Nima-Maamobi in Ghana's Postcolonial Development

Charles Prempeh

Description

This book provides a deep insight into the socio-economic reality and complexity of two of Ghana's largest slums - Nima and Maamobi - located in the capital city, Accra. It identifies and analyses the socio-religious, cultural and political contexts of the two communities. These are ethnically and religiously diverse populations with a common history of migration and integration. The book shows that the causes of economic stagnation and underdevelopment in the two slums are deeply contextualised, complex and nuanced. Through a biographical examination of the political activism of Agnes Amoah, a foremost local leader, the book brings to bear how Mrs. Amoah also brought socio-economic transformation to the communities by breaking cultural, religious and gender barriers in the interest of conviviality. In context, the book sheds important insight on the urban, political and the local and translocal histories that have shaped the social transformations of Nima and Maamobi.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: The Socio-Historical Evolution of Maamobi-Nima

Chapter 3: Agnes Amoah and Leadership Challenges

Chapter 4: Agnes Amoah and the Family in Nima-Maamobi

Chapter 5: Agnes Amoah and Social Services in Nima and Maamobi

Chapter 6: Conclusion

Sujets

• Anthropology
• Social sciences
• Sociologie, société et politique
• Social Science
• Ethnic Studies
• African Studies

Informations

• Publié par: Langaa RPCIG
• Date de parution: 15 juillet 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9789956552214
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 40 Mo

Extrait

change, and the significant role of local politics and activism in addressing the

It identifies and analyses the socio-religious, cultural and political contexts of the two

NimaMaamobi in Ghana’s Postcolonial Development - Charles Prempeh -

MIGRATION, ISLAM AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION

Charles Prempeh

Nima-Maamobi in Ghana’s Postcolonial Development: Migration, Islam and Social Transformation Charles Prempeh

L a ng a a R esea rch & P u blishing CIG Mankon, Bamenda

Publisher: LangaaRPCIG Langaa Research & Publishing Common Initiative Group P.O. Box 902 Mankon Bamenda North West Region Cameroon [e-mail] www.langaa-rpcig.net Distributed in and outside N. America by African Books Collective [e-mail] www.africanbookscollective.com

ISBN-10: 9956-552-56-9

ISBN-13: 978-9956-552-56-6 ©Charles Prempeh 2022 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical or electronic, including photocopying and recording, or be stored in any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher

About the Author Dr Charles Prempehis a Research Fellow at the Centre for Cultural and African Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana. He holds a PhD degree in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Cambridge (Wolfson College), United Kingdom, since 2021. Before joining Cambridge for his doctoral studies in October 2017, Prempeh undertook two years of doctoral coursework in interdisciplinary Social Studies at the Makerere Institute of Social Research (MISR), Makerere University (Uganda) and taught undergraduate students for a semester. He also holds a Master of Philosophy Degree in African Studies from the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Legon. In 2010, after completing his coursework, he was awarded the prestigious Agyeman Award for academic excellence. Prempeh holds a First-Class degree in African Studies from the University of Cape Coast in 2008. At the UCC, his undergraduate long-essay was adjudged one of the best for the Department of African Studies and selected for display during the university’s opening day in 2009. When Prempeh completed his MPhil degree, he worked at the IAS as a graduate and teaching assistant from 2010 to 2013. Later in 2013, he was appointed a lecturer to teach Africana Studies at the African University College of Communications, Accra. While in Cambridge, he taught in four annual summer schools, reflecting on African philosophies of belief, uncertainty, the future, and African Christology. As an African Studies scholar, Prempeh’s research has an interdisciplinary dimension, incorporating areas such as gender, popular culture, religion, history, politics, education, philosophy, and cultural studies. He has published in these areas in prestigious journals includingAfrican Studies QuarterlyandReligion Compass. He is a fellow of the IFE Institute of Advance Studies and a former fellow of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC – 2016). He has held several leadership positions as presidents of the Student Union at the MISR, the Cambridge University Ghana Society (CUGS), currently the founding communications director of the Vacation Initiative for Science Africa (VISA), a registered Ghanaian- based NGO, and Director of Research for another registered Ghanaian-based NGO – Centre for Sustainable Livelihood & Development (CENSLID).

He has been a resident of Maamobi since 1984 when he was 2 years old and had all his education in Accra (community-related) from Kotobabi Presbyterian Primary School (1988-1995) to Kotobabi ‘15’ JSS (1996-1998) to West Africa Secondary School (Accra – 1999-2001). Prempeh has held several leaderships as secretary Aid Afrique and Gender Action Unit (both registered non- governmental organisations) and an elected member of the Unit Committee in 2002. He taught for a few years at the Kanda Estate ‘2’ Primary School, as a volunteer on the National Youth and Employment Programme (2010-2013) – established by the New Patriotic Party, under the government of John Agyekum Kufuor.

