Africa Now, Is There Any Hope?

Africa Now, Is There Any Hope?
Jack Toronto , Sometimes I ask myself, “Self, should I ever have started to share my Ghana memories”

Self replies, “Sure! Why wouldn’t you want to relive the heady days of youth in a foreign culture and share your adventures with those unlucky people who weren’t there? Students keen to learn, baobab trees with trunks the size of Shaughnessy mansions, Tip-Toe Gardens, nipping over to Lomé on school break, the crocodile pond at Paga, guest chalets by the swimming pool at Damongo, the electrifying buzz of Tamale market day, Bawku in the dry season when the well runs dry, what’s not to like?”

I can’t retreat any longer to a past tinted in rosy hues of nostalgia. Every time I search The Afro News for the thrill of seeing my words in print I read reports by my colleagues about what’s going on in Ghana and throughout Africa now and it’s very discouraging.

Self: “Go on, retreat already! Life is tough and there’s nothing you can do about it. “

But Africans deserve better!

Self: “OK bleeding heart. I’m getting nowhere with you so let’s hear what’s on your mind.”

Tribal conflict in northern Ghana, where I lived, is much worse than when I was there. It’s created a whole new slum of northern refugees in Accra.

Self: “You’ve written about that. Are you trying to stretch out previous columns because you’re out of ideas?

There’s more. The National Liberation Council’s late ‘60s prediction of a rapid return to stable democracy now seems incredibly naïve. At least two NLC members, Kotaka and Afrifra, were shot in military coups. Just when President Obama’s words of praise for Ghanaian governance lifted my spirits, Kofi Akosah-Sarpong’s two part interview with Prof. George Ayittey in The Afro News laid out current African political strife in painful detail. Civil war, political corruption and suppression of the media, it’s all there. Thousands of refugees from warfare in Somalia, South Africa after apartheid is one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

Self: “I see you need to vent. Anything else?”

I’ve written about the mutual respect I witnessed among Ghanaians of different faiths and tribal groups. Then I read Kofi Akosah-Sarpong’s report of the hatred expressed by Koku Anyidoho, the director of communications for current Ghanaian President John Atta Mills, toward the previous President. Mr. Akosah-Sarpong goes on to compare this hatred flowing from a highly placed government official to the recent disasters in Rwanda, Burundi, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast and the Democratic of the Congo. That hurts me deeply.

Self: “I suggest you stop reading stuff by Kofi Akosah-Sarpong and I think you’re overreacting. It takes more than forty-two years for the basic civility of a people to disappear. I‘m sure the vast majority of Ghanaians are still decent people and this Koku Anyidoho is just a bad apple.”

But he’s running the store.

Self: “Now you’re getting me down. Aren’t there any signs of progress?”

I wondered myself so I Googled “Ghana signs of progress” and got 5,010,000 hits.

Self: “And…?”

Infant mortality rates continue to decline, more people are using mosquito nets and there was steady economic growth during the 1990s. Gratifying but modest.

Self: “Answer your own question. On the evidence is there any hope for Africa?”

Only when I remember that hope is not based on evidence. It’s an internal spirit that inspires people to work for a better world no matter what the circumstances. There is hope for Africa as long as people keep hope in their hearts and express that hope in their lives.

Self: “For your sake and Africa’s sake, I hope you’re right.”