Time no dey

Time wasting is like kente in Ghana, it's part of our culture. Ghanaians find all sorts of creative ways to waste each other's time. Sometimes it almost feels like a sport. One that has no ending time. Then again it could be a game to the death. We waste each other's time ahhh till we die. You go to the bank they waste your time, you go to the restaurant they waste your time, you die and are ready to be buried sef they will waste your time. No one is safe at any stage!
I'm sure you are reading this and going like "I know right? Ghana dier so so time wasting" but you naa you are part of the problem. That doesn't mean you should stop reading oh. I beg. But let's be honest we are either equally a time waster or you are helping this very bad habit. I'm not excuded oh. In fact far from it. I'm also one of the Dj Time Wasters but let's look at this on a whole shall we?

To be honest I'm tired of waiting. I'm not saying making someone wait is a crime but at least people need to know it's not good. One day I was asked to come for a meeting at 2pm. The person told me not to be late so I got there just before 2 and had to wait for an hour because the person was out on his lunch break. What the hell?! I was not amused at all so when he finally came back I asked him why he asked me to meet him at his lunch time and guess what he said "Oh I didn't want you to come late so I'll have to wait." If it wasn't for the fear of God and good training my parents have given me I would have done something jail warranting to him. How is it ok for ME to wait?! People need to stop this thing.

Most people don't see anything wrong with asking people to wait. In their heads it's like "oh but will sitting down for 2 hours kill you?". Well it probably won't but will attending to me on time kill you too? We all know the answer to that. These days, you are actually tricked into waiting by your own loved ones. Who has ever been to a wedding where the starting time was a lie? That thing can pain eh? Some ladies have a limited time span their make up can last and you trick them into coming early, how wicked! I don't know about you but I don't want to start my marriage on lies. At least use words or phrases like 'prompt' or 'kindly be there early' or 'refreshment will be served just before the bride enters' or something just don't make me come and wait.

It's simple, let's just try to consider our fellow men and women. Let's put ourselves in each others shoes and act accordingly. There's the general perception in Ghana that if you require something from someone you should be prepared to wait no matter how long they ask you to and it's bad. Ei especially at Ministries. That place dierr it's just a place you go to wait. Let's change our habit because it's not fresh. It's time we showed some respect for each other because the honest truth is that you never know the amount of harm you are doing to someone when you make them wait for hours. So my dear Ghanaians unless you are ready to pay people, don't make them waiters *drops mic*.

Grace of Fear 3

Baaba froze. Her heart started pounding like the night before. Then a few pieces came together. The bikers must have been the robbers and they may have accidentally dropped the money.  She grabbed her phone and with her shaky hands and called Ralph but he didn't answer. He was the only one she could talk to. She rushed out of the room with the money in her bag and headed for his workshop.

   When she got to Ralph's workshop she was directed to go into the store room. "Ralph, something bad has happened. Some man got robbed and..." she blurt out as she entered but stopped when she realized he was not alone. There was a tall guy standing in front of Ralph. He turned to look at her. "A man got robbed? Where?" the tall guy asked. Baaba looked at Ralph and back to him. "Somewhere around Kaneshi School Junction, in my area." Baaba replied. "What's his name? I know some people who live there." The tall guy added. "I don't know his name but he has a daughter called Nasara. They say the robbers used a special key to open all his doors." Baaba added. The tall guy said wow and smiled. "Bikers are just strange." Baaba said grabbing Ralph's hand and sending him outside. "You heard they were bikers?" the tall guy asked. Baaba froze. She realized she had said too much. It happened a lot when she got nervous. "Ei, did I say bikers? I meant robbers." She said and faked a laugh. Ralph excused himself and went outside with Baaba.

   "Baaba what is this all about?" Ralph asked when they were alone. She hesitated for a while and finally said "it's about the armed robbery I was talking about." Ralph looked scared all of a sudden. She told him the whole story of how she picked the money. Ralph looked a little excited and scared at the same time. Just then the tall guy walked passed them. Baaba turned and watched him. He kept stealing glances at her too. It was when another guy on a bike came to him that things became clearer to her. 

 Then she saw it, the snake tattoo on the other biker's leg. Her heart missed a beat then she heard Relph's voice. "Baaba, stop looking at them. Look here." he said. She managed to do as he said. "Yo, ma guy. We dey go come." The tall biker yelled and hopped onto the back of his friend's bike. Ralph nodded and waved as they left. "Were you part of them? Ralph what is going on?" Baaba asked almost in tears. "I needed the money so we could leave this place. I had nothing to do with the shooting. The man brought his car here and his key holder had his house keys so I just made a copy. That was all. They said they'll give me 500 cedis if they got the money. The man is very rich so it's not so bad. I swear I didn't know they would shoot him." Ralph explained. He had to get her to trust him.

