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The Pen at Risk: Spilling My Little Beans
“The Pen at Risk is more than a memoir. It is a piece of authentic, ungarnished history by a writer and public intellectual who is too modest to accept the title of a historian, but who witnessed and chronicled the most intriguing epochs of Ghana’s national life. Laced with the innate Fante humour, this book is a piece of deep but entertaining non-fiction that is told with the demystified simplicity of one of Ghana’s greatest academics and writers. Kwesi Yankah is a gift to humanity, and this memoir is a greater gift to an unfortunate generation like mine that did not live in the era of the incisive writings of the great Kwatriot.” – Manasseh Azure Awuni, Editor-in-Chief, The Fourth Estate
“When a citizen who has spent his whole life scrutinising society, turns the spotlight on himself, the risks include this epic engagement that spares no one, him included. In this bare-it-all memoir, the Yankah enigma is fully bared, warts and all. As it turns out, Yankah has had more than his fair share of privileged roles, ultimately impacting the national narrative. The richness of ethnography here, is as riveting as his urban-savvy accounts of the intrigues of university and national politics. While we watch him weave his wizardry of words, we are also awed by the totality of his humanity. The Pen at Risk is a hilarious package of eruditions. It is about the exalted gossips of our Motherland. The narratives are so sweet they hurt. If this isn’t the best book you have read in years, call me illiterate.” – Kofi Akpabli, Scholar, Author, Journalist
“In this memoir, Kwesi Yankah delivers a sparkling tableau of key aspects of his life, tabling his charmed childhood and amazing trajectory as an academic. He then rolls out his long stint as an audacious social commentator and columnist for leading papers (which may have put his pen at risk). With a penmanship characterized by a keen eye for detail, this autobiography is an entertaining and captivating book that should be read by all interested in media and social history as well as autobiography as a literary genre.” – Professor Mansah Prah, University of Cape Coast
“Intriguing, revealing, and brilliant. The Pen at Risk is unvarnished introspection beautifully strung together with anecdotes in a way that is vibrant and colorful. Kwesi Yankah’s work is a refreshingly modest invitation to see life through a different lens, even for a fleeting moment.” – Dr Obeng Amoako Edmonds, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California
₵250.00 -
Some Essential Features of Nkrumaism
This new and expanded edition is a valuable guide to the political thought of Nkrumah.
Part one, by the editors of The Spark (Accra), deals with Nkrumah’s policies to 1964.
Part Two, by the editors of Panaf Books, concerns the period after 1964.
Of particular significance in the new Part Two is a survey of the very important books written by Nkrumah during the Conakry period between March 1966 and August 1971.
The themes include: forms of the independence struggle; colonialism, imperialism and neocolonialism; economic development; the role of the vanguard party; class struggle; and the unification of Africa.
₵270.00 -
Voice from Conakry
The texts of broadcasts to the people of Ghana made in Conakry by Kwame Nkrumah between March and December 1966 on Radio Guinea’s “Voice of the Revolution”. Their purpose was first to expose the true nature of the coup of 24th February 1966; and secondly to encourage resistance.
₵270.00Voice from Conakry
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Patrice Lumumba (Panaf Great Lives)
This book considers the first years of the Congo Republic following independence in 1960. Particular analysis is made of Lumumba’s policies and of western pressures in this crucial experience of the African Revolution.
The story of Lumumba underlines the correctness of Nkrumah’s Pan-African thesis.
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Frantz Fanon (Panaf Great Lives)
Required reading for all interested in the Algerian Revolution, and in Fanon’s brief but highly productive contribution. A close study is made of the relationship between Fanon’s ideological development and the content and impact of his political philosophy.
₵270.00Frantz Fanon (Panaf Great Lives)
₵270.00 -
I am the Street Lawyer (Hardcover)
In this book, the author chronicles his perilous journey to becoming a household name in legal practice in Ghana, by sharing stories from the Victims’ perspectives.
His simple practice of the law demystified the revered and mysterious legal profession.
He became so common and accessible to the poor and most vulnerable victims of varied violations of our dysfunctional system, much to the annoyance of the true owners of the law profession; the Law Lords.
Moved by compassion, he led and represented several victims of rape, defilement, Military brutality, Police abuse and extrajudicial killings, religious and political abuses to navigate and find justice in a corrupt, unjust and dysfunctional justice system.
