Features
The taxi driver
Taxi drivers are scared when passing near the Accra Sports Stadium. One has told me, he was driving past the stadium at around 10:30pm when he heard someone running football commentary through the nose. What! He levelled the gear to third, fourth and then fifth and fired the accelerator. The car dashed forward in full flight.
Then he saw someone in the distance stopping him for ‘dropping.’ The person looked like a soccer fan. Assuming he stopped and the guy turned out to be a ghost, could he control the steer and not end up in the sea?
He took a split-second decision. After all, ghosts did no harm unless you were responsible for turning them into ghosts. He’d stop and see if the gentleman spoke through the nose. He applied the brake and the car screeched to a halt.
“Take me to Labadi,” the man said, “how much?”
The taxi driver was too scared to answer. He did not know whether the man spoke through the nose or through the ears. Before he could say anything, the man open the front door and sat down. He banged the door hard! The driver wondered whether he was dealing with a human being or someone else; something transcendental. A ghost?
In his apprehension, he mistakenly put the gear into ‘third’ when it should have been in ‘first.’
He began moving the car. The wrong gear made the car jerk twice and the ignition went off. His first thought was that he’d picked a ghost who had just turned the engine off.
Wahallahi! Kakusunka!
Should he run and leave the car behind or simply scream for help? He did not know which would do under the circumstance. He shook like leaf, fiddled with the gear and sparked the car again. It sparked. The gear was at its right place.
He moved enroute to Labadi, glancing cheerfully at the man next to him on the front seat. When the man got down and paid for the short trip, the driver said he thanked his stars. Actually he nearly defecated in his ‘supporter.’
Next time, he’d not pick anyone around the disaster area. You wouldn’t know whether the passenger is a soccer fan in external glory, or true flesh and blood who eats salt and bread.
When he told me his story the day I chattered his car, I began thinking about ghosts. I haven’t seen any before and I don’t wish to. I don’t think it would be good for my health.
Fact is, I don’t want my blood pressure dangling like a pendulum. I am a simple man with no worries.
I went to a pastor friend and asked him about ghosts. They do not exist, he told me as a matter of fact. Every ghost is an impersonator, or an imposter.
“My friend get serious” I queried. “People say they see their dead friends, lovers, mothers, brothers, and so on.”
“That doesn’t mean there are ghosts,” he said. “The devil is only playing tricks. He impersonates people, using their faces to frighten others, to make them believe there are ghosts on earth, According to the Holy Scriptures, there are nothing like ghosts.”
“When you die,” I asked, “where will your spirit go?”
“To its Maker.”
“What for?”
“And before then, wouldn’t it hover on the earth?”
“What for?”
“So the so-called ghosts are in fact evil spirits and not human spirits?”
“That’s right
“Heard of the stadium disaster?”
“Yeah!”
“They say ghosts are displaying there basaa! You hear them at night shouting goa-a-l! ‘Offside! Penalty! and the rest. Aren’t they the spirits of the unlucky fans who died?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Meaning you are not sure.”
“I am sure dead people don’t shout.”
“But their spirits can.”
“Have your heard one shout.”
“No. But if they exorcise the place and there is no more shouting, doesn’t it means the ghosts have left?”
“It only means the evil spirits impersonating the dead people left. There are over one billion demons and principalities in the world .127 of them can easily be mobilised to be shouting at night to frighten people, to make them believe ghosts exists. That is no big deal for Satan.”
I was not quite convinced. Why would the devil want people to believe there are ghosts if they do not exist?
At any rate if the spirits were exorcised with cows, sheep, and fowls then it was not cost effective. The authorities should have hired the charismatic churches to do the job for them. They don’t need cows to chase spirits away.
The other day members of a church were attending a crusade and carried pestles and mortars on their heads to the crusade ground. I was amazed. I thought they were going to pound fufu mid-way during the programme.
When I asked one lady whether the fufu was going to be eaten with groundnut soup or aponkye nkrakra, she said they were going to pound the devil in the mortars and that it was no fufu festival. “The devil will confess today,” she assured me.
Before long, a man also carried a carpenter’s saw and hammer. He was going to saw Jimmy Satan into two halves; no two ways about that. There, he hammer his forehead and him to vamoose.
