Housing in Sikaman
Obtaining an accommodation in a compound house is not altogether free
Foxes have holes and birds have nest but the son of Man has nowhere to lay his head- The Holy Bible.
In Sikaman, because of the ever-worsening problem of accommodating human beings, it is rather easy to become a Son of Man. And although the most natural thing for married couples is to live in their own homes free from parental interference and ‘in-law syndromes’, lack of accommodation makes this impossible.
A girl, therefore, leaves her parent’s home to cohabit with her husband and his people. And in some cases, because shelter is as scarce as gold, some married young men are forced to temporarily reside in their wives’ homes where spacious accommodation is not lacking.
When my pal, Kofi Kokotako, for instance was newly married way back in 1981 in Kumasi, he decided to quit his single-room rat-hole to live in a large bungalow-type residence belonging to his wife’s family.
He was indeed welcomed like a charismatic leader, but was not too long before he realised that the bungalow was no paradise after all.
Kokotako and his wife occupied the main hall and two bedrooms and his wife’s mother, aunt, two stubborn teenage brothers and a retired uncle occupied the equally capacious boys’ quarters.
Since my good friend was now apparent-head of the entire home, he had to see to the feeding of the inmates on a three-times-a-day basis. His wife’s mother was diabetic and the uncle was always complaining of kooko, meaning that the health bill had to escalate accordingly. By the Extended Family Decree issued by his wife, he was obliged to foot all house bills, including electricity, water, among others.
In two months, he had withdrawn his relatively huge reserves from his bankers and promptly got bankrupt. His wife’s family were sponges and her two teenage brothers could eat like pigs. They also pilfered Kokotako’s belongings, including shoes which ‘auctioned’ on the open market.
Kokotako was a prosperous insurance executive at the time but of course, he could hardly cope with the pressure. He began having sleepless nights, and the petty quarrels with his wife grew frequent.
Like a field-marshall, Kokotako acted rather swiftly to save the situation. He cut the domestic budget to size in a revolutionary manner and issued a directive that ‘with immediate effect’ he could feed the whole damn lot only once in a day. No reasons were given.
Within a week, everyone turned against him. The wife’s aunt told him to the face that he was a hopeless person. When he complained to his wife, she did not sympathise with him a bit. Instead, she confirmed her auntie’s observation, and said that he was not only hopeless, but also useless.
That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. A fierce fight ensued after which the wife threw out Kokotako’s belongings onto the streets. Kokotako was immediately transformed into a ‘Son of Man’.
He was a quite religious then, and as he wanted to pick his belongings he remembered what Jesus said of his own situation ‘Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man, has nowhere to lay his head’ Luke 9:58. It was as if the quotation was specially made for Kokotako alone.
The capital of Sikaman is so jammed to capacity with different types of human beings, including pick pockets and grave-looters, to the extent that accommodating the rich and poor is a perpetual headache. This means that there are many ‘Sons of Men’ in the capital in dire need of shelter, a basic human need. The advance payment for a hall and chamber in any comer of the capital is not less than ¢150,000.
However, if you are able to obtain accommodation, especially in a compound house, do not think you are altogether free. The fact that you are no longer a ‘Son of Man’ doesn’t mean you have your freedom. Your freedom ends where the landlord’s left leg begins.
A landlord who has the characteristics of a Nazi could enact bye-laws to restrict tenants, to prove to them that they are in a concentration camp. If you rebel, you are summarily transformed into a ‘Son of Man’ irrespective of your social status.
A typical landlord who takes several ‘quarters’ of mahogany-bitters, especially on his birthday, can, therefore, enact bye-laws to suit his whims and caprices.
You are not allowed to pound fufu after 6pm; the volume of your radio must not exceed a certain decibel, you must not receive too many visitors because the dictator landlord might not know which of them -an armed robber on a reconnaissance survey is.
Second set of rules and regulations: Thou shall not cook Koobi or momoni because l (the landlord) am allergic to such unholy smell; no singing in the house when the landlord is enjoying his siesta; no tenant must laugh like a rich man; you are allowed to sneeze only on Sundays and public holidays.
You must greet the landlord first thing in the morning and on his wife’s birthday you must be seen to be presenting gifts and dancing at her party to reaffirm your loyalty to the landlord-your god.
The most important set of rules borders on the payment of rent before you are asked to do so; you are not to use electrical appliances like electric stoves, refrigerators, deep freezer, water heater. Any tenant who uses any of these must have applied in writing, undertaking to pay a third of the total electricity bill of the compound house.
Lastly, there are always other unwritten laws which tenants must obey or steer clear of: You must not talk big English or politics in the house.
The reasons are very clear. You might not know whether the landlord wants party politics or non-party grass-root democracy. And since most landlords are not in the habit of discussing their political desires, you might easily step on his toes and risk a dismissal.
