After
decades of hustling in the hostile snow abroad
My battered
spirit felt the need to go back home.
My depressed
soul was yearning for my family and friends,
While my
frozen black skin pleaded for some harmattan.
Joyfully and
with boundless excitement,
I carried my
home-sick self onboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner,
With the
charged expectation of going back
To a land of
oil and gold
And the
gateway to Africa!.
After five
donkey hours in flight among the thunderous clouds,
The three
back tyres of the metal bird finally kissed the runway of an airport.
I wondered
where we were
Because all
the lights along the runway were out,
With some
lanky men holding lanterns along the runway to direct the airplanes.
Which jungle
is this? I silently asked my confused self.
For once, I
thought we were making a transit through the ancient Mali empire
Until my
protruding eyes got arrested by a gargantuan signpost which read,
‘WELCOME TO
KOTOKA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT’
Awurade…..!
What a Shock!!
Twenty-first
century Ghana?
What a wow…!!!
As confused
and shocked as I was,
I managed to
march my puzzled self through to the arrival hall.
That was
when I realized my eyes have seen my back.
Hmmmmm…….!
The lights
were all out at the arrival hall
With people
busily going to and fro with the aid of the lights on their phones
As if they
were hunting grasscutters at the airport.
I thought I
had had enough until I came out of the airport.
What a way
to welcome me back to the land of my birth!
It was 18:00
GMT but the day appeared as if it was mourning itself .
The whole
place was in utter darkness.
Where are
all the lights?
I tried to
find out what was wrong
And surprisingly, an elderly man told me it
was ‘normal’.
I learnt it
was called ‘LOAD SHEDDING’ or better still ‘DUM-SOR,DUM-SOR’
‘Dum-sor,dum-sor’?
I still did
not get what that meant.
There and
then, as if those in charge were trying to make me understand,
Brought the
lights back on
And suddenly,
the entire city responded with shouts of excitement,
‘Yieeeeeeeeeeeee……………..!!!'
As if the boxing legend, Zoom Zoom Azumah Nelson had knocked out an opponent.
Ei….!!.. What
is this?
Just after a few seconds,
The lights
went out again.
And the
entire city responded again in disappointment,
‘Oooooo………..!!!
’
As if
Asamoah Gyan had missed a penalty kick.
That was
when I really got to understand the situation on the ground.
Twenty-first
century Ghana, the gateway to Africa,
And
electricity is being rationed like breast milk to a set quadruplets.
I dreamt of
coming home to a land full of milk and honey.
But this is
where I find myself.
A mighty
land of candles and lanterns.
A land of
electricity load shedding,
A land of
Dum-sor,Dum-sor….!!!
