By Isaac Ato Mensah<\/p>\n
Accra \u2013 11 December, 2019<\/p>\n
Jacqueline Woodson\u2019s glossy romance about the Year of Return published on nytimes.com on 9 December is significantly flawed.<\/p>\n
She was narrating her impressions following a short trip to Ghana and promoting the laudable idea that \u201cAfrican-American dollars should be reinvested in Africa\u201d.<\/p>\n
She concluded that her family will travel back to America and return occasionally because that is what makes them \u201cAfrican\u201d and \u201cAmerican\u201d.<\/p>\n
Well the fact is that most of us – 75%, of Ghanaians want to emigrate as revealed by the Pew Research Center.<\/p>\n
So what are some of what Woodson called the \u201cpush\u201d and \u201cpull\u201d factors.<\/p>\n
Tesano, where Woodson stayed in Accra which she called \u201cthe upper middle class area,\u201d should be taken with caution. In ghana upper middle class neighbourhoods have open gutters, and rubbish burning is a daily affair in individual homes.<\/p>\n
Woodson gave little attention to the insanitary conditions, and lack of proper toilet facilities, even within the environs of Elmina Castle and Shai Hills which she visited.<\/p>\n
She also left out open defecation and open rubbish dumps which have left the population vulnerable to serious infectious diseases \u2013 in the Year of Return!<\/p>\n
Even the \u201cfive star\u201d hotel Woodson visited warned about \u201cmosquitoes\u201d which cause malaria, a preventable disease.<\/p>\n
Woodson\u2019s own experience about her visa acquisition should have been an early warning sign: \u201cFamilies are restricted to a nuclear family which is a family group consisting of a father, mother and their children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Does this not hint at officialdom\u2019s restricted perspectives and stereotypes about family structure?<\/p>\n
Is a family of three, which includes a woman, her daughter and a grandmother, recognized as a nuclear family to our immigration officials?<\/p>\n
Woodson further wrote: \u201cGhana\u2019s invitation is wrapped up in a massive marketing campaign called \u2018Year of Return\u2019\u2026\u2026.I dragged my reluctant children, now wearied by the many teachable moments of this journey, to Nima, one of the city\u2019s most impoverished districts.<\/p>\n
Here in ghana, we did not see that massive marketing campaign.<\/p>\n
Using local musicians in a representational agency bid to highlight the year-long event while the public officials were uninspiring and lacklustre themselves makes for a poor marketing campaign.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, asking African Americans to invest in a climate where the rule of law has broken down; where bribery, corruption and rent seeking behavior are the order of the day is dangerous and unfair.<\/p>\n
For example, Emmanuel Essien, a 27 year old government employed \u201cfishing observer\u201d has gone missing on the high seas since 5 July and there is no coherent response or decisive action from law enforcement or the poliTRIKcians.<\/p>\n
Typically, for tourists security, food, healthcare, accommodation and entertainment are the basics.<\/p>\n
Our hotel rates and airfares are not competitive, nor do we offer a wide variety of food.<\/p>\n
Our five star hotels serve banku wrapped in plastic.<\/p>\n
As for office and residential accommodation, we have to pay two years rent advance \u2013 against the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstitutions have failed or are failing fast,” as my mentor has observed.<\/p>\n
On health, there is no rational or efficient system for an emergency and trauma care, NONE.<\/p>\n
Now this is my mentor\u2019s million-dollar question: \u201cWhere will you rather prefer to get a stroke or a heart attack- in Brooklyn, London, Cairo, Nairobi or Accra?\u201d.<\/p>\n
And be careful where you save your money; our bankers have been known to be dishonest; bandits.<\/p>\n
In short, Jacqueline Woodson\u2019s sales pitch is completely at variance with the reality in ghana.<\/p>\n
Yes of course, we are patriots – not sycophants; and this country needs foreign direct investment.<\/p>\n
But we cannot endorse an emotional appeal based on the politics of identity and a grossly inaccurate perspective.<\/p>\n
We will rather focus on putting our house in order to attract genuine investors from everywhere, beyond the Year of Return.<\/p>\n
Finally, when do the African-Americans plan to reciprocate the invitation; red carpet, and all?<\/p>\n
We cannot wait to visit them in the US without the usual hassle, annoyances and rudeness from their embassy staff.<\/p>\n
Feedback; ato@writersghana.com; www.writersghana.com; LinkedIn, Isaac Ato Mensah; Instagram, @atomenswriters; Twitter, @Atomens; Facebook, Writers and Shakespeares Ghana; Telegram, Isaac Ato Mensah; Quora, Isaac Ato Mensah; WhatsApp (+233) 020 022 0353.<\/p>\n
Writers and Shakespeares Ghana Limited exist to be a moral and intellectual guide to the best practice of PR and integrated communications around the world, beginning with Ghana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"