Discover how a street child became a street lawyer at the risk of losing his own legal career as beneficiaries of the corrupt system fight back.
₵295.00 -
The Legislative System of Ghana
This book focuses on the legislative system of Ghana. It contains sixteen chapters, each focusing on a unique aspect of the legislative system of Ghana. It outlines the rules, the practice, and procedure that govern the conduct of business and Members in the Parliament of Ghana and its committees, and the various actors involved in the organisation of the legislative business. It breaks into minute forms, the procedural norms, and attitudes that influence members’ behaviour and the various parliamentary outcomes.
“This study is well researched and presented in a very lucid form…. Indeed, it is a very useful source for students, parliamentarians, and academics on the parliamentary history, procedure, and practice of Ghana’s Parliament.” – Hon Dr. Benjamin Kunbour, Former Majority Leader, Former Minister of Defence and Senior Lecturer, University of Ghana School of Law
₵300.00The Legislative System of Ghana
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Nana Otuo Siriboe II, 1971-2021: Fifty Years of Distinguished Service to Juaben, Asanteman and Ghana
Foreword by President Nana Akufo-Addo
Nana Otuo Siriboe II was enstooled as Juabenhene – Paramount Chief of the Juaben Traditional Area of Asante − on August 31 1971, at the age of 26. An electrical engineer by training, he decided to leave the employ of the Electricity Corporation of Ghana and make the development of his State a priority.
Fifty years on, from the days of Dr. K.A. Busia, Acheampong, Akuffo, Rawlings, Limann, Rawlings, Kufuor, Mills, Mahama to Akufo-Addo in 2021, he has transformed Juaben into a modern town. He uses every opportunity that he has to advance the cause of Juaben. Every development agency that has ever dealt with Nana Otuo Siriboe has been persuaded to leave a mark in Juaben. Under his supervision and guidance, Juaben has benefitted from electricity, potable water, a market, hospital, police station, some bungalows for the police, a circuit court, an asphalted road network, street lighting and other modern amenities.
He has also changed the economic circumstances of his people by not only establishing a rural bank, but also making farming attractive through his own oil palm farming activities and his setting up of Juaben Oil Mills, the largest indigenously-owned palm oil processing facility in Ghana, with over 400 employees. An interesting feature of the processing plant is the conversion of its waste materials into electricity to power the factory’s plant and equipment, the Juaben Hospital and the town’s water pumping station.
In spite of this unparalleled service to his people, Nana Otuo Siriboe has stretched his influence way beyond Juaben. A trusted lieutenant of both Otumfuo Opoku Ware II of blessed memory and the reigning Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, today Nana Otuo Siriboe II is a well-known and respected statesman across Ghana. He has had the privilege of serving in many sectors of public life in Ghana. In 1979, he was a Member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1979 Constitution. Nana Otuo Siriboe II has also served on several Boards and Councils such as the Boards of the Lands’ Commission, GBC, The Trade Fair Authority and The Komfo Anokye Hospital and on the KNUST University and the Prisons Service Councils.
In 1992, he was thrust further into the limelight when, as a nominee of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs, he became a Member of the Consultative Assembly, serving as the Chairman of the Business Committee, that spearheaded the drafting of the 1992 Constitution. He was a Member of the Council of State between 2001 until 2008 under President J.A. Kufuor. In 2017, he was appointed a Member of the Council of State by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and was unanimously elected as Chairman of the Council of State becoming the first traditional ruler in Ghana’s history to occupy that august position. Reappointed to the Council of State in 2021 and re-elected as Chairman, he has also become the first Ghanaian in history to be a two-term chairperson of the Council of State.
This 308-page Golden Jubilee coffee table book chronicles the major milestones of Nana Otuo Siriboe II’s reign through captivating photographs, interesting newspaper clippings, and thought-provoking newspaper editorials; and has travelled through a 25-year journey to get to this point.
The History of Juaben was authored by Emeritus Professor Albert Adu Boahen of blessed memory and the Juabenhene’s biography and key achievements by Professor Robert Addo-Fening for the 25th and 40th anniversary brochures respectively. Abyna-Ansaa Adjei, on her part, documents Nana Otuo Siriboe II’s activities of the past 10 years, his views on his 50-year reign as well as the views of some Juaben citizens.
A simple read, it comes highly recommended with a goodwill message from the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II and a foreword by President Nana Akufo-Addo, which states at its conclusion: “I recommend, most enthusiastically, this beautiful book that chronicles these events.”
