B.A. Mensah: Through the Eyes of a Child.

Read Article

Comments (35)

This article is closed for comments.

Read Comments Comments (35)

Kofi China 12 years ago

Well written article. RIP B. A. Mensah.

Well written article. RIP B. A. Mensah.
Kakraba Cromwell 12 years ago

rip b.a. mensah
what i dont understand is how can herbert mensah be in bed with the very people-rawlings, who destroyed his father's business?
there must be more to this story.
eeih, as they say only time would tell

rip b.a. mensah
what i dont understand is how can herbert mensah be in bed with the very people-rawlings, who destroyed his father's business?
there must be more to this story.
eeih, as they say only time would tell
Kormi 12 years ago

a real tycoon,i remember the days BA Mensah came to our house in kumasi,the entourage with bodygaurds,he rode in the back of 280 sel with his american wife.i want to harvest he organised in kumawu(ASH).My dad designed his hou ...
read full comment

a real tycoon,i remember the days BA Mensah came to our house in kumasi,the entourage with bodygaurds,he rode in the back of 280 sel with his american wife.i want to harvest he organised in kumawu(ASH).My dad designed his house in kumawu.i can still picture the tycoon!
Asonaba 12 years ago

A true legend,a hero,these were self-made folks who toiled for what they got and not lazy leeches who feed on greed and dubious deals. May his soul rest in perfect peace.

A true legend,a hero,these were self-made folks who toiled for what they got and not lazy leeches who feed on greed and dubious deals. May his soul rest in perfect peace.
yawbee 12 years ago

ghana need guys like him

ghana need guys like him
Kwaku Ananse 12 years ago

Mr Allotey may God bless you for this wonderful tribute to a great visionary. What do we have now??? A bunch of thieves with no original idea in their empty heads. Bravo brother!! Bravo!!

Mr Allotey may God bless you for this wonderful tribute to a great visionary. What do we have now??? A bunch of thieves with no original idea in their empty heads. Bravo brother!! Bravo!!
Sammie,boston 12 years ago

I never knew much about him but I now know the type of person he was so if the pndc brought his empire down how would his son Herbert now Rawlings right hand man?

I never knew much about him but I now know the type of person he was so if the pndc brought his empire down how would his son Herbert now Rawlings right hand man?
jabsy 12 years ago

Nice piece. I met his kids (boys) in secondary school. I think they were both in the same house, just across the road from my house. You could always tell when they had visits by the sleek cars that came off the main school ...
read full comment

Nice piece. I met his kids (boys) in secondary school. I think they were both in the same house, just across the road from my house. You could always tell when they had visits by the sleek cars that came off the main school road, moving smoothly and quietly onto the road leading to their house.
Kay 12 years ago

Great article Cougar!

Great article Cougar!
Another African Patriot 12 years ago

A great tribute to a great man.

A great tribute to a great man.

Afrobooklong 12 years ago

Cougar please check and correct me...I think there are 2 B.A Mensahs.

One was a senior civil servant (Senior Principal Secretary) and the other was the industrialist??

Or are they the same?? Apologies if it's my faulty ...
read full comment

Cougar please check and correct me...I think there are 2 B.A Mensahs.

One was a senior civil servant (Senior Principal Secretary) and the other was the industrialist??

Or are they the same?? Apologies if it's my faulty memory.
View from the Volta 12 years ago

Afrobooklong, you are thinking of BK Mensah, not BA. BK was the civil servant. Both men the evil Rawlings almost destroyed...with BA he jealously took away his company and with BK, he abolished overnight, the post of Senior P ...
read full comment

Afrobooklong, you are thinking of BK Mensah, not BA. BK was the civil servant. Both men the evil Rawlings almost destroyed...with BA he jealously took away his company and with BK, he abolished overnight, the post of Senior Principal Secretary, making BK and others unemployed overnight. God punish him.
I knew them both 12 years ago

Too known. Who said he was taking about B.K. Mensah? He said B.A. Mensah. The rest of your comments are spot on anyway...non offence laugh it off

Too known. Who said he was taking about B.K. Mensah? He said B.A. Mensah. The rest of your comments are spot on anyway...non offence laugh it off
OBAMA 12 years ago

