-Bill Bryson-
Today was a free day in Ghana’s second largest city of
Kumasi. There are a few museums to see
here and the most popular stop would have to be West Africa’s largest market,
the Kejetia Market. Not having read a
thing about the city or the market I didn’t know what to expect and had a
quaint little market in mind, selling crap loads of souvenirs and the largeness
comes in with it being massive and all selling the same thing, as anything with
size happens to do. How wrong I was
going to be proved today. We were to be up at 8am for a truck breakfast and I
opened my eyes at 8.07am!!! I hate that
slept in feeling and I was dressed, toileted and downstairs at 8.20am. I am lucky I didn’t have to pack my bags or
anything and when I got to the truck the kettle was still on the boil, but I
certainly had that fell out of bed look which I guess I just had.
After breakfast I asked Elle and Rich if I could join
them for the day and they were super fine about that. I’m not really a museum fan, but if it is
worth seeing one I am not against going.
I would never spend a whole day in a museum though and of course I
wanted to get to the market. Anything
else after that I didn’t care about. So
we checked with Suzanne and Ian and we all decided to go and see the Manhyia
Palace Museum, which was the palace of the Ashanti Kings and then do the
markets after that and then see what the afternoon game plan would entail. So armed with Lonely Planet maps we set of at
9.30am for the markets, as we had to pass through them on our way to the
palace, and check out what all the fuss was about. The second we turned into the main road that
took us towards the markets, through the normal shops, there were people
selling their wares on the sidewalk. We
walked through the electronic area where lots of phones, charges and the PlayStation
II consoles (hundreds of them) were in piles under umbrellas. If there was anything you wanted to buy,
electronically I can bet you would have found it here for sure and we weren’t
even at the markets yet!!!!
We had a general idea on where we had to go, but once we
turned left, heading closer to the markets it soon became apparent that the
markets I had envisioned in my head were way different from the reality of what
we were about to see. The Kejetia
market is an open air market in the city of Kumasi, located
in southern central Ghana's Ashanti Region.
Kumasi is approximately 480 km north of the Equator and
160 km north of the Gulf of
Guinea. It is popularly known as "The Garden City" or
"heart beat" of Ghana because of its many beautiful species of
flowers and plants. The Kejetia market
is the largest single market in West Africa with over 10,000 stores and stalls. It is bordered to the North by the Kumasi Cultural
Centre and to the North West by the Komfo Anokye Teaching
Hospital. The southern part of the market forms a border with Adum, the
commercial center of the city. Virtually everything that one wants to purchase
from a market can be found at Kejetia. It ranges from jewelry, food,
toiletries, gorgeous fabrics (in the center of the market), spices, and grains.
If you are traveling with someone, it is necessary to stay close since it is
very easy to lose one another and pretty easy to lose your way. This is a great
place to buy fabric, and see a HUGE market, full of everyday hustle and bustle.
The huge human and vehicular traffic in and around the
market makes its management and law enforcement very difficult. Various methods
of ensuring peace and order in the area are employed include the formation of a
city guard group. The members of the group act as the market's law enforcement
authority. They handle basic traffic direction duties, anti-hawking activities,
etc. However, they refer all cases that are beyond the jurisdiction to the
Kejetia Police Personnel who have a station in the market. In 2010, the Kumasi
Metropolitan Assembly through the market managers Freko FD Ltd installed CCTV
cameras around the market with the aim of strengthening security at the
station. The move was expected to clamp down on hoodlums, who ply their trade
in areas including the Kumasi Central market.
Like all big markets in Ghana such as Takoradi Market Circle and
Cape Coast’s Kotokoraba Market, fire
outbreaks continue be the major destroyer of the Kejetia market. The market has
had, in the past, several outbreaks that have resulted in the destruction of
stores, stalls and their wares. The destruction in most cases runs into several
millions of cedes. One recent outbreak occurred on Wednesday, 19 September 2001
when a blazing hail of fire gutted over 150 stores at Kejetia. It took the
intervention of the Kumasi City Fire Service, to fight the fire from engulfing
or spreading to other stores and the cause was attributed to the illegal
electrical connections performed by workers of a private developer.
