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Africa: A Continent on Bended Knees
Not content with debating his peers on diverse platforms to articulate his critical concerns on the Pan-African agenda, outspoken Son of the Soil, Femi Akomolafe has produced this development reference book.
Africa: A Continent on Bended Knees weaves together a collection of thought-provoking articles, which must entice anyone blessed with a black skin and a conscious soul.
How can Africa unleash its power to a world that is in need of the continent’s energies and authenticities? Focusing on Ghana, where the author is based, if he is not in the Netherlands, the publication explores the socio-economic development of Africa. Presenting detailed scrutiny on the most imperative issues, the observations, analysis and reflections advocate for one thing – change. Be it history, culture, education, entrepreneurship or good old politics, the issues are clinically diagnosed, and the prescriptions laced with the tonics of thinkers such as Sartre, Foucault, Diop and Nkrumah.
The beauty of this volume is that the writer does not pretend to brandish the silver bullet to change the fortunes of nations. He only lifts up a compass to show that the Destination is possible.
₵120.00 -
The Fear of Failure: An Autobiography
From Agomanya in the Eastern Region of Ghana, a 65 year old J. P. Adjimani narrates his life and how his fear of failure spurred him on instead of derailing him. In his autobiography, the biochemist unravels why he was never promoted to be a professor despite having a 28-year admirable career in Ghana’s premier university, University of Ghana.
₵80.00 -
1947-1957: The Story of Ghana’s Independence
“I never realized what a prolonged battle I would have with the politicians, chiefs and people of the Gold Coast in order to give them the independence for which they have been clamouring all these years. Now they are going to have it whether they like it or not” – Sir Charles Arden-Clarke (Governor of the Gold Coast, 1949-1957)
What would have influenced the above statement by the last Governor of the Gold Coast, which reveals the complicated, frustrating and tortuous trajectory of the last decade in the struggle for Ghana’s independence? This book, 1947-1957: The Story of Ghana’s Independence, not only answers this question but critically examines the roots of the nationalist movement and the role plays by several individuals, including Arden-Clarke himself and the various political organizations that led to the independence of the Gold Coast from British rule on March 6, 1957.
₵160.00 -
Sharing Knowledge and Experience: A Profile of Kwabena Nketia – Scholar and Music Educator
Kwabena Nketia was a renowned scholar, linguist, composer, poet, researcher, teacher and musicologist in Ghana. His writings have become standard reference works on African musicology, and his work spanned many countries and interests. Nketia maintained a strong interest in Afro-American concerns, African musical traditions and Africans and blacks in the diaspora; and he worked tirelessly on establishing a theoretical framework of African music; consciousness of African identity in music; and to produce publications representing his own musical culture.
This biography concentrates on the educational and research aspects of Nketia’s work, assessing the importance of his contribution to African musicology, thought on music education, and practical application of ethnomusicology and composition in teaching method, and exercises in African rhythm.
₵25.00 -
The African Predicament: Collected Essays
This collection of Kofi Awoonor’s writings comprises essays written over a period of three decades, and includes several previously unpublished pieces. According to the author himself: ‘[they] reflect a life-time of engagement in literature and politics, my two passions…’
Kofi Awoonor addresses a diverse range of subjects from an African perspective: the slave trade, post-independence history, globalisation, and the fate of the African continent given the twin scourges of poverty and HIV/AIDS. Literary criticism considers the legacy of W.E.B DuBois, and in a contemporary context, Kofi Anyidoho’s poetry. Further essays are reflections composed during the author’s long sojourns in the US: on Negro, Afro-American, black, African-American and African and identities. Further essays cover historical and political topics, such as the overthrow of Nkrumah, and the UN in relation to Africa in the post-Cold War period.
₵70.00 -
Guns Over Kigali: The Rwandese Civil War -1994 (A Personal Account)
The world has come to know about the carnage and human suffering in Rwanda through the reportage by newsmen. Guns Over Kigali is no such reportage. It is personal account of a UN peacekeeping soldier who was in the thick of the action to bring sanity into a country that had gone berserk.
Major General Anyidoho, the author of this book, survived the mayhem and the hectic moments in Rwanda and tells the world the true story of the events as he saw them. What is valuable in his account are the lessons he draws which have profound implications for UN peacekeeping around the world. Students in military institutions, researchers in war studies, politicians, policy makers, relief NGOs and the general reader interested in international relations will find this book a compelling and very useful reading.
In Rwanda the author was the Deputy Force Commander and Chief of Staff of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR) where he collected the material for this book.
₵70.00 -
Kwame Nkrumah: Africa’s Man of the Millennium
This book seeks to review various presentations made about the life of the man who led this country in her march towards independence and caught the imagination of the entire continent in the 1960s as he advocated and pushed the frontiers towards continental unity.
