A Letter From An American Visitor To Ghana

...and My Response

Fellow countrymen,

Today is April 5, 2006 and I received this letter from an American who just returned from Ghana after a 3 week trip and rented one of my flats in East Legon. Read it and weep for our nation!

-----Original Message-----
From: xxxxx xxxxxxx [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, April 05, 2006 8:25 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Greeting from xxxxx xxxxx

5th April 2006

Dear Kwaku,

Just a note regarding our stay at your flat in East Legon. We were picked up by Sam at the airport and taken to the flat. Our first night was great as my wife and I got settled in and took a bath after the long plane ride. The next day we paid for the flat, for the time to April 1.

The location was great as we got around easily to the A&C Shopping Center, etc.

After the first day we started to have water problems. We had to request the pump to be turned on, on a daily and nightly basis. The water was never on for over a 5 minute time period, after the first day. To take showers, we had to buy cases of water across the street. The containers of water provided, was just enough for about two toilet flushings per day.

On our last two days, a little water was turned on in the early morning hours. Also a toilet seal leak started and I had to mop up from the leak, to get access to the bathroom. The seals didn't look like they were installed propertly?

In terms of the air conditioner, it didn't work. When we turned the system on , it didn't provide cool air and it made the power go off and on. Thak God that a fan was available.

I will give you a call in a few days, regarding any questions you made have regarding our stay and how things can be better for your future guests.

Sam was very helpful and supportive during our stay and also helpful regarding Ghana's cultural ways.
Cxxxxx

---

Dear Cxxxx,

Thank God you are back.

I felt so sorry, and so embarrassed for our nation!! because I called my sister and xxxx almost every day you were there to check, and had to call the Managers of the Electricity Corporation Legon District, and the Manager of the Water company. I have the dates and so forth all documented.

Ghana, as I perhaps told you before, has gone to the dogs!! The Economic Hit Man has got us bad!

Ghana received $103 Million grant for water, and another $500 million in loans for water over a year now and not a single drop to drink or flush toilet. They still ration water, and the Chief Engineer told me in summer 2004 that the government had not allocated money to buy new equipment for expansion since 1965!! He told me the government was planning to sell the water system to foreigners and he was opposed to it. As Chief Engineer, I guest it made it look like his engineering team was incompetent, but said the Minister would not allocate any money for items they needed to expand.

I am very glad for this brief business report coming from you. I will leave your name out and send copy and my comments to Ghanaweb and to be published in Ghana. As a nation we have disgraced ourselves and our leaders like President Kufuor and President Rawlings before him are fully aware. People are suffering! East Legon is reputed to be among the so-called "best" in Accra, if there is anything like that. Our leaders and Ministers have sold our nations to the global corporate interests who through these foreign World Bank and IMF loans, and bribery of officials, have encumbered our nations with huge debts but don't deliver simple solutions like water and electricity to serve the people. As John Perkins indicates in his book, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man", they have had us. I know that some of our people are used as front men executives and low level operatives even to distract those who want to help their nation. Trust God that one day the people will rise up! These fake leaders will get their due when the time comes.

BTW I will refund you 2 days for the leaking toilet. This must have been a nightmare for you. Why didn't you respond to my email I sent the very day you were arriving?

Cheers,