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Seven Stories and More: Family, Ethnicity and Politics in the Life of an African Lawyer – A Memoir
Seven Stories is a memoir by Azanne Kofi Akainyah broken into interwoven stories that constitute a life defined by a combination of grit, determination, hope and adversity all ground together into a most memorable tale. It is a book full of dramatic turns and twists. As with all good biographies, Seven Stories enlightens the reader about the context and milieu of the time and times in which the actions take place and their ramifications. Some of the passages in the book have a dramatic and cinematic quality. The reader is transported into the story. Many of the characters mentioned are drawn with such skill that the reader is left with the feeling that he also knows them. This is writing of the highest quality and distinction.
Nana Kwasi Gyan-Appenteng
Former Chairman of National Media Commission, GhanaThe ability of the author to keep the reader immersed in the narration is impressive. Lawyers should find his insights relating to the interplay between law and politics especially beneficial.
Bobby Banson Esq., FCIArb. Lecturer,
Ghana School of LawA fascinating set of stories, providing unique insights into life during the transition from the Gold Coast, one of the British Empire’s West African gems, to the modern Republic of Ghana, and the extensive interactions with the UK and the rest of the world. They are based on a wealth of well referenced contemporaneous material. These memoirs chronicle the forces at play in the complex and multi-layered process of self-determination and emerging nationhood, which wrought a dreadful toll on the lives of individuals as cultures and ideologies, egos and aspirations collided. Refreshingly candid, humorous and witty in parts, Azanne Akainyah shares recollections of his life, warts and all, laced with provocative and challenging reflections on universal issues. A must read!
Christiana Hyde MA (Cantab), Retired Employment Judge, England and Wales
A must-read book for those interested in “the African story”. It brings to life important aspects of this story from a unique and personal angle that grips the reader from beginning to end. It covers significant events in Ghana before and after the overthrow of Nkrumah and also the unfortunate happenings in Liberia, Sierra Leone and the Gambia. It portrays how familial, ethnic and parochial interests have played major roles in these events. Akainyah sets the pace in revealing another side of the African story.
Ivan Addae-Mensah PhD (Cantab.) FGA
(Emeritus Professor of Chemistry, Former Vice Chancellor
of the University of Ghana and former General Secretary of the
Peoples National Party under President Dr Hilla Limann)₵200.00 -
In the Eye of the Storm: Autobiography of Justice Emile Francis Short (Hardcover)
This book recounts my upbringing, narrating the role my father played in inculcating in me the values of honesty, integrity and hard work. The book describes my life from secondary school through University and the twist and turns of my career. The main object in writing the book is to inspire public officials to discharge their functions “without fear or favour, ill will or affection.” It also seeks to encourage the youth to pursue hard work and do the right thing at all times. It hopes to discourage the youth from engaging in unethical practices like 419, sakawa, satanic or occultic practices to get rich quickly. Honesty does pay in the long run. The idea of sitting down to write about myself especially at age 70 was not an attractive proposition. However, I received encouragement from a number of persons who impressed upon me the need to describe how I navigated the journey as Ghana’s first Commissioner for the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice and the challenges I encountered. My faith in Christ and how it has shaped my career are well articulated in the book.
Justice Emile Francis ShortJustice Emile Short’s memoir contains a powerful account of the life of a man whose local and international standing has generally beclouded a rich and fulfilling life history immersed in family, friends, community, and faith. Adopting a fluent narrative tinged with humor and transitional pauses and asides, this memoir presents a profound excursion into his life marked by detailed narrative of his experiences growing up in Ghana and abroad, education, love life, and professional development, and these will afford any reader a rare insight into the life of one of Africa’s, and certainly Ghana’s greatest sons. While many will find the chronology of his life’s story easy to identify with, his meticulous narration is truly a testament to the memoire’s overall richness and the depth of the author’s encounters and world views. Few memoirs open a window into an author’s life like this piece and the brazen frankness of his accounts illuminates the author and his lived experiences in the many episodes and phases of his years. The reader will find the book a lively and highly engaging read–one which piqued my own interest till the very end. I have hardly read any autobiography this revealing!
