It was my first day at Graphic today, and getting there was an adventure. I was told the wrong directions, so I got out and had to get a cab so I could see where on earth I was supposed to be going. I was also told by a 40 or so year old guy that he loved me. Apparently I’m just irresistible, since I had only sat there for 2 minutes and had only told him my name at that point. I’m actually surprised that this hasn’t happened more often, though, since it sounds like all the other girls are getting quite a bit of it. It was almost a self-esteem booster to know that I still had the same kind of draw that I had in Cameroon.
In any case, I got to the building ok, but Ransford (Editor) wasn’t in when I got there at 9, and since of course no one else was expecting me the subeditor wouldn’t show me around until I’d been formally introduced. Finally he got in around 11, and so I got a tour of the offices where 6 papers are produced (Graphic, Sports Graphic, Graphic Junior, the Mirror, and a couple others that have escaped my mind). It took me a while to get internet to work on my laptop, and so by the time I had settled it was nearly 1. I went around and tried to introduce myself and write down everyone’s names and get cards, but as it turns out there are a *lot* of reporters at the Graphic and not enough computers, so the turnover of people sitting in the newsroom is pretty impressive. I mostly gave up trying to introduce myself to everyone. I’m under instructions though to come early in the morning, when I’ll be able to ask the news editor Samuel some questions and get attached for the morning onto a reporter. I’m going to go in with Mike in the mornings from now on I think, so getting there by 8 hopefully won’t represent a problem.
In terms of intellectual discoveries, I’m not sure today was stellar, although I did hear a few people talk about how the Graphic has a heavier burden of proof than other papers, which is why it doesn’t print many scandals or feature them prominently. You have to be “very careful” in what you want to say. The house style at the Graphic sounds much more reasonable though, and it seemed there were actual rules to be followed rather than just a general sensationalism. In all, I think the Graphic’s got sort of a snooty opinion of the private papers, but don’t necessarily look down on at least some of them.
So that was my first day. A parliamentary correspondent, Daniel, took pity on me and was restless when I left, so he walked me out and showed me the bus stop and everything. The weather is back to hot and humid today, so the ride home was icky, but since I left early it was shorter than normal.
And now it’s 7:45 and I think I’m ready for sleep. Yes, I’m that lame.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Ghana Day 33 (cont’d from yesterday)
The rain eventually let up around 3pm, so thankfully my trip home was mostly dry. I ended up being one of the only people in the office today, which seems odd to me since Monday is the big news day. Awudu was the only reporter there when I got there, and we had a nice discussion about old news stories, Iran and how revolutions are usually unsuccessful, sharia law and how it’s not so terrible if you don’t interpret it like a crazy person, taking multiple wives, juju, and getting into US grad schools. I told him I would help him prepare for the GRE a bit before I go (he’d like to be a sociology professor at the University of Ghana), and I feel that will be a more productive use of my time than trying to teach fraction conversion to private school students who don’t understand my accent.
After a bit Bennett, Halifax, Mohammed (who is the guy I interviewed yesterday who does sports and entertainment), and Al Hadji wandered in. I couldn’t tell if it was a normal time for that or if the rain held them off, but they were the only ones who were there while I was this afternoon. Halifax had just gotten back from a weekend-long conference in Cape Coast about media coverage in the election, and I made him tell me all about that.
It sounds like it was a very useful, productive activity. They talked about how some reporters were unprofessional, and came away with a recommendation that the media body should have more teeth to punish people caught publishing things that were obviously untrue. They also discussed the problem of their citizen reporters, who were recruited from universities and other places to cover all of the polling stations, since the papers obviously don’t have the manpower normally to do it. These pinch reporters apparently didn’t know election law very well and were crying foul about things that actually should be happening (like ballot boxes being taken away – to go to the central tabulation area) and having trouble following up on things that maybe shouldn’t be happening (letting a station manager say he wasn’t sure about something going on at the polling station, he’d have to call his boss in Accra). So the suggestion there was to have more, earlier, and better training for them. Also they discussed toning down partisanship in the coverage, which is sort of funny to hear coming from a top Daily Guide political reporter, and starting to collaborate on electoral issues now for the 2012 elections rather than waiting until the last minute. So it sounds like it was a fruitful conference.