THANK YOU FOR THIS WELL WRITTEN REMNISCENCE ON BA MENSA,I ALSO WAS A SECRET FAN OF THIS BONA FIDE GHANAIAN ENTREPRENEUR.THEY KILLED HIS SOUL AND AFTER THAT HE WAS BUT A SHADOW OF HIMSELF.THEY DO'NT MAKE THEM LIKE HIM ANYMORE. ...
read full comment

THANK YOU FOR THIS WELL WRITTEN REMNISCENCE ON BA MENSA,I ALSO WAS A SECRET FAN OF THIS BONA FIDE GHANAIAN ENTREPRENEUR.THEY KILLED HIS SOUL AND AFTER THAT HE WAS BUT A SHADOW OF HIMSELF.THEY DO'NT MAKE THEM LIKE HIM ANYMORE.BESIDE HIM THEY ARE LIKE KINDERGARTEN CHILDREN AND ERZARTS.
PITY HIS SON HERBERT TURNED OUT SUPPING WITH HIS FATHER'S ENEMIES AND EVEN MARRYING THEIR DAUGHTERS.HE IS A TOTAL DISGRACE TO HIS FATHER AND MUST HAVE BROKEN HIS HEART.SHAME ON YOU HERBERT YOU CAN HAVE ONLY ONE FATHER!
Leslie Taylor 12 years ago

Very well written JC. My memories of that residence/family exactly!

Very well written JC. My memories of that residence/family exactly!
Spiky 12 years ago

Brilliant tribute to a great industrialist of our time! This should inspire up and coming industrialists that Ghana needs badly. Thank you Johnny; you write beautifully, clearly and straight to the point.

Brilliant tribute to a great industrialist of our time! This should inspire up and coming industrialists that Ghana needs badly. Thank you Johnny; you write beautifully, clearly and straight to the point.
Nana Siakwa 12 years ago

This tribute is straight from the heart of the writer. The man B A MEnsah certianly left his mark. What legacy will we leave? Food for thought indeed.

This tribute is straight from the heart of the writer. The man B A MEnsah certianly left his mark. What legacy will we leave? Food for thought indeed.
Kman 12 years ago

Full respect to our BA Mensah's, Siaws, and many more like them. Not our politicians who expect us to worship them.

Full respect to our BA Mensah's, Siaws, and many more like them. Not our politicians who expect us to worship them.
APPM 12 years ago

From the heart of a relative, thank you very much for telling it from the heart as it was.

Incidentally, the thread business is where he got his start.

B.A was a form-four elementary school leaver who later attended H ...
read full comment

From the heart of a relative, thank you very much for telling it from the heart as it was.

Incidentally, the thread business is where he got his start.

B.A was a form-four elementary school leaver who later attended Harvard Business School summer programs. The mark of a true modern industrialist.

May he rest in peace.
DotCom 12 years ago

The day I stepped foot inside the (ITG)International Tobacco Group's walled compound around the New Times industrial area was unquestionably breathtaking. It housed the magnificent and posh headquarters with its surrounding o ...
read full comment

The day I stepped foot inside the (ITG)International Tobacco Group's walled compound around the New Times industrial area was unquestionably breathtaking. It housed the magnificent and posh headquarters with its surrounding office buildings. It was a bit of a culture-shock as I envisioned a workplace with such a well-manicured environs could only exist outside the country (perhaps somewhere in suburban US or the likes). Immediately upon entry it was spick and span, and the quality of air was clean and refreshingly different. As you make your way towards the offices, garden boys were all over the place actively mowing lawns and tending to trees, grass and flowers with water sprinklers spraying all around. Every plant was nourishingly green. I had gone to see a classmate who worked there and that gave me a first glance at how well-taken the employees were. I was led into her private and cool air-conditioned office room and heck she wasn't even yet a senior staff. At the end of the visit, and as I walked out of the premises my impression of a true Ghanaian Entrepreneur changed. The man had built and ran a real lucrative and classy business.

Paul Amuna 12 years ago

Clearly BA Mensah was extremely successful at what he did. One would have wished that such level of enterprise would permeate Ghanaian business society, and that rather than their wealth 'trickle down', more would have been i ...
read full comment

Clearly BA Mensah was extremely successful at what he did. One would have wished that such level of enterprise would permeate Ghanaian business society, and that rather than their wealth 'trickle down', more would have been inspired to move into the middle classes as well.