We walked what we believed to be the outskirts of the
main market, but we had been walking, getting bumped, weaving and dodging our
way through the street for the last 20 minutes.
The market has sprawled and there is so much colour, activity and smells
to try and convey into words. There were
vegetable sellers, fish sellers, produce of other kinds, the bra lady, the shoe
guy, the electronic guy, the snail lady (they were massive garden snails), then
times all that by 1000 and that gives you an idea on the people sitting at
stalls, mainly on stools and baskets full of their stuff. Add to that the people walking around, there
were clothes sellers, with 20-30 garments hanging from hangers, ladies with
large silver bowls on their heads, men with water canisters on their heads,
actually anything that needed carrying, it can be done on your head, then times
all those people by 1000 and you now are getting a good picture of the
organized chaos of the market, and we still weren’t in it yet!! Imagine!.
Add to that the traffic, cars mainly and the minivan taxis, carts by the
boat load, it was the busiest market I have ever seen and I have been to the
Addis Ababa market which is East Africa’s largest market and I think this was
even busier than that and certainly you had more access to this one than the
one in Addis. It was frenetic. People had places to go, and they all had a
look of determination on their faces and I felt like we were just getting in
their way. We did stop someone who was
nice enough to speak to us and when we asked where the palace was he pointed us
in the opposite direction to where we were heading. So we thanked him and turned around and
seeing the railway tracks, we knew we had to cross through the actual market to
get to the other side. So with my bag
slung over my shoulder and sitting on my front, it was time to enter the mass
of people and stalls. The one thing I
did recognize was an old building that had a massive Omo washing powder
advertisement painted on it and I was going to use that as my reference point
should I get separated from the group.
I actually don’t think it was any worse than where we had
come from now being in the thick of it all, but it was still chaotic, with us
all trying to stay together, it was muddy in parts, people were trying to get
past us with the bowls on their heads, so you had to make sure you didn’t knock
that and then the women also had babies tied to their backs added to all
that. Western mothers have a lot to
learn in the baby department and I think we do wrap our children in too much cotton
wool sometimes. After passing book
people, stationary people, hardware people, lots of clothes people, we popped
out on the other side of the markets pretty much unscathed. It really is a market for the locals and as
glad as I am that I experienced it, it wasn’t my cup of tea and would not be
heading in later to ‘have a look around’.
Not in that chaos anyway. It was
just as busy this side with people and traffic, but we did manage to ask
another person about the palace and he said he would walk us there! How nice, knowing that nothing is free we had
all decided it was worth a tip to get us there and away from the frantic market
traffic for a breather. The palace was
only a further 10 minute walk and when we got there Ian offered the guy just a
few cedi’s and he refused to take it wished us a good day and was on his
way. He was an evangelist and after we
had picked up our jaws of a person turning down money, we decided he could
donate the money to his church and Ian ran after him and gave him the money and
said a donation for his congregation and he begrudgingly took it on that
note. Incredible.
After paying the 10 cedes (5 AUD) we were on the palace
grounds and when we got close to the entrance of the museum, a gentleman
approached us and said that we had just missed the King, we had just driven out
a few minutes ago, which was a shame and then he said when we were ready he
would take us on the tour of the museum, which was included in the cost of your
ticket. We entered a small courtyard and
shown some seats in front of a large TV to watch a 10 minute documentary of the
palace and the Ashanti (phonetically Asanti) Kingdom. The Manhyia Palace is the seat of
the Asantehene of Asanteman, as well as his official residence. It is located at Kumasi,
the capital of the Ashanti
Kingdom and Ashanti
Region. The first palace is now a palace museum. King Opoku Ware II built
the new palace which is close to the old one and is used by the current
Asantehene King Osei Tutu II.
The palace is a kilometer from the Centre for National Culture and was
built in 1925 by the British.