Before I left I got lots of pictures with everyone, so that was nice, and I got told that not very many of the international volunteers have such good relationships with people at the paper, and that I was one of maybe two or three they’d had that they really liked. I think that might have something to do with how long I was there – it seems like many people who come are only around for two weeks or so. Also I’m sure the language barrier gets in the way in the office. But it’s certainly nice to know that I’ll be remembered more than the average white intern and that I gave off good, not unfriendly vibes despite what I thought was sort of limited interactions with my colleagues (compared to what I would have at an internship in the States). Since one of my main goals for this trip is to make good contacts, I think I can say that my time at the Daily Guide was a success.
Besides having cold, wet socks and shoes, it was a very nice last day at the office.
After a bit Bennett, Halifax, Mohammed (who is the guy I interviewed yesterday who does sports and entertainment), and Al Hadji wandered in. I couldn’t tell if it was a normal time for that or if the rain held them off, but they were the only ones who were there while I was this afternoon. Halifax had just gotten back from a weekend-long conference in Cape Coast about media coverage in the election, and I made him tell me all about that.
It sounds like it was a very useful, productive activity. They talked about how some reporters were unprofessional, and came away with a recommendation that the media body should have more teeth to punish people caught publishing things that were obviously untrue. They also discussed the problem of their citizen reporters, who were recruited from universities and other places to cover all of the polling stations, since the papers obviously don’t have the manpower normally to do it. These pinch reporters apparently didn’t know election law very well and were crying foul about things that actually should be happening (like ballot boxes being taken away – to go to the central tabulation area) and having trouble following up on things that maybe shouldn’t be happening (letting a station manager say he wasn’t sure about something going on at the polling station, he’d have to call his boss in Accra). So the suggestion there was to have more, earlier, and better training for them. Also they discussed toning down partisanship in the coverage, which is sort of funny to hear coming from a top Daily Guide political reporter, and starting to collaborate on electoral issues now for the 2012 elections rather than waiting until the last minute. So it sounds like it was a fruitful conference.
Before I left I got lots of pictures with everyone, so that was nice, and I got told that not very many of the international volunteers have such good relationships with people at the paper, and that I was one of maybe two or three they’d had that they really liked. I think that might have something to do with how long I was there – it seems like many people who come are only around for two weeks or so. Also I’m sure the language barrier gets in the way in the office. But it’s certainly nice to know that I’ll be remembered more than the average white intern and that I gave off good, not unfriendly vibes despite what I thought was sort of limited interactions with my colleagues (compared to what I would have at an internship in the States). Since one of my main goals for this trip is to make good contacts, I think I can say that my time at the Daily Guide was a success.
Besides having cold, wet socks and shoes, it was a very nice last day at the office.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Ghana Day 32
Today was a productive although fairly boring day. I got up a little past 7 and hung around for a bit before Katey and I went in to town. We changed money on the way out, and then caught a trotro in the rain (Katey forgot her umbrella, and mine is small, so it was certainly a fun time). The trotro we got was rather leaky, and I was given a really nasty rag to keep the water off my arm and pants leg, and eventually I decided the rain water was probably cleaner and gave up on it. It was certainly an interesting experience though to drive around on the dirt roads in torrential rain. All the gutters we passed were either full to the top (they’re a few feet deep) or overflowing, and people were all huddled around under awnings and things. We passed a small herd of goats huddled under a tree, that was cool.
So I got into the office and read papers for about 7 and a half hours, with breaks in the middle to interview the entertainment and sports editor (who said he didn’t mind talking to me for an hour because he likes girls) and Al Hadji, who showed up mid-afternoon. In terms of work, I got through April in papers, so I’ll have to go back in tomorrow afternoon to finish May and the couple June issues I don’t have, as well as to say goodbye to all the people I told I’d be around on Sunday for.
