Mob Violence Continued

This entry is a continuation of the blog entry I made on 05/11/2007.

The New Opportunity Trust people showed up again in another town that is only 5km away. The people were caught this time around. They were probably beaten pretty badly, but from what I heard they ended up at the nearby police station so I guess they will live...

I wish I was there to witness it though.

Tearing Down Businesses

A lot of the small businesses here in Ghana are stores set up in small metal cargo/shipping containers or in wooden shacks. As I was riding into Kumasi the other day I saw that they were all being torn down along this one road because they all did not have the proper permits. They were also probably being taken down because they were too close to the roadside as well.

It was sad to see what was happening to these people’s businesses and livelihood. What is even sadder is that most of the people don’t even know that they have to register businesses and they usually don’t have enough money to do so. It’s interesting being in a 3rd world developing country that is trying to become a middle income nation in the near future as it progresses. But it is also depressing watching the ways things are being done in the name of development. I guess this is a price that has to be paid, but is it/will it be worth it in the future?

Drug Mules

A couple of weeks ago a couple of teenage girls from the UK got arrested at the airport here in Ghana for trying to smuggle cocaine back to the UK. They had the drugs stuffed into laptops. If I remember correctly it was about $600,000 worth. They claim that they had no knowledge of what they were carrying. If they are charged they will get 10 years of prison here in Ghana. That’s sad and watching/hearing this on the news made me think of the movie Broken Down Palace (I think this was the title) with Claire Daines.