Personally, I would much prefer that he did not champion Tobacco, and would hope that this particular industry was not the primary (or sole) source of his undoubted wealth which as alleged, was 'rudely' and perhaps 'enviously' taken over by an over-zealous so-called revolutionary mob under the leadership of Flt Lt. JJ Rawlings (later to become democratically elected president Rawlings). Why do I lament his business in Tobacco? It is simply because that product has "killed" many, many more people over the years and continues to kill today.

We in the medical fraternity would not be sponsored by a tobacco company for any activities and I recall my student days when we went out canvassing for company sponsorship for our annual Health Weeks programme throughout Ghana. We simply refused to go to International Tobacco for any help, and in my view, rightly so.

May this great soul rest in peace, as a successful and hard working Ghanaian industrialist.
Kwadwo 12 years ago

Thanks for your well written tribute to a man I did not know, but I have come to admire. I had left for the States before the PNDC unleashed its brand of terror on industrialist like B A Mensah. It is a shame he suffered such ...
read full comment

Thanks for your well written tribute to a man I did not know, but I have come to admire. I had left for the States before the PNDC unleashed its brand of terror on industrialist like B A Mensah. It is a shame he suffered such injustice. What we have now are the Agambires, the akomfem and tree planting thugs, masquerading in the halls of government as industrialist. Rest in peace, B A Mensah. What a class act.
KOFI ELLISON 12 years ago

Nii Blukoo-Allotey; thank you for such a very nice piece. About ten years ago I wrote a piece on these Ghanaweb titled "Lest We Forget" partly summing up how Rawlings destroyed entrepreneurs such as Mr. B.A. Mensah and Mr. Si ...
read full comment

Nii Blukoo-Allotey; thank you for such a very nice piece. About ten years ago I wrote a piece on these Ghanaweb titled "Lest We Forget" partly summing up how Rawlings destroyed entrepreneurs such as Mr. B.A. Mensah and Mr. Siaw.

When you have a class of people, as we apparently have in Ghana, who are filled with jealousy; skin pain; and other degenerative mental hatred of the kind shown by Jerry Rawlings and his minions the nation remains under-developed.

Your article articulates and underscores, how people with hate-filled mentality; skin pain encumbrances; and demonic propensity to destroy what other build because they do not have the mental capacity and entrepreneurial moorings to appreciate how businesses are built and wealth is created, other than the looting of government money. B.A. Mensah was Ghanaian entrepreneurial giant.

(I am Kofi Ellison and I approve this message!)
Nana Adu 12 years ago

May B.A.Mensah rest in perfect peace. People Envy killed lots of good Industrialist and enterpreneurs during Rawlings regime and that is why unemployment is far too high among the youth today b'cos rich people were pinalised ...
read full comment

May B.A.Mensah rest in perfect peace. People Envy killed lots of good Industrialist and enterpreneurs during Rawlings regime and that is why unemployment is far too high among the youth today b'cos rich people were pinalised so much so that they were afraid to do anything again
mojingles 12 years ago

A tribute to a great man such as B.A. Mensah should harp on the good that he did for the Ghanaian society at large and not dwell on his material acquisitions....Allotey meant well, but a tribute is always an ode to the good d ...
read full comment

A tribute to a great man such as B.A. Mensah should harp on the good that he did for the Ghanaian society at large and not dwell on his material acquisitions....Allotey meant well, but a tribute is always an ode to the good deeds and the lasting impact on mankind accomplished by the faithfully departed.....
CROSS 12 years ago

mojingles the Article reads B A Mensah Through the Eyes of a Child emphasis eyes of a child. Beautiful piece and once again i say we have a Scot Fritzgerald in our mist. B A is my hero. May he rest in peace

mojingles the Article reads B A Mensah Through the Eyes of a Child emphasis eyes of a child. Beautiful piece and once again i say we have a Scot Fritzgerald in our mist. B A is my hero. May he rest in peace
Abena Gymfua 12 years ago

I share your sentiment; Ghana has lost a great man, an industrialist! However, I do not believe that the seizer of his assets led to his grave. His assets were ceased in the eighties, and the man died this year so where is th ...
read full comment

