KB Asante: Voice From Afar column

Many Ghanaians realise that they have no address when they are asked to complete a form outside the country. For address they write P.O. Box xyz only to be requested to write the street name and house number. Often there is no street name let alone house number.

I was lucky to live in the colonial custom-built suburb of Adabraka where every house was between two streets. I lived between Amugi Avenue and Castle Road and so when asked for the street name I glibly wrote “Amugi Avenue.” The next was the number of the house. For some strange reason the identification of the house was C/54/1. And that was how all houses were and are still identified to the chagrin of postmen, health visitors, bailiffs and the like.

I was therefore glad when President Mahama directed that all roads should be named. I took it for granted that the houses on the roads would be numbered serially. But I was wrong. Ghanaian officialdom moves in mysterious ways, confusing the public! In Accra, beautiful signposts christen new road names.

But strangely, some old names have been changed and roads have become “streets” and so on to illustrate the imaginative capacity of officials. This imagination has not always been accompanied by knowledge, research and scholarship.  For example, a street has been named CLARK road or street. If the naming was in honour of a known prominent and dutiful citizen of Osu then the name should be CLERK even though it is pronounced Clark. 

Again, it appears that just because a well-known person lived in a neighbourhood, a road or street should be named after him or her. The naming is an honour and only personalities who have been of great service to the community or nation should have roads, streets or avenues named after them.

In some countries, the naming of roads after celebrities is accompanied by ceremonies. It is better to name roads “First Street,” “Second Street” etc. or “Dodokyi Road,” “Cashew Avenue” etc. and then change them later to honour a distinguished personality. We need not name roads after prominent personalities of the day. And the naming should not be a haphazard exercise. It should do honour to a truly distinguished personality and encourage the youth to aspire to great heights in service to the community and nation.

Those who name roads in Accra should know the history of the city. Once a prominent nationalist asked in the National Assembly why a highway in Accra should be called PAGAN Road. He argued that the people of the area were not pagans.  The Colonial Secretary allowed the honourable gentleman to display his eloquence to the full and in one sentence exposed his ignorance by reminding him that the road was named after John Pagan, a distinguished public officer much respected and loved by the people.

For historical reason I believe the name Barnes Road (near the TUC) which separated the natives of Accra from the ruling British should be preserved. It is in a way a concrete piece of history which illustrated the petit apartheid in colonial Gold Coast. And so let us complete the road-naming exercise by numbering the houses on the roads. 

The AMA and other local authorities should not be bamboozled by officials whose reaction is to produce estimates of cost for which there is no provision in the budget. There are many who kick their heels in the office. They should be helped to make the feet healthy by requesting them to go down the newly named roads and write the numbers of the houses on the gates or walls with charcoal. The occupants would then be required to delineate the numbers in paint within 24 hours. If those of us with much learning and no brains say that would be dictatorship, so be it.

We should know where we live. It is not helpful to our friends to say that we live near the Total Petrol Station at First Junction, Madina, behind Hon. Kofi Darku’s house. Often, after an exhaustive search and help by local residents, it is found that the house is far from Hon. Darku’s house.

And one last request, there should be maps of Accra and other cities and big towns with roads clearly marked. Those promoting tourism should support this. Go to London or any city in Europe and give the postcode of your destination to the taxi driver. He will drop you in front of the house or office. We should leave 1915 and move into 2015!