The man at the centre of it all – Kwame Nkrumah – is captured in all his facets; his humble beginnings, studies abroad, his return home to work with the UGCC, his political agitations, tenure of office as Leader of Government Business, Prime Minister and President, his removal from office and the role played by internal and external forces, his days in exile, his death and other aspects of his life. These are all presented with a view to enable the reader learn some history as well as good lessons of life.
Interestingly, though largely seen as the first universal African of the 19th Century, Kwame Nkrumah was actually a man of two halves; much loved and much hated all at the same time. How a single personality could be viewed in that manner is better appreciated by reading the book.
₵150.00 -
Hilla Limann: Scholar, Diplomat, Statesman – A Biography
Prof Ivan Addae-Mensah’s biography of Dr. Hilla Limann is a masterpiece. It comprehensively fills a gap in a period of our history that not much has been written on. For those scholars, students, politicians, researchers, interested in the governance, political history, economic development and international relations of Ghana, this is a must read. — His Excellency D.K. Osei (Former Ghana Ambassador to Denmark and the Scandinavian Countries, Former Secretary to Ex- President J.A. Kufuor and Diplomat in Residence, Legon Centre for International Affairs and Diplomacy)
The greatest value of this biography lies in the fact that this is a contribution by a person who was first and foremost a friend, and also worked closely with him before, during and after his presidency. Addae-Mensah’s Hilla Limann validates the ancestral saying that: “life is lived but understood backwards.” It contributes toward finding leadership and governance in Africa. To be African is to derive pain from this biography. It shocks and traumatizes. Who are we? Was independence worth it? What was the struggle about and for? Reading this biography shows the urgent need for an energizing vision to get rid of the demons of despair and redeem the worth of Africa for Africans. — Nana Kobina Nketsia V (Senior Lecturer in History, University of Cape Coast and Omanhen of Essikado Traditional Area)
We should honour those who have laboured hard for Ghana and not for self. It is no use preaching against corruption when those who are not corrupt have nothing but penury to show when they leave office. The example of Dr Limann would be of no avail unless it strengthens our will to establish an appropriate pension for retired presidents. — Ambassador K.B. Asante (Public Servant, Diplomat, Educationist, Politician)
₵100.00 -
Ahwene Pa Nkasa: Standing with JDM
Standing with JDM is quite clear in this title that it does not intend to undermine the former president’s image but to burnish it. What is not clear is whether it was written to coincide with the 2020 Election Year.
It is in two parts, “The Homeland Briefs” and the “Diplomatic Briefs”. Independent of each other, they are held together by what the author calls the “Mahamarabilia” thread – a word he invented to describe his privileged proximity to the 4th president of the 4th Republic of Ghana.
Part One has 42 chapters that highlight events like Dumsor, Gitmo 2, Montie 3, Cheating at Elections, Lying and Blaming it on Mahama, Destroying friends and Family and much, much more…It also has intellectual discourses on Traditional Governance and the Ballot Box, Kigali (dangers that could be awaiting Ghana in this Election Year), Ebola and Covid-19 and the history of Ghana’s “coodetas” in new lights that would surprise and reveal…
Part Two, with 25 chapters, is devoted entirely to the author’s diplomatic service and reads sometimes like a coursebook on practical diplomacy and other times like a travelogue with intriguing insights. We come across his encounter with a sex change person (man to woman) and how his life was nearly cut short when his official car and ostrich crashed into each other on the highway from Windhoek to Gaborone. Part Two is so suffused with humour that it is difficult to tell whether he is pulling the reader’s leg or stating facts.
Most of the chapters are illustrated with unique pictures that could stand on their own as stories. It is a beautifully designed book, well laid out reader-friendly. For the first time, a modern version of adinkra, called adinshia, has had a public airing in the book…
Whatever your political persuasion is, your intellect will make you love this beautiful book on Mahama.₵120.00 -
Women’s Leadership in Post-Conflict Liberia: My Journey (Hardcover)
The realities of trying to institutionalize reform in Liberia after 14 years of civil war comes alive in this book, particularly given the capacity constraints the author had to work with – what she describes as the “no money syndrome” coupled with the human and institutional capacity challenges she faced after a prolonged absence of almost 25 years working and living in the Diaspora.
This book is a must-read for all women (and men) who need guidance and mentoring on the challenges, consequences and sacrifices required to stand up for one’s convictions.
₵60.00 -
Fire from the North: The Origins, Growth, Development & Influence of Assemblies of Ghana, Ghana (Hardcover)
This book examines the origins, growth and development of the Assemblies of Ghana, Ghana and its influence on the Ghanaian society from the church’s inception in 1931 to 2014. It is the most comprehensive and up-to-date scholarly work ever documented on the history, growth and influence of the Assemblies of God, Ghana. Tracing the origins of the Assemblies of God in Ghana, the author narrates thoroughly researched finding on how the church found her way from the United States of America to Ghana.