I share your sentiment; Ghana has lost a great man, an industrialist! However, I do not believe that the seizer of his assets led to his grave. His assets were ceased in the eighties, and the man died this year so where is the justification? We Africans have a way of answering any unknown question. Every man will die someday so who knows, maybe this was his time to go so please enough of these insinuations. And please leave his son Herbert out of this. Let's be frank, the man was an industrialist who bribed our top officials to get away with so many things. As the saying goes, there are many days for the thief but there is one day for the master. He was caught for invading taxes among other things. Is this something that we should be proud of and encourage our entrepreneurs to emulate? He wronged the nation and he was brought to book period. He later appealed to the laws of the land, and after deliberations, what was due him was returned to him. He had workers that toiled to build his empire at the time does anybody know how those folks were treated? I respect his son Herbert for been matured and has avoid "such foolish politics" and taking the high road to live in peace as a responsible Ghanaian.
APPM 12 years ago

He was the epitome of an industrialist. This is a man from humble beginnings: middle school form-four leaver, a policeman, thread merchant and then big time industrialist. He is cut out of the same mold as the Rockefellers, ...
read full comment

He was the epitome of an industrialist. This is a man from humble beginnings: middle school form-four leaver, a policeman, thread merchant and then big time industrialist. He is cut out of the same mold as the Rockefellers, but limited by the size of Ghana's economy and the terrible "revolution era".
Mingle 12 years ago

The powerful tribute

The powerful tribute
Kwame Opoku-Agyemang 12 years ago

Mr. Blukoo-Allotey, you have eulogized a great industrialist whose efforts were halted by Rawlings and his PNDC. With this piece of article you have eulogized all the B. A. Mensah’s, the Siaw’s and other industrialists’ ...
read full comment

Mr. Blukoo-Allotey, you have eulogized a great industrialist whose efforts were halted by Rawlings and his PNDC. With this piece of article you have eulogized all the B. A. Mensah’s, the Siaw’s and other industrialists’ who were victims under the PNDC. It also gives Jerry John Rawlings the opportunity to reflect on his legacy. My hope is that Mr. Rawlings will gain insight into the extent to which he has destroyed hopes and aspirations of prospective industrialists. The good thing is that Rawlings still has opportunity to lead a crusade to restore nobility in genuine entrepreneurship and industrialization that will help solve the unemployment problem in the country. Additionally, this piece provides an avenue for self proclaimed businessmen who do not produce anything but scam the economy of Ghana by setting up hoax businesses, to consider engaging in businesses that will contribute to the Ghanaian economy.
Thank you for a good work done, Mr. Blukoo-Allotey!

afua 12 years ago

Rest in peace and thanks for everything!

Rest in peace and thanks for everything!
AC 406 12 years ago

Trivia - Cougar nice piece. I think the gold colored car was a 350SLC (AA 1300) and the metallic blue one was a 450SEL(AZ 6171). I have over 1GB memory space in my head with details of cars that stood out in Accra during the ...
read full comment

Trivia - Cougar nice piece. I think the gold colored car was a 350SLC (AA 1300) and the metallic blue one was a 450SEL(AZ 6171). I have over 1GB memory space in my head with details of cars that stood out in Accra during the 70s & 80s (God help me)
pee 12 years ago

ac146 you mean???az 6171 was a silver golf formerly brown and i know who had it!! if you such a trivia hotshot who ruled airport with NG7146 and AM 3760 lol

ac146 you mean???az 6171 was a silver golf formerly brown and i know who had it!! if you such a trivia hotshot who ruled airport with NG7146 and AM 3760 lol
hmmmm 12 years ago

please reply on a new comment/thread not comment on a comment..thanks

please reply on a new comment/thread not comment on a comment..thanks
rit 12 years ago

TRIVIA ....ac146 you mean???az 6171 was a silver golf formerly brown and i know who had it!! if you such a trivia hotshot who ruled airport with NG7146 and AM 3760 lol

TRIVIA ....ac146 you mean???az 6171 was a silver golf formerly brown and i know who had it!! if you such a trivia hotshot who ruled airport with NG7146 and AM 3760 lol

35 Comments

Welcome,

SIGN IN

Welcome,

RESET PASSWORD

Hello,

Terms and conditions

REGISTER

B.A. Mensah: Through the Eyes of a Child.

Read Comments .st0{display:none;fill:#14BDD3;} .st1{display:none;} .st2{display:inline;fill:#FC0F0F;} .st3{display:inline;fill:#FFFFFF;} .st4{display:inline;fill:none;stroke:#000000;stroke-width:6;stroke-miterlimit:10;} Comments (35)

Read Comments Comments (35)