Upon the return from exile of the Asantehene Nana Prempeh I from
the Seychelles Islands, the building was offered to
him for use as his residence. This was because prior to the Asantehene's exile,
his old palace had been burnt down in the Yaa Asentewa War. The war was fought between the British and
the Asantes because of the refusal of the
Asantehene to offer the Golden stool to the then governor of
the Gold Coast. Prempeh I only accepted the
offer after he had paid for the cost of the building in full. Two kings lived in the palace, namely Otumfuo
Prempeh I and Otumfuo Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II, K.B.E., the
13th and 14th Kings of the Asante Nation. The old palace was converted into a
museum in 1995 after the new palace was built. Opoku Ware II was
the first king to live in the new palace, which he occupied until his death in
1999. The current Asantehene, Osei Tutu II, currently resides in the new
palace. The palace courtyard hosts
numerous important Asante traditional events. These include the Adae festival,
which occurs every sixth Sunday when the Asantehene receives homage from his
subjects and subservient chiefs.
The first palace which was built by the British, was
converted into a museum and official opened on 12 August 1995 by the then king,
Otumfuo Opoku Ware II. The opening of the museum was part of activities that
marked the Silver Jubilee of his accession to the
Golden Stool. It was used as the office
of the Kings. It served as Administrative headquarters of Asante Nation from
1925-1974 until Otumfuo Opoku Ware II moved from this office to the new
residence at Manhyia. Several artifacts
are displayed in the museum. They include furniture used by the Kings, the
bronze head of Nana Sir Osei Agyeman Prempeh II, a sketch map of the Asanteman. There is also Asanteman's first television
at the museum as well as life size wax effigies of
some of the kings and queens of Asanteman.
The architecture of the palace is akin to the Kingdom of Asante building
plans of the early 1900s. The palace is a two story building where both floors
have open verandahs which gives a view of the palace's environs.
It was like taking a step back in time with the condition
of all the stuff in the small palace. It
still had the original AMCOR fridge in the kitchen that has never had the need
to be fixed and still works, the original GEC ceiling fans still work and also
have never been fixed, but the Phillips record player was no longer working,
but not a bad run of appliances over a 50 year period. We were shown the office, the non-VIP area,
the VIP area, the kitchen and also upstairs in a few rooms that were full of artifacts. I am glad that we had someone showing us
around and explaining the things to us otherwise we really wouldn’t have
enjoyed the tour. The Ashanti (or Asante) Empire (or Confederacy)
1701–1957, was a West Africa sovereign
state of the ethnic Akan people of Ashanti,
Brong-Ahafo, Central region, Eastern region, Greater Accra region and Western region currently South Ghana. The Ashantis are
of Akan origin,
the Ashantis are a powerful, militaristic and highly disciplined society of
West Africa inhabiting an area known as "Akanland". Their military
power, which came from effective strategy and an early adoption of
European firearms,
created an empire that stretched from central Ghana to present-day Benin and Ivory Coast. Due to the empire's military prowess,
sophisticated hierarchy, social stratification and culture, the Ashanti Empire
had one of the largest historiographies of
any indigenous Sub-Saharan African political entity.
From the 17th century AD,
Asanteman king Osei Tutu (c. 1695 – 1717), with the
help of accomplice Okomfo Anokye, established the Kingdom of
Asanteman, with the Golden Stool as a symbol of Asante
unity and spirit. Osei Tutu engaged in a massive Asante territorial
expansion. He built up the
army based on the Ashantis introducing new organization and turning a
disciplined paramilitary and militia into
an effective fighting machine. Asanteman
is location of Lake Bosomtwe one of the world's
natural lake,
and the state's economic revenue is mainly derived from trading in gold bars, cocoa, kola nuts and
agriculture; clearing forest to plant cassava, maize and yams. Today the Ashanti monarchy continues as a
constitutionally protected, sub-nation state and traditional
state within Ghana. The current king of Asanteman is Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Asantehene and the
Queen Mother is currently 112 years old.
At the height of Asanteman, the Ashanti people became wealthy through
the trading of gold mined
from their territory.
