Recommended Items
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Southern African Liberation Struggles 1960-1994 (Contemporaneous Documents, 9 Volumes)
These 9 volumes are the most comprehensive historical record of the liberation struggles in southern Africa. Comprising 2.4 million words in 5,394 pages, they record interviews with liberation fighters and supporters in the Frontline states and the extraordinary sacrifices they made so that Africa could at last be free. With the fall of the South African apartheid regime, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) identified the need to record the experiences of the liberation struggles in Southern Africa, from 1960 until that final liberation in 1994. To that end, SADC launched the Hashim Mbita Project – named after the last Executive Secretary of the OAU Liberation Committee.
The research covered liberation movements in the countries which engaged in liberation wars, the Frontline states and Extension countries; and the Research Project team comprised members from the SADC mainland states of Angola, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho and Swaziland. The support received from other regions is documented: Anglophone West Africa, Francophone Africa, North Africa, East Asia, Canada and the United States, Cuba and the Caribbean, the German Democratic Republic (GDR), Nordic Countries, Western Europe, the Soviet Union, Non-Aligned Movement: India, Yugoslavia, Indonesia, Sri lanka; Organisation of African Unity and United Nations.
₵3,000.00 -
Remnants of a Haunted Past: Forts and Castles of Ghana (Photo Book, Hardcover)
Yaw Pare is a celebrated Ghanaian photographer. This ground-breaking book richly illustrates the history and legacies of Ghana’s forts and castles through photography. In the same way that the forts and castles themselves bear witness to the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and slavery, so too do these photographs provide compelling material and visual testimonies, offering possibilities for understanding that words do not.
In this book, the photographer’s camera captures a reality that many choose to remember but just as many choose to forget. Ultimately, Remnants of a Haunted Past: Forts and Castles of Ghana constitutes an attempt to document the past so that it is never forgotten in the present.
₵1,250.00 – ₵1,450.00Remnants of a Haunted Past: Forts and Castles of Ghana (Photo Book, Hardcover)
₵1,250.00 – ₵1,450.00 -
Kwahu State Book: Asaase Aban (Hardcover)
Information captured in the Kwahu State Book entails the history of Kwahu paramountcy including the five divisions of the Kwahu Traditional Area namely Adonten, Nifa, Benkum, Kyidom and the Gyase division; with histories of royal families, towns and villages under the divisions mentioned are well captured. Towns captured include Abene, Abetifi, Obo, Aduamoa, Pepease, Atibie, Bokuruwa, Nkwatia, Obomeng, Bepong, Asakraka, Kwahu Tafo, Pitiko, Akwasiho, Mpraeso, Twenedurase, Kotoso, Jejeti, Oframase, Awenare, Nkorkoor (Nkawkaw), Nteso, Tease, Kwahu Praso, just to mention few. The book also presents histories of the Zongo Community of Kwahu, the Okwawu Football Club, churches, schools and profiles of the prominent personalities (the Kwahu Golden members) of Kwahu.
The Kwahu State Book has fourteen (14) sections with each segmenting several topics and sub-topics about the history and cultural practices of the Kwahu Traditional Area. Other information in the book include chronology of chiefs and genealogy (family tree) of all the royal families. All of these have been codified into a single voluminous book of over 2,800 pages. It is the first of its kind in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa.
All of these have been codified into a single voluminous book of over 2,800 pages. It is the first of its kind in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa.
₵1,300.00 -
The Mkapa Years: Collected Speeches (3-Volume Box Set, Hardcover)
This collection of speeches, in three volumes, by the third President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Benjamin William Mkapa (1995–2005), will serve primarily as reference documents to the vision of what he attempted to achieve in his ten years of leadership. His tenure as a leader came at a time when Tanzania’s economy was in dire condition. The legacy of the command economy, which had been in place for much of the 1970s and 1980s, was still felt. There was resistance to change to adopt a market economy, evident in the political tensions and debates about privatisation, an approach following Structural Adjustment Programmes, imposed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, that had led to stagnation of the economy, high inflation, deteriorating health, education, communication, and transport sector services, as well as general gloom in the country especially among the poor. The bold steps he took during the first half of his administration did not immediately endear him to the public. However, in the ensuing years, slowly but steadily, positive results were achieved, and the social cost of change that the people had endured was appreciated. Relations with development partners and the multilateral agencies that before he took office had sunk to the lowest ebb were restored, and Tanzania, which was no longer unfit to borrow, received the largest debt relief ever and henceforth. Tanzania was on its way to new growth potentials and a vibrant private sector-led economy.
