The cost of being polite in Ghana

Ghanaians have been described as hospitable and nice by many foreigners who make a stopover on our rich soil. Honestly are Ghanaians as nice as others claim? Or is it a case of ‘dwaso nkontompo ne fie awere ho” (sheer pretence) as the Akans would say!

The afternoon was cold and very relaxing (a stark departure from non raining season days), and I decided to buy some groceries to satisfy that hunger that would not set my tummy free from strange sounds. As I approached, a middle aged woman who looked more like an Auntie of mine, sat by her shelf with a stern look. “Please Madame can I get some corned beef and rice?” I enquired. As if I had all of a sudden been smeared with vanishing cream, this woman stared into her magazine without any sign of comprehension; instead she instructed a sales girl to come and attend to me. She looked at me with disdain. Immediately questions begun to race my mind; am I that small? Have I crossed her path? Did I say anything wrong?


As I was about to walk away, it dawned on me that ‘Asempa na eye’ street had only one supermarket! I was torn between the devil and the deep blue sea-insist on my rights and walk away with the orchestra in my tummy or satisfy my pangs of hunger and reinforce this shop owner’s rude behavior. Well, I had to succumb to nature; to summarize a long story, I paid for the items and walked away fuming. Many friends and colleagues shared my sentiments when I expressed my frustrations. We decided to embark on an experiment to find out whether being rude in Ghana was gradually becoming a virtue!


After work in the company of some friends, we decided to test this hypothesis on some shop owners in Accra. We ventured into the first shop with a rude and unfriendly outlook; raised our voices and asked of the price of a tin of milk from the owner as though she was a subordinate. Lo and behold! She came up to us, addressed us politely and tried to be friendly; amidst “please what do you want”?, your hair is nice, try and buy something for me and a host of other strategies to please us and coerce us into buying. Although we refused to buy, she was polite enough to ask us to visit her the next time we were in town. All too soon it was the turn of the second shop; we however changed our outlook to the polite and friendly customer. “Madam can we please buy some milk”? The owner of the shop immediately gave us a stare as though we had walked into her shop with our heads turned upside down, and called her assistants to attend to us! She stared at us with an expression that left much to be desired. This trend of mixed reactions based on our outlook happened over and over again with all ten shops we visited.


Our hypothesis had been painfully validated! When did being polite become a crime in Ghana? Why do rude persons often get the best of treatment in malls, stalls, and restaurants whiles very polite ones are taken advantage of? Waiters often hurriedly attend to rude and demanding customers with a smile whiles calm ones wait on end for their orders! Why do some Ghanaians shudder at the site of foreigners who rudely address them whiles they are quick to take advantage of the politeness of fellow Ghanaians?

If I may ask, how much did it cost you the last time you decided to be polite? You do the math!


By: Henrietta Aba Lartey


Email:henritalartey@yahoo.com