The power is off now, which is sad. Hopefully it will come back on soon so my computer doesn’t die : (
(Update from Sunday -- The power definitely did not come back on, and was still out when we left. We went out to Accra in the morning to be touristy, and made it to Fort Usher, which is kind of cool and very crumbly. It used to be a prison, and Kwame Nkrumah (1st prez) was held there for a while apparently. While we were there it started raining, which wasn't surprising since it rained solidly through the night. We hung out for a while, and I decided I would be lame and abandon the gang to come into the air conditioned, dry, internet-filled office to finish up my research. Definitely glad I made that decision, because it's rained for the past hour since I left them with no sign of letting up. So much for tourism!)
Today was a productive although fairly boring day. I got up a little past 7 and hung around for a bit before Katey and I went in to town. We changed money on the way out, and then caught a trotro in the rain (Katey forgot her umbrella, and mine is small, so it was certainly a fun time). The trotro we got was rather leaky, and I was given a really nasty rag to keep the water off my arm and pants leg, and eventually I decided the rain water was probably cleaner and gave up on it. It was certainly an interesting experience though to drive around on the dirt roads in torrential rain. All the gutters we passed were either full to the top (they’re a few feet deep) or overflowing, and people were all huddled around under awnings and things. We passed a small herd of goats huddled under a tree, that was cool.
So I got into the office and read papers for about 7 and a half hours, with breaks in the middle to interview the entertainment and sports editor (who said he didn’t mind talking to me for an hour because he likes girls) and Al Hadji, who showed up mid-afternoon. In terms of work, I got through April in papers, so I’ll have to go back in tomorrow afternoon to finish May and the couple June issues I don’t have, as well as to say goodbye to all the people I told I’d be around on Sunday for.
The power is off now, which is sad. Hopefully it will come back on soon so my computer doesn’t die : (
(Update from Sunday -- The power definitely did not come back on, and was still out when we left. We went out to Accra in the morning to be touristy, and made it to Fort Usher, which is kind of cool and very crumbly. It used to be a prison, and Kwame Nkrumah (1st prez) was held there for a while apparently. While we were there it started raining, which wasn't surprising since it rained solidly through the night. We hung out for a while, and I decided I would be lame and abandon the gang to come into the air conditioned, dry, internet-filled office to finish up my research. Definitely glad I made that decision, because it's rained for the past hour since I left them with no sign of letting up. So much for tourism!)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Ghana Day 31
It was my last session of parliament today : ( Sadness. Before I got to work I stopped at the closest thing to an Office Max and picked up a couple nice pens, which I gave as presents to Al Hadji, my editor ho helped me get into the Graphic, and Awudu, who has humored my tagging along with him for 3 weeks now. They both went over very well, with Al Hadji telling me how much he loves pens and Awudu being way overly pleased.
Parliament itself was sort of interesting. The minister answering questions was the guy in charge of road construction, so he fielded 5 questions from MPs asking when roads/ bridges in their constituencies would get built/fixed/whatever. In most of the cases, the completion date on the project has passed and construction is around 10% completed, so it was pretty dismal. Hopefully that wasn’t a representative sample of construction projects, with the squeaky wheel getting to ask questions and whatnot, but it might just be.
There were at east 3 times over the course of the morning (as there was yesterday) when fewer than half of the MPs were in the floor so there wasn’t a quorum and they had to wait around while people went looking for the other guys. It was really annoying. Apparently committee meetings have been scheduling sessions during parliament, which is rather problematic seeing that committee members are MPs. The leadership has been complaining about that since the beginning of the session, but I haven’t seen much improvement.
The final thing relates to oil production. There is a new contract about to be signed for oil exploration rights and whatnot, and the agreement is good (better than one from before, because it give the government 20% of the revenue rather than 15% as it was before. So everyone is happy with the agreement, but the president has appointed as head of the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (or whatever GNPC stands for) someone who worked as an employee of the previous contract holder. In fact, he only resigned from that post the day after officially taking over this new position. So the NPP is really upset and wants the president to get rid of him, and the NDC mostly agrees but can’t say anything. They haven’t been obnoxiously yelling NPP MPs off the floor and telling them to sit down though. Finally they decided to put off the resolution to pass the contract until next session so that they could deliberate. I’m interested to see if anyone tries threatening to withhold the contract approval in exchange for the guy’s resignation.
