Meeting a prince
Vees and I, after wandering around Jamestown, a suburb of Accra, for a
couple of hours.
Vees pointed at a building with two lions out in front and said that was
where the king lived. Really? Yes. And does the king receive visitors?
He said that the traditional gift to bring to a king was a bottle of
foreign schnapps. And where can I get some schnapps? Well, there’s no
liquor store around here, but a bit of cash will do. Well, let’s go meet
a king then!
And I was brought to a man sitting at a table reading a newspaper. He
asked me to have a seat. So why have you come to see me? I’m interested
in learning more about you – are you really a king? He responded that
his father was the king and that he was a chief who presided over civil
disputes in the community. I had always thought that people had to speak
to royalty in Ghana through an interpreter? A common misconception he
informed me, if I speak English and you speak English, it would only be
natural to speak in the same language, right? Interpreters were used in
the past when not everyone spoke English. From there, he proceeded to
give me a history of Jamestown – it was built in 1642, and the palace
was built in 1673. First harbour was built in 1872. When asked what his
biggest challenges were, he said drinking water, peace, shelter,
education, health care and financial liberation.
The entire experience was sort of surreal.
April 10th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
Did you then ask him if he knew the Nigerian prince who was looking for financial help?