Prof. E. Kofi Abotsi
Dean, UPSA Law SchoolA very well told life story. Lovely in its brevity, but that seems to come at the expense of some of the important episodes narrated in the book, particularly the “Damascan” transformation from being a successful conventional elite professional Cape Coast lawyer and hustling in the UK (on the one hand); to becoming a “born again”/charismatic Christian, occupying high level state positions/public office, “speaking truth” to powerful politicians/slaying political tigers, and liberating the enslaved.
Prof. Gyimah Boadi₵200.00 -
Baba Chibsah: Inspirational Story of an Illustrious Migrant
Baba Chibsah: Inspirational Story of an Illustrious Migrant is one of those books that take the reader on a journey of illumination. At the core of the story is the life of Baba Chibsah, who was both a visionary and practical man who was driven by his own idealism and belief in God and community to achieve goals he could not have comprehended when he set out from his home in the Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso), to work in the Gold Coast (Ghana) in 1922. His immediate aim was to earn enough money to buy a bicycle. Taking every opportunity that came his way, the acclaimed founder of Tafo Zongo never went back but created a community and values worth celebrating.
His adventures read like a story out of a thriller movie. However, the story breaks free of its boundaries and becomes the history of a whole generation. This book teaches more about life in pre-independence times, not only in Ghana but in our West African sub-region than most textbooks. Here the story of migration, impact of European colonial policy, social interaction, Islamic movements and trends, and indeed the development of the Tafo-Suame enclave in Kumasi are all laid out here in cinematic detail.
Alhaji Seidu Kibsa Sawadogo aka Alhaji Seidu Chibsah has not only honoured his father and his generation but also produced a history masterpiece.
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Bookset: Not My Time to Die & Guns Over Kigali (2 books)
A pack of 2 books on the Kigali Genocide
About the Books
Not My Time to Die
“Reading Yolande Mukagasana’s book in French at the age of 15 changed my life.”- Gaël Faye
Originally published as La mort ne veut pas de moi in 1997, this book was the first survivor testimony to be published about the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda.
In 1994 Yolande was an unconventional nurse and mother of three who enjoyed wearing jeans and designer glasses. She ran her own clinic in Nyamirambo and was planning a party for her wedding anniversary. But when genocide started everything changed. Targeted because she was a successful Tutsi woman, she was separated from her family and had to flee for her life.
Mukagasana’s gripping memoir describes the betrayal of friends and help that came from surprising places. Quick-witted and courageous, Yolande never lost hope she would find her children alive.
Translated from the French by Zoe Norridge.
Guns Over Kigali
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.
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Justice Daniel Francis Annan: In the Service of Democracy
Justice Annan’s public service in Ghana’s recent history embodies how an individual, acting in concert with compatriots, can direct the course of history using institutions which may prevail at a specific conjuncture in that history.
The objective of producing this biography of Justice Annan is to extrapolate from his life as a public servant, especially during the critical period of 1982- 1992 when he was a key member of the PNDC, and the 1993 – 2000 when he was Speaker of the first and second Parliaments of the Fourth Republic, the lessons and insights that add value to the existing knowledge of how social and political dynamics are purposefully managed even in the most challenging times; and how key institutions like Parliament are nurtured in a nascent democracy to literally turn dust into gold. The weight of the biography therefore leans heavily on Justice Annan’s public service during the two periods indicated above.
This biography was sponsored by the IDEG under its Senior Citizen Scholar in Residence Programme, which is non-partisan and open to all who have distinguished themselves in rendering service to our dear country Ghana. We hope that this publication will inspire institutions and individual philanthropists, both Ghanaian and foreign, to contribute generously to the funding of the programme. The programme aims at deepening our knowledge and understanding of the momentous conjunctures in our history that have shaped the content and trajectory of Ghana’s young democratic state.
