• Elmina, ‘The Little Europe’: European Impact and Cultural Resilience (Hardcover)

    This is a brief introduction to the history of Elmina, its castle, the people, and their traditions. It outlines the town’s 500-year relations with Europeans, highlighting the transformations that have developed out of these interactions. Written by one of the top historians of Ghana and a leading scholar of the African diaspora, the book is based on original archival information and orally-derived sources. It is also richly informed by the writer’s own personal knowledge as a Nyampa Safohen and citizen of Elmina. Despite the tremendous changes engendered by the European contact, Elmina’s historical development demonstrates an amazing degree of cultural continuity and resilience in its political institutions, social organization, economic systems and worldview.

  • The Mind of Africa

    The Mind of Africa, written while the author was A Fellow of  All Souls College, Oxford, was a fruit of that enlarged perspective. After several years, he visited Ghana in 1962. There Kwame Nkrumah, then President of Ghana, successfully persuaded him to return to teach at the University of Ghana, Legon and he subsequently resigned from All Souls. In 1968, he went to the United States as a visiting professor. This was followed by invitations to teach at various academic institutions there, including Berkeley and Stanford. He subsequently settled in California, where he continued to teach and research philosophy in the University of California at Santa Cruz until his retirement.

    The Mind of Africa appeared at a time when a number of African countries were obtaining, or fighting for, their political freedom from their colonial rulers; and becoming independent nations expecting to build new societies in accordance with their own visions and conceptions, though not necessarily jettisoning all the features of their colonial heritage. Building new societies requires appropriate ideologies and philosophies fashioned within the crucible of their cultural and historical experiences. Thus, the relation between ideology and society is taken up at the very outset of the book… The Mind of Africa is important for Africa’s future and identity.

  • Hijacked: 1000 Days’ Harrowing Experience in the Hands of Somali Pirates

    Six months into a 10-month contract with Azal Shipping & Cargo, LLC, Dubai, on March 29, 2010, Jewel Ahiable and 23 other crew members aboard MV Iceberg 1 were hijacked by Somali pirates and held captive for 1000 days. The vessel ran aground. Food, water, medical supplies—all ran out. A crew member lost his life and another went missing. All attempts to get a ransom failed the captors. But their brute determination to amass fortune deafened their ears to the cry of innocent humans and the poor.

    HIJACKED! recounts the torturous ordeal and near-death experiences during the captivity until the intervention of the Puntland Maritime Police Force secured their release on December 23, 2012.

    It is the story of one of the longest held piracy victims. It is the story of piracy victims abandoned by their employer, respective countries and the world community. It is the story of the miraculous intervention of Divinity in the affairs of hopeless men.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Swords & Crosses: The Story of Opoku Ware School

    Our journey has been both long and short. Many are those that have departed this life, unable to share their stories. They were students like us, or teachers, or worked in other capacities within the school. All of these nurtured and formed us into the winners we are today. They and their service, their lives, and contributions should never be forgotten. For them all this book is a memorial.

    Our prayer is that the thousands of fingers that turn these pages will be a testament to the many future years ahead of Opoku Ware School, years in which, we believe, it shall move from being one of the best into becoming the very best. The quick today and those departed, through this book still have a voice, speaking of what has been, and inspiring the progress for tomorrow.

    We have been forged by the cross of Christ and a mighty sword of tradition.

    This is our story.

    Katakyie Rodney Nkrumah-Boateng (AF147) and his team have woven an intricate pattern of beauty, exemplified only by the beautiful patterns of the Asante Kente cloth. The beginnings of Opoku Ware School and its progress through the changing phases of Ghana are presented here in an easy-to-read style that will appeal to all students and lovers of history. Ably captured is the pride in identity that has bound together the men known as Akatakyie all this while; a resilient band of achievers. never resting, never floundering.

    The story really had to be told.

  • The 5th Republic: Constitutional Reforms To Rescue, Resuscitate and Restore Ghana

    In this book, Dr. Nii Amu Darko proposes an alternative to Ghana’s 4th Republic and offers prescriptions for thorough constitutional reform. Based on the tenet that the ills of our political excesses and economic stagnation are rooted in the shortcomings of the constitution, he slices Ghana’s 1992 Constitution apart and lays out a systematic blueprint for a new Constitution that would usher in Ghana’s 5th Republic.  With the ideas laid out in this book, Dr. Darko’s objective is to put the country on track for effective political reform and sustainable development. He addresses many issues and sectors of national interest for the “new Ghana”, including the Constitution, territories, citizenship, representation of the people, the Executive, legislature, judiciary, security and defence and chieftaincy.