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Central Banking in Ghana and the Governors: Institutional Growth and Economic Development (Hardcover)
A charge of chariots of fire, this is not just a book about the financial history of Ghana in spite of its formative challenges but a centenary work of West Africa – regional monetary evolution and global multilateralism. For devout bankers, intelligentsia, historians and aspirants, this is the one. Elegantly written, it establishes Agyeman-Duah as an unavoidable historian of the Bank of Ghana. — Jewel Howard-Taylor, Vice-President of the Republic of Liberia
The Bank of Ghana is technically a better institution than it was thirty years ago. Even governments are less inclined towards interventions in its work. It is different from other captured public institutions where economic decision-making is with a political lens. — Prof. Ernest Aryeetey, Former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana and Co-editor of The Economy of Ghana-Analytical Perspectives on Stability, Growth and Poverty
The Bank of Ghana is leading central banks in the sub-region with regards to the use of technology in the finance service industry … countries in Africa are now learning from Ghana’s digital payment regulations. — Mohammed Sanusi Lamido, Former Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria and the 14th Emir of Kano
Ghana has in recent years been one of Africa’s more successful economies – from its colonial journey through Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) to stable modern democracy. Agyeman-Duah has a sound appreciation of the difficulties of transforming a producer of commodities of raw materials into a prosperous mixed economy. Now an oil economy, the test ahead is, will Ghana at last be able to control its own economic destiny; free of obligations to donors and the storms from world commodity markets? — Frances Cairncross, Rector Emeritus, Exeter College, University of Oxford and Former Managing Editor, The Economist
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My Life: A Historical Narrative – Autobiography of Ivan Addae-Mensah (Hardcover)
This autobiography should be a best seller. It is a lucid, engaging, fascinating account of a very complex man with an eclectic life that the author has managed to masterfully present as a mainstream Ghanaian. It is so enjoyable to read.
Dr. Ing Kwame Boakye
Former President, Ghana Institution of Engineers
Former Vice Chairman, AT&T Paradyne, Florida, USAWith this autobiography, “My Life – A Historical Narrative”- Professor Emeritus- Ivan Addae-Mensah, the highly reputable and respected scientist and academic, has established his credentials as a writer par excellence and a master storyteller by every definition. . It is a well –written, riveting book, easy to read and absolutely interesting . I highly recommend this inspirational book.
Ambassador Kabral Blay-Amihere
Author, Former Chairman of the Ghana Media Commission,
Former Ghana High Commissioner to Sierra Leone and Ambassador to Côte d’IvoireDuring our university days we conferred the accolades “Versatile” and “Walking Encyclopaedia” on Emeritus Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah. Reading his book “My Life, a Historical Narrative” has confirmed that we were right. Ivan’s experiences in life, especially in the Ghana Public Service and in the political arena confirm the notion that serving one’s nation with honesty and integrity could be hazardous, but it pays. I highly recommend the book to all and sundry.
Ambassador Sir James K. Bebaako-Mensah
Former Secretary to the Cabinet, Former Secretary to President J.E.A Mills and Former Ghana Ambassador to the Holy See (Vatican)In this absorbing autobiography, Emeritus Professor Ivan Addae-Mensah takes the reader on a journey through an extraordinary life that provides insights into his own life as well as Ghana’s social and political history from the 1940s till today; Written in an accessible and humorous style, this captivating chronicle is a must-read for anyone seeking to learn about Ghana’s contemporary history.
Professor Akosua Adomako Ampofo,Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana₵300.00 -
The Fall of The Asante Empire: The Hundred -Year War for Africa’s Gold Coast
In 1817, the first British envoy to meet the king of the Asante of West Africa was dazzled by his reception. A group of 5,000 Asante soldiers, many wearing immense caps topped with three foot eagle feathers and gold ram’s horns, engulfed him with a “zeal bordering on phrensy,” shooting muskets into the air. The envoy was escorted, as no fewer than 100 bands played, to the Asante king’s palace and greeted by a tremendous throng of 30,000 noblemen and soldiers, bedecked with so much gold that his party had to avert their eyes to avoid the blinding glare. Some Asante elders wore gold ornaments so massive they had to be supported by attendants. But a criminal being lead to his execution – hands tied, ears severed, knives thrust through his cheeks and shoulder blades – was also paraded before them as a warning of what would befall malefactors. This first encounter set the stage for one of the longest and fiercest wars in all the European conquest of Africa. At its height, the Asante empire, on the Gold Coast of Africa in present-day Ghana, comprised three million people and had its own highly sophisticated social, political, and military institutions. Armed with European firearms, the tenacious and disciplined Asante army inflicted heavy casualties on advancing British troops, in some cases defeating them. They won the respect and admiration of British commanders, and displayed a unique willingness to adapt their traditional military tactics to counter superior British technology. Even well after a British fort had been established in Kumase, the Asante capital, the indigenous culture stubbornly resisted Europeanization, as long as the “golden stool,” the sacred repository of royal power, remained in Asante hands. It was only after an entire century of fighting that resistance ultimately ceased.
