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Vigah to launch book on Brazil World Cup

A book on Ghana’s participation in the Brazil 2014 World Cup tournament will be launched next Thursday, July 30, at the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Press Centre, Accra.

The 170-page book, titled Sparkles & Shambles of the World Cup – Brazil 2014, is authored by multiple award-winning sports journalist, John Vigah.

Among others, the book captures Ghana Black Stars’ disconcerting performance at the tournament where the team staggered to a shocking first round exit, which was also characterised by the dismissal of two top players from camp – Sulley Ali Muntari and Kevin Prince Boateng; not to talk about the mind-boggling airlifting of $4m to the players. 

Readers will also find out why a plane that was supposed to carry Ghanaian fans back after the Stars’ game against eventual winners Germany was grounded, forcing passengers (who were initially suspected as terrorists) to spend the night at the Fortaleza airport. There are also excerpts of Ghana’s Brazil World Cup Commission White Paper Report; Luis Suarez ‘biting orgy’ and many more.

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 Of course, it was not all doom and gloom for the nation; there were some positives: Ghana’s skipper Asamoah Gyan cracked a piece of history to become Africa’s top scorer at the World Cup, with the Ghana-Germany heart-pumping 2-2 thriller earning the Stars all the plaudits from FIFA.

Admission to the launch is strictly by invitation to ensure adherence to the COVID-19 protocols.

by: , John Vigah.

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 Swallowed by the Sea! …Keta’s coastal lines, landmarks, efforts to preserve heritage

Fragments of a once inhabited home now lie submerged, swallowed by the encroaching waters along Keta’s coast(1)

 The Atlantic Ocean is no longer a distant blue horizon for the people of Keta.

It now circles around their doorsteps, uninvited, unrelent­ing, pulling down walls and other structures, erasing memories, and threatening lives.

Hovering precariously between the restless sea and the Keta Lagoon, this once-thriving coastal town is slowly being obliterated.

Salt water has become both a physical and metaphorical threat, dissolving the town’s past as fast as it claims its future.

Madam Aku Atitso, 62, lives in a crumbling former Prisons Service quarters – one of the few struc­tures still standing on the eroded stretch of Queen Street.

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She sits quietly at the entrance, preparing a modest breakfast for herself and her granddaughter.

The air is thick with salt and silence. “The sea took everything,” she says softly. “My husband’s nets, our mattress, our memories all gone overnight.” Her voice trem­bles. “This place too is dying. But it’s the last place with a roof over my head.”

A few metres away, Aunty Esi­nam, 79, watches the sea from a low stool beside a wooden shelter. Her eyes do not blink. “That spot,” she points, “used to be someone’s living room, a whole family lived there”.

Efo Agbeko stands atop the sea defence wall, pointing toward the vast Atlantic Ocean, marking the spot where buildings once stood before the sea claimed them

It’s not just homes that are van­ishing. Landmarks that anchored Keta’s cultural identity are dis­appearing one after another. The once-imposing Fort Prinzenstein, a haunting relic of the transatlantic slave trade is now more of a ruin than a monument.

The colonial-era Bremen factory, the old cinema where generations of children once laughed at flick­ering black-and-white films is also gone.

Queen Street, once the town’s bustling backbone, is now a watery corridor choked with debris.

Standing atop a section of the sea defence wall, 69-year-old retired teacher Efo Kwasi Agbeko surveys what remains.

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“The first police station is mostly gone,” he says, gesturing part of the building stuck in the sea sand, only ruins and a few rooms remain.

Children play on a fishing canoe grounded in the sand a moment of joy amidst the quiet rhythms of coastal life.

“This town is fighting, but the sea is winning,” he said.

Even the Cape St. Paul Light­house, Keta’s historic sentinel, leans perilously toward the water, and fishermen say holes in the shore are opening more frequently, sometimes every week.

That leaves a thick cloud of uncertainty hanging around the historic town of Keta.

Once upon a time, it was a vi­brant town noted for business but currently left with ruins with a few of the residents watching in awe the sea’s devastation.

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From: Geoffrey Kwame Buta, Keta, Volta Region

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 Ghanaians climax Easter with fun-filled activities

• Awards given for outstanding performance
• Awards given for outstanding performance

Christians around the world and other faith based groups last Monday cli­maxed the Easter celebration with a number of fun-filled outdoor and indoor activities.

With streets empty, fun seekers stormed church premises where picnics were held while others partied in many ways.

Others spent the day at the various beaches and music and film shows occu­pying the others.

At the churches, participants engaged in bible reading, football, volleyball, playing cards, table tennis, horse racing, bouncing castles, swimming and oware.

Others played ludo, tag of war, lime and spoon, draught, music competitions among others.

The Spectator captured some of the exciting scenes around Accra-Tema for the benefit of readers.

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 Story & pictures by Victor A. Buxton

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