European contact with the Asante on the Gulf of
Guinea coast region of Africa began in the 15th century. This
led to trade in gold, ivory, slaves,
and other goods with the Portuguese,
which gave rise to kingdoms such as the Ashanti. Slavery was prevalent in the Ashanti Empire.
Slaves were often used for sacrifices in funeral ceremonies. The Ashanti used
their personal beliefs to justify slavery and human sacrifice believing that
slaves would follow their masters into the afterlife. The modern-day Ashanti claim that slaves were
seldom abused and that a person who abused a slave was held in high contempt
by society.
They further demonstrate the “humanity” of Ashanti slavery by pointing out
those slaves were allowed to marry, and the children of slaves were born free
from slavery. If found desirable a
female slave may become a wife, the master preferred such a status to that of a
free woman in a conventional marriage, because this type of marriage allowed
the children to inherit some of the father's property and
status.
The introduction of the Golden Stool was a tool of
centralization under Osei Tutu. According to legend, a meeting of all the clan
heads of each of the Ashanti settlements was called just prior to independence
from Denkyira. In this meeting the Golden Stool was commanded down from the
heavens by Okomfo Anokye, priest or sage advisor to Asantehene Osei Tutu I and
floated down from the heavens into the lap of Osei Tutu I. Okomfo Anokye
declared the stool to be the symbol of the new Asante Union (Asanteman), and
allegiance was sworn to the stool and to Osei Tutu as the Asantehene. The newly
founded Ashanti union went to war with and defeated Denkyira. The stool remains sacred to the Ashanti as it
is believed to contain the Sunsum — spirit or soul of the Ashanti people.
The election of chiefs and the Asantehene himself followed a
pattern. The senior female of the chiefly lineage nominated the eligible males.
This senior female then consulted the elders, male and female, of that line.
The final candidate is then selected. That nomination is then sent to a council
of elders, who represent other lineages in the town or district.
The Elders then present the nomination to the assembled people. If the assembled citizens disapprove
of the nominee, the process is restarted. Chosen, the new chief is en-stooled
by the Elders, who admonish him with expectations. The chosen chief swears a
solemn oath to the Earth Goddess and to his ancestors to fulfill
his duties honorably in which he “sacrifices” himself
and his life for the betterment of the Oman (state). This elected and en-stooled chief enjoys a great
majestic ceremony to
this day with much spectacle and celebration. He reigns with much despotic power,
including the ability to make judgments of life and death on his subjects.
However, he does not enjoy absolute rule.
Upon the stool, the Chief is sacred, the holy intermediary between people and
ancestors. His powers theoretically are more apparent than real. His powers
hinge on his attention to the advice and decisions of the Council of Elders.
The chief can be impeached, de-stooled, if the Elders and the people turn
against him. He can be reduced to man, subject to derision for his
failure. Once the Chief has been
selected and approved, he loses his own name and a new name has to be
selected. This is done by the Chief
entering a room blindfolded that has stools with all of the previous kings on
each one including the Golden Stool. The
Chief then chooses one of the stools and this then becomes his new name. So if he selects John Smith, then he will
become John Smith the 2nd. If
he happens to choose the Golden Stool then he is allowed to keep his own name
to be added to the lineage.
It was an interesting tour and after thanking George for
the tour and leaving a tip, it was just after 12 noon and decided that we would
go for a bite of lunch and the others were talking about heading back into the
market to have a look around. Well I was
out for that, but as long as I could find that Omo building, I was 99% sure I
could find my way back to our accommodation.
I think. We found small
restaurant just on the outskirts of the market which when we went outside on
their balcony gave us an amazing view of the size of the market and the
thousands of people going about their daily work. From the safety of the balcony I was able to
reel off some sneaky photos of the frenzy below and it really was mind blowing.