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Our Time Is Now: Power, Purpose, and the Fight for a Fair America (Hardcover)
From New York Times bestselling author of Lead From The Outside and political leader Stacey Abrams, a blueprint to end voter suppression, empower our citizens, and take back our country.
“With each page, she inspires and empowers us to create systems that reflect a world in which all voices are heard and all people believe and feel that they matter.” —Kerry Washington
A recognized expert on fair voting and civic engagement, Abrams chronicles a chilling account of how the right to vote and the principle of democracy have been and continue to be under attack. Abrams would have been the first African American woman governor, but experienced these effects firsthand, despite running the most innovative race in modern politics as the Democratic nominee in Georgia. Abrams didn’t win, but she has not conceded. The book compellingly argues for the importance of robust voter protections, an elevation of identity politics, engagement in the census, and a return to moral international leadership.
Our Time Is Now draws on extensive research from national organizations and renowned scholars, as well as anecdotes from her life and others’ who have fought throughout our country’s history for the power to be heard. The stakes could not be higher. Here are concrete solutions and inspiration to stand up for who we are now.
“This is a narrative that describes the urgency that compels me and millions more to push for a different American story than the one being told today. It’s a story that is one part danger, one part action, and all true. It’s a story about how and why we fight for our democracy and win.” – Stacey Abrams
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It Takes A Woman: A Life Shaped by Heritage, Leadership and the Women Who Defined Hope
It Takes a Woman retraces the early life of Agyeman‐Rawlings who rose to prominence as the First Lady of the Republic of Ghana (1982-2000). She redefined the privilege of serving a nation, and sought every platform to champion the causes of underserved citizenry and women. While her husband, former President Jerry John Rawlings, embarked on a relentless pursuit of transforming Ghana into a model of African democracy, Mrs. Agyeman-Rawlings founded the 31st December Women’s Movement (the 31st DWM), an organisation which played a pivotal role in the empowerment of women, and in addressing issues of systemic gender inequality, not only in Ghana but across the African region.
Born in an era when women were overtly marginalised, Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings’ strong relationship with her father, mother and family elders formed the core of much of her formative years. Fortified by her unique family history, she was raised to never accept the notion that “there were some things she could not do, simply because she was a woman.”
The narrative captures the family history of a spirited little girl, and as she walks us through the refreshingly detailed scenes from her childhood, we are transported to a hopeful and quintessential Ghana, where a sense of national pride resounded powerfully at the time of independence. But as she recalls Ghana’s struggles post-independence, we are also confronted face to face with her juxtaposed emotions of elation and frustration, hurt and joy, certainty and dread. She was not to know that her personal life being upended early one morning in 1979 would also become a turning point in the nation’s history and would thrust her into the glare of international publicity.
It Takes a Woman, written with unflinching candour, is an absorbing portrait of a life devoted to public service and shaped by heritage. Above all, it is an account of resilience. The voices of the women who stood tall will forever inspire Agyeman-Rawlings to stand for many more whose voices may not be loud enough to stand on their own.
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Oxford Street, Accra: City Life and the Itineraries of Transnationalism
In Oxford Street, Accra, Ato Quayson analyzes the dynamics of Ghana’s capital city through a focus on Oxford Street, part of Accra’s most vibrant and globalized commercial district. He traces the city’s evolution from its settlement in the mid-seventeenth century to the present day. He combines his impressions of the sights, sounds, interactions, and distribution of space with broader dynamics, including the histories of colonial and postcolonial town planning and the marks of transnationalism evident in Accra’s salsa scene, gym culture, and commercial billboards.