These collected speeches tell this story and tell it well, in great prose laced with wit and quotations from world political and literary sources, which is an evidence of his erudition as a literature student and journalist.
₵850.00 -
Revolutionary Path
This book was compiled during the last two years of the author’s life. It was begun in response to many requests for a single volume which would contain key documents, some of them previously unpublished, which would illustrate landmarks in his career as a leading theorist and activist of the world socialist revolutionary struggle.
Among the documents included in Parts One and Two are Editorials from the Accra Evening News, What I Mean by Positive Action, The Motion of Destiny, The Dawn Broadcast, and the full text of other important speeches and broadcasts. Introductory sections to each document provide further insight into the political thinking of this great revolutionary Pan Africanist.
₵850.00Revolutionary Path
₵850.00 -
Neo-Colonialism: The Last Stage of Imperialism (African Writers Series, AWS49)
This is the book which, when first published in 1965, caused such an uproar in the US State Department that a sharp note of protest was sent to Kwame Nkrumah, and the $25million of American “aid” to Ghana was promptly cancelled. It exposes the working of international monopoly capitalism in Africa and shows how the stranglehold of foreign monopolies perpetuates the paradox of Africa: poverty in the midst of plenty.
₵810.00
Best Seller Items
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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 -
The UT Story: Humble Beginnings – Vol 1 (Hardcover)
How does an Army Captain who failed to obtain a ₵20 million (about $20,000) loan from the banks, set up a successful finance house and cause such a monumental paradigm shift to the lending culture of a country?
Capt. Prince Kofi Amoabeng(Rtd) defied the odds to found Unique Trust Financial Services Limited, which was later rebranded to UT Financial Services Limited and metamorphosed into a Bank (UT Bank) under the UT Holdings Umbrella together with subsidiaries in Germany, South Africa and Nigeria.
In this first instalment of a series of memoirs, PK, as he was affectionately called by his fiercely loyal and dedicated team, shares an inspiring, in-depth, no-holds-barred, behind the scenes, unabashed account of how and what made UT a household name and impacted so many lives.
Written with George Bentum Essiaw, a tenacious, talented writer and filmmaker, The UT Story: Humble Beginnings is replete with profound lessons in entrepreneurship and leadership, employing an effective mixture of orthodox and unorthodox methods grounded firmly in time-tested military principles.
Whatever your background or occupation, this book will fascinate and inspire you to dare.
₵200.00 -
When I Grow Up
Age Range: 2-9 years
When I Grow Up is a comprehensive colorful book that introduces tots and tykes to the world of Careers. This book graphically illustrates various professions and vocations while simple rhythmic phrases describe these professions.
₵50.00When I Grow Up
₵50.00 -
Dark Days in Ghana
Kwame Nkrumah, foremost exponent of African unity and socialism, never saw Ghana in isolation from the rest of Africa or from the world revolutionary struggle.
In Dark Days in Ghana, he exposed the true nature of the military-police dictatorship that was established after the overthrow of Ghana’s Constitutional Government on 24th February 1966, setting the event in the context of the wider continental and world situation.
Dark Days in Ghana demolishes the “big lie” that Ghana had needed to be rescued from “economic chaos”. Nkrumah recounts the systematic sell-out of Ghana’s assets to neo-colonialist interests by the military-police junta, and the subsequent reduction of Ghana from democratic statehood to the humiliating position of neo-colony.
Since this book was first published, Ghana has had several governments − military and civilian. None have succeeded in restoring Ghana to the position it occupied in Africa and the world during Nkrumah’s stewardship.
This and other works of Nkrumah demonstrate the accuracy of Nkrumah’s political and philosophical vision, and the clarity of his understanding of the problems and possibilities for all those resisting oppression and exploitation throughout the world, and for the continuing development of continental African unity.
₵120.00Dark Days in Ghana
₵120.00 -
The UT Story: Building A Winning Team – Volume 2 (Hardcover)
*Available from 23rd February
In this second instalment of Capt. Prince Kofi Amoabeng’s (Rtd) memoirs, he discusses in painstaking detail, how he led his team to consolidate the gains made in the early days. He also dwells on how he established a unique corporate culture mainly through leading by example, and how essential that corporate culture was to the sustenance and growth of the business.PK, as he was affectionately called by his team, lays bare UT’s ambitious expansion drive which culminated in establishing branches in nearly all the regions of Ghana as well as the founding of subsidiaries in Nigeria, South Africa, and Germany.