“Koo Pia”, he’d begin. “You’ve been a quiet tenant all these years. You pay your bills regularly, but you know something? I’m renovating the portion of the house where your room is unfortunately located. Please it is not my fault, but the fault of the room. You’re requested to find a new place in two weeks to enable the renovation to begin. If you have any complaints, please complain to your room. Good day.”
These are some of the problems workers face day in day out. They are tossed from one suburb to another, one slum to the next, they have to put up temporarily with friends, enemies and in-laws. Obtaining permanent shelter becomes the worker’s headache till he goes on pension when he can retire to his father’s cottage in the village and have the freedom to sneeze without being ejected. These days we hear of a Civil Servants Association trying hard to build houses for their members – a laudable but improbable venture. How many civil servants can benefit from this? And how many houses can the Association afford to build every year? And the plenty-talk about affordable houses-how affordable are they to 97 per cent of the population of workers.
Ministry of Housing? It’s a long time since l heard of them. The Secretary should come out and tell us something. Something about accommodating the astronomical number of ‘Sons of Men’ in Sikaman.
This article was first published on Saturday September 29, 1990.
Editorial
Check cases of drug abuse among youth of Shukura and environs
Dear Sir,
I write this letter as a concerned citizen of the country to bring to your notice the increasing rate of the intake of hard drugs by the youth of Shukura and its environs.
This issue is of great concern because of the negative impact of the hard drugs such as tobacco, cannabis and heroine on the youth in the area.
The situation has created a state of insecurity as residents find it difficult to walk around at night for fear of being attacked by these drug addicts.
Strangely, there is a police station in the community but police personnel either don’t show any interest in their activities or struggle to track their activities.
This has given them some freedom to misbehave around the area and endanger the lives of the people.
At this stage, it has become important for the residents in the community to collaborate with the police in addressing the issue.
I want to implore the police in the area to conduct patrol exercise in the area, especially at nights.
That aside, I would want to urge the authorities to embark a campaign on drug addiction in the area to let the youth know and understand the dangers and harm drugs exposes them to.
Chris Nii Narh,
Shukura
News
Involve men in breast cancer conversations …Breast cancer advocate
Raisa
A Journalist and breast cancer advocate, Ms Raissa Sambou, has called for the inclusion of men in breast cancer conversations.
She said men play a crucial role in breast cancer conversations, not only because they can be affected by the disease themselves but also because they can help their partners detect early signs.
The inclusion of men in the conversation has dominated discussion on the disease during an ongoing door-to-door campaign to raise awareness on breast cancer in rural communities, focusing on both men and women who often lack access to healthcare information and treatment.
Ms Sambou, a breast cancer survivor, told The Spectator that her campaign aims to educate people in an underserved areas on early detection and prevention.
According to Ms Sambou, by encouraging and reminding women to perform regular self-breast examinations, men can support early detection, which is key to successful treatment.
“Unfortunately, there have been instances where men have distanced themselves from their wives or engaged in infidelity following breast cancer treatments, particularly when it involves the loss of a breast.
“Through education, these situations can be minimised, as men learn to be more empathetic and supportive, understanding the physical and emotional toll the disease takes on their partners,” she explained.
Educating men on these issues fosters stronger familial bonds and helps reduce stigma and misconceptions surrounding breast cancer.
“Men should not be excluded from breast cancer conversations because they can also be affected by the disease,” she said.
Additionally, she noted that when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer, the entire family is impacted, hence the need for men to be educated on how they can provide emotional and practical support during such difficult times.
Through her initiative, dubbed ‘The Raissa Child Protection Initiative,’ the award winning journalist advocates for the wellbeing of children by empowering their parents to take better care of them.
“If parents are not healthy, they cannot care for their children,” she noted, stressing the importance of health in child protection efforts.
She revealed that the campaign, which began in Tomefa, a fishing community in the Ga South Municipality, also seeks to dispel the misconceptions surrounding breast cancer in rural areas, where fear and stigma often prevent early treatment.
Ms Sambou states that the initiative was to expand to parts of the Eastern and Central regions, with the goal of improving awareness and saving lives in areas where access to healthcare is limited.
She also underscored the importance of adopting a preventive approach to managing chronic health issues, especially given the limited resources at many healthcare facilities in Ghana.
She also expressed concern that rural residents often have to travel long distances across regions to access basic medical services like mammograms and CT scans.
This, Ms Sambou noted, contributes to the high number of undiagnosed cancers and late-stage diagnoses, which severely impact treatment outcomes.
She further lamented that even in cases of early detection, the lack of adequate cancer treatment equipment in the country often hampers patient survival.
At the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, the nation’s largest referral centre, she explained that only two radiotherapy machines serve hundreds of patients, forcing many to wait for months before receiving treatment.
“My campaign is not only focused on awareness but also on advocacy for improved healthcare infrastructure, especially in rural communities, to ensure that early detection leads to timely and effective treatment,” she added.
By Jemima Esinam Kuatsinu
