The Year 2011 and Ghanaians in Italy

At one point during the year 2011, I was wondering if the now economic situation they call ‘crisis’ has come to stay because there doesn’t seem an end in sight. Adding on, and for three consecutive years ‘crisis’ has raked the world - families, businesses, associations, communities and countries are all reeling under its effects.

Looking back at the year and reviewing activities of communities of Ghanaians in Italy there were not those glamourous events which in the past were promoting the image of Ghana in front of Italians. The likes of activities that marked the celebration of Ghana’s 50th year of Independence (Ghana@50), the splendid Brong Ahafo Citizens Union (BACU) inauguration – full of the trappings of Ghana’s durbar of chiefs and people, cultural dances and costumes, the Miss Ghana in Italy with its colour and thrills, the seminars, forums and youth pogrammes – all organised by the Council of Ghanaian Nationals Associations in Italy (COGNAI) – were all absent on the year’s calendar.

COGNAI truly appeared to have gone into hiding. This is an Association that has fought and defended the rights of Ghanaians in Italy, organising events that made many Ghanaians here proud of their country. This same Association is now fading without activities and apart from one major meeting which was to bring all Ghanaians religious and tribal groups under its membership the Council was hardly active. You cannot blame them as ‘crisis’ has washed dry the pockets of the very local Association that constitutes the Council. Information I gathered indicates most of the local Associations could not hold meetings as members on the day of meetings are elsewhere looking for how to make ends meet. At a meeting of the Council’s leaders with the Ghana Ambassador to Italy the Ambassador expressed concern about its lack of activities. She stressed that she’d not seen what she’s heard about COGNAI and its activities since assuming office in Rome. The Council’s response from its President was; the local Association under Council have been ate deep and dry by this same ‘crisis’ as many of its members are now redundant.

That said, the Ghana Embassy impact on the communities of Ghanaians in Italy in the year was minimal apart from the issuance of passports and other related documents at its office in Rome. Its ‘door to door service’ of providing Consular services to Ghanaians in various cities (highly welcomed) was enjoyed for only a couple of visits with the explanation there are not enough passport booklets to satisfy demands at the Embassy in Rome and to go round the various Ghanaian communities. The Ghana Embassy in Rome is where a lot of revenue is generated by the Ghana government on the back of Ghanaians in Italy. So why not have more of these booklets for more revenue.

Between June 2005 and September 2006, over 20,000 Ghanaians in Italy had their passports expired and if all of those passports were renewed at the cost of €200 each the Embassy, for that matter the Ghana Government, made a whopping €4 million in revenue. I cannot see many other Ghana Embassies abroad that can generate that amount in that space of time.

The Embassy in Rome, however, scored a higher mark when it partnered the Ghana Investment Promotion Council (GIPC) to host two separate business meetings in Rome and Milan to attract investment to Ghana. The events appeared to have been hurriedly arranged and many Ghanaians who could have brought on or informed their employers were not aware. But, interestingly, the C.E.O. of G.I.P.C - George Aboagye - told a convincing story about investment opportunities in Ghana enough to attract any investor to the country. What the G.I.P.C got wrong was, all the brochures brought for the presentation were in English. They should realised or be informed that in Italy, where English is hardly spoken, they would have gotten their message home and to the Italians if the brochures have been printed in Italian.

Yes! The Miss Ghana in Italy was nowhere on the year’s Calendar. But an event with similar traits, ‘Ghana-Italy Excellence Awards Night’ was hosted at Brescia (where else?) where over 20 Ghanaians were presented with awards for their devotion and selfless service to the communities of Ghanaians in Italy. It was a young and spirited student, Freda Cooper (Adwoa S. O. Bonsu), who did all the ground work for the event to happen going to the extent of looking for sponsors and inviting people from Ghana. Great accomplishment it was and she deserves some praise. Such events not only showcase Ghana but inspire many here who face impediments and frustration towards making progress within their communities. And the man who threw more light in the fight against such ‘closed doors’ and impediments is Samuel Kennedy Agyei Takyi. My interview with him in the year which he poured answers upon answers on these impediments and how to become successful in life is one of the most educative and inspiring interviews I’ve had with any Ghanaian here. Hear him: “To be successful in life you must be dutiful like the seasons and time. No one can pray for you more than you can; and no one can help you succeed than you. To have vision is a great preparation for the future. If you want to live on a mountain, but was not born on a mountain, then, you need to create or build your mountain and live on it. Be a creator and you will create a great world to live in. Many people love to invest in today. It should not be so with you. You need to invest in the future - tomorrow. People who refuse to invest in the future often turn out to be bitter with those who invested. If you want to be a millionaire, then you must serve something good and great that you have. The only way to riches is to be a problem solver for humanity. If you want to make your goals a reality, then you need to make your goals precise, and concise. Time all your goals if you want success - these goals must be real, tangible, logical, reasonable, and well arranged. Connect to the world through good books, reading, speeches, travel and media, and you will be great one day.