If the first instalment of the UT Story was delightful and inspiring, this second instalment is insightful, touching and thought-provoking. And as always, it is an in-depth, no-holds-barred, unabashed account driven by the enigmatic figure of Capt. Prince Kofi Amoabeng (Rtd).
Written with George Bentum Essiaw, an award-winning writer, author and filmmaker.
₵250.00 -
The Fourth John: Reign, Rejection & Rebound
An influential northern caucus is secretly meeting and grooming him to contest the man who will select him as a vice presidential candidate. A meeting between the first lady and the Brong-Ahafo caucus results in, perhaps, the fastest ministerial reshuffle in the history of the country. At 2a.m., before the breaking of a major scandal, there is a meeting between the president’s friend and the investigative journalist about how to involve the main opposition leader, in the story to minimise its damage to the president in the upcoming election. The wife of the president reports the wife of the vice president to the vice president’s mother. The night before a crucial election, the president and his main contender are locked up in a meeting with Ghana’s most revered traditional ruler.
These and other revealing accounts on governance, policies and programmes of the fourth presidency of Ghana’s Fourth Republic are the intriguing contents of this book. Here, the journalist whose investigations are believed to have contributed to the downfall of the administration gets brutally intimate with the regime.
Rare interviews with key figures of the governing party and historical contexts to contemporary events provide readers and students of African politics the inside story of what is considered the model democracy on the continent. The fluidity of the writing style and humour make this book about politics and governance in Ghana’s Fourth Republic both informative, educative and entertaining.
₵300.00
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Special Book Launch Set: Autographed Hardcover of From Achinakrom to Pro-Vice Chancellor (plus paperback and Emancipation book)
This is a special launch set – limited – that includes an autographed copy of the hardcover of Prof Florence Dolphyne’s new autobiography, a paperback version of the autobiography and a copy of her best-selling book The Emancipation of Women: An African Perspective.
Blurb for the Autobiography
An autobiography serves the purpose of relating experiences of the writer. These are usually personal experiences and readers can draw inspiration from such experiences.
This is a book written by a renowned academician, but unlike many books written by academics, it reads like a story written by an accomplished novelist. It tells the story of a girl of very humble parentage who was able, by dint of hard work and divine providence, to make it to the very apex of academia. It is a book that tells the story of ‘Mmofraturo’, synonymous with the training of girls to influence their world before the advent of militant feminism. It is a story that gives another peep at the practice of racism in Europe.
But then, it is also the book that confirms the subtle discrimination that women are often subjected to in our education system, even at the highest level.
Moreover, it is a story that tells the history of the practice of education in Ghana over a number of decades. Then, the writer draws us into the age-old issue of family life, foster children, biological children, and the Ghanaian family set up.
From Achinakrom to Pro-Vice Chancellor is a book about friendship and love that tells the story of women, individually and in groups trying to help make others enjoy the life of work and leisure. Furthermore, this book gives a hint that speaking one’s first language can be the source of the survival of an individual in certain critical situations.
This inspiring story is also a personal history of Ghana from pre-independence by someone who has helped to shape Ghana’s education system, women’s rights during the UN Decade for Women, and human rights through Ghana’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It is a story of a phenomenal woman who has made Ghana and Achinakrom proud.
₵200.00 -
Joy Comes in the Morning
Coping with the loss of a loved one can be devastating. In this authentic account, the author describes the various stages in dealing with the loss of a loved one. In addition, she addresses countless trials that are bound to take place during the period of loss, the highs and lows of grieving and how to start the process of healing.
Her encounter with people from all walks of life going through the same ordeal encompassed with her personal experience ignited the flame within her to share her story and her journey.
You don’t have to languish in uncertainty. You can shake off the dust and move on to accomplish your life’s purpose and set goals. You will be energized to move on, and chart a new future through the darkness and uncertainties until you finally wake up to the truest, purest joy that comes in the morning which only God can give.