The book provides a well-researched discourse on the influence of the Assemblies of God on the Ghanaian society. This covers the domains of socio-economic, political, cultural and religious influences of the church, through its branches and agencies, on the larger society of Ghana.
As the first comprehensive historical study of one of the largest Pentecostal denominations in Ghana, it makes a significant contribution to an understanding of Pentecostalism in Ghana and, by extension, Africa.
₵100.00 -
Working with Rawlings
Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings burst on the Ghanaian political scene with a failed military mutiny on May 15th, 1979. On June 4th 1979, following a successful uprising staged by junior officers and other ranks of the Ghana Armed Forces, he emerged as the Chairman of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) which ruled Ghana for three months and handed over to a civilian constitutional government on 24th September 1979. On 31st December 1981, he overthrew the constitutional government and formed the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) as the Government of Ghana. He was elected a constitutional President in 1992 and assumed office as such on 7th January 1993. He served two terms as President of the Republic of Ghana, finally leaving office on 6th January 2001.
Jerry John Rawlings is an enigma. It was a privilege working with him and being close to him. He and I went through many exciting experiences together. I have documented some of those experiences in this book. But there are many other experiences which I have not documented either because they belong to the realm of confidentiality or of privacy. What I have documented, however, is enough to give present and future leaders some ideas about governance at the highest levels; the dos and don’ts of governance; the skills required for governance and the importance of human relations as a leadership trait.
This is not a book about Jerry John Rawlings. It is not a book about Kwamena Ahwoi. It is not a book about the PNDC. It is not a book about the NDC. It is a book about Kwamena Ahwoi working with Jerry John Rawlings; our working relationship; our ups and downs and our joint commitment to building a better Ghana than the one we found it. Somewhere along the line, we drifted apart. This book is about that as well. It is my hope that Ghana’s leaders of today and our leaders of the future will learn some lessons from my account of Working with Rawlings, leaving out the negatives and accentuating the positives.
₵150.00Working with Rawlings
₵150.00 -
Ahafo & Bono Regions In Historical Perspective
In the centre of Ghana once straddled the Brong-Ahafo Region. It was noted for its beautiful geographical features as well as its rich natural and human resources. The maxim, unity in diversity, a cherished Ghanaian quintessential trait, was exemplified in the region by the peaceful and harmonious coexistence of multiple ethnic groups. On the eve of its Diamond Jubilee, the Region was split into three: Bono, Bono East and Ahafo Regions to promote the speedy development of the area.
This book gives a historical overview of the erstwhile region with respect to culture, its achievements and legacy. It also showcases the endowments of the new regions carved out of it. The contents are rich in information, data and photographs of historic people and events which historians, politicians, scholars, tourists, and people interested in issues concerning indigenous African societies and the general reader, will find to be invaluable.
“This book provides a succinct glimpse into the erstwhile Brong-Ahafo Region in terms of history, achievements and legacy and also showcases the resources of the three new regions created out of Brong-Ahafo. Through the pages of this book, we can always remember our past, our common history and ancestry, and thereby remain united although physically we will be in separate regions.” – From the Foreword
₵70.00 -
Ghana: A Tortuous Walk from Colonial Rule to Self Government and After – An Observer’s View
In Ghana: A Tortuous Walk from Colonial Rule to Self-Government and After – An Observer’s View, the author takes the stand of an engaged citizen who watched the closing transformation of tribal states into colonial Gold Coast, and its metamorphosis into independent Republic of Ghana. Through his attachment to his nation, and from the perspective of an observer of the political process, he emotively describes the procession of events, the people and passions that brought the momentous occasion of independence, the dashing of hopes as political stability was continually disrupted through coup d’etats, and the character and contributions of the various regimes that took over the leadership of Ghana. He takes us on a walk through the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and now the 4th Republic, and describes the promises that the present dispensation of democracy makes to the Ghanaian. His presentation of how present-day Ghana has evolved explains the mixed emotions of anxiety and hope that shape the national outlook and the consistent angst exuding through fractious political groupings.
The book is a must read for every person who wishes to know and understand the various events that have shaped the Ghana of the early 21st century.
₵50.00 -
Pilgrims of the Night: Development Challenges and Opportunities in Africa (Hardcover)
Africa’s development process has and continues to be like walking through a thick forest made obscure by institutional weakness, social challenges and capacity gaps. Sustainable development should be in the hands of Africans and outside support as a critical compliment. Getting the navigation right is paramount in the face of emerging challenges so well covered in this undoubtedly important and highly recommended book. The authors argue that Africa must control its own precious natural resources, reform its government institutions, modify its trade and economic relations and form new relationships with emerging economies in order to improve conditions on the continent.
₵80.00