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Inside Out: Autobiographical Memoirs
The author recounts a journey that starts in a small town in Ghana, through an academic and professional career in finance in Canada and the United States, culminating at the Ministry of Finance in Ghana where he served as Technical Advisor to three different Ministers of Finance from different political parties.
The memoirs depict the complexities of decision-making that combine technical know-how with political reality using several instances of policymaking and financial transactions that he led at the Ministry. For the technical reader, the author recounts a 25-year history of his involvement in many key initiatives of financial market development in Ghana.
The sweetener in Inside Out is an interesting case study of how to navigate political transitions and maintain relevance as a senior advisor to Ministers in a “winner-takes-all” political environment.
₵150.00 -
The Children of House No. D13 South Suntresu Kumasi: An Ahwoi & Adu-Gyamfi Siblings’ Collective Biography
*Available from 15 June 2022
To describe The Children of House No. D13, South Suntresu, Kumasi, as an intriguing project is an understatement. A collective biography of eight siblings was always going to be a daunting challenge, even if each person told their own story and got it together in one volume. To do it in a coordinated combination of first and third person “voices” would appear to be a bit implausible. To actually achieve the purpose and turn it from a project into an enthralling reading experience deserves all the plaudits this book is likely to gather.
This book is a collection of life stories of the eight children of Madam Maye Charlotte Hudson, also known as Esi Tutuwa but known to some people as Esi Nkwagye and to the people of South Suntresu, Kumasi as Mrs. Ahwoi. The ‘Ahwois” principally is the collective name of three brothers – Ato, Kwesi and Kwamena – who have played prominent roles in Ghana’s recent history, but the siblings also include five girls, Ama, Adoma, Efua, Naana and Sister Aggie, who also played their part in this thrilling story in their own unique ways.
For such a collective recall of personal histories to work, a principal requirement is a willingness of all the parties involved to treat the project seriously; of equal importance is the need to treat everyone’s personal history as important, which is what this book has succeeded in doing. It would be right to describe it as an exercise in literary democracy!
It is not every book project that produces a good book, but this book has done so because at the heart of the project is a good story. And at the heart of that good story is human progress against the odds capsuled in the life of these eight individuals.
These are the dramatis personae in order of appearance – from the womb – Ato Ahwoi, Kwesi Ahwoi, Mrs. Ama Twum, Kwamena Ahwoi, Mrs. Ama Adoma Bartels-Kodwo, Mrs. Efua Bram-Larbi, Theodora Naana Adu Gyamfi and Mrs. Agnes Appiagyei-Dankah. Theodora Naana Adu-Gyamfi passed away at the age of 28 and so her role ends early except in passing references. However, it is worth recalling that before she died, and in an act that exemplifies the major theme of this book, Naana secretely transferred all the money in her own bank account into that of her six year old niece, Abena Tutuwa Ahwoi, the daughter of her brother, Kwamena.
The structure of the narrative, which makes it possible to flow, is simply to follow the fortunes of these siblings sequentially in turn through the main phases of their development. The person whose presence permeates the story is the matriarch – Mrs. Ahwoi, nee Maye Charlotte Hudson.
The book achieves the purpose of showing the “remarkable togetherness and the mutual support system that enabled the children of House No. D13, South Suntresu, Kumasi, to overcome the many hurdles along their individual paths in life as being due to their mother, Madam Maye Charlotte Hudson (Mrs. Ahwoi). Indeed, the matriarch herself is effectively the ninth subject of the biography of the eight children” as Honourable Kwame Preprah states in the Foreword.
Nana Kwasi Gyan Apenteng
Consultant in Communication, Media and Culture
Former Chairman, National Media Commission (NMC)
Former President, Ghana Association of Writers (GAW)
₵250.00 -
A Nation into Retirement: A Narrative of a Statesman
A Nation into Retirement: A Narrative of a Statesman
₵600.00 -
Revolution and Democracy in Ghana: The Politics of Jerry Rawlings
Flight-Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings, who passed away on 12 November 2020, aged 73 years, dramatically appeared on Ghana’s political scene 40 years earlier. In May 1979, Rawlings was briefly jailed following an unsuccessful coup attempt. Rawlings and his comrades were revolted by Ghana’s corruption and economic decline at the hands of its ruling generals. A few weeks later, on 4 June 1979, Rawlings was released from prison by a group of disgruntled soldiers and took power following a successful coup d’état. Following a brief, but turbulent, few months in power, Rawlings’ Armed Forces Revolutionary Council handed over to an elected government in September 1979. Twenty-seven months later, on 31 December 1981, he was back in power, again by coup d’état. This time it was not a brief stay in the hot seat: Rawlings, leader of the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), comprising three civilians and three armed forces personnel, remained in power for more than a decade. Seeking to justify the coup, Rawlings claimed that the PNDC was a necessary response to Ghana’s political and economic crisis. In January 1993, democracy returned to Ghana. Jerry Rawlings was popularly elected president twice, eventually standing down in January 2001, as the 1992 constitution demanded. Beginning his political career as a military figure with revolutionary aspirations, Rawlings ended it as a twice democratically-elected civilian president.