₵45.00Joy Comes in the Morning
₵45.00 -
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 -
What Life Has Taught Me At 40: Timeless Principles That Will Forever Change Your Life
Life begins at 40! Hurray! Kofi shares startling insights of what life has taught him at 40. A medley of epic experiences, the stimulating narration in this book shows in vivid dimensions the uncharted path to life’s journey success. Kofi’s life experiences do not only tell his story, but teach valuable principles that will enrich your life for great success. You’ll have new insights in following focal perspectives of the book:
- Why Good People Die Too Early
- Finding Your Financial Freedom
- Defying the Limitations of Life
- Becoming Globally Competitive
- Developing a Generational Mindset
- Developing Roots before You Bear Fruits
- Personal Strategic Plan
₵50.00 -
The Boy from Boadua: One African’s Journey of Hunger and Sacrifice in Pursuit of a Dream
*Available from 7 February 2023
Patrick Asare was born and raised by illiterate parents in the remote Ghanaian village of Boadua. His family was so large and impoverished that not even the earnings from crushing hard work could buy enough food to fill their bellies. No one in the village aspired to be educated beyond middle school.
Until Patrick.
Numerous obstacles stood in the way of Patrick’s yearning for higher knowledge, including gnawing hunger, lack of sleep, and backbreaking daily chores. During school vacations, he toiled in a jungle farm teeming with poisonous snakes and insects.
Dedicating every stolen moment to study, Patrick passed the common entrance exam with flying colors. Despite major setbacks, he kept his eye on the prize. He graduated from an elite secondary school and earned his engineering degree in the Soviet Union during the perestroika era. Finding his way to the United States, he taught Russian and math and eventually obtained a superb education from top American universities.
Patrick’s travels and adventures taught him that, regardless of his hardscrabble childhood, he was a lucky man. He was raised by loving and supportive parents and lived in a society where race was not an issue. Teaching in inner-city high schools alerted him to the particular challenges faced by America’s urban Black youth.
Patrick’s amazing story offers insights, hope, and inspiration to others who face astronomical odds.
₵180.00 -
Accra Aca Blɛoo: The History of the Accra Academy from James Town to Bubiashie (Hardcover)
Accra Aca Bleoo – the first comprehensive history book on the Accra Academy – captures nine decades of the school’s history, including the most epic events and pivotal moments. It takes the reader through the life journeys of the founders and those who believed in their dream to educate the underprivileged youth of the Gold Coast. It also recounts the aspirations and achievements of successive administrations of the school and how they overcame the challenges of their time and influenced the character of their students.
The book brings to light several unknown facts about the Accra Academy and examines the educational policies that have influenced its development and growth.
It is not only informative and educative but also entertaining, as it is interspersed with interesting stories and several pictures that will undoubtedly take the minds of alumni back to the good old days and give other readers a perspective into how life in the school has evolved.
This book is the outcome of many hours of personal interviews and research, and is intended for anyone interested in the history of education in Ghana and what has made the Accra Academy what it is today.
₵250.00 -
Idia of the Benin Kingdom (Our Ancestories)
Age Range: 4 – 12 years
- Children’s Africana Book Awards (CABA) – 2021 Winner – Best Books for Young Children
- Wishing Shelf Book Award – 2020 Finalist
- Kidsshelf Book Cover Award -2020 Winner
- Eric Hoffer Award – Honourable Mention (Children’s Category) First Horizon Finalist Grand Prize Short List
“She became a queen, a warrior, the first woman to fight for the kingdom, and the first Iyoba (Queen Mother) of Benin.”
What do you know about African History?
African history spans thousands of years, has been moulded by many intelligent artists, scientists, and thinkers, and is bound to fascinate you.
Explore the history of Africa in a way that will be more memorable and enjoyable than what you get from traditional textbooks.
Idia of the Benin Kingdomis an empowering children’s picture book (loved by kids ages 4-12) that takes readers on a beautifully illustrated journey to the 1500s in ancient Africa. Readers are captivated as they watch Idia transform herself from the young and curious daughter of a village warrior to becoming the Queen of the Kingdom of Benin.
Idia was an actual queen who helped rule the ancient kingdom of Benin with her wisdom, charisma, and prowess. Much has been written about her bravery, and artefacts in her image are treasured in museums all over the world.
This book imagines what her childhood may have been like, and shares the story of this well-loved and successful African queen in a way that is relatable to young readers.
₵45.00 -
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 -
Art and the Power of Goodness: A Collection of John Agyekum Kufuor (Hardcover)
**Available from 16 June 2021
FOREWORD BY GORDON BROWN, Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
There is a strong correlation between art and power and in this book, Ivor Agyeman-Duah, a cultural and literary historian, looks at it from the art collection of the former President of Ghana – John Agyekum Kufuor.