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‘The History of Ashanti Kings and the Whole Country Itself’ and Other Writings
The History of Ashanti Kings and the Whole Country Itself is a key text for understanding the history of the great West African kingdom of Asante (now in Ghana). It is also an early–and perhaps the earliest–example of history writing in English by an African ruler and his amanuenses. It was begun in 1907 in the Seychelles on the instructions of the Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I, who had been in British captivity with his family since 1896, during which time he had acquired proficiency in English.
The chief source of information was his mother the Asantehemaa Yaa Kyaa, who possessed an encyclopaedic knowledge of the oral history of her own lineage, which was also the royal dynasty of Asante. The result is an indispensably detailed document that charts the history of the Asante monarchy from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Context is provided by the inclusion of other writings by or about Agyeman Prempeh, together with four introductory essays by the world’s leading scholars of Asante history.
This fascinating volume evokes the rich historical experience of a renowned kingdom, and is of compelling interest to all concerned with the production of indigenous historical knowledge in Africa.
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Chasing the Elephant Into the Bush: The Politics of Complacency
Chasing the Elephant Into the Bush: The Politics of Complacency is an insider’s account of how the governing New Patriotic Party lost power in the closest elections in Africa’s history. The writer believes that providing an accurate account will begin the process of correcting the rumours, lies and myths that are out there about the 2008 elections in Ghana.
Throughout, the book is liberally sprinkled with quotes and historical references that makes it very informative and interesting. He begins with the state of the nation and the governing party as Ghana approached 2008.
He then takes the reader through the NPP primary and his own experiences as a losing candidate. There is candid discussion of the rivalries in the campaign that undermined its effectiveness. He takes the reader inside meetings and quotes some of the key players at key moments in the campaign.
There is candid discussion of the roles of the media, the security forces and civil society. The identification of issues and their use in the campaign is discussed thoroughly. While his sympathies are never in doubt, he is very objective and acknowledges the mistakes made by the campaign, the government and the party. He credits the NDC Campaign for doing certain things well. Amongst these are the deployment of President Mills and former President Rawlings as well as Vice-President John Mahama.
He reveals the roles of key people, including the President, the Presidential candidate and powerful groups, like the “Kyebi Mafia”. He offers candid assessments of all the key players. He suggests reasons for the NPP defeat and the way to recapture power.
This will be a very significant first cut and reference point for an account of the 2008 Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in Ghana.
₵320.00 -
More Than My Scars: The Power of Perseverance, Unrelenting Faith, and Deciding What Defines You
The first thing you will notice when you meet Kechi Okwuchi is her scars. One of just two survivors of a devastating plane crash that killed more than 100 people, 16-year-old Kechi was left with third-degree burns over 65 percent of her body. More Than My Scars is her incredible story. A story of not just surviving impossible odds but thriving in a world that is too often caught up with how we look on the outside rather than seeing that our true value is within.
Now in her early 30s, Kechi has spent the last 16 years refusing to be defined by her trauma. Follow her as she decides for herself what role her scars will play in her life before society decides for her. Her strong sense of identity, rooted in seeing herself the way God sees her, has allowed her to live authentically in a world that constantly seeks to define us by its ever-changing (and ever-shallow) standards. Kechi’s story will inspire you to love and accept yourself as you are and confidently present your true self to the world.
₵330.00 -
I Speak of Freedom
A selection from the speeches of Kwame Nkrumah up to 1960, linked by narrative.
The main theme is Ghana’s independence, political freedom preparing the way for a socialist programme of economic and social development, and an intensification of the struggle for the total liberation and unification of the African continent.
₵340.00I Speak of Freedom
₵340.00