These are the brief facts about the political career of Flight-Lieutenant, later President, Jerry Rawlings. More than three years after his passing, Rawlings remains a pivotal, absolutely central, figure in Ghana. His enduring influence in Ghana may be second only to that of Ghana’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah. On the other hand, there is no more controversial figure in Ghana’s political and economic history than Rawlings. More than two decades after he left political office, nothing divides Ghanaians more than their opinions regarding him. This book seeks to explain how and why Rawlings and the PNDC progressed from an undemocratic military-based regime to laying the foundations for Ghana’s three decades of multi-party democracy. Was Rawlings a patriot who believed passionately in Ghana and did all he could to make the country succeed? Or was he a wrecker who wanted to bring the post-colonial edifice tumbling down in a misguided attempt at revolution? The aim of this book is to enable the reader to draw their own conclusions on these questions.
₵200.00 -
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 -
Love Lifted Me from the Street
For a young man who was born in a slum by very poor parents, access to basic necessities of life were luxuries to him; even education. To him, comfortable living was meant for a particular class of people, of which, he believed his family was far from; given the acute hardship conditions his family was going through.
This book is a memoir of the Author’s street life as a teenage school boy, whose major ordeal was to hawk on the street, sleep on the street and virtually live off at the mercy of the street.
The Author highly attributes his success story to LOVE. “Without love, I have nothing. All throughout my life, many people have in diverse ways shown me love, and that gesture of love has made me who I am today”.
Readers will uncover the “from grass to grace” success story of the Author, who, is an epitome of inspiration to many youths today.
₵60.00 -
Homeless
This book is an inspirational true story of a homeless young boy who, out of sheer tenacity, kept his eyes on EDUCATION to unlock his dreams of becoming a lawyer.
The book contains life changing stories and experiences of the Author, which in essence, emphasizes the importance of EDUCATION in the life of every child, most especially the less-privileged, underprivileged or economically disadvantaged child, whose fortunes of successful living are uncertain.
HOMELESS has been reviewed and approved by Ghana Education Service (GES) and Conference of Assisted Senior High Schools (GHASS) in Ghana as a supplementary reader for JHS, SHS, Vocational and Technical Institutions and Colleges of Education.
₵60.00Homeless
₵60.00 -
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.
₵270.00 -
Two Views from Christiansborg Castle Vol II: A Description of the Guinea Coast and its Inhabitants
Selena Axelrod Winsnes has been engaged, since 1982, in the translation into English, and editing of Danish language sources to West African history, sources published from 1697 to 1822, the period during which Denmark-Norway was an actor in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It comprises five major books written for the Scandinavian public. They describe all aspects of life on the Gold Coast [Ghana], the Middle Passage and the Danish Caribbean islands [US Virgin Islands], as seen by five different men. Each had his own agenda and mind-set, and the books, both singly and combined, hold a wealth of information – of interest both to scholars and lay readers. They provide important insights into the cultural baggage the enslaved Africans carried with them to the America’s.
One of the books, L.F. Rømer’s A Reliable Account of the Coast of Guinea was runner-up for the prestigious International Texts Prize awarded by the U.S. African Studies Association.
₵65.00 -
Contemporary Issues in Foreign Policy, Diplomacy and International Affairs
This is a collection of essays derived from a series of symposia and online webinars hosted by the Council of Foreign Relations- Ghana.
From the inaugural symposium chaired by Ambassador James Victor Gbeho, with addresses by The President of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, and Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Madam Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, the CFR-Ghana elicits interesting views and opinions from people best placed to be aware of the big picture of contemporary issues in international affairs, particularly from the perspective of how they impact our African Continent.
Totally informative and engaging, sometimes entertaining and mentally provocative, which challenges us all to seriously reflect upon contemporary issues in foreign policy, diplomacy and international affairs.
“The setting up of CFR-Ghana is long overdue and I’m glad that finally it has been done. The Executives and Founding Members are to be commended for this achievement and I wish them the very best of luck in the years to come. “
– H.E President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (President of the Republic of Ghana)
₵150.00 – ₵200.00 -
Ghana: A Concise History from Pre-Colonial Times to the 20th Century
This is a comprehensive survey of the history of Ghana from the earliest times to 1992. It discusses the evolution of the different ethnic groups and the social, economic and political institutions and systems they created. It also examines the development of state systems , their contact with the outside world and the economic , social and political consequences of that contact. It discusses the loss of political independence, the recovery of sovereignty and the emergence of the modern state of Ghana.
