African hearts return to start firms

By Orla Ryan

BBC

Accra, Ghana

Haitian cook Marie Claire Rimpel is tired after a long day at her new restaurant, The Caribbean.

Serving the best of Caribbean food, the light and modern restaurant - in the heart of Ghana's capital - is a long way from her native Haiti.

Nearly three years in Accra, she is one of several people of African origin who have returned to the continent of their ancestors.

The stress of opening a restaurant may be taking its toll on Marie Claire, 68, but the move has clearly been worth it.

"It is a wonderful place to live, I feel at home here," she says.

Click here for more.

Viewpoint: African unity still a dream

My father, Ghana's first President Kwame Nkrumah, was a trendsetter in more ways than one.

One of his most outstanding legacies was a political commitment to African continental unity. The Arabic-speaking states of North Africa were, in his vision, no less African than those predominantly non-Arab states south of the Sahara.

With his initial encouragement, Arabs have since become active participants in the politics of Africa.

Nkrumah's was no easy mission. There were many in Africa and in the West who wished to extricate Arab countries from costly African commitments and interventions south of the Sahara.

But Nkrumah's special friendship with the Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser - after whom I was named - was instrumental in cementing Arab-African ties.

This is an extract from BBC Focus on Africa magazine. For the full story click here.

Ghanaians risk death for abortion

By Rosie Goldsmith
BBC Radio 4's Crossing Continents
Thousands of women in Ghana are seeking dangerous, illegal abortions every year with many ending in death or disability.

Read the full story and listen to the programme here.

BBC Africa On Your Street

Check out What's On Ghana's contribution to this BBC debate on the state of African music.

Feature: African music in 2006
A round-up of 2006 and look ahead to 2007
By Ilka Schlockermann
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/africaonyourstreet/feature_roundup06.shtml

David Adjaye exhibition

Beautiful and useful Art meets architecture in Horizon, Adjaye's new installation at the Albion Gallery, London SW11. You can take it home: the furniture is for sale as part of a very limited edition (From 15 January until 10 March).

Links

www.albion-gallery.com

Ghanaian boy's dream ends in a pool of blood

When Stephen Boachie arrived in England from Ghana aged 10, he missed Africa's warm climate. But the young boy whose parents came to the UK to give him a "better life" did not take long to find his feet in London, growing up to excel in his studies and sport and the future looked bright.

The 17-year-old, who lived in Dagenham, east London, was studying for his A-levels at Newham Sixth Form College. He was awaiting offers to study a degree in engineering and hoped to win a place at Birmingham University.

But as New Year's Eve celebrations were drawing to a close across the country, Stephen was stabbed fatally, just a few hundred yards from his home. A tribute on a banner in his memory, outside the Shell garage where he was attacked at 5.30am on New Year's Day, reads: "It was supposed to be a new year, new beginning, but you were not given that chance."
Stephen's father Kwasi, 49, said that after his son left Ahafo in the Bechem region of Ghana, he settled quickly in London, joining the football and rugby teams at Kingsford Secondary School in East Ham, and loved to play computer games.

Mr Boachie described his son as, "friendly and sociable with everyone and always willing to help people". He was a devout Christian, and in training to become a full Jehovah's Witness.

On New Year's Eve, Stephen had been to see a friend who lives locally and may have visited another friend in Canning Town. The stabbing took place next to the Thatched House pub in Dagenham, which is popular with the west African community, and police are trying to find out if he was in the pub during the hours before his death. Detective Chief Inspector Simon Moring is appealing for witnesses who were leaving the pub at the time of the attack, and CCTV footage is being examined.

Anyone with information about Stephen's murder is asked to contact police on 020-8345 4142.

Other links
Stephen Boachie memorial site

June "thrilled" at MBE

TV presenter June Sarpong, 29, has become an MBE in the New Year Honours


The bubbly host, who was born in London's East End to Ghanaian parents, is best known for her cheeky asides on Channel 4's youth programme T4.

But she also supports the Make Poverty History campaign, and has worked for the Prince's Trust for six years.

In the run-up to the 2005 general election she shadowed Tony Blair for two days before an interview where she challenged him on the war in Iraq.

Work experience

Sarpong began her career doing work experience at London radio station Kiss and, after a spell working for record company BMG, auditioned for a presenting job on MTV.

One of her first assignments on the station was to work on the magazine programme Planet Pop, which was also shown on Channel 4.

When the T4 job came up in 2001, bosses at the station were already aware of her easy-going, laid back style, and Sarpong was chosen to interview pop stars and present links between episodes of Friends and Hollyoaks.

Aside from T4, Sarpong has also presented game show Your Face or Mine and Strictly Dance Fever on BBC Three.

She previously dated Labour culture minister David Lammy.

But it was her time with the Prime Minister that brought the effervescent presenter widespread media attention in 2005.

'No flowers'

During her interview, Sarpong prompted Mr Blair to admit he had never bought his wife flowers and often "winged it" during press conferences.

A studio audience also pressed Mr Blair on sex education, binge drinking and Iraq.

Sarpong said she had come away "definitely liking" the prime minister, and went on to interview former US President Bill Clinton, who she called "charming" and "humble".

Although some commentators have expressed surprise at her desire to interview political heavyweights, Sarpong says she thinks television has a duty to inform people.

"My family is from Ghana, but we're from an affluent part of the country," she told The Guardian. "Without television, I wouldn't have known about the poverty there."

She travelled back to Ghana with Oxfam in 2005, where she visited rice farmers and women's groups to see how debt cancellation and improved trade conditions could help the country.

"I wish I'd seen this before I asked Tony Blair about Africa," she wrote on Oxfam's website.

Sarpong, who is being appointed an MBE in recognition of her services to broadcasting and charity, said she was "thrilled, delighted and honoured".

Essien wins BBC African award

Ghana and Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien has won the 2006 BBC African Footballer of the Year award.

In a live public vote Essien received nearly twice as many votes as Ahly and Egypt playmaker Mohamed Aboutrika and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba to win the award.

For the first time in the history of the prize, the winner was decided live during the BBC World Service's African sports programme, Fast Track.

The BBC award takes into account the football calendar from January to December 2006 and includes domestic leagues, both the Uefa and Caf Champions League tournaments.

The African Nations Cup, the World Cup and the World Club Cup are also included within this period.

Link to story

Welcome to the What's On Ghana blog!

The What's On Ghana Team has launched this blog as a complement to the magazine. Here, you will find posts about the same topics that What's On Ghana covers in the magazine (style, music, politics, culture, celebrities ...), but with a different focus in content. Be sure to check back often as we plan to update it on a regular basis.