Why don’t you join us in thanking God for His marvellous, marvellous deeds in the life of this blog! Life in Kumasi has survived 2013 intact. Praise God! Technically the blog is one week, one day old but still, a new year is a new year and we just crossed over. In celebration, we want to look at 8 amazing things we want to see happen in Kumasi this year. There’s so much one could ask for, but then again there’s so much we’ve already been given. So even as we hope and dream for more, it’s important we learn to appreciate what we have, and be grateful to those who gave. Here, in no particular order, are a selection of the best hopes and dreams for Kumasi.

Massive Improvement in the Kumasi Tourism Sector

I used to think I was the only longtime resident of Kumasi who had never seen the Komfo Anokye Sword, but a quick Facebook survey told me that was far from the case. 2014 needs to see a massive boost in tourism, both by Ghanaians and foreigners. I wrote about using a Lamborghini for a taxi earlier, and while that may be a bit on the radical side, there are so many easy ways to boost tourism in Kumasi. How about an extremely well executed massive ad campaign involving billboards, newspaper  ads, radio and television ads, all beautifully showcasing places to go in Kumasi? That would be great for a start. Online, websites like Mefiri Ghana are doing a great job of showcasing the country as a whole in a beautiful way. We’ll also do our part here on Life in Kumasi. One of my resolutions is to visit all tourist sites in Kumasi I can find, starting with the Komfo Anokye Sword, and sharing with you all that I learn. I can’t wait.

Kumasi’s Luxury Estate Development

The housing situation in Kumasi is kind of in the doldrums. I’m not in the habit of paying Accra compliments, but man, do you see their luxury apartments? It’s like every week there’s a new beautiful place being advertised. Beaufort Ridge this, Villagio Apartments that. And don’t get me started on The Valley.  We need that kind of real estate development in Kumasi. There’s a saying from a great movie, “Build it, and they will come.” I believe that applies here. Once beautiful buildings start showing up in our skyline, they will attract the clients needed for commercial success. This is directly tied in with the needed improvement in the tourism sector. Tourists like a nice place to live, and some may prefer a nice apartment to a hotel room. I always say KNUST has the tallest buildings in Kumasi. While this is great for KNUST, it’s really bad for the rest of the city.

Higher Spiritual Consciousness

Kumasi, we need to go to church, people! And going to church is not even enough. We really need to take our Christian faith seriously. It makes me happy Kumasi boasts of a great part of Ghana’s Christian population, but I fear a big part of that number is becoming nominal. A lot us are putting the Bible and the faith on the back burner and chasing the paper and the women (and the men, too). It’s easy to justify spending less time with God by saying the times are hard, but did you consider that maybe times would be easier if you shared those problems with God? I’m picking up any slack I have this year, and you might want to do the same. Do something different, you’d be surprised. We need to see a higher quality in radio evangelism. It’s become all too easy to create comedy by parodying this new crop of preachers, and this doesn’t bode well for any of us.

Less Talk, More Action

Personally I have come to know that Ghanaians are capable of far more than we give ourselves credit for. And one thing that is killing our creativity is the mantra that goes like, “the Government must…” This is 2014, people, so here’s a newsflash. The Government might not. So if the government doesn’t, what are you going to do? Sit at home with your degree and wait? Wait for the next politician to mess up so you can have a field day with the media? Like seriously, duh? Please, that is so 2013. Young people why don’t we drop all that and put our money where our mouth is? I met brilliant people at BarCamp 2013 in KNUST and I can tell you, people are already doing the things you scribbled in your notebook last two years that you wanted to do. If you want to start a blog, I recommend reading Pat Flynn’s amazing blogging blog. Students, check out these college business ideas for extra income. You want to write that book? Write it. You want to start a volunteer program? Start it. Build an Android app? Just freaking do it already.

Stronger Local League

I’m not a football fan, let me just put that out there. I am a Ghanaian though, and I guess you’re kind of born with some passion for football when you are born Ghanaian. Therefore I have the desire to see an improvement in the local football leagues. If EPL can garner that much interest in Ghana, then our local leagues need to step up their game and capitalize on this passion. Maybe they can start with better cameras. I mean I know I would consider watching a local game if it looked as good as the foreign ones. I believe that the problem isn’t that Ghanaians have a taste for foreign goods. It’s just that Ghanaians have become sophisticated and they have a taste for quality goods, and they are not prepared to patronize Made in Ghana merely for the sake of it being made in Ghana.

Great Siano TV Shows

Why don’t we see more Kumasi on TV? Efiewura is the most Siano-like show on air, but I doubt it is filmed in Kumasi. I’d have to check on that. 2014 should see more budding producers and directors creating high quality content featuring Siano, by Siano. There is a wealth of ideas to be mined from this city that will translate nicely into a series. Kejetia was a great attempt to showcase Kumasi on TV, and we need more of that. The characters played by Mikki Osei Berko, most famously Master Richard in Taxi Driver and the eponymous character in Dada Boat, are all the proof you need that Siano characters are hilarious and perfectly suited for TV, especially sitcoms. If you happen to be a director and you need a great writer, look no further than yours truly. I’ve got some really crazy ideas rattling around my mind.

Put the Garden Back in Garden City

I heard the Children’s Park near the stadium used to be quite the sight for sore eyes. Now, it’s more of an eyesore. And so the story unfolds in many other corners of the city. There are still many beautiful gardens around. Nhyiaeso, Danyame and Ahodwo, in other words the Dadabee side of Kumasi, is making an effort in green beautification. I’d love to see a lot more of that this year. I hate that I have to say this, but government must do more in this regard. The only thing I know KMA does very well is getting a pot of red paint and scrawling across kiosks: REMOVE BY ORDER. How about in 2014, we see some ornamental plants, by order? In a city like New York, in spite of the price of real estate, they have maintained a huge acreage of land in the middle of the city just for Central Park – beautiful parks, plants and gardens. In Ghana some chief might have sold that land by now. But I digress. KMA, wake up and start digging and planting. Hey if they won’t, let’s all start something small in front of our houses, shall we?

Stronger Tech Scene in Kumasi

As the home of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, emphasis on technology, Kumasi has to bolster its authority in the tech industry. We need to develop a startup culture where students are encouraged to develop and build exciting products and software. More prototyping machinery is needed, so that ideas can be quickly developed from the drawing board into real life. I was telling a friend that our lecturers often comment that when they studied abroad, they would often do academically better than their European or American peers. And yet most of the innovation is happening in the west. So many bodies have been crying out for years that our university programs need to be more practical-oriented, and as someone who has been to KNUST I strongly agree. But why is no change being implemented? It’s not too late at all. 2014 can be the year when our universities heed this call, and build a strong technology industry for the nation.

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Isaac Immanuel Opuni Frimpong

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