP, the brain cells lose their electrical charge, swell, and begin to burst. Permanent, irreversible neurological damage occurs within minutes.
3
Biological Death
Hours to days
The organs fail entirely. Without central control or blood flow, individual cells throughout the body consume their final energy reserves. Enzymes that once aided digestion begin to break down the body’s own tissues from the inside out, a process known as autolysis.
Part III: The modern collision of life and death
In the modern era, the boundary between how we live and how we die has blurred. Historically, humanity died primarily from infectious diseases and acute trauma. Today, global mortality is dominated by non-communicable, chronic lifestyle diseases.
Modern Pathology: How we live (the cause) how we die (the result)
Cardiovascular disease, chronic stress, poor diet, and lack of sleep keep the sympathetic nervous system hyper-activated, damaging blood vessels .Occlusion of coronary arteries leads to myocardial infarction (heart attack) or ischemic stroke.
Metabolic syndrome over nutrition and physical inactivity overwhelm cellular mitochondria, leading to systemic insulin resistance. Multi-organ failure, chronic kidney disease, and severe vascular complications.
Neurodegenerative Disorders Chronic systemic inflammation and sleep deprivation prevent the brain from clearing metabolic waste. Gradual loss of synaptic connections, leading to dementia and the eventual loss of basic autonomic functions.
Conclusion: The unified theory of health
Ultimately, how we live directly shapes the path of how we die. The micro-choices of daily existence-how we manage emotional stress, the quality of our rest, our communal connections, and our nutrition-either preserve the integrity of our homeostatic systems or accelerate their decline.
True medical advancement is shifting away from merely extending the final, frail stages of biological death. Instead, the focus is turning toward optimising our living years-ensuring that the intricate, beautiful machinery of human animation runs smoothly until its natural, quiet conclusion.
By Robert Ekow Grimmond-Thompson