Before I left a little boy walked past with ten canes.” we are going to cane the devil,” he promptly announced. “He’d take 100 lashes on his bare-buttocks, then he’d learn sense.
Of course, Christianity is becoming more practical than theoretical. The devil must be attacked physically, battered and pounded. But it might be wasted effort. Christians must learn to speak the word and the devil will flee. As for pounding and sawing and caning, you might as well do it as a productive venture.
Sikama Palava takes this opportunity to express its deep-felt sympathy to the bereaved families of the stadium disaster. Not entirely belated, I hope!
This article was first published on Saturday, June 23, 2001
Today, I focus on the Apostolic Church International in Finland, as I continue with my description of institutions and personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland.
The Apostolic Church International, Finland (or, Apostolic International Association Ry) was established in October 9, 2023. The Church in Finland has seen significant strides and accomplishments within the short time that it has been established in Finland, which must be highlighted.
History of the Church in Ghana
The Apostolic Church Ghana originated from the 1904–1905 Welsh revival, officially established in Ghana (then called Gold Coast) in 1935 following connections between a local prayer group in Asamankese (a town in southern Ghana), led by Peter Newman Anim, and the Apostolic Church, UK. There were historical splits in 1939 and 1953, but the Apostolic Church attained autonomy in 1985.
Today, the Church is headquartered in Accra. Last year (2025), it dedicated its new 10-storey headquarters, “The Apostolic Church Tower,” in Frafraha, Adenta West in Accra.
Activities of the Apostolic Church in Finland
The Apostolic Church in Finland conducts church service on Sundays. The service starts at 11a.m. in the morning and closes by 1 p.m. in the afternoon. There are no other activities during other days for now.
The Minister in charge of the church in Finland is also the Area Head of Italy Area. He is Pastor Daniel Kofi Addison who is the new Italy Area Head, and has just been transferred from UK South Area to Italy Area during the just-ended Council Meeting in March this year. Italy Area comprises Italy, which has 13 Assemblies, Germany, one Assembly, and Finland, one Assembly.
Elder Ebenezer Amoaning-Coffie is the Presiding Elder in charge of the Assembly in Finland. A Presiding Elder is responsible for day to day activities of the church (Assembly) and reports to the District Pastor, or in the absence of the District Pastor, reports to the Area Head.
Achievements
The Apostolic Church International, Finland was officially registered under the Finnish Law, guaranteeing freedom of worship and providing legal foundation for future growth. The church service is conducted in both English and Twi.
The church opens its doors to all people of every nation, especially Ghanaians who are in Finland and other African nationals. Now, the membership comprises Ghanaians, Nigerians and Sierra Leoneans.
The Church and the Ghanaian migrant community in Finland
The Apostolic Church in Finland plays a prominent role as a religious group that serves Ghanaian migrants and others in the Finnish society.
Thus, the Apostolic Church is a religious body for Ghanaian migrants in Finland and other nationalities who want to worship with them for diversity and better intercultural and multicultural understanding.
Elder Amoaning-Coffie said that the main and primary aim of the church is to bring people closer to God. “We aim to win souls for Christ. We aim to preach the gospel to the world. By propagating the gospel to the people, we are hopeful that they will turn away from any ungodly ways and be good individuals in the community and in society in general”, he stated.
He said that everything is going well so far. A key challenge, however, is how to get more members especially the youth. As a new Assembly, we are in need of instrumentalists, for example. We pray to God Almighty to help us do His work, the Elder disclosed.
Integration
By its activities, the Apostolic Church is helping to ensure integration of its members well into the Finish society. This is important since social interaction and citizens’ well-being are an important part of the integration process in Finland.
As I mentioned some time ago, the role of migrant associations and groups such as the Apostolic Church acting as bridge-builders for the integration and inclusion of migrants through participation in the decision making process and by acting as a representative voice is highly appreciated in Finland. Thank you!
With Dr Perpetual Crentsil
The landscape of the Ghanaian palate is shifting, and not necessarily for the better. In our bustling urban centres, from the streets of Accra to the suburbs of Kumasi, a quiet culinary revolution is taking place; one where the mortar and pestle are being replaced by the pizza oven and the deep fryer. This transition from traditional staple foods like fufu, banku, akple, kenkey, tuo zaafi, and ampesi toward “continental” dishes is more than just a change in appetite; it is a reflection of a deeper social struggle with identity and prestige.