The study ends with an examination of the attempt by various rulers after independence to make one nation out of the people of Ghana and promote their economic and social well-being. The book has grown out of lectures the author has delivered to University students over the years. The material has, however, been written in a language that can be understood by all Senior High School students and the general public.
₵110.00 -
Destiny and Politics: A Biography of Hon. Samuel Sallas-Mensah
From a humble beginning as the son of a farmer in a relatively small town, Hon. Samuel Sallas-Mensah, four terms MP for Upper West Akim would perhaps have ended up as a farmer too. In those days, children took after their parents’ trades. Sallas got the chance to go to America and the entire course of his life changed. After a distinguished career in accountancy in the US and later in Nigeria, destiny led his way once more but this time to the country of his birth, Ghana, where eventually, a new career window opened in his life – politics.
As a Member of the Consultative Assembly his accounting and financial acumen were in evidence as he actively contributed to the District Assembly Common Fund. And as a Member of Parliament he was instrumental in instituting the live television coverage of the sitting of the Public Accounts Committee – legacies to the nation that survive today.
In this compelling biography the reader come face-to-face with this influential man of few words who is famed to have friends and access to both sides of the Ghanaian political divide. But what would Sallas be remembered for most, a politician, a chartered accountant or family man? More importantly, where else will destiny lead him to?
“Crispy-delicious narratives, refreshingly-garnished insights. This fascinating biography of a patriot never finishes astonishing you with the twists and turns. But it is the authoritative revelations about a nation and its people that makes this book destined to be relevant to the politics of Ghana.” ~ Business & Financial Times
₵45.00 -
Local Government and Decentralisation in Ghana
Developments since the publication of the First Edition of this book in 2010 have compelled the revision and publication of this Second Edition.
In 2011, the Fifth Government of the Fourth Republic launched a new ‘National Decentralisation Policy Framework’ (NDPF 1) and an accompanying National Decentralisation Action Plan’ (NDAP 1). The Local Government Service was operationalised in the same year, resulting in the migration of over 30,000 civil servants from the Civil Service to the Local Government Service.
Prior to these, the Local Government Departments of District Assemblies) (Commencement) Instrument, 2009, L.1. 1961, had been enacted, allowing for the conversion of the de concentrated Departments at the district level into devolved Departments of the District Assemblies. The Local Government (Urban, Zonal and Town Councils and Unit Committees) (Establishment) Instrument, L.1. 1967, was enacted in 2010. The long-awaited Composite Budget was introduced in 2012.
With the expiry of the NDPF 1/NDAP I in 2014, a new NDPF 11/NDAP 11 was launched in 2015 for the period 2015-2019.
A new Local Government (Sub-Metropolitan District Councils of Metropolitan Assemblies (SMDCs)) (Establishment, Composition and Functions) Instrument, 2015. 11. 2223, was enacted to provide for uniform composition and functions for the SMDCs in all the six Metropolitan Assemblies.
A National Development Planning (System) Regulations, 2016, enacted to support the National Development Planning and Act, 1994, 148. A Land Use and Spatial Planning Act, 2016, Act 925, was passed to establish a Land Use and Spatial Planning Authority and to devolve the Department of Country Planning to the MMDAs.
The disparate laws on local government were consolidated into one Local Governance Act, 2016, Act 936. A new Sports Act 2016, Act 934 and a new decentralised National Youth Authority Act 939 were also enacted.
It is these reforms that the Second Edition of the book has sought to capture, in addition to some elaborations on some of the theoretical underpinnings of local government and decentralisation in Ghana. The sections of Acton Civil Society Organisations and Non-State Actors and Women in Local Governance have been improved. Some aspects of the proposals of the Constitutional Review Commission on local government and decentralisation have been used. Some textual changes have also been made.
₵95.00 -
Convention People’s Party Handbook: African Revolution Party (1949-1999)
The first fifty years of the CPP – a historical account.
₵170.00 -
Kwame Nkrumah: Contributions to the African Revolution
Drawing on the published works, correspondence and speeches of Kwame Nkrumah, as well as on contemporary press reportage during Nkrumah’s final months in Ghana, Doreatha Mbalia offers a view of the theory and practice of the visionary proponent of a united African continent.
This work traces the development Mbalia sees in Nkrumah’s theory and practice, from the early formation of his unique ideology that emphasises the crucial role of socialism in the progress towards a united African continent, to the coup that ended his Presidency of Ghana and his subsequent belief that the people of Africa must, when diplomatic and political means had failed, raise arms against neo-colonialism. Mbalia urges that Nkrumah’s vision still points the way to Pan-African unity.
₵570.00