Quayson finds that the various planning systems that have shaped the city—and had their stratifying effects intensified by the IMF-mandated structural adjustment programs of the late 1980s—prepared the way for the early-1990s transformation of a largely residential neighborhood into a kinetic shopping district. With an intense commercialism overlying, or coexisting with, stark economic inequalities, Oxford Street is a microcosm of historical and urban processes that have made Accra the variegated and contradictory metropolis that it is today.
“Oxford Street, Accra offers a fresh portrait of a rising African metropolis by one of the most original and skilled critics of the African condition. Deeply researched and packed with detail and bold in scope and analysis, Oxford Street, Accra is a unique addition to the growing body of work on contemporary African Urbanism. This extraordinary book shows the extent to which the future of urban theory might well lie in the global South.” – Achille Mbembe, author of Critique de la raison négre.
KEY SELLING POINTS:
- Oxford Street, Accra is a must-buy as an invaluable companion and compass for both newcomers and returning visitors to Accra.
- Oxford Street, Accra was chosen as one of the ‘UK Guardian’s 10 Best City Books of the World in 2014.’
- Oxford Street, Accra was also the Co-Winner of ‘The Urban History Association’s Top Award in the International Category For Books Published About World Cities in 2013 – 2014.’
- Oxford Street, Accra contains an encyclopedic knowledge of the City of Accra, tracing the city’s evolution from its settlement in the mid-seventeenth century to the present day.
- The book offers a microcosm of historical and urban knowledge of the making of the city that have transformed Accra into the sophisticated metropolis that is it today.
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Abrewa Nana: A Trajectory of Life – An Autobiography (Hardcover)
Professor Addo-Fening’s life story is an inspiration to read. From humble beginnings, he rose to the peak of academic life. In all his life experiences, he shows his gratitude and humility. This book is a delight to read and I recommend it to all. – Professor Alison M. Howell, Formerly of Akrofi-Christaller Institute, Akropong-Akuapem, Ghana
When the Historian sets out to write his own life story, what we get is a truly fascinating account. Here in Professor Robert Addo-Fening’s autobiography, we have a scintillating conversation with a master craftsman. Well done! – Dr. Maureen O. Iheanacho, Independent Scholar and Researcher, Accra, Ghana
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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
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An African Abroad: A Travel Memoir
When Ajala is not escaping an assassination attempt and dodging the bullets of eager security agents around the Duke of Edinburgh in Sydney, he is crashing his scooter, amid a hail of gunfire, through a border between Jordan and Israel—or he is cutting through security to shake the hands of Nikita Khrushchev. And when Ajala is not trying ‘African ju-ju’ on pretty Russian girls, he is enjoying a tense audience with Golda Meir in Israel and hobnobbing with Fúnmiláyọ̀ Ransome-Kútì in Moscow.
The Original One-Man Daredevil-Traveller, Moshood Ọlábísí Àjàlá saw it all, did it all, and lived to tell the tale. Now back in print for the first time since 1963, here are the travel stories of his trips around Europe, the Middle East, and Australia as told by the man himself. This new edition comes with a preface by Kọ́lá Túbọ̀sún and a foreword by Joane Àjàlá.
₵145.00₵150.00An African Abroad: A Travel Memoir
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Politics in Ghana (1982-1992): Rawlings, Revolution and Populist Democracy
This work was embarked upon as part of my study of military intervention in politics which had become the bane of politics in my country and Africa as a whole. My previous study had encompassed the period 1972-1979 (vide Politics In Ghana 1972 — 1979). The publication was well received and it won several awards. The book decried military rule in the hope that it would discourage military incursions in Ghanaian politics. As the 31 December Revolution unfolded, several friends impressed upon me, and I felt a deep obligation in the same direction, to capture and analyse the events of the time for posterity and for the guidance of my beloved country.
With the advent of the PNDC on 31 December 1981, revolutionary politics was launched, which was geared towards participatory democracy. The PNDC military government claimed that it was not just another military junta but that under the auspices of the military and civilian revolutionary leaders and cadres, the people were taking their destinies into their own hands towards the establishment of grassroots democracy. In the process, as the revolutionaries claimed, all injustices would be redressed, corruption would be eradicated and a new era of prosperity would dawn as “true democracy” was manifested.