Baaba listened in shock with her mouth slightly open. "I think we should send the money back. I can give it to the Police." she said. "Are you mad?!" Ralph yelled. He looked around to see if anyone heard him. If the Police find out, I'll go to jail or the biker boys will kill me. Those guys are hard. Let's just take the money and go." He suggested. Baaba felt guilty. "What if the man dies? What will happen to the girl? If we tell the Police about the bikers we won't go to jail. Just say they forced you." She said. Ralph considered it for a moment and shook his head. "Look, these guys are untouchable. Even the Police are afraid. Where's the money?" He asked, looking around. When he saw that Baaba wasn't convinced he held her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "If you go to the Police both of us will die." He said.



 To be continued  ...

Grace of fear

  Baaba kept her head down as she walked home. That part of the road had so many potholes. She had to watch out for them before she tripped and fell. She had fallen before. It was darker that night than usual because she stayed an extra 4 hours at work. It was because her head was down that she saw it, a bundle of 50 cedi notes and a piece of paper attached to it.

   At first she wasn't sure it was money so she bent down to take a better look. She gasped and picked it up. She instinctively looked around. The lonely street was just as it always was at 2 am. She put the money in a secret compartment she had in her bag. She made this compartment for her money just in case she met any robbers. Luckily for her she hadn't met any yet since she started working at the bar but today it was very late so she didn't feel safe.

 Baaba walked faster now, completely forgetting the potholes. She was busy imagining what she was going to buy with the money. She was sick of working around drunk men. She guessed the money would be at least 2,000 cedis. When her house was in sight she broke into a run. She was planning what to do next. She would hide the money inside her mattress. There was no way her auntie would find it. Then she would run to Kumasi with her boyfriend, Ralph. He had been bugging her about running away for so long. She smiled as she run.

 She was just five minutes to her house when she heard the sound of motor bikes moving in her direction. Baaba was so startled that she missed her step and her bag fell. She picked it up quickly. Bikers at this time was never a good thing. She turned and looked in the direction of the sound. She saw shadows and lights getting brighter. They were moving very fast but she knew they couldn't see her yet. She dug her hand in her bag trying to locate her keys. There was a chance she could rush in before they saw her. When her shaking hands couldn't find the keys she shook her head and dashed into a bush nearby.

 In seconds they were on her street. She could hear them talk but couldn't make out what they were saying. They went up and down the street slowly. Baaba just sat in the bush with her heart beating faster and faster. She clung on to her bag like it was her baby. From where she was squatting all she could see were their feet. One had a tattoo of a snake around his ankle. Baaba closed her eyes tightly and prayed he wouldn't come any closer.


 To be continued...

Angry words

I think Ghanaians talk too much and do too little. Don’t get me wrong I'm not talking about every single one but rather the majority. I used to think we didn’t have the technology or money or enabling environment to be more action-oriented but that doesn't seem to be the problem at all. I can't fully say I know what it is but I have a number of guesses; laziness, mediocrity, a simple 'I don’t care' attitude or even low self-worth. I am writing all this from a very sad and terrible incident that occurred today. A shopping centre collapsed killing a number of people and injuring many. I saw the pictures and felt sad. I had one of those moments. Those 'it could have been me' moments. All I can say to the people who lost anyone today is I am sorry for your loss and may their souls rest in peace. It's sad.  


I was on Facebook today and found myself reading random status updates about the incident. My odd way of gathering info...I can't say it’s amazing but hey...So majority of the updates were about how inefficient Ghanaians are in responding to an incident like this. There were references to the media, Police, Military, the President, engineers and a few more. Most of what they were saying was "why aren't they doing anything proper about it?” and they were annoyed at what was going on. It is quiet sad that things were how they were but my problem here is simple. Were they helping the problem, keeping it the same or worsening it? I would choose any of the last two. I am not saying they don't have a right to speak. Far from it. Their words convey their concerns which are veered in a good direction but should it end there? Maybe you are thinking "ahhba Julz! What do you expect me to do? Leave my job in the middle of the day and go and do someone else's job?" No, that isn't it. I'm just saying. Just as you were smart enough to notice this, you could come up with something to do that can help the situation.