Dedication For my mother Agartha Adjei My wife Josephine Tweneboaa Afrifa The children of Josephine and I Kwame Nhyira Amponsah Prempeh Adwoa Adom Mmoraa Prempeh My mentors Professors: Francis B. Nyamnjoh Kwabena Akurang-Parry Jabal M. Buaben George M. Bob-Milliar Timothy Quashigah Bishop Ben Salleh My mother’s brother’s daughter Regina Gyebi To The people of the Zongos: Alhaji Haruna Bukari Imam Yussif Iddris Konate And In Loving memory of my father Anthony Prempeh

Acknowledgements I would also like to thank my wife, Josephine Tweneboaa Afrifa, who continues to sacrifice her time and comfort as I often travel to and from Ghana collecting data and also spending substantive time of our family life in my study – reading and writing. It is enough sacrifice that seamlessly implies that she, at least, takes more than half of the proceeds of this book. I wrote this book, but the energy and peace of mind to write it came from the critical and continuing role of Joe as both a mother, sister, and economist of our home. I also thank Kwame Prempeh and Adwoa Prempeh -- who have endured my incessant absence from home. Usually, they wake up to find that I am either in Ghana giving seminar presentations or giving lectures on Zoom. All this is because, even when I am in Ghana, I spend countless hours in my office from as early as 3 AM to 9 PM (with a few breaks)! These children, who deserve the attention of a father, have together with Joe, paid the price for a father who is ambitious in contributing to the frontiers of knowledge as well as consolidating the gains of the family. A father who suffers epistemic madness! In all this Josephine, Kwame and Adwoa have been a blessing to me and I pray for nothing but God’s continuous blessings for them. I share the fruit of this book and anything I do with my scholarship with them. May Kwame and Adwoa benefit from the foundation Joe and I are laying for them, especially as I indulge the “no pain, no gain” to lighten their pain in future (cf. I Timothy 5:8). I thank Agnes Amoah, a key informant, for sharing her life, vision, and philosophies with me. I have incurred many debts in the course of writing this book. To that end, I would like to begin by extending my heartfelt thanks to Prof Kwabena Akurang-Parry, who, though at short notice, has agreed to write the foreword of this book. Prof Akurang-Parry remains one of my highly cherished mentors whose recommendation letters on my behalf have brought me glories, including my admissions at Oxbridge in 2017. I am also indebted to Professor Francis B. Nyamnjoh. He has been very supportive in shaping my thoughts as he generously shares his works with me. Furthermore, I am highly grateful to Mr Mathew Quamey Alidza, my ‘father’ and English and language lecturer at the Department of African Studies (now Centre for African and International Studies), University of Cape Coast, who provided an extensive editing of the

manuscript. I also thank Dr Timothy Quashigah, a senior lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Journalism, who spent hours helping withpro bonoeditorial work and also writing a recommendation for the book. Regina Gyebi, my mother’s brother’s daughter, has also been very helpful in reading the manuscript several times and offering editorial service. Similarly, I thank Miss Justina Addai, a young cartographer at the University of Ghana, who helped with maps for this book; Mr Ishmael A. Junourgh and Ibrahim Haruna Dabre, who helped me to collect further data for this book in 2021. Drs Akwasi Kwarteng Amoako-Gyampah and Edmund Akwasi Agyeman, both of the University of Education, Winneba, deserve my gratitude for their insightful comments. I am equally grateful to my natal family – my mother, Agartha Adjei and siblings: Patrick Adjei, Eric Amponsah, Frederick Prempeh, Sarah Adjei, Rebecca Ama Duah, and my twin sisters Deborah Adwoa Boadua Prempeh and Dorcas Adwoa Boadua Prempeh – for their support since I decided to write about Agnes Amoah. Their prayers and encouragement have always energised me to push on. I thank my parents for instilling in me a sense of diligence, perseverance, and hard work. Most specifically, they introduced me to God at a tender age. I am grateful they did. I particularly appreciate my late father, Mr Anthony Prempeh, who always reminded me to internalise the wise saying, “A wise son brings joy to his father” (Proverbs 10:1a). I also thank my wife’s family, especially her parents: Mr Sampson Afrifa and Madam Comfort Peprah, who have always urged me on. I register my appreciation to my wife’s sister Shirley Afranewaa Afrifa and her husband, Mr Frimpong Boateng. I am deeply indebted to the administrators of the Birmingham Christian College – the Bible College of the Church of Pentecost in the United Kingdom – who have been supported of my family and me. I specifically thank Mrs Briony Seymour, Martin Ankers, Mr Godfried Asante, Dr Caleb Nyanni, and Apostle Dr Lord E. Donkor, I say God bless you. Alongside these persons, I thank my church members at the St Stephen’s and St Wulstan’s Church; Evangelist Abedi Samuel Bawa and members of Action Chapel International, Birmingham, and my wife’s church, Bearwood SDA Church – all in Birmingham – for their prayer support. I also thank all the key respondents who offered me their time for interviews and shared their accumulated knowledge and wisdom about the history of Nima and Maamobi and Ghana, a whole with

me. I as well thank the Chief Imam of Maamobi Imam Yusuf Iddris Konate; Alhaji Haruna Dabre. Finally, and most importantly, I thank the Triune God, by whose grace and mercy alone my family and I have come this far. Indeed, the Lord has been good and kind to us. To Him alone belong the glory and honour. We humble ourselves before him in saying with the Psalmist: “Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name be glory, because of your love and faithfulness” (Psalm 115:1).