The illusion of modernity
For many, “stepping out” for a meal has become synonymous with consuming foreign cuisine. There is an unspoken social hierarchy where a bowl of Abunuabunu is relegated to the village category, while burgers, pizzas are branded as prestigious choices. We have reached a stage where we equate foreign with modern and local with primitive.
This perception is a dangerous illusion. Our traditional dishes are marvels of culinary engineering complex, nutrient-dense, and deeply rooted in our history. When we choose a processed foreign import over a meal made from local tubers or fermented maize, we are not just changing our lunch; we are eroding the indigenous knowledge attached to our local ingredients and foods.
We need to turn the consumption of indigenous grains and tubers like millet, sorghum, and plantain into a statement of self-worth and national pride.
The cultural and health erosion
Every time a local dish disappears from a restaurant menu to make room for foreign fast food, we lose a piece of our cultural fabric. Traditional Ghanaian cooking is an art that requires patience and skill. By choosing the convenience of foreign fast food, we are raising a generation that may know the taste of a pepperoni pizza but cannot identify the rich, earthy profile of Prekese or the subtle tang of well-fermented dough dishes like corn porridge, banku, etew, abolo, agidi or kamfa, and kenkey.
Furthermore, we are at the crossroads of a nutrition transition. Replacing high-fiber, indigenous crops with calorie-dense but nutrient-poor foreign fast foods is driving a rise in lifestyle diseases such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, stroke, cancer, and liver disease. We are trading our longevity for 15-minutes convenience or unhealthy diet.
A call for culinary patriotism
It is time for us to appreciate, preserve, and promote our indigenous foods and culinary traditions. We need to be proud of our local dishes, ingredients and cooking methods, rather than relying heavily on foreign or imported foods. We must stop viewing our local delicacies as low-class and start treating our culinary heritage as the high-end gastronomy it truly is.
True sophistication does not come from imitating Western fast food; it comes from innovation and adding values to our own resources. We see glimpses of this potential in the rise of branded Sobolo and the creative use of gluten-free plantain flour in modern baking of flour-based dishes such as bread, cakes, biscuits and others. This is the path forward. We must elevate our local dishes, making them as accessible, affordable, presentable and trendy as any foreign alternative.
To the hospitality industry: Innovate or stagnate
Our hotels and high-end restaurants must lead the charge. They must stop relegating local dishes to the “traditional corner” of the buffet, and apply the same culinary finesse given to imported dishes to our Fante Fante, apapransa, aborbi tadi, fetritoto, akple, abolo, yakayeke, fufu, ampesi, kokonte, wasawasa, tubani, apapransa, mpotompoto, kelewele, aliha, brukutu, pito, and other local dishes. The industry must enhance customer experiences making eating local dishes the ultimate luxury experience for both tourists and residents alike. We must elevate the presentation of our foods by using modern plating techniques to show that a bowl of light soup can be as visually stunning as a French consommé. We need to reclaim our Ghanaian plate before it is too late.
To the policy makers: Let us encourage buying of local ingredients to promote the local food industry and economy. There should be educational programmes and talks about the nutritional and cultural benefits of local foods so that people understand their value.
We need to encourage serving traditional dishes at school programmes, parties, and celebrations instead of only fast foods,
To the Youth: Let us value and appreciate our traditional dishes instead of always choosing foreign foods. There must be balance in our choice of local and foreign dishes. Confidence in our culture encourages others to respect it too. Our local dishes can also be promoted by sharing pictures, recipes, and videos on platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp to make them attractive and trendy.
Young citizens must learn from their parents and elders how to prepare local meals to keep the knowledge and cultural relevance alive. Local dishes can be modernised to appeal to younger generations and tourists.
Conclusion
We cannot afford to trade our heritage for foreign cuisines which are gaining grounds across the country at an alarming rate. We must disabuse our minds of the perception that anything foreign or imported is better than those locally made. Our health, economy, and identity are tied to the soil. It is time to stop apologising for our local flavours and start celebrating them. It is possible to embrace modernity without losing ourselves and our cultural identity. Let us make the Ghanaian kitchen the heart of our modern identity once again.
By: Marilyn Gadogbe