The thing that really is incredible is that this is an everyday market, it’s
like this every day and I dint think it really shuts down in the evening, but I
am guessing it certainly isn’t as busy and definitely certain a place we should
not be after dark. With lunch on African
time we left there just after 1.30pm and the crew were going to go back into
the market and with a bird’s eye view from where we were Rich and I went
through the game plan for me to cut across the market, getting me to the Omo
building and then turning right once I hit that and then I should know where I
was. I felt 98% confident after that, so
with a wave goodbye to them, I set out on my own to head back to the
hotel. I felt safe, I got a lot of looks
and some calls, mainly from the women to buy something, and I was confident
until I was halfway through the market and got to a dead end in a carpark. So I had to scoot further around and I lost
sight of the Omo building, but figured if I kept moving in the general
direction I would pop out somewhere on the other side. Well I followed the flow of traffic, bobbing,
weaving and dodging everything and everyone and I did come out at a main road,
saw the Omo building and after a wrong street, recognized a small stall (a
miracle really) and was on my way back on the road I knew we had come
down.
Well I thought I did, I have to say everything looked the
same as there are just so many people and cars and trucks and vans about. I knew I had to take a right turn somewhere
but I stupidly didn’t get a reference pint for that when we walked past this
morning. As I was walking, a van came
2cm away from my feet, so I stopped till it passed and then a man pushed past
me and said something to me in the local language. I let it go, as I wasn’t going to get my foot
run over because he was impatient when he turned again and said something. It wasn’t in a mean tone, but it wasn’t said
with a smile either, so I said to him if he wanted me to understand what he was
saying then he should say it in English and he turned around and said sorry, he
was asking to pass and didn’t know my name so he was calling me something else,
which I couldn’t really understand, but all of a sudden we were best mates and
he asked where I was going and my name and it was strange for me to be walking
on my own, so he walked with me until I thought I recognized my street and said
thanks and goodbye. I walked up one
block and knew it wasn’t my street after all, and now I was slowly getting out
of the craziness of the market I asked a lady where the Barclay’s Bank was as I
knew definitely where I was from there and Rosina, told me she was going there
and would show me the way. How
nice. So we walked and talked where we
could as traffic was still crazy and I found the restaurant where we had eaten
dinner last night and I knew where I was.
I said a thanks to Rosina and quickly popped my head into the restaurant
to make sure they were open and then made my way back to the hostel to grab my
laptop and spend a few hours on the internet.
Free.
I did pass a small shop that was selling Kenta cloth and
I really do like it. Suzanne said that
it is the most expensive clothe in Africa, I think she said, so I decided I
would enquire the price and if it wasn’t too bad then I would get some to take
home. The lady wasn’t that friendly and
I asked about a large piece she had in a glass cabinet and she said the price
was 700GHS, which is like 350AUD!!!!!
HOLY COW! I asked if she had
smaller pieces and she showed me one that I rekon must have been maybe 3m,
maybe less, and it was 200GHS (100AUD).
Yeah I was not that keen on purchasing the Kenta and was more than happy
to stick to the printed material with the same pattern for 3AUD a meter thanks
very much! Kente cloth is a type of silk
and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips and is native to the Akan ethnic group of South Ghana. Kente cloth has its origin with the Ashanti
Kingdom, and was adopted by people in Ivory Coast and many other West African
counties. It is an Akan royal and sacred cloth worn only in times of extreme
importance and was the cloth of kings. Over time, the use of kente became more
widespread. However, its importance has remained and it is held in high esteem
with Akans. The icon of African cultural
heritage around the world, Akan kente is identified by its dazzling,
multicolored patterns of bright colors, geometric shapes, and bold designs.
It took me just over an hour to walk through the market
and get back to the hotel. I grabbed my
laptop and then headed back down the road to the restaurant for me to spend a
couple of hours before dinner, which I was going to head back to the
accommodation to meet the group at 7pm.
As it worked out Zoe and Sam joined me later on and had told everyone to
just come back to the same place for dinner again and I didn’t have to head
back after all. It was a great day and I
like the craziness, business and frenzy of Kumasi. I would have loved to have taken some photos
in the market but I would be 90% sure that I would not make it out alive if I
had of attempted to do that and was content with my balcony shots at lunch
time.
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