 Let me give you an example. A number of people were not happy (many sounded pissed) with the fact that GTV who is a national TV station did not start airing the incident until pretty late. I'm just saying. Instead of 'going off' online about this, how about calling GTV to express your distaste. I don't know how things work at GTV but if I owned a TV station and I had numerous phone calls complaining about what I'm airing I would do something about it. You get what I mean? It really doesn’t matter much if you fail. What matters most is that you tried and you actually did something!   We need to learn to help ourselves and, well, look out for each other too. Teamwork! I'm sure people who play or watch team sports will relate to this one. When you are in a game and your teammate is not playing his part well you cover up and tell him to step up. You don't shine as the point guard and get mad when you lose when you could have helped to rebound. You play together.


I read on twitter one time that “it’s not bad people that would destroy the world it's those good people who know better and do nothing about it.” I know I said it wrong but bear with me, it's something like that. I'm not here to point fingers. This is just something I have noticed. Ghana is a country to be proud of and one with enough potential to go to amazing heights. Let's build her up together so when she is at the top we can tell our stories of what we did for our country. Think about it.

Just my luck 4

This girl was so strangely scary and sexy at the same time. She seemed a lot more scary now though. "Me, kitchen…not like…no never." I stuttered. She giggled and said. "I did it with my boss once. He is old or should I say was old." She added and giggled. "Was?" I asked moving back. My back hit the kitchen cabinet. That wasn't good. "Well I didn't check whether he was still breathing before I left." She explained! Now my heart was racing. Sexy murderer alert! "Oh stop asking me questions and kiss me. I know you want to." She said. I faked a smile. She kissed me and I pulled her away. "Did you hear that?" I think my phone is ringing." I lied. She paused for a while. "No, it’s not." She said. Yiee, what is all this? I thought to myself. "Oh I heard it. Let's go back to the room." I said. I had a plan. I would take her to my room, lock her up inside and call the Police or something because this crazy girl dierr I can't keep here around.

I took the lead to my room. She walked slowly behind me. I took a deep breath and remained calm. I held the door knob and signaled for her to enter. "After you." I said with a smile. She walked in and then I quickly locked the door. "Hey, what are you doing?!" She yelled. My heart was beating like crazy now. "I'm trying to help you by getting you to do the right thing. You need to confess to the Police." I replied. I searched my pockets and realized my phone was in the room. She kept banging the door and raining insults on me. "The land line " I said and run to the hall. "Are you mad?! Open this door before I break it down!" She yelled as I left. I called my uncle who was a Policeman and told him Agnes wanted to report an attempted rape case but was afraid. He said he would be here in no time because he was close by. When I hung up, I felt proud of myself. I walked back to my room. "Agnes I'm sorry I had to do this but it's for your own good." I said leaning next to the door. "I think you might have a condition that needs attention." I added. "I called my uncle. He will be here soon and everything would be fine ok?" I said. She didn't respond. Just then I heard the doorbell. I smiled and rushed to the door. "She is upstair..." I started but froze when I saw who it was.

Agnes was standing outside. She had bruises all over her left hand and some leaves in her hair. She was fuming and I saw a small knife that was lying on my table in her hands. My heart raced. I rushed to close the door but she was just too fast. She jumped inside and tried to stab me with the knife. I screamed and grabbed her hands. She was much stronger than I thought. I moved back and tripped on a coffee table. We both fell and the knife fell away from us. We both looked at it. She tried to crawl for it but I grabbed her leg. She kicked me with her other leg but I still wouldn't let her go. She froze and turned to face me. She sat on top of me and grabbed my neck with both hands. It happened all so fast. Breathing was beginning to be a problem. "My God, what is happening?" I heard. It sounded so far away. The pressure around my neck reduced and I thought I saw another person but it was blurry.  The next thing I remember was my uncle slapping my face. I heard some laughter in the background too. I turned around and saw my friends. Why were the boys here? This was more than embarrassing. All I could say was "Chale, it’s a long story."

The End...

10 regions

Upper East region is graced with pretty women, I'm a living testimony, bragging!

Upper West region is nice too with friendly crocodiles who leave their mouths hanging

Northern region has some good waakye and chao fruits eh, my goodness it's amazing

Brong Ahafo region has Kintampo water falls, just the perfect place to go gazing

Ashanti region, siano haven, graced with the Asantehene and intense money searching

Eastern region, has some sweet weather, nice vegetation and the biggest Easter merry making

Western region, there you would find a whole village on water, Nzulezu, fascinating

Central region, education hub for Senior High schools, young minds given the power of creating

Volta region, land of few cats and beautiful roads, with naturally acquired bilingual (French/English) speaking

Greater Accra region, the capital city with the newest cars, where all of Ghana calls home enjoying city living

I love my country!