Back at the office I wrote the story on the roads. Apparently the reporters were teasing Awudu and saying they wanted to tag along to parliament too, since my stories have been getting printed pretty frequently in the past week or so. I feel like that’s not actually my fault though, because Awudu re-encapsulates the stories and gives them better headlines, so they’re more attractive and readable and “house style.”
My editor gave me a nice little testimonial that he signed with the pen I got him, which was nice. He also offhandedly told me about something I thought was sort of major. There’s a minister who just resigned who is from the same ethnic group as he is, and he said the elders put pressure on him not to say anything bad about the guy. There was a story yesterday that he said he managed to keep out of the paper, but today’s story had to go in and so he said he was just “writing the facts” rather than spinning it, so hopefully the elders would not be too upset with him. He explained it as if it were perfectly normal as well. I suppose it might be.
I was also told on good authority today that although the political writers here are pretty extreme and sensationalist, they believe what they’re writing and the paper has only printed an erroneous story (with someone at the paper knowing it, of course) once – and the journalist who made it up was suspended, made to work in the printing room for a while, and then brought back on as a completely non-political writer (apparently he was too good to just fire). The explanation for why he did it was that he was under a lot of pressure to make headline news. But he made up an interview he had had with a minister, so I’m not sure how he didn’t think that would come back and bite him in the ass. I know I’ve said the PR people here suck, but they’re not that bad.
After that I pulled out the back volumes of the paper, and tomorrow (Saturday) I’ll be going into the office, despite nominally have had my last day, to look through them and pull out good stories bits for comparison with the Graphic.
The ride home was interesting. Normally my tro-tros do things I’m not terribly fond of and go through mud I don’t think they should, but this time I think we were in actual danger of tipping over, getting stuck in pond-sized puddles, and getting stuck on large and narrow mounds of dirt multiple times. It was pretty ridiculous. We completely left civilization for a while, and honestly it took us about the same amount of time as it would have if we had just waited in traffic (and I would have been able to buy snacks on the side of the road if we had done that). Oh well.
Alright, passing out now!
Parliament itself was sort of interesting. The minister answering questions was the guy in charge of road construction, so he fielded 5 questions from MPs asking when roads/ bridges in their constituencies would get built/fixed/whatever. In most of the cases, the completion date on the project has passed and construction is around 10% completed, so it was pretty dismal. Hopefully that wasn’t a representative sample of construction projects, with the squeaky wheel getting to ask questions and whatnot, but it might just be.
There were at east 3 times over the course of the morning (as there was yesterday) when fewer than half of the MPs were in the floor so there wasn’t a quorum and they had to wait around while people went looking for the other guys. It was really annoying. Apparently committee meetings have been scheduling sessions during parliament, which is rather problematic seeing that committee members are MPs. The leadership has been complaining about that since the beginning of the session, but I haven’t seen much improvement.
The final thing relates to oil production. There is a new contract about to be signed for oil exploration rights and whatnot, and the agreement is good (better than one from before, because it give the government 20% of the revenue rather than 15% as it was before. So everyone is happy with the agreement, but the president has appointed as head of the Ghana National Petroleum Commission (or whatever GNPC stands for) someone who worked as an employee of the previous contract holder. In fact, he only resigned from that post the day after officially taking over this new position. So the NPP is really upset and wants the president to get rid of him, and the NDC mostly agrees but can’t say anything. They haven’t been obnoxiously yelling NPP MPs off the floor and telling them to sit down though. Finally they decided to put off the resolution to pass the contract until next session so that they could deliberate. I’m interested to see if anyone tries threatening to withhold the contract approval in exchange for the guy’s resignation.
Back at the office I wrote the story on the roads. Apparently the reporters were teasing Awudu and saying they wanted to tag along to parliament too, since my stories have been getting printed pretty frequently in the past week or so. I feel like that’s not actually my fault though, because Awudu re-encapsulates the stories and gives them better headlines, so they’re more attractive and readable and “house style.”
