I saw @TroyOnyango’s post saying ‘why is "changing africa's narrative" a lot to do with africans getting into western spaces/institutions? is that all we live for?’ I have been thinking about it, been wondering why that is. Not that I didn't have the answer but I thought I’d give it a bit of space in my mind, try to excavate further, and perhaps, find an answer that isn't quite the obvious one. But this is the truth. And @mrpoetivist you hit the nail on the head. There. Is. No. Support. I have been hitting this same face of the drum for as long as I can remember. I have been going after the media houses as one of the easiest example of how much the institutions we have back home do not care about creatives and would rather have a 2-hour show talking about unnecessary stuff; they’d rather give the airtime to someone lacking in good, functioning brain cells who thinks it is okay to sit on national radio/TV to say ‘every man has r*ped a woman before and there is no issues with r*ape. Again, that is just one example. Mr Poetivist has said it all. I have been a witness to all the things he's mentioned below, great great stuff that constantly puts Ghana on the map and not a single government institution has thought to support him in any way. So, many of us, as he said, have decided to go above the issue, find solutions for ourselves and others and not wait for handouts from a place that is not willing to hand out. We have created platforms to support upcoming creatives with the support we receive externally without asking for anything in return. And yet, sometimes when things get tough and we reach out to these institutions for support, they turn the other way. This conversation is very complicated, nuanced, and seems not to offer a single easy answer. So happy to hear what others think.

‘Ghana is a very, very religious country. We take our family values and child protection very very seriously.’ ‘Why are we behaving as if it is not normal to r*pe someone? Which man hasn't r*pe a lady before?’ The double standards embedded in these statements do not escape me. In fact, it is precisely this kind of selective morality and ad hoc reasoning that continues to derail our progress as a nation. Where are these religious leaders and family values fanatics when we need them the most? Where are the voices that never seem to tire of telling us about morality, decency, and the sanctity of the family when we need them to speak up the most? Because, we will need to, will have to, must draw the line somewhere but it turns out p*edophilia and child s*xual abuse aren't one of them. I guess the ink for this line runs out when the situation favours the majority of the policymakers who, as ridiculous as it is to say, are men. I guess there are situations that, as a matter of fact, we can look the other way, even when it doesn't involve two consenting adults, even when it is a man in a place of power using his position to force young girls into bed. I guess we can, indeed look away and Ghana might not be all about family values and protection of our children after all. 'Four legs good, two legs bad.’ Apparently, our commitment to protecting children has limits. Our moral outrage has conditions. Our religious convictions become remarkably flexible when the people implicated are powerful, influential, or conveniently positioned within the very institutions that should hold them accountable. ‘What is good for the goose is good for the gander.’ In the last couple of months, - An MP looks at a child and calls him his wife. He is let off with an apology. People explain his behaviour away with 'it is our culture No serious conversations are had. No reviews of the nonsense we choose to tolerate.
Nothing is done to make sure that people know that statements like that are not okay. - Weeks after that, the headline '1,501 girls aged 10 to 14 were impregnated between January and July of 2026 stares at us in the face. Nothing 'serious' was done about that either. Just one of the many headlines. A few
'ei' and 'ah' and life went back to normal. That didn't shake anything in us. - Weeks into that, an investigation shows that 15 girls have been assaulted in what seems to be a frequent behaviour of a male authority figure. 15 girls but it could be more. Who knows how long he's been doing this. And as it stands now, he is facing an investigation'. We know that is code for nothing will come of this.

Who is cutting onions? 😭😭

I got gifted a printer! And my writer self has not known this great joy! First order of business was to print out this short story and edit it! I love editing on paper (if I can manage it). I love to print the pages, hold them in my hands and edit them, crossing out stuff, changing words, moving paragraphs, lines, etc and always having to print chapters outside was proving costly! _ P.s excerpt still in first draft stage.

And sometimes they know it is good. You can see it on their faces, in the way they look at you. They wish they had written it. They wish they could write that way. It shows in how they fidget. But they will choose to stay silent throughout the workshop, or choose to tear you down with unnecessary issues like language or ‘repetition’. One of you just said the writing is ‘lyrical’, no? Is repetition not a poetic tool to achieve a certain rhythm? They know your credentials. They know that all your life, you've been doing this literature and writing thing. They know you know more about it than they could ever dream of. They know you have authority. You came there on a prestigious scholarship. The school knows this. The faculty know that. Whereas they just felt they could be a little whimsical and take a detour in whatever journey they are on to do an MFA/MA in creative writing. They know what they write is basic. They know they don't manipulate language as you do. They know they couldn't write a literary piece if their life depended on it. Your lecturers know this. The class know this. But when the workshop discussion starts, you know which stories they fawn on and which ones they don't. And their excuse? ‘It is not accessible’. ‘The language is too difficult.’ ‘You used too many ‘tribal’ words’. Suddenly many of them, who found how the dog played with their owner in the previous story so adorable it makes them teary, do not have a lot to say, they have the most basic comments for you. And your lecturer will wait for the short break, when everyone is out getting coffee or whatever, to compliment your work, to tell you how incredible the writing is. But never in front of everyone.

You are invited! 📌