CLUES TO LIVING IN GHANA

CLUES TO LIVING IN GHANA


WHEN IN GHANA
Don’t be confused or surprise if you hear someone say he is going to California in ‘troski’. Trust me, you are not lost or hallucinating and yep, he actually said he is going to California…in a car….right here in Ghana.  You will be amazed to know the number of ‘countries’ within the confines of the Ghanaian border.  We even have Sodom and Gomorrah and I bet very soon we might have the salty statue of Lots wife somewhere in Accra, Ghana!

ASK, ASK, ASK FOR REDUCTION
Don’t buy an item at the first price the Mokola woman quotes. Ask for a reduction. The possibility that you might ask for a reduction is factored into the price she quoted. She is actually waiting for you ask for it, so, why play ‘gentle’ and not ask for it. Unless you are buying a ball of kenkey, which price is relatively fixed and standard or in a shop at the Accra or Osu mall where prices quoted will not be changed, always ask for price reduction. Chances are that even if you offer half the price quoted, it would be accepted and a decent profit would still be made. But you will never know until you ask. Like the sellers say ‘it is market, you should feel free to quote your price against their’, after all, this is Ghana and anything is possible.

DON’T ASK THE STRANGER, USE YOUR PHONE
To me, the biggest disservice a smart phone owner in Ghana can do to himself in this 4G era is to ask for direction from the next man on the street when you can actually use your phone. I learnt this a few years ago in the hard way, I must admit. I had to go from my hood in North Labone to East Legon. I remember I had to pick about 5 cars to get to a place where I could have gotten to with just 2 troski ride and definitely save a whole lot of money and precious time. It’s a fact that the average Ghanaian is very friendly but for your own sake, you can sometimes do without a friendly help. Especially if the help sends you in the opposite of your original direction. You see, most Ghanaians would rather send you to the wilderness than to admit they don’t know the location you are asking of.  Don’t ask the troski mate and definitely not the Hausa koko seller. Instead of being sent in the opposite direction to your destination, use your google map on your smartphone and save yourself the stress. That’s the whole I idea of buying a smart phone; to make your life stress-free

2^ND GUESS OR 2^ND CHECK?
Unless you have 100.1% faith in the person recommending an item to you, please get your own facts! Money is very hard to come by these days so, it is only wise to spend the little we have wisely and satisfactory. It wouldn’t take one long to discover that the status quo in Ghana market is one seller recommending highly the wares of another seller to a prospective buyer. These sellers do this even when they know the buyer knows the person recommending and the seller are an item. Maybe the product is genuinely good, maybe not. But why throw your hard earned money to someone on the recommendation of the person’s friend? Please get you own facts and those fact should include – Is the person recommending an authority in the product you wish to purchase?  With smart phones everywhere these days, you will be amazed at the amount information you can gather about a product within a few minutes.

DON’T GIVE 30 MINUTES, GIVE AN HOUR + OR A DAY
So you were expecting the plumber at 9:00 and its 9:35 and you haven’t heard from him, huh? Don’t worry, he’s on his way. Actually he will get to you at 10:45 and act like all is alright. What were you expecting? It’s called Ghanaian punctuality. It’s like a chronic disease! I once waited for a carpenter for a whole day. He never showed up.

DON’T BE CONFUSED, WE HAVE OUR OWN DICTIONARY!
And we are very conversant with its content. It’s that simple. Massa means Master. Being called chef by the Kantamanto boy doesn’t mean or make you a professional cook. It only means you are the one with the cash at that moment so Massa, act like a chef if your wallet is fat. And oh troski (trotro) is our favourite mode of transport.

A house is a building or structure, enclosed by walls and covered, serving as a place of abode for human beings. The term signified a permanent habitation, usually occupied by a family.  These places of abode differ in structure all over the world.
In Ghana, housing can be grouped into three broad categories: the low-income, middle-income and high-income areas. The types of houses found in the various regions are determined by the weather conditions and other factors such as availability of building resources, family size and most importantly wealth. For example in Accra, the low-income housing areas comprise Osu, Jamestown, Adedenkpo, Chorkor, La, Teshie, Nungua, Sukura, Kwashieman, Odorkor, Bubiashie, Abeka, Nima, Maamobi and Chorkor.  In the big cities, almost 80 percent of the population are renters. In the rural areas, people normally live in their extended family homes.

In the northern parts of Ghana, houses are built to suite the hot climate of the place which usually between 14°C at night and 40°C during the day. For this reason one can find the following types of houses there.

1. The “Sege” (Log and Grass House).
As the name implies the “Sege” consists mainly of logs with Y–shaped ends. These logs and beams measure about 20 cm dia. by 400 cm. They are placed slanting with the Y–shaped ends looking upwards.  Several of such logs are structured and for twigs used to fill up large gaps. When this is neatly knitted the grass is used in covering up the wooden–frame. The grass is put in three layers in such a way as to allow to drip off. The door of the “Sege” is nothing more than a neat hole measuring about 60 – 75 cm by 75 – 90 cm. To enter the “Sege” one has to stoop low. Even though it is very cool inside it is neither spacious nor constructed to last long thus not suitable for a large or growing family.

There is also the “Kampili” which is erected with well-seasoned mud to the height of about 270 cm to 300 cm and sticks are used for the framework and thatch for roof. It is relatively durable as compared to the sege yet it is very much like the sege in terms of accommodation. The material needed for these houses can easily be found in the vicinity.  These are examples of traditional structure which house families that are conservative in nature. They are dispersed in terms of layout and found in the rural areas. The big cities have housing structures similar to that of the southern part of the country.

 2. In the southern and central part of the Ghana, most structures are built of blocks or brick and are well layout and are durable. Of course there are exceptions to the case as in places like Nima, Sodom and Gomorrah  just to mention but a few. The structures are temporal and mostly made of wood and follow no particular arrangement.

3.However, if looking to rent in the southern part of Ghana, depending on one’s family, social and economic disposition, you may decide on an apartment. There from 1 to about 5 bedroom apartments, sometime comes with gym facilities, health club centre and a standby generator. There are apartments in places considered to posh. For instance, apartments are found in in Cantonments, Airport residential,Labone estate, Spintex,Ridge,Kanda and those scattered around the city. This kind of housing house about 50% of the city population.

4.Single room self- contain is the term used to describe a single room accommodation with kitchen, toilet and bathroom enclosed. It is ideal for singles or young couples with no kids and sometimes students.

There is also what is known in Ghana as ‘chamber and hall’. It is similar to the single room self-contain but unlike the former this one has a hall. It is suitable for young couples with or without young kids, singles and students.

5.A detached house is on that the building does not share an inside wall with any other house or dwelling. It has only outside walls and does not touch any other dwelling. It is ideal for families seeking the privacy and comfort of an enclosed environment. It also serve as the resident for chief executives of organistion.

There are also the luxury homes. They are usual owned or rented by the economically sound. These luxury houses have a range of facilities as massive swimming state of the art furnishing, Jacuzzis.

6.There is also the type of housing for the squatters. People with no permanent homes take over uncompleted and abandoned houses or a neglected land and build aluminum and wood structures on these lands to live in. These types of houses are however against the laws of the land.