The Watchwoman: Leaving Addis Ababa with fondness and questions

View of Addis Ababa from a high rise building. As I boarded an Ethiopian Airline flight out of the city of Addis Ababa back to the city of my birth—Accra, it dawned on me that this is an African city that is rising. Addis has great potential. In May 1963 at the founding of the Organization of African Unity, our first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah declared: ‘Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto God!’ Why didn’t Nkrumah prophesy that Ghana ‘shall stretch forth her hands unto God’ considering how much he loved Ghana?
Addis is under construction:

In as much as it is possible to know a place in a short period of two weeks, I got to know Addis Ababa. The sky-line holds promise. There is a spectacular housing development boom. Addis looks like a big construction zone for high-rise building projects. Everywhere one looks, a building of at least ten-storey is under construction and at various levels of beginning and completion. It’s easy to imagine that five-to-ten years from now, Addis will look like cities in the so-called developed world.

But when you look closely, you can see the layers of development firmly being built over deeply pathetic under-development. Decrepit poverty is etched like a tattoo. Shacks and thatch/mud houses abound; in many cases, they have been strategically cordoned off and concealed with aluminium sheet fences. On the ground level, the concealment works out fine. But from high-rise levels, the view of poverty in its raw nakedness dims the fine veneer.

I spent some time on the 17th floor of the grandiose but yet awkward Chinese-gifted African Union building. (Is that building strong enough? Does it carry something ominous? I shudder to think so. I felt so! Something ain’t right.) The photograph accompanying this article shows some of the shacks—the homes of the indigenes. But as the city rises in its glory, the shacks give way to more prestigious high-rise storey-buildings which the poor cannot dream of occupying.

So as it happens in all such cases throughout history, the poor and their eye-sore habitats will be pushed away further into the hinterlands so they will not embarrass the fine well-orchestrated posture of a freshly-minted capital city. The poor will be the losers. They will lose their lands; they will lose their places. But, almost for sure, they will keep their poverty and its accompanying indignity until death do them part. A few lucky ones will escape poverty and cross over into opportunity.

We plundered Ghana Airways!

As I sat with my seat belt fastened for the five and a half hour flight back to Accra, I felt my national pride wounded. It was as if an invisible hand was spectacularly stabbing me on every side of my body. Why is it that there is a super-viable Ethiopian Airlines (affectionately simply called Ethiopia) but there is no Ghana Airways/Airlines? Why did we chew up our airline and spat out the slime? We allowed naughty people, pure nation-wreckers to nibble away at Ghana Airways until there was nothing left.

Ethiopian Airlines began operations on April 8 1946, extending to international flights in 1951, years before Ghana Airways was founded. Currently, it has an overwhelming presence in the airline industry on the continent and beyond. The motto of Ethiopian Airlines is “The new spirit of Africa!” Maybe Nkrumah knew something! Bole International Airport on the outskirts of Addis is of the standard of an airport in any of the so-called advanced countries. It is vast and impressive. It dwarfs Kotoka International Airport and makes ours look like a domestic airport.

Roads made of stones:

I’ve seen roads built with bricks in some part of the Western world. But never have I seen a road built with hewn stones. The novelty got my attention. Imagine a road construction site packed with a load of stones of the size of fists being arranged methodically on the ground and levelled out flat. When the arrangement is completed, some holding material (maybe cement) is used to bind the stones together. And viola, the road is complete! I was told that a road made of stones lasts much longer than our type of roads.

High sense of security:

I was impressed with the deep sense of security. You may recall my article a few weeks back of my experiences of lax security at the Jubilee Flagstaff House—our people’s house. I found a different model in Addis. Probably because the country is located right inside the horn of Africa, they have a certain alertness and awareness of the importance of security and to be on the look-out for knuckle-headed crack-head terrorists who might want to do them harm. One is searched when entering major hotels. Even the tires of vehicles are checked for possible bombs.

The world has changed so Ghana should also institute modern-day security measures. The status quo of being casual, with a God-is-our-protector attitude should give way to a heightened sense of security. After all, Boko Haram has gained a foothold in northern Nigeria. Mali is in a security daze. Niger too!

The sweetness of free speech:  Dr Doris Yaa Dartey, the writer

Yes, Ethiopia is rising. But not all that glitters is gold. On the surface, everything looked fine. But there are layers and pockets of tension. On a day last week, suddenly there was so much traffic where none had been on previous days. Then I found out in the news that there has been a one-of-a-kind massive demonstration by the opposition party. In a conversation with an indigene, I began to dig deeper and peel off the onion of the Ethiopian political matter. There is a heavy layer of autocracy over which a concoction of democracy has been fashioned out. There is fear. Freedom of speech is thin. Democracy is a veil that just covers the status quo of an autocratic political dispensation.

In undertones, someone confided in me: “Here, we don’t have much of a voice. Yes, there are all these construction works but we have no say. If you’re not careful and you say something against the government, you could easily end up in prison.” I gasped for breadth, realising that we in Ghana have it good; from sun-up to sun-down, our radio airwaves are filled with talk of all shades. Bladders and hernias are rendered tender over free speech. This is healthy. We can’t have it any other way!

Ghana’s shining star at AU:

I met an awesome Ghanaian, Dr Fareed Arthur who occupies a high-ranking position in the African Union Commission as the Advisor to the Deputy Chairperson. It is a BIG position at the highest hierarchy of African governance. It was beautiful to watch him at work and to observe the adoration and sheer respect he receives. His voice vibrates as an influencer. It is usually said that when Ghanaians are removed from our environment, they excel beyond measure. So what it is about the Ghanaian environment that sucks out excellence and perpetrate our national funk?

As an icing on my little cake, I had a brief chance encounter with Allan Kyeremateng, the ever-running NPP presidential aspirant—the ‘Allan Cash’ himself. As quickly as I could at the momentary opportunity, I asked him, “What are you doing in Ethiopia when we in Ghana are busy counting pink sheets?” He made some off-the-handle fun comments, we laughed out loud and before I could say Cash, the encounter had ended.

Written by Dr. Doris Yaa Dartey
The WatchWoman Column, Weekly Spectator
Email: dorisdartey@gmail.com