  • Weep Not, Africa

    In this book, Dr. Nii Amu Darko proposes a rare template for political economy suitable for the multi-ethnic African state, both in terms of political organization and sustainable economic development.  Essentially, he combines the constitution and manifesto of the African Reform Movement (ARM) into this book as a roadmap for realizing Africa’s arrested potential.  Dr. Darko proposes the creation of the new African with a new mindset that would go on to create a new society based on love, hope and faith. The ARM manifesto is the refreshing plan of action for the revolution to attain the elusive true independence by ending imperialism in all its forms, gain true independents and foster opportunities and prosperity for all.  To paraphrase Nkrumah, Darko expounds the notion that “the independence of Ghana is meaningless unless it is linked with the total liberation of its economy from Finance Capital.”

  • Fair State Charter For Africa

    In this book, Dr. Nii Amu Darko outlines a new charter for a fair state as the template for good governance in Africa.  In a fair state, opportunities are fairly spread across the nation; political power is proportional to electoral mandates and fairly distributed among the groups that form the nation; and responsibility for service delivery is the duty of every citizen. England gave the world the Magna Carta and Dr. Nii Amu Darko proposes the Fair State Charter as the foundation for good governance and prosperity in Africa. The charter addresses three main areas:  Unity of purpose; unity of governance through a reformed electoral system and national governance; and the 21st Century being Africa’s century of prominence. The unities he prescribes are on a national rather than a continental basis. So that the success of one country based on the ideas in the charter, can be replicated in other nations throughout the continent.

  • From Achinakrom to Pro-Vice Chancellor: Autobiography of Florence Abena Dolphyne

    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 teils 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.

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  • Voices of Ghana: Literary Contributions to the Ghana Broadcasting System, 1955-57 (Second Edition)

    Ghana’s first radio programme of original literature, Singing Net, began in 1955 as part of the development of a national radio station in the years leading to independence in 1957. Its centralaim was to bring Ghanaian writers to the forefront of cultural programming as part of the Africanisation of radio in Ghana. It was a critical cultural expression of the radical changes that were unfolding across the colonial world. The programme successfully introduced listeners to a series of pioneering Ghanaian authors who would go on to become significant figures of Anglophone West African literature in the early postcolonial decades: Efua Sutherland, Frank Parkes, Amu Djoleto, Geormbeeyi Adali-Mortty, Albert Kayper-Mensah, Kwesi Brew, Cameron Duodu, J.H. Nketia and many others.

    The anthology, Voices of Ghana (1958) is a collection of the poetry, short stories, play scripts and critical discussions that were aired on the Gold Coast (later Ghana) Broadcasting System (1954-1958).Both Singing Net and Voices of Ghana were edited by the BBC producer, Henry Swanzy.

    The context of Ghana’s independence, the singularity of the anthology’s history, and the significance of many of the writers all contribute to the importance of this text. This second edition is a timely intervention into recent debates within postcolonial studies and world literature on the importance of broadcast culture in the dissemination of “new literatures” from the colonial world. It includes an unabridged version of the 1958 text, a new introduction and footnoted annotations,which draw on extensive research undertaken in Ghana and Britain. It will appeal to a general readership with an interest in Ghanaian literature, 1950s broadcast culture, the figure of Dr Kwame Nkrumah and the making of a national literature in the era of decolonisation, as well as engaging scholars. The new edition presents a deeply insightful and engaging history of Voices of Ghana and reintroduces the original works on the occasion of the anthology’s 60th anniversary.

    Victoria Ellen Smith is a Lecturer in the Department of History, University of Ghana, Legon

  • Closing the Books: Governor Edward Carstensen on Danish Guinea (1842-50)

    Sitting on the terrace of the royal plantation Frederiksgave, his favourite retreat, Governor Edward Carstensen came to see the inevitable: Denmark had to give up her “possessions” in Africa. As fate would have it, he came to be the instrument by which two centuries of Danish involvement on the Gold Coast was terminated, thereby making way for the emergence of the colonial system that developed there.

    After the abolition of the slave trade, Denmark had struggled to find ways and means to legitimate her continued stay at the Coast. At an early stage the Danes initiated a number of attempts to establish experimental plantations to cultivate export crops such as cotton, coffee and sugar. But a transition from slave trade to “legitimate” products required stability and peace, and a need for control, which the rather limited Danish presence was not able to maintain.

