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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.
₵170.00 -
Bookset: Spiderman Tales & Red Oak Supplementary Readers (8 books)
Age Range: 5 – 10 years
8 books for children between 5 and 10 years. Including 2 exciting titles from the famous British/Ghanaian author Peggy Appiah and a delightfully-illustrated collection of 7 Ananse stories by Adolika Nenah Sowah.
The titles in this set are:
- King of the Trees
- Kofi and the Crow
- The Harmattan Man
- The Contest and Other Spiderman Tales
- The End of a Traitor
- Obenewa
- Ama’s Dream
- Afua and the Mouse
₵175.00 -
Bookset: African Folktale Series (8 books)
Age Range: 7 – 12 years
In these beautifully illustrated, collectable library of easy-to-read traditional folktales with their moral lessons, test questions, and activities for the young ones, classic African stories are brought magically to reality. The stories in the African Folktale Series (AFS) are filled with moral lessons that have been handed down from many generations to the present in many African countries from Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroons, Liberia, the Gambia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania to Zimbabwe. The traditional African elders who inhabited an ancient continent brimming with wisdom successfully utilized these folktales to socialize their youngsters to the moral requirements of their society to insure order, security and growth.₵190.00₵200.00Bookset: African Folktale Series (8 books)
₵190.00₵200.00 -
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.
₵200.00African Visionaries
₵200.00 -
Forward Ever: The Life of Kwame Nkrumah
A short biography of Kwame Nkrumah providing an introduction to his life and work. Set within the context of PanAfricanism the book covers the whole period of Nkrumah’s life from childhood through to his death in Bucharest on 27th April 1972.
₵200.00 -
Kwame Nkrumah: Vision and Tragedy
The yearlong celebration of Ghana’s Golden Jubilee provides a fitting context for the republication of the book Kwame Nkrumah: Vision and Tragedy. In the lead-up to the celebration and over the course of the year, the life and times of Kwame Nkrumah will receive unprecedented public attention, official and unofficial. Kwame Nkrumah’s very wide name-recognition is, paradoxically, accompanied by sketchy, often oversimplified knowledge about the events and processes of his life and times. For most of those born after independence in 1957, such knowledge does not extend much beyond who Kwame Nkrumah was and vague notions about he won us Independence.
This book presents new material and new analysis, which helps to clarify aspects of the record, while advancing new perspectives. What comes across clearly throughout the book is the significant contribution of Nkrumah’s vision and personality at a critical moment in the history of Africa and the Third World. He, perhaps more than any other, was able to identify, focus and catalyse the major factors and players driving the struggle for political independence in Ghana and liberation in other parts of Africa. In the process, he committed his life and work totally to a wide variety of activities and processes in Ghana, the continent and in the global Non-Aligned Movement.
“This is an objective study which should be read by all concerned with the history of post-colonial Africa.” – Conor Cruise O’Brien Former Vice Chancellor, University of Ghana, Legon
₵200.00 -
General Acheampong: The Life and Times of Ghana’s Head of State (Hardcover)
A magnificent book…brilliant in shedding light on some of the most important but little known dark passages in our national history…worth reading by anybody who truly seeks knowledge about our recent past.
₵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.
₵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 -
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 -
You’re Marrying A Rich Girl, So What?
It is a practical and situational outlook to one of the most neglected areas in the quest for marriage. What happens when a governor’s daughter falls in love with a poor prince?
This book raises and answers over 450 questions about love, relationships, attitudes, courtship, marriage, social status, parentage, educational background and property ownership. For example;
- What is Love?
- How to navigate a relationship that is in the realms of a fairy tale, into reality?
- What’s wrong if a “poor prince” marries well?
- What do you do if you are the poor prince in love with the governor’s daughter?
- How do governors arrive at their conclusions on who their daughters should marry?
- How do governors arrive at who they do not approve of?
- How should the idea of property co-ownership be treated in a lopsided relationship?
“You’re Marrying A Rich Girl, So What?” gives deep insights into most pre-marital and initial marriage problems, which most rich ladies are likely to face when they decide to marry seemingly underprivileged gentlemen.
This book speaks to the differences that arise from relationships of very privileged ladies – whom we prefer to refer to as governors’ daughters, and underprivileged gentlemen – whom we choose to call “poor princes”.
It serves as a “guide” to privileged ladies –– to know and understand some of the fears, frustrations, and suspicions of underprivileged men, when it comes to courtship with the aim of marriage and the issues of property ownership, money, influence and the future of their children.
Also, it provides assistance to men with “challenging backgrounds”, who find themselves in love, dating, or enthusiastically preparing to marry ladies from very wealthy homes, or ladies with privilege backgrounds – resulting in lopsided marriages.
Most importantly, it is to help the privileged ladies know which of the potential gentlemen their fathers – the governors would agree for them to marry.
Read this book before you say “I do”.
Price range: ₵200.00 through ₵260.00You’re Marrying A Rich Girl, So What?
Price range: ₵200.00 through ₵260.00 -
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 -
The Mumfordians: Memories of a Sea Boy
In one beautiful swoop, this book takes you to the nostalgic past and the aspirational future of an African nation still in the throes of defining self-determination. With the brilliance of powerful recalls, it dissects the socio-cultural as well as the political. It is one man’s journey from an idyllic African fishing village, through his self-improvement to become the executive secretary of a Pan-African body travelling several capitals of the world in the service of his employer.
It is also a book about people − their history, their dreams and the ills they seem unable to decidedly confront. But what makes The Mumfordians a keepsake is its richness in national promise and communal nostalgia.
₵210.00 -
For Freedom or Bondage?: A Critique of African Pastoral Practices
In Ghana today, many people who suffer from a variety of human ills wander from one pastor to another in search of a spiritual cure. Because of the way cultural beliefs about the spiritual world have interwoven with their Christian faith, many Ghanaian Christians live in bondage to their fears of evil spiritual powers, seeing Jesus as a superior power to use against these malevolent spiritual forces.
In For Freedom or Bondage? Esther Acolatse argues that Christian pastoral practices in many African churches include too much influence from African traditional religions. She examines Ghana Independent Charismatic churches as a case study, offering theological and psychological analysis of current pastoral care practices through the lenses of Barth and Jung. Facilitating a three-strand conversation between African traditional religion, Barthian theology, and Jungian analytical psychology, Acolatse interrogates problematic cultural narratives and offers a more nuanced approach to pastoral care.
₵250.00 -
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