My task in this work was to examine critically, the true nature of the PNDC, its composition, declared aims and objectives and whether the politics of revolution which dawned on 31 December 1981, could be justified. It was worthy to study and document whether the Defence Committees, District Assemblies, political and legal institutions of the PNDC, the regime’s human rights record, economic and social policies, responsibility and accountability to the populace, responsiveness in government and its electoral record did lead to a true democracy. The work is seen as a contribution towards answering the question: did the PNDC bring democracy to Ghana?
₵140.00 -
The Black Pimpernel: Nelson Mandela on the Run
In March 1961, after giving a brief speech at a conference, Nelson Mandela vanished.
For the next eighteen months he was an outlaw, living under assumed identities and in various disguises (sometimes as a chauffeur, sometimes a gardener) as the South African police and secret services, helped by MI5 and the CIA, sought him in vain. His mission? To undergo military training and set up armed resistance to apartheid.
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From Dar es Salaam to Bongoland: Urban Mutations in Tanzania
The name Dar es Salaam comes from the Arabic phrase meaning house of peace. A popular but erroneous translation is ‘haven of peace’ resulting from a mix-up of the Arabic words “dar” (house) and “bandar” (harbour). Named in 1867 by the Sultan of Zanzibar, the town has for a long time benefitted from a reputation of being a place of tranquility. The tropical drowsiness is a comfort to the socialist poverty and under-equipment that causes an unending anxiety to reign over the town. Today, for the Tanzanian, the town has become Bongoland, that is, a place where survival is a matter of cunning and intelligence (bongo means ‘brain’ in Kiswahili). Far from being an anecdote, this slide into toponomy records the mutations that affect the links that Tanzanians maintain with their principal city and the manner in which it represents them.
This book takes into account the changes by departing from the hypothesis that they reveal a process of territorialisation. What are the processes – envisaged as spatial investments – which, by producing exclusivity, demarcations and exclusions, fragment the urban space and its social fabric? Do the practices and discussions of the urban dwellers construct limited spaces, appropriated, identified and managed by communities (in other words, territories)? Dar es Salaam is often described as a diversified, relatively homogenous and integrating place. However, is it not more appropriate to describe it as fragmented?
As territorialisation can only occur through frequenting, management and localised investment, it is therefore through certain places – first shelter and residential area, then the school, daladala station, the fire hydrant and the quays – that the town is observed. This led to broach the question in the geographical sense of urban policy carried out since German colonisation to date. At the same time, the analysis of these developments allows for an evaluation of the role of the urban crisis and the responses it brings.
In sum, the aim of this approach is to measure the impact of the uniqueness of the place on the current changes. On one hand, this is linked to its long-term insertion in the Swahili civilisation, and on the other, to its colonisation by Germany and later Britain and finally, to the singularity of the post-colonial path. This latter is marked by an alternation of Ujamaa with Structural Adjustment Plans applied since 1987. How does this remarkable political culture take part in the emerging city today?
This book is a translation of De Dar es Salaam à Bongoland: Mutations urbaines en Tanzanie, published by Karthala, Paris in 2006.
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African Visionaries
In over forty portraits, African writers present extraordinary people from their continent: portraits of the women and men whom they admire, people who have changed and enriched life in Africa. The portraits include inventor, founders of universities, resistance fighters, musicians, environmental activists or writers. African Visionaries is a multi-faceted book, seen through African eyes, on the most impactful people of Africa.
Some of the writers contributing to the collection are: Helon Habila, Virginia Phiri, Ellen Banda-Aaku, Véronique Tadjo, Tendai Huchu, Solomon Tsehaye, Patrice Nganang and Sami Tchak.
₵130.00African Visionaries
₵130.00