    Closing the Books comprises a compilation of the official reports that the last Danish Governor sent home during his term of office at the Gold Coast. The reports reflect his personal views regarding the economic and political situations there, as well as his ideas on the “civilization of Africa”.

  • The Ghana Voter Registration 2020: Dynamics and Risks of Political Contestation in an Emerging Democracy

    After several years of trauniatic extralegal military seizures of power, Ghana in 1992 committed to the international standard that democracies, good democracies, are built on the principle and foundations of the rule of law, respect for human rights, accountable governance and democratic transitions through free, fair and transparent elections, among others.

    Ghana’s political landscape, however, has not been free of the challenges associated with egregious violations of the principles of democratic elections. Its elections have been characterised by endemic antagonism, polarisation and intolerance among political parties, especially between the two major political parties—the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

    This realisation informs the primary purpose of this monograph. It underscores the affinities between the increasing corrosive sub-culture of political violence and political vigilantism in Ghana’s political discourses and interactions. The study of the 2020 voter registration exercise helps to trace the structural and proximate or circumstantial factors that have and continue to inform Ghana’s propensity towards these twin vices. It identifies four broad contributory factors that exacerbated tensions during the registration exercise: systemic issues, use of violence in resolving such problems, hate speech, and the sometimes arbitrary and frivolous electoral methods and practices.

    In a way, these have contributed immensely to apprehensions that the 7 December 2020 presidential and parliamentary elections could witness a rise in political violence.

  • The Christian Life in a Postmodernist World (Hardcover)

    In times of postmodernism and the rise of secular humanism that tend to taint and mask the Christian faith; there is an urgent need to unveil and clarify the faith of Christians. This book exposes the content of the Christian faith in today’s context from Christian traditional heritage and history in a trinitarian manner and as taught by the scriptures. It is a timely resource for Church and the Christian’s empowerment.

  • A Memoir of a Pragmatic Ghanaian Diplomat

    A Memoir of a Pragmatic Ghanaian Diplomat has fulfilled one of the author’s dreams since joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Accra, in October 1974.

    The book gives brief historical analyses of the Ga Adangme ethnic group of Ghana and Ghana as a former colony under British rule, 1844-1957. It traces the author’s early years and schooling, his undergraduate and post-graduate studies at the University of Ghana, Legon (1982-86 & 1989-90), as well as his studies at the University of Sierra-Leone (IPAM), Freetown (1992) and the China Foreign Affairs University, Beijing (2010).

    The book touches on the author’s diplomatic career in Japan, the Russian Federation, the Czech Republic, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Great Socialist Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, where he served in various capacities, the last position being Minister, in Tripoli. It also depicts the author’s private life as a Chorister and Member of the Ghana Red Cross Society.

    The book further deals with the author’s assignments as Deputy Director of Passports, Deputy Director of State Protocol Office and his attachment to the office of His Excellency Alhaji Aliu Mahama (of blessed memory), former Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana. The book chronicles other duties the author performed at the Foreign Ministry, Accra, namely, in Administration, Finance and Accounts, Inspectorate and Audit, Americas, Europe, Africa & Regional Integration, International Organisations and Conferences, Information and Linguistics, as well as Middle East and Asia Bureaux.

    The book reviews risks, uncertainties and pressures in the Diplomatic Service and how to deal with them. It chronicles the rights, responsibilities and obligations of Diplomats, as well as the essence of doing things befitting the status of Diplomats.

    In the penultimate chapter, the author makes a proposal for the establishment of a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Practical Training Institute in Acera to deal exclusively with practical diplomacy, diplomatic orientation and preparation of ambassadors-designate and officers for postings to Ghana Missions abroad, to ensure effectiveness, efficiency, professionalism and sense of curiosity in diplomatic assignments abroad and at home.

    The author retired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration in February 2011, having worked for almost 36 years – his last post in Accra being Director of the Middle East and Asia Bureau of the Foreign Ministry.

    The author was married to Mrs. Dorothy Nana Ama Allotey (of blessed memory) and has four children: David, Mavis, Deborah and Ruth. Mr. Allotey’s book, Ghana’s Foreign Policy in Comparison with That of Japan and Russia Since 1960 is a good textbook for students of International Relations and Diplomacy and all who desire to understand the intricate workings of foreign policy and their effects on our daily lives.

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