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
2ND GUESS OR 2ND 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.
