The "Ashawo" Invasion

Ghana is expecting close to or just over a million visitors during the African Cup of Nations tournament - Ghana 2008.

The tournament is expected to bring football fans, tourists and other curiousity seekers to the country. Among the many people who will be arriving in the country in their numbers are sex tourists and the expert service providers, the sex workers, aka prostitutes.

Other countries that have hosted major sporting tournaments have had to contend with the side issue of sex trade. Prostitutes can pose a major headache for host countries if the authorities determine that they are a nuisance, but could also add colour and prurient fun if they authorities decide to tolerate them.

Prostitution is not legal in Germany but during the 2006 World Cup, German authorities erected love shacks so that prostitutes could service fans in private.

Ghanaian authorities say prostitution will not be permitted during the Africa Cup of Nations but ADM can confirm that prostitutes from other countries are in the country and have started plying their trade.

A visit by the ADM to the Kwame Nkrumah Circle, which is considered to be the "center for prostitutes in the capital', has revealed a higher than usual activity these past few days. Clearly the numbers of sex workers and clientele have risen. In an earlier visit by the ADM, mainly Ghanaian tongues could be heard but this time round variants of West African French or the Nigerian type of English could also be heard mingling with the Ghanaian tongues.

One of the sex workers who spoke to ADM said she would charge GH¢80 for a night, if this reporter wants to take her home. "It's GH¢80 but we can negotiate", she said.

Enquiries made by the ADM shows that the prices for the 'short time' have also been increased from GH30p to GH50p.

Information gathered by ADM from Kumasi also indicates that the newly refurbished City Hotel, now known as the Golden Tulip Hotel re-opened only last week by the president, is already attracting the attention of prostitutes. The road from the Officers Mess to the hotel used to be a major trading point for prostitutes in Kumasi before the hotel went out of service. Only a few days after the opening of the hotel, prostitutes are said to be back at post in their numbers.

Some prostitutes in Sekondi, host city for Group B which comprises Cote d'Ivoire, are reported to have asked for some form of protection that would prevent Ivorian prostitutes from getting into the country.

Tamale and Cape Coast are also expected to see the influx of prostitutes as the host teams of group C and D.

South Africa, which has a high number of people living with HIV/AIDS on the continent is coming with more than 500 supporters.

Though the LOC does not recognize the reality of the prostitutes invading tournament venues, the Ghana AIDS Commission does. The AIDS Commission said it fears that the activities of sex workers would increase during the tournament.

In a press conference last week, Professor Sakyi Awuku Amoa, Director-General of the Ghana AIDS Commission said they would distribute freely five million condoms to visitors who would troop into the country to watch the 16-nation tournament whilst some would be available at various hotels and guesthouses where supporters would be hosted.