From a matrilineal household in Kumasi that is connected to the visual and palace art in the ancient imperial Kingdom of Ashanti, Kufuor travelled the world from Oxford into the pantheon of great personages and power. Along the way, whether in villages in Ethiopia or among the Maasai in Kenya, across the Maghreb into Morocco, infatuation with the Persia classical period, Ottoman or Asia Minor’s remains of modern day Turkey, northern Lebanon and parts of Greater Asia, some of these acquisitions came by way of gifts and purchases.
They reflect family life and belief, ancient trade relations and routes as well as patterns of contemporary geo-politics. It could be through Benin bronze sculpture with facial stratifications or of metal smelted Malian Islamic crusaders on horseback or a herdsman from a Sahel water well.
These works, seventy of which form the basis of this book with few external ones, include resistance art in the fashion of the ‘empire fights back’ against British West African colonial conflict engagements and resultant Independence.
₵200.00 -
Red Oak Heroes Series: The Big Six
Age Range: 10 – 14 years
When Mintaa and Oforiwaa approach Grandpa Kwame under the mango tree and ask him to tell them about the Big Six, the old man turns off his radio and takes them through events following World War II till the night when Dr. Kwame Nkrumah said “At long last, the battle has ended! And, thus, Ghana, our beloved country is free forever.”
Grandpa Kwame answers all their questions about the identity of the men who are famously known as The Big Six. He also tells them about the contribution each member of The Big Six made towards the fight for independence. Do you know that some of the men died in prison? Mintaa and Oforiwaa now understand why the pictures of these men are on most of Ghana’s currency notes.₵25.00 -
5 Ghanaian Presidents and China: Patterns, Pitfalls, and Possibilities
In Five Ghanaian Presidents and China, Lloyd Amoah tackles China’s meteoric rise to global prominence and what this means for African countries including Ghana. Focusing on Ghana’s relations with China over the last sixty years, the work discusses and interrogates how generations of Ghana’s leaders, from Kwame Nkrumah to Akufo-Addo, have approached the China question since the 1950s.Combining archival data, policy information, interviews and conversations with former Ghanaian presidents, scholars and high state officials, with the sounds and sights from his long years of travel through China and intimate observation of Ghanaian policy formation processes, Amoah, finds that ultimately Ghana’s engagement with China is a matter of strategy. In this work the case is made that descriptions of China’s engagement with Africa as “neo-colonial” are both alarmist and simplistic. Five Ghanaian Presidents offers a far more nuanced account and shines some light on how African and other countries in the Global South can exploit China’s tectonic reshaping of global trade, technology, diplomacy, finance, politics, business and economics.
₵200.00 -
Consciencism: Philosophy and Ideology for Decolonisation
Revised, and with a new Author’s Note written in Conakry
Kwame Nkrumah, always in the vanguard of the African Revolution, has not only been at the centre of its political action, but has formulated its ideology. In this book he expresses his philosophical beliefs, relating them to the special problems of Africa, and states his case for scientific socialism as the essential and logical development from Africa’s socio-political heritage.₵570.00 -
A Beacon of Hope: Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Dreams
Prepare to embark on a remarkable journey as you dive into the captivating memoir of the legendary actor, Frederick Nii Yaatey Amugi. This book opens the door to his extraordinary life, offering not only a glimpse into his illustrious career but also invaluable insights and wisdom earned along the way. From the humblest beginnings to the grandest stages, Fred Amugi’s story is a testament to the transformative power of pushing beyond the confines of conventional success.
With heartfelt anecdotes, practical advice, and behind-the-scenes tales, this memoir serves as an unmissable source of inspiration. Whether you’re an aspiring actor hungry for wisdom or simply in search of motivation, this book is your guide to breaking through boundaries and leaving an indelible mark in your chosen field. Get ready to be entertained, inspired, and motivated by the incredible journey of the legendary Fred Amugi. Your extraordinary reading adventure begins here!₵200.00 -
Woven
In Woven, Dr. Suzy highlights the fact that every life story is unique and even the no-so-pleasant experiences serve a purpose in shaping us. She maintains a rich balance between sharing her life experiences and observations in tandem with the thoughts and experiences of others.
Every chapter is laced with present-day ins and outs of our daily activities and social issues. Certain parts are instructional, you would catch yourself asking questions of yourself and doing loads of self-assessment. If you care deeply about personal development, Woven should be on your reading list.₵200.00Woven
₵200.00 -
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