When you write your goals down, there will be the other side of the mind that will tell you to deviate from them. However, tell the mind this is where I am going, please. And, it will leave you. All greater heights are attainable through planning and discipline. Be careful with your inner conversation; it can help or hurt you. If you make your mind to do all things that God daily lays inside your heart, believe me, you will be very great in a short while. You will get what you think if you believe and act.”

He is full of inspirational words and stands out among the rest as someone who can make the less hopeful have the needed confidence and march on to success in life. Having written 6 books and 30 more to come, Takyi who prides himself as an author is also a life coach, motivational speaker and a journalist. He is my ‘Personality of the Year’ within the Ghanaians community in Italy.

Talking about achievers within the community, the name of Obed Osei Amoah Duku needs to be mentioned. The 24-year-old who won an award at the Ghana-Italy Awards Night as the ‘Best Rising Star’ is a motivational speaker, gospel artiste, entrepreneur (owns a Consultancy Firm) and runs a Charity Organisation. You can be consumed by his fearless and hard work attitude, just the right tonic for any immigrant youth in Italy trying to ride on top of adversities to succeed.

Still walking along the path of Ghanaians in Italy during the year, the most unpalatable story was the saga on the GaDangme Association in Emilia Romagna Region. As bizarre as it was; this story has been told a number of times but it does seems the authourities in Ghana who should take up the matter and deal with it don’t care a ‘toss’ about what it is in an effort by a group of Ghanaians abroad to help their communities back home in Ghana. The GaDangme Association had a couple of years back shipped a container of goods to Ghana to be distributed to government hospitals and clinics in the Greater Accra Region. The goods include an ambulance, hospital beds and uniforms for hospital emergency staff. One side of the story is that; the ambulance went missing at the Tema habour, in Ghana, when due to be cleared. The hospital beds were then kept under care of the Ministry of Health at their warehouse in Tema whilst investigations continued on the missing ambulance. The latest information received by the Association on the hospital beds (84 in all) was; they are lying in the open at the Ministry of Health compound at the mercy of the weather, rusted and in a bad shape. The police investigator on the missing ambulance conclusion report (without details) indicated the ambulance was more likely to have been stolen in Italy than at the Tema port in Ghana. This was after the Association had provided the police enough documents from the shippers, including a bill of laden where the ambulance had been included on the list of goods in the container. You can keep asking questions here and will not get the answers. The fact has always remained as it was, that in Ghana people placed in position of authourity just don’t care when it matters most. The ambulance, as donation meant for Danfa Clinic in the Greater Accra Region would have served other localities in the Region.

With all the stories making rounds on this saga it is difficult to believe why some authourities in Ghana, who have been notified according to the Association, have still not intervened.

If the Ghana police failed to do a good job on the missing ambulance one Italian court did in an old case dating back in 2007 involving a Ghanaian student who was mercilessly and callously beaten by six Italian Police officers. The Italian court handed justice to the Ghanaian immigrant in the final count of the case. The young student (22 years at the time) had gone to a public park to while away some time before going for an evening classes at his school which was close to the park but the six police officers understood it differently and took him to be peddler in narcotic drugs waiting for his client. They cruelly beat him and stamped on his head before taking him away to be kept for hours in a police cell. The young man ended up with a swollen face and a bloody red eye which you cannot look twice and had to operated. He suffered emotional trauma and could not go out for months afraid of being victimised. I’ve reliably learnt he’s been handsomely compensated following judgement on the case and the six police officers handed various terms of imprisonment. That was fair, coming on the back of previous cases in which some immigrants have suffered at the hands some law enforcement officers in Italy. The judgement should drum home a message to these officers, who should know better, but decides to have their own laws when it comes to dealing with immigrants in this country.

The year brought sadness and grief as death laid its icy hands on some Ghanaians. Among these sad cases is the death of a 9-year-old Ghanaian in the city Parma. The young boy had gone in the company of his elder sister, his school mates and some of their teachers to a holiday resort. No one expected what happened later as he got suffocated in a swimming pool resulting in his death finally at a hospital. The story is indeed sad and poses some few questions. Among them how in a pool which water level was not deep enough the boy suffocated in the water for 20 minutes and no one around saw it. Finally, talk about religion and shift your attention to Ghanaian churches in Italy. The number is rapidly taking an ascending order. In my review of the year 2009 about the community of Ghanaians in Italy, I mentioned about one city in Italy having 80 Ghanaian churches. As you read this, there are 107 of these churches in another city – all calling the name of God and walking towards the same God. In one locality you can find 6 of these churches within a 1km radius. I have no qualms about spreading the Word of God, through churches (provided they are preaching the truth and following the principles of God) to attract more souls into the Kingdom of God but having 6 churches from one community of Ghanaians in a km. radius raises my worry. If you think about their total rent (not less €10,000 a month) you may ask why can’t all these churches come together to have one church with a big Temple to worship, if the direction is the same God. That may seem simple to ask but difficult to answer. Who is going to be the ‘Head Pastor’? I wish to know who or what brought about denomination of churches – there are questions to ask here. God is watching us from above.

- Reggie Tagoe (rtagoe@live.com)