Some of you are not going to be surprised by this, some of you may be disappointed and some of you are probably thinking “it’s about time”. However, I am checking out of Ghana for a while. It was always my plan B and was dependent on the how the job worked but a series of incidents made me realise that I had probably outstayed my welcome by probably two years if I am going to be honest.

The signs were there even before I took the job. My employer had talked about a high turnover and ventures that have failed but it was always because of poor labour as he made out. Apart from some Germans who were sent down from heaven, it seemed that every black person who had passed through his doors were incompetent. Although he had said this, for me I felt that it was a good place to learn for when I eventually start my own business (whenever that would be).

A week into employment, I was like, I need to make it to the end of the month. A series of correspondence prior to my joining, I found him rather passive aggressive. Then unfortunately, on the first day, everything that could go wrong did go wrong and I was late on the first day. Although I did make up the hour at the end, his end of week “first impression” email he sent was bordering on the passive-aggressive to just plain aggressive. Me personally, I don’t like to give a bad impression, so I responded just to clear the air, he in turn, turned the whole situation around and made me look like I was an oversensitive idiot.

So I am thinking, I just need to get through this, just long enough to get paid, I was injecting a lot of cash into travel and my car was used once in a while for business purposes but repairing those faults where on me. When I tried to have a discussion with him about this, again, passive-border-aggressive and he did not use my car again. This was fine by me mind you, my “rickety old car” as he called it was getting me from A to B just about but going to C may have killed her.

So a month in and already I am feeling a little disrespected in what this man is saying and I don’t trust that this guy is going to pay me. He had made a few comments which made me think, this guy wants very little for a hell of a lot, and his mind is that he is the boss so he can do what he says. I am going to be straight up, I don’t think this guy wants employees, he wants mindless slaves. He is probably telling everyone now that I had a bad attitude I was lazy and I really don’t care, but by week 4 it got to a point where I said to myself that he can run his business any way he wants, but it’s not for me. At that point, he had called a colleague, stupid, in fact he used a vernacular word which translated means worse than calling someone stupid. That’s when I walked out and never turned back. With my experience from those cowboys at BJ Global (probably was a BJ that got the lady a franchise from Antal recruitment), it is likely that I would never get paid so I walked. As predicted he referred me to a line in my offer letter (which never got to me to sign) which said I didn’t give my 15 days’ notice. His tone, once again passive-aggressive, now he claims that people who have left him come back, but I am sure that they are people who don’t know what they’re about and probably went from one, one-man business to the next and realised he was the lesser of two evils.

For me, even if I met a boss like him again, it would have to be for a lot more money than he claimed he was going to pay me so that’s why it is time for me to go.

I am probably going to be one of his party stories, I don’t care though, in fact I wish him well and I would like to shake the hand of the person who finally thinks that he is an ok guy to work with. Me personally, I think that I am a good judge of character but though he was a little bit anal, what I wasn’t expecting a complete sociopath but we live and learn.

So, with that, the disasters that were my previous relationships and the fact that I am sitting at home, eating one meal a day. I need to go home for a while, make some money, at least if I am going to stay at home watching DSTv, I should have a house that is paid for and food in my fridge. I will never use the word “I am starving” for granted again, because sitting here, there are days when I am literally starving but thank the lord for sardines (it’s cheap in just about every country).

I am giving myself a year or two, in the event that I get an opportunity to work in Ghana for a decent salary, hey I will not say no. I love Ghana, I just don’t love the economy. In the meantime, while I am there, I can do some more studying (add to my portfolio of certificates), save money and really think about in what way I can make an impact in this country.

I will always remember the girl who had just hit 30, preparing for a life in Ghana, optimistic that she was going to make it big and leave a mark. She is still there somewhere, but I think she lost her way at some point, tried too much to fit in and then ended up just an ordinary local. That’s why I am taking this time out, I know I am destined for greatness and still believe that it is here, I just need to take a time out and really think about how I am going to get there.

So, I want to thank all of you for following me, I won’t be gone totally, I am sure going back to UK is going to have it’ s own challenges, but for now, I bid you a fond farewell and see you soon.