My editor gave me a nice little testimonial that he signed with the pen I got him, which was nice. He also offhandedly told me about something I thought was sort of major. There’s a minister who just resigned who is from the same ethnic group as he is, and he said the elders put pressure on him not to say anything bad about the guy. There was a story yesterday that he said he managed to keep out of the paper, but today’s story had to go in and so he said he was just “writing the facts” rather than spinning it, so hopefully the elders would not be too upset with him. He explained it as if it were perfectly normal as well. I suppose it might be.
I was also told on good authority today that although the political writers here are pretty extreme and sensationalist, they believe what they’re writing and the paper has only printed an erroneous story (with someone at the paper knowing it, of course) once – and the journalist who made it up was suspended, made to work in the printing room for a while, and then brought back on as a completely non-political writer (apparently he was too good to just fire). The explanation for why he did it was that he was under a lot of pressure to make headline news. But he made up an interview he had had with a minister, so I’m not sure how he didn’t think that would come back and bite him in the ass. I know I’ve said the PR people here suck, but they’re not that bad.
After that I pulled out the back volumes of the paper, and tomorrow (Saturday) I’ll be going into the office, despite nominally have had my last day, to look through them and pull out good stories bits for comparison with the Graphic.
The ride home was interesting. Normally my tro-tros do things I’m not terribly fond of and go through mud I don’t think they should, but this time I think we were in actual danger of tipping over, getting stuck in pond-sized puddles, and getting stuck on large and narrow mounds of dirt multiple times. It was pretty ridiculous. We completely left civilization for a while, and honestly it took us about the same amount of time as it would have if we had just waited in traffic (and I would have been able to buy snacks on the side of the road if we had done that). Oh well.
Alright, passing out now!
Friday, June 26, 2009
Ghana Day 30
Man was I tired today.
It was the first day where there’s been lots of rain going on when I’m supposed to be leaving, so I decided to be a wimp and stay inside until the worst was passed. I’m not sure I could have gotten a cab anyway (or wanted to be in one that was moving through such hard rain). I was greeted at work with a paper that contained my story about the minister being “grilled”, which was pretty exciting (although again not on the website).
The interesting part of parliament today (not the part I wrote on, which was about irrigation and water runoff) was a discussion I did not actually think was newsworthy since it addressed something that happened in January. Foolish of me to think matters got resolved satisfactorily while they were still news.
So what happened in January is that the NDC came to power and got rid of 30ish foreign service officers who had recently been hired by the NPP, replacing them with other people. Now at the time, this story was added to several others about clientelism and NDC taking advantage of its regained power to restore its supporters to posts. (At least apparently that’s what the Guide said.) From what I gather, the NDC did not refute the allegations well or at all. I didn’t know that, I figured obviously if they had info they’d make it public.
So that’s why I was surprised when the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was brought out and he gave a super long speech about what happened. There had been 30 positions to fill, and 400ish applicants. They all took a written test, and the 157 top scorers got interviews. Of those, 30 were recommended. But it turns out NPP did not accept these recommendations, because after the recommendation the Minister ordered that only 11 of them be kept, and the spots were instead given to others 22 people who I think did not make the final 30 and 7 more who did not make interviews. Also, obviously, instead of filling 30 positions they filled 40.
So the real question is, why were these massive irregularities not immediately clarified? It was in the government’s power and interest to do it, but it did not come out until an NPP MP of all people called on the minister to say what had happened to the original group. That was a backfire if I ever I saw one. I’m just astounded at the failure of the government’s PR group.
In other news, the breaking story for tomorrow is that the minister who bought the tractor at 10% of the price says the paper got it wrong and that he had paid the other 90% at a previous time. Except apparently he paid all of this for 5 tractors (of which he shouldn’t have been able to buy any), so he bought each at 20%. Really, government of Ghana? You suck at this.
Tomorrow is my last day at the Guide, so hopefully I can pester some people into talking to me at the very last minute. I feel like I’ve learned a lot but at the same time haven’t accomplished much in terms of real research.
It was the first day where there’s been lots of rain going on when I’m supposed to be leaving, so I decided to be a wimp and stay inside until the worst was passed. I’m not sure I could have gotten a cab anyway (or wanted to be in one that was moving through such hard rain). I was greeted at work with a paper that contained my story about the minister being “grilled”, which was pretty exciting (although again not on the website).
The interesting part of parliament today (not the part I wrote on, which was about irrigation and water runoff) was a discussion I did not actually think was newsworthy since it addressed something that happened in January. Foolish of me to think matters got resolved satisfactorily while they were still news.
So what happened in January is that the NDC came to power and got rid of 30ish foreign service officers who had recently been hired by the NPP, replacing them with other people. Now at the time, this story was added to several others about clientelism and NDC taking advantage of its regained power to restore its supporters to posts. (At least apparently that’s what the Guide said.) From what I gather, the NDC did not refute the allegations well or at all. I didn’t know that, I figured obviously if they had info they’d make it public.
So that’s why I was surprised when the Ministry for Foreign Affairs was brought out and he gave a super long speech about what happened. There had been 30 positions to fill, and 400ish applicants. They all took a written test, and the 157 top scorers got interviews. Of those, 30 were recommended. But it turns out NPP did not accept these recommendations, because after the recommendation the Minister ordered that only 11 of them be kept, and the spots were instead given to others 22 people who I think did not make the final 30 and 7 more who did not make interviews. Also, obviously, instead of filling 30 positions they filled 40.
So the real question is, why were these massive irregularities not immediately clarified? It was in the government’s power and interest to do it, but it did not come out until an NPP MP of all people called on the minister to say what had happened to the original group. That was a backfire if I ever I saw one. I’m just astounded at the failure of the government’s PR group.
In other news, the breaking story for tomorrow is that the minister who bought the tractor at 10% of the price says the paper got it wrong and that he had paid the other 90% at a previous time. Except apparently he paid all of this for 5 tractors (of which he shouldn’t have been able to buy any), so he bought each at 20%. Really, government of Ghana? You suck at this.
Tomorrow is my last day at the Guide, so hopefully I can pester some people into talking to me at the very last minute. I feel like I’ve learned a lot but at the same time haven’t accomplished much in terms of real research.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Ghana Day 29
I am officially halfway through my stay in Ghana! We celebrated the momentous occasion with a sending-off party for John and Maddie, who are returning to the states tomorrow. We went to a Lebanese restaurant that was really delicious and sort of reasonably priced (not that I paid – John picked up the tab).
During the actual day I had lots to do as well. Parliament was alright, but rather boring. The MPs spent an hour on one question, and it was more debating whether or not people were allowed to ask follow-up questions than actually debating an issue. And the worst part is the question was framed as, “Can the minister tell us if he knows something,” so it would have been eminently easier to just let the guy stand up and say, no, I do not know that (which he eventually did). The topic of the day was communications (cell) poles and their location in residential areas. MPs are concerned that there might be health risks, but that wasn’t the question that was officially posed to the minister (and so the one he prepared for). They asked what the policy was on placing poles in residential areas. So he gave them lots of legal statutes, and when they wanted to ask about substantive things he wasn’t ready. It was obnoxious.
Besides that there was an update on a couple irrigation works. At least these two places were supposed to be rehabilitated by 2006, and they still haven’t been given over to the farmers. That minister claims end of August is the sweet time, though, so that’s good news.
After parliament I found my way over to the Daily Graphic’s HQ. That was an adventure. The first cab I got it, the guy said he knew where I was going but then obviously didn’t, so I gave him a cedi for his trouble (and to make him ok with letting me and my larger fare go) and got a second cab. That one knew where we were going, and in fact the driver was nice enough so that I compromised my don’t-give-your-number-to-strangers rule (which tends to be a rule that is broken more often than followed). His name is either Frimpong or Frimporg (I heard and sort of recognize the first but I think he might have spelled it for me as the second, so whatever), and he has a 1.5 year old daughter and they live in Accra by Kasoa. He’s not married anymore (if ever) though because apparently he hates the mom, who “tricked him” into having the baby. In any case, I made sure he knew I did not hate my man and he still “wanted to have a white friend,” so that’s cool.
Anywho, I got to the Graphic and eventually got in to see Ransford Tetteh, my editor’s friend. Apparently, he is also an editor – of the state newspaper. So that was definitely a good in. We had a lovely 2 minute meeting in which he told me I could start whenever I wanted as long as I got him an email from my school introducing me (which Barak complied with immediately, so I’m golden). He seemed very nice, and the Graphic is very swank (there was a water cooler in the reception area, and it was at least a two story building!). I think it will be a cool place to send the remainder of my time.
Also, I was told there’s no “editor’s fee,” so I’m saving $125. Very cool.
After that I went to pick up the parliamentary and presidential election results at the electoral commission. The letter I dropped off last week never made it to anyone important, of course, so I hung around for an hour while a couple bureaucrats passed around my jump drive. Mission accomplished, though.
After that I went back, wrote my two stories about the cell towers and irrigation, and hung around for wayyyy too long waiting for the folks to get into town so we could go to dinner.
Altogether, a much fuller day than I’m used to and I’m super tired now. I think tomorrow I’ll probably knock off early so I can fall asleep at a decent hour.
During the actual day I had lots to do as well. Parliament was alright, but rather boring. The MPs spent an hour on one question, and it was more debating whether or not people were allowed to ask follow-up questions than actually debating an issue. And the worst part is the question was framed as, “Can the minister tell us if he knows something,” so it would have been eminently easier to just let the guy stand up and say, no, I do not know that (which he eventually did). The topic of the day was communications (cell) poles and their location in residential areas. MPs are concerned that there might be health risks, but that wasn’t the question that was officially posed to the minister (and so the one he prepared for). They asked what the policy was on placing poles in residential areas. So he gave them lots of legal statutes, and when they wanted to ask about substantive things he wasn’t ready. It was obnoxious.
Besides that there was an update on a couple irrigation works. At least these two places were supposed to be rehabilitated by 2006, and they still haven’t been given over to the farmers. That minister claims end of August is the sweet time, though, so that’s good news.
After parliament I found my way over to the Daily Graphic’s HQ. That was an adventure. The first cab I got it, the guy said he knew where I was going but then obviously didn’t, so I gave him a cedi for his trouble (and to make him ok with letting me and my larger fare go) and got a second cab. That one knew where we were going, and in fact the driver was nice enough so that I compromised my don’t-give-your-number-to-strangers rule (which tends to be a rule that is broken more often than followed). His name is either Frimpong or Frimporg (I heard and sort of recognize the first but I think he might have spelled it for me as the second, so whatever), and he has a 1.5 year old daughter and they live in Accra by Kasoa. He’s not married anymore (if ever) though because apparently he hates the mom, who “tricked him” into having the baby. In any case, I made sure he knew I did not hate my man and he still “wanted to have a white friend,” so that’s cool.
Anywho, I got to the Graphic and eventually got in to see Ransford Tetteh, my editor’s friend. Apparently, he is also an editor – of the state newspaper. So that was definitely a good in. We had a lovely 2 minute meeting in which he told me I could start whenever I wanted as long as I got him an email from my school introducing me (which Barak complied with immediately, so I’m golden). He seemed very nice, and the Graphic is very swank (there was a water cooler in the reception area, and it was at least a two story building!). I think it will be a cool place to send the remainder of my time.
Also, I was told there’s no “editor’s fee,” so I’m saving $125. Very cool.
After that I went to pick up the parliamentary and presidential election results at the electoral commission. The letter I dropped off last week never made it to anyone important, of course, so I hung around for an hour while a couple bureaucrats passed around my jump drive. Mission accomplished, though.
After that I went back, wrote my two stories about the cell towers and irrigation, and hung around for wayyyy too long waiting for the folks to get into town so we could go to dinner.
Altogether, a much fuller day than I’m used to and I’m super tired now. I think tomorrow I’ll probably knock off early so I can fall asleep at a decent hour.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Story
http://dailyguideghana.com/newd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4111&Itemid=262
You'll also notice (if you look in the next few hours) that this is the top story on the sports section of the daily guide homepage.
You'll also notice (if you look in the next few hours) that this is the top